Briefing Skipper: Bosnia, Taliban, Israel, Liu Xiabao, UNSC

In which we scour the transcript of the State Department’s daily presser so you don’t have to. These are the highlights of Tuesday’s briefing by spokesman P.J. Crowley:

• Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Sarajevo today, where she urged Bosnians to "reject the false promise of self-serving nationalist agendas.  She met with the Bosnian tri-presidency, EU High Representative Valentin Inzko, and held a town hall meeting with students and members of civil society She then went on to Belgrade, where she met with President Boris Tadic, Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic, Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic and Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac.
• In Sarajevo, Clinton also participated in the dedication of the site of a new U.S. Embassy and Robert C. Frasure Street. Frasure was one of three Americans killed in an automobile accident near Sarajevo in 1995 while on their way to the besieged capital to attend peace talks. Ambassador Frasure’s widow and children attended the ceremony as well.
• Crowley said it was "certainly possible" to consider removing Taliban names from the sanctions list at the U.N., as the new Afghan Peace Council are saying could "jump start" peace talks. But on the Peace Council’s other request, that the U.S. release some prisoners from Guantanamo Bay, don’t hold your breath. "I would not connect our ongoing activity to work to close the facility at Guantanamo with the efforts at reconciliation and reintegration in Afghanistan," Crowley said.
• Crowley also defended the fact that the U.S. is not part of the ongoing process to seek reconciliations with the Taliban. "We will support that process, but ultimately, you’re talking about, you know, the composition of the political structure and civil society within Afghanistan, and this is rightly decisions for the Afghan government and Afghan people to make," he said. Meanwhile, Special Representative Richard Holbrooke is on a 10 day trip to Berlin, Paris, Brussels, and Rome.
• The Torkham border crossing gate is opened in Pakistan for supply to Afghanistan, and Crowley hailed the U.S.-Pakistani cooperation on the issue. "We successfully worked through the issue with the Pakistani government — but in the meantime, we did have other avenues available to us to continue to resupply U.S. forces and international forces," he said. But what about the dozens of U.S. trucks that got torched while they were working through it? Does that mean someone was tipping off the insurgents? Crowley gave a classic non-denial. "I don’t know that I would agree with that statement," he said.
• No news on the still stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Crowley said, "Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu has offered his thoughts on both what he’s willing to contribute to the process, what he thinks he needs for his people out of the process. We would hope that the Palestinians would do the same thing." He rejected the idea that the U.S. should come up with a solution or was pushing any one in particular. "It’s not for us to endorse this idea or this idea. We have offered to both sides our thinking on things of importance to the Israelis, to the Palestinians," he said. Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas faces new internal pressures.
• Crowley hemmed and hawed when asked if he personally recognized Israel as a "Jewish state," a clear reference to Netanyahu’s latest effort to compel aspiring Israeli citizens to pledge to uphold Israel’s Jewishness, but also a loaded question because it might seem related to final status issues under negotiation, such as the Palestinian right of return. "We recognize the aspiration of the — of the — of the — you know, the people of Israel," he said at first. Try again, P.J. "As the secretary has said, you know, we understand that — the special character of the state of Israel," he said. Want to go for a third crack at it? "We recognize that Israel, you know, is a — you know, as it says itself, is a Jewish state. Yes." Ok, close enough.
• Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman will travel to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and France, October 13-22.
• The U.S. is "concerned" about the house arrest imposed on Liu Xia, the wife of 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner and Chinese human rights advocate Liu Xiaobo "It is something that we are watching very closely. And we believe that her rights should be respected and she should be allowed to move freely without harassment," Crowley said.
• China and the U.S. may be resuming military to military ties, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates will go to Beijing next year, but don’t expect any change in the Obama administration’s policy of selling arms to Taiwan. "Our consideration of these issues and our provision of defense articles to Taiwan is consistent with our law, the Taiwan Relations Act, and we will continue to follow our law," Crowley declared.
• In Sudan, following nine days of intensive negotatiations, the parties who signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement have suspended talks on how to conduct the upcoming January referendum on separation. "While the parties made progress on a number of issues,
  they were unable to reach agreement on voter eligibility criteria for the Abyei referendum. Abyei and other matters will be negotiated when the parties reconvene [in late October]," Crowley said. "The United States is encouraged by recent progress on preparations for the north-south referendum, such as the agreement on voter registration, but more needs to be done." Ambassador Princeton Lyman will go now to Khartoum and Juba.
• The United States welcomes the election of South Africa, India, Colombia, Portugal, and Germany to the U.N. Security Council, Crowley said. For the first time, all the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) will be on the council. Crowley refused to say if the U.S. supports India’s bid for permanent membership. "We are well aware of India’s aspirations to play a more significant global role," Crowley said. "But again we will work within the U.N. and within the Security Council because we recognize that there are number of countries in the world that have those same aspirations."