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.

**Noon Guest

Good afternoon. Our guest at today’s briefing will be Ambassador Makarim Wibisono, the Permanent Representative of Indonesia, who will be here in his capacity as President of the Economic and Social Council. He’ll be talking to you about the United Nations campaign on Information Technology for the World. He’ll be joining us towards the end of the briefing and then he’ll speak to you and take your questions.

**FAO Loss of Life in Baghdad

Unfortunately, my first note of today is a very sad one. I will start by telling you that the Secretary-General deeply deplores the senseless loss of life of two Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) colleagues today in Baghdad. At about 8:30 this morning, a gunman entered the FAO building in Baghdad and a shootout ensued. As a result, two FAO staff members were killed. Also, three other FAO staff, along with four Iraqi government guards, were injured. The Iraqi guards and two staff members were injured by gunfire. The third FAO staff member, Mohammed Farah, who was at the FAO Baghdad office for meetings, was injured while trying to jump out of the building after the shooting began. The gunman held an FAO staff member, Amar Karki of Nepal, at gunpoint for over two hours at the FAO office reception area. The remainder of the staff was kept inside the building during the incident.

The gunman, who claimed to be carrying explosives, issued a number of demands relating to the current state of sanctions against Iraq. He said if his demands were not met he would blow up the building. A few minutes after 11 a.m. local time in Baghdad, the gunman surrendered to local police and remains in their custody. At the request of the United Nations security coordinator, the Iraqi Government is investigating the incident.

The deceased FAO staff have been identified as follows: Yussuf Abdilleh, administrative officer, a Somali national, and Marewan Mohammed Hassan, data specialist, an Iraqi national. In addition to Mr. Farah, the two other FAO staff injured are Fadel Abas Al-Rubah, civil engineer, and Uday Tha al-Dulaimi, also a civil engineer, both of whom are Iraqi nationals. All of the wounded FAO staff members are in a hospital.

**Secretary-General in Warsaw

The Secretary-General began his Warsaw programme today with a session with the Foreign Minister of Poland, Bronislaw Geremek, with whom he reviewed United Nations objectives for the Millennium Summit in September. They spoke about humanitarian issues, the fight against international crime, conflict prevention and the role of civil society in the United Nations. Afterwards they had a brief press encounter. As soon as we have that transcript, we’ll share that with you. After that, the Secretary-General went to the Polish Parliament, where he met with the Speaker of the Parliament, Maciej Plazynski. Following that, he met with the Speaker of the Upper House, Alicja Grzeskowiak.

After those two meetings with the parliamentarians, the Secretary-General had a formal meeting with Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek. They focused on environmental issues, in which the Prime Minister has specialized for 30 years, and on the upcoming Millennium Assembly, as well as the democratic transition in Poland. Both of them made statements to the press and as soon as we have them, we’ll share them with you. The Secretary-General was then the guest at a luncheon hosted by the Foreign Minister. The Secretary-General left afterwards, and as we speak, he’s flying to Hungary.

**Sierra Leone

The Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), Maj. Gen. Vijay Jetley, today travelled to Mile 91 by helicopter to assess the situation there following reports in recent days of fighting near the area between pro-government forces and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). Some 40,000 internally displaced persons have gathered at Mile 91, and humanitarian workers have been concerned by the security situation in the area. There was an indication that some of the displaced persons, who had fled upon receiving rumours of fighting in recent days, were returning to the area, which is reported to be calm.

The Force Commander addressed a gathering of internally displaced persons at Mile 91, and urged them to remain calm and to organize themselves into manageable communities. He also talked to local humanitarian workers, praising them for their hard work and discussing the area's urgent needs. UNAMSIL plans to reinforce Mile 91, where two Guinean companies are currently located. Some Nigerian reinforcements have already arrived there, and other troops are expected to arrive during the course of this week.

**UNHCR Resumes in Mitrovica

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) resumed its humanitarian activities in northern Mitrovica as of Wednesday morning. The decision came following positive statements yesterday from Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, who assured the UNHCR that those responsible for the violence that led to the suspension of activities last Thursday would be brought to justice. The suspension followed a riot in northern Mitrovica on Wednesday night last week, in which a crowd of Serbs torched and stoned dozens of United Nation and humanitarian vehicles, and scuffled with the police.

**Western Sahara Talks

Today in London, the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara, James Baker III, began direct talks with the parties to that dispute, Morocco and the POLISARIO Front, as well as the neighbouring countries, Algeria and Mauritania. We just heard that today's talks began to wrap up at about 4 p.m. London time. The discussions today were described as "full and frank" and may resume at a later date. The Secretary-General, in his last report on Western Sahara, urged the parties to "offer specific and concrete solutions" to the problems that have hindered the implementation of the Settlement Plan. Otherwise, he said, the parties should be "prepared to consider other ways of achieving an early, durable and agreed resolution of the dispute over Western Sahara".

East Timor Update

On news from East Timor, a public hearing aimed at creating an independent broadcasting authority in East Timor is scheduled to take place tomorrow in Dili. The hearing will be chaired by the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Jean Christian Cady, and will include testimonies from media groups, radio stations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Also, a measles vaccination campaign, carried out by the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) and the Portuguese NGO AMI, has just been concluded in the district of Ermera, where about 1,400 children have been inoculated. To date, some 4,000 children have been vaccinated against measles in East Timor. You can get more details in the briefing note that UNTAET sent us, which we have in our Office.

**Fighting in Sudan

I have a statement attributable to the Spokesman. It’s on the Sudan: The Secretary-General is concerned by the renewed fighting in the Bahr-e-Ghazal area between the forces of the Government of the Sudan and the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement. He urges all parties to the conflict to desist immediately from fighting in order to save the lives of innocent civilians, and to restore the humanitarian ceasefire.

Security Council

Here in New York, the Security Council is holding informal consultations this morning on Burundi. Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast briefed the Council on the internal political situation in Burundi and developments in the Arusha peace process, including the activities of the facilitator, Nelson Mandela. He also briefed on the security, humanitarian and economic situation in the country. Under other matters, the Executive Director of the Office of the Iraq Programme, Benon Sevan, has briefed the Council on the incident in Iraq that happened in the FAO office.

WHO on Mobile Phones

The World Health Organization (WHO) today issued revised recommendations on the use of mobile phones. Revised Fact Sheet No. 193 was published following a recent international conference on the possible health effects of mobile telephones conducted by WHO, and the release of key national reviews in Canada and the United Kingdom. Among the key recommendations is the need for new studies to confirm recent findings that mobile phones may cause changes in brain activity, reaction times and sleep patterns. Also, motorists should be strongly discouraged from using mobile phones while driving. Copies of the press release and the Fact Sheet are available in the Spokesman’s Office.

ILO Initiative on Social Development

Also available in the Spokesman’s Office is a press release from the International Labour Organization (ILO) announcing a new social development programme aimed at promoting sustainable human development at the local and national level. Initially to be funded by a 15 billion lira grant from the Italian Government, which is about $7.5 million, the “Universitas” programme will seek to promote decent work through training of development officials and ILO social partners in some 15 developing countries in Central America, the Mediterranean, the West Bank and Gaza, the Balkans and Africa.

**Rwanda Pays Membership

On budget, Rwanda has become the ninety-sixth Member State to pay its dues in full to the United Nations regular budget for this year. It made a payment today of just over $10,000.

**Upcoming Briefings

As I close the briefing, a couple of announcements. Tomorrow, the guest at the noon briefing will be Kate Raworth, an economist from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and co-author of The Human Development Report 2000, which is being launched tomorrow. Also for tomorrow, Thursday, there will be three press conferences. At 10:30, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is sponsoring a press conference on the book entitled, “Female Genital Mutilation: A Guide to Laws and Policies Worldwide”. At 11:15, the Coalition for an International Criminal Court will brief on the work of the Preparatory Commission for the Establishment of the International Criminal Court; at 12:30, following the briefing, Sergio Vieira de Mello, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for East Timor, will be talking with you.

So this is all I have for you today. Are there any questions before we move to Ambassador Wibisono?

Questions and Answers

Question: Is Mr. Miyet’s replacement in New York? Jean-Marie Guéhenno?

Deputy Spokesman: He is to undertake his functions on 1 October.

Question: And he’s not available in New York? Where is he now? Can we interview him?

Deputy Spokesman: I would at this point refer you to the French Mission. He is still a French official at this point.

Question: Is there any news about why the gunman in Iraq surrendered?

Deputy Spokesman: As I reported to you, an investigation will be taking place. We have no more details than what I gave you at this time.

Question: Today the leader of the Hezbollah announced that they were expecting a ceasefire in southern Lebanon. In other words, it’s the first time they announced that there is a ceasefire. Is there any reaction on the United Nations’ part?

Answer: I’ll have to get you more details on that. Thank you very much. Ambassador, you have the floor, welcome.