DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Press Briefing

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Manoel de Almeida e Silva, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

**Security Council

Good afternoon. Today, the Security Council is holding an open meeting on "Children and Armed Conflict". The meeting was preceded by closed consultations on the same subject. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Namibia, Theo-Ben Gurirab, is chairing the meeting, and Olara Otunnu, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, briefed the Security Council. In his speech, Mr. Otunnu called the attention of the Council to the plight of 20 million children displaced by war, and some 300,0000 youth currently being exploited as child soldiers. According to a background note prepared by Mr. Otunnu, alarming projections indicate that over 100 million adolescents are likely to be exposed to the effects of armed conflicts by next year as child soldiers, porters, sexual slaves, and refugees.

This meeting comes as a follow-up to a session held last year, during which the Council had expressed its intention to include consideration of the child victims of armed conflict in future deliberations. About 45 speakers are scheduled to take the floor during this meeting that will probably last until mid- to late afternoon, with a possibility of a resolution, which, if adopted, would be the first one in history to focus exclusively on children and armed conflicts.

Yesterday afternoon, the Security Council had a formal meeting on Angola and in a presidential statement demanded that the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) comply immediately and unconditionally with its obligations, under the Lusaka Protocol to demilitarize and permit the extension of State administration to areas under its control. The Council also expressed its deep concern at the deteriorating political, military, and humanitarian situation in Angola.

The Council also held closed consultations on Somalia. In a statement read to the press after the consultations, the President of the Security Council expressed concern about the security and the humanitarian situation in Somalia, and appealed for international support.

**East Timor

The recent escalation of violence and intimidation, particularly in the western region of East Timor, has led to a new movement of internally displaced persons. It is estimated that several thousand people have moved away from the places where they registered and will therefore, have difficulties to vote on 30 August. United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) Civilian Police have been discussing additional security measures with the Indonesian police. UNAMET has been given assurances that the Indonesian police will increase their presence, and will patrol certain routes to ensure the free movement of voters on the polling day.

Groups of internally displaced persons continue to be targeted by armed militias, and the delivery of humanitarian assistance is severely restricted due to security concerns. There are reports of shortages of food and medical assistance in many areas. Today, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was to send a humanitarian convoy to Maubara. Another convoy is scheduled to go to Suai tomorrow, and another one is expected to go to Atabae on Friday.

Today, a large pro-independence rally took place in Dili and, as far as we are aware, there were no incidents. A pro- autonomy rally is scheduled for Dili tomorrow. These two rallies will close the electoral campaign in Dili. The last day of campaigning is Friday, and activities are planned by the two parties for different areas of East Timor. The weekend, 28 and 29 August, is the two-day "cooling-off" period, before the ballot day on Monday, 30 August.

Tomorrow, we will see another round of senior officials' talks on East Timor. This time it will take place in Lisbon. It will be chaired by Ambassador Jamsheed Marker, the Personal Representative of the Secretary-General, and it will discuss Phase 3, as well as the most recent developments on the ground. Ambassador Marker is expected to fly from Lisbon to Dili to be in East Timor before the ballot day on Monday.

**Kosovo

The Kosovo Transitional Council (KTC), this morning, held the first of its regular weekly meetings chaired by Bernard Kouchner, Special Representative of the Secretary-General. The meeting, which lasted two hours, discussed the question of the security of ethnic minorities, housing, and the idea of setting up executive directorates along sectoral lines. The question of the protection of minorities, particularly the Serbs, was discussed in light of a proposal on cantonization, tabled at the previous meeting of the Council by the leader of the Serb Resistance Movement. It was decided that the issue of the protection of minorities would be taken up at next Wednesday's meeting of the Council.

On the question of housing, the discussion centred on the emergency measures being taken by United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) to ensure a minimum of shelter for the people before the coming winter. In addition, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General briefed the Council on his proposal for the creation of Executive Directorates to ensure the early and direct involvement of the people of Kosovo in executive decisions on practical issues of direct relevance, such as housing, education, health and public utilities. He suggested that two co-directors, a technical expert from Kosovo and an UNMIK representative be chosen to lead each of the four Directorates. He also asked the participants for their suggested lists for those positions. The Council will meet again next Wednesday. As you know, it is now due to meet every Wednesday morning.

Today was the third day of UNMIK police duties for the city of Pristina. On Monday, UNMIK police made their first arrests. The suspects have been held at the detention centre at the Pristina main station. There are currently 744 UNMIK police deployed, and this week, UNMIK anticipates the arrival of another 172 new officers. Tomorrow, UNMIK will begin chairing the Joint Civil Commission on energy and public utilities, taking that position from KFOR, which did much of the emergency repair work on utilities in the immediate aftermath of the war. The Committee will be responsible for ensuring a multi-ethnic work force, and for overseeing the management of utilities in three sectors: energy, water and sanitation. UNMIK will take control of all utilities on 1 September.

Still on Kosovo, a short note here that UNMIK and the International Rescue Committee, a United States-based humanitarian organization, have started a project to provide Internet access in Kosovo for six months. The project will install a 3.8-meter dish, network equipment, and a microwave network for Internet access for key local educational, community and media institutions, as well as the international community. This will start on 1 September. It will provide the Post and Telecommunications Enterprise in Kosovo with an Internet connection free of charge.

We have available in our office a transcript of the press encounter that Bernard Kouchner had following the meeting of the Kosovo Transitional Council.

**Guatemala

Four members of the Guatemala Follow-up Commission are in New York today. They have had meetings in the morning with Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Kieran Prendergast, and the Guatemalan Group of Friends (Colombia, Mexico, Norway, Spain, Venezuela and the United States). In the afternoon, they will meet with the Deputy Secretary-General.

The purpose of their visit to the United Nations, the United States and Canada -- and later Europe -- is to consolidate international support for the peace process in Guatemala. They are updating Member States, the United Nations, and European institutions on the current phase of the peace process, and presenting priorities of the peace agenda during the coming year. The Commission, as you may recall, was established in 1997 under the terms of the Guatemala Peace Agreements. It is the technical-political body for the monitoring and facilitation of the implementation of the peace accords. It is comprised of representatives of the parties to the Peace Agreements -- Government and guerrilla -- four citizens, a representative of Congress, and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Guatemala, with voice but no vote in the Commission.

**Arrest of Momir Talic in Austria

We have available upstairs the statement by the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia on the arrest of Momir Talic today in Vienna. Acting on information that the accused was travelling to Austria to attend a conference on 24 August, the Prosecutor had arranged for a warrant of arrest directed to the Republic of Austria, to be delivered to the Austrian authorities.

**Iraq

We also have available in our office the weekly update of the Office of the Iraq Programme covering the period 14 to 20 August. This came late yesterday, we put it out yesterday, but I want to bring it to your attention today.

During the week to 20 August, Iraq exported a total of 18.8 million barrels of crude oil for an estimated revenue of $350 million dollars.

**Follow-up on Previous Questions

Before I go on to today's announcements, I would like to follow-up on two questions that were raised in yesterday's briefing. One was about a news report about executions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This is information that was provided by the Head of the Human Rights Office in Kinshasa at the opening of the seminar on administration of justice, which I mentioned to you yesterday. He said that over the past two years, 250 people have been executed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on orders given by a special military tribunal called Military Court of Order.

The second question was on the reaction of the United Nations staff members to the recent devastating and tragic earthquake in Turkey. In addition to the work we have been doing to facilitate and coordinate relief efforts as an institution, the United Nations Staff Committee has also initiated preparations for a Secretariat-wide appeal to all personnel to assist in alleviating the suffering of the victims of the earthquake in Turkey. A Relief Committee has been established to collect funds from staff members. As in the past, in cooperation with the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and all other agencies involved, the money will be donated to the responsible authorities in Turkey. The fund-raising event is tentatively scheduled to start on 1 September.

**Announcements

And now I have two announcements. The United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) invites its members to attend an advance screening of excerpts from a new documentary "Yugoslavia: the Avoidable War", followed by a question-and- answer session with a co-producer of the film, George Bogdanich. It will happen today, 25 August, at 4 p.m. at the UNCA Club on the third floor.

Tomorrow, Thursday, there will be a press conference here in room S-226 at 11 a.m. on the Expert Panels on Angola Sanctions. Ambassador Robert Fowler of Canada, Chairman of the Angola Sanctions Committee, and Ambassador Anders Mollander of Sweden, Chairman of the Angola Sanctions Expert Panels, will take part in the press conference.

This is all I have. Do you have any questions?

Question: With NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo unable to stop reprisals, Serb leaders are calling on the United Nations to create all-Serb enclaves within Kosovo. Any comment on these requests?

Answer: I believe this is related to the cantonization idea. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General today in Kosovo said that "cantonization is not a good word... It is outdated, it takes us back 10 years. We will talk at the next Council meeting, next Wednesday, about the protection and the offer to the Serbs to be protected when coming back." The point is that he does not think that it is a good word to reflect this, and the issue is to find the proper means of protection to minorities, the Serbs and the Romas, in particular, and the Albanians, of course.

Question: Has there been a comprehensive study on the effect of sanctions on children?

Answer: On the children, I believe it would have been UNICEF. Recently, I think there was something on that, regarding Iraq, in particular. I'll have to look at it for you. We'll get back to you on that.

Question: Is the date set for the presentation of credentials by Ambassador Holbrooke?

Answer: My understanding is that it will happen early in September, soon after the United States Labour Day holiday. So it should be around 7 September.

Question: Did Mr. Holbrooke tell Deputy-Secretary-General Louise Frechette today that the United States would pay its debt?

Answer: I don't have a readout of their meeting. I am still waiting for that. If we have that, I will let you know.

Thank you.

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