En Route Shannon Airport, Ireland -- "It is my hope that on this trip I will be able to do what I can to re-build some mutual confidence and establish the importance of mutual responsibilities and make very clear the importance of security ...," Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said September 9 en route to the Middle East.

The Secretary said the United States obviously has a major interest in peace and security in the region and the well-being of the people of the region who have suffered a great deal. She added, however, that "it's very important that the people, both the Palestinians and the Israelis, understand that peace is the best way for there to be an improvement in their situations."

Following is the transcript of the briefing, provided by the State Department's Office of the Spokesman in Jerusalem:

(Begin transcript)

ALBRIGHT: I don't have an awful lot to say now. We're going to have plenty of time and you will have lots of access as we move forward but I had just wanted to say a couple of things on this part. Basically, as you know a Secretary of State has gone into the Middle East for two reasons: either because things are really good and it is possible for any Secretary to close a deal and make a difference in that way or because things have deteriorated and it is important for an American Secretary of State to go in and see what can be done about putting things back on track. I had hoped that my first trip to the Middle East would be of the former type and it is, as a result of the deterioration of the situation, more in the latter type.

The United States obviously has a major interest in peace and security in the region and the well-being of the people of the region who have suffered a great deal. It is my hope that on this trip I will be able to do what I can to re-build some mutual confidence and establish the importance of mutual responsibilities and make very clear the importance of security and, at the same time, rekindle some hope that there can be peace and security together and bring it back to some basic principles and establish a frame which will allow us to go forward. That's what I would like to get done.

Q: Can I ask you -- there are lots of reasons that this trip has a more personal tint, it strikes me, than many of the previous trips taken by your predecessors (inaudible) challenge to you. You've been getting some flack from think-tankers -- (inaudible) -- You've already been described as a realist and not a magician. Do you feel any personal emphasis (inaudible). How do you respond to the personalizing of the trip?

ALBRIGHT: Well, first of all, I think that the truth is that I take every day of my tenure as a test. I think that I have a job where the possibilities of making a difference as the Secretary of State is something that is on my mind at all times. I think as an American, the United States has had a great and abiding interest in the region and one which I have felt personally for a long time even in my previous job. I'm sure other secretaries have also felt that this region is one that is very close to the United States and has also presented some very important challenges so I do feel that it is an important trip and I would very much like to make some difference but I am a realist, as you put it, Barry. I have said that and I am going to work at it as I do on all other aspects of my job.

Q: Madame Secretary, do you feel that Prime Minister Netanyahu was within his rights to suspend implementation of some aspects, or I guess most aspects, of Oslo under the circumstances, or not? And what are you going to say to him on that?

ALBRIGHT: This is the kind of question that I don't want to deal with at this time. I am not going to go into the specifics of my discussions with either Prime Minister Netanyahu or Chairman Arafat. I will obviously be talking about the importance of mutual responsibilities and building on the speech that I gave at the National Press Club. I think you know the tenor of my approach on that.

Q: Can I make it a safer question maybe but in the same area? There are some things that are supposed to happen under Oslo, pretty much right away. Is it your view they should or not?

ALBRIGHT: Well, I think that what we've been saying is that Oslo has been and is a very important process that carries in it a lot of mutual responsibilities and I am going to be speaking about the importance of carrying out mutual responsibilities in order to rebuild the confidence that is necessary for the process to go forward.

Q: You have been very even-handed in the way you've described this process, just now, but there are some reports that -- stemming from officials -- that you are prepared to hammer Arafat and to use some of your well-known blunt language to really bear down on him. Is that a mischaracterization?

ALBRIGHT: First of all, I stated in my Press Club speech about our non-tolerance of violent actions and the difficulty of moving to restore a sense of hope when the security situation is tenuous. I also, in my statement four days ago in Prague after the most recent bombing, made quite clear how I felt about the importance of Chairman Arafat moving on the security front.

Q: Madame Secretary, you are talking about the need to restore confidence. One way to do that is to try to improve the economic lot of people over there. Palestinian incomes are down by over thirty percent in the four years since the signing of the agreement. What specific things will you urge? What specific steps can you take to improve the income and the lives of the Palestinians to get them more involved in this and supportive of it?

ALBRIGHT: I'm obviously very much aware of the difficult economic situation of the Palestinians and I think it's very important that the people, both the Palestinians and the Israelis, understand that peace is the best way for there to be an improvement in their situations. I will obviously be discussing the whole panoply of issues including the economic ones and make it very clear that what I am very interested in, and obviously the President is also, is trying to get the best possible situation for the people of the region. We're very concerned about them generally.

Q: Any new developments on Bosnia?

ALBRIGHT: We'll have to get you some stuff in Shannon.

(End transcript)