DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
20001113The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Marie Okabe, Associate Spokeswoman for the Secretary-General, and Susan Markham, Spokeswoman for the President of the General Assembly.
Briefing by Associate Spokeswoman for Secretary-General
**Secretary-General in Qatar
Good afternoon. The Secretary-General is continuing his visit to Doha, Qatar, with a series of bilateral meetings that are going on now. In fact, he is expected to meet with Izzat Ibrahim, Vice-Chairman of the Revolutionary Council of Iraq, within the hour.
Earlier today, the Secretary-General discussed the Middle East situation, among other topics, with a host of senior officials in bilateral meetings, including the Prime Minister of Lebanon and the Presidents of Algeria and Mali, the Foreign Ministers of Tunisia, Qatar and Oman, the Amir of Qatar and the Sheik of Sharja.
He also discussed the situation in Côte d'Ivoire with the former Foreign Minister of Côte d'Ivoire, Amara Essy, which he also discussed with President Alpha Oumar Konare of Mali, the Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). He still has other meetings scheduled for today and is expected to leave Qatar for New York tomorrow morning.
Yesterday, the Secretary-General spoke at the summit meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference and highlighted in his speech, which is available upstairs, the situations in the Palestinian territories, Afghanistan and Iraq.
On the Palestinian question, he said the main issue is "how to bring an end to the violence and killings and how to respect the sanctity of every human life, Palestinian or Israeli, young or old". He added: "The question is how to respond to the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians to personal dignity and material independence, as well as to the legitimate claims of the Israelis for recognition and security, and how to help both sides achieve a peace that is just, a peace that brings real benefits and real rewards to every individual Palestinian and Israeli".
The Secretary-General also expressed his sorrow on the death of Leah Rabin in a statement that is also available in the Spokesman's Office. He said "She made a great contribution in her own right to the cause of peace after the assassination of her husband", former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin.
Among his meetings yesterday with leaders attending the summit was one with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, in which the Secretary-General emphasized the urgency of breaking the cycle of violence that is gripping the region. They assessed the prospects for resuming the peace talks in the waning days of the administration of United States President Bill Clinton.
Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 13 November 2000
The Secretary-General also held discussions yesterday with King Abdullah of Jordan, which focused on ways to stop the Middle East violence, and with Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, which dealt with the need to disarm militias in West Timor and facilitate the return of East Timorese refugees there.
He also met last evening with Iranian President Mohammed Khatami, whom he praised for his skillful chairmanship of the Organization of the Islamic Conference and his launch of the Dialogue of Civilizations. They also discussed the Middle East, and President Khatami thanked the Secretary-General for the United Nations efforts to find a political solution in Afghanistan.
We also have available other materials from the Secretary-General's travels over the weekend, including transcripts from Saturday, when he visited Bahrain and inaugurated a United Nations House there.
**Security Council Mission to East Timor
The Security Council mission finished its second day in East Timor today, after arriving early Sunday morning in Dili.
Today, the mission visited the town of Suai, in south-western Timor, one of the areas most affected by the violence that followed the popular consultation held on 30 August 1999.
The Council delegates were briefed by United Nations representatives in the area and reaffirmed its keen interest in the repatriation of refugees from West Timor. They learned that the few Timorese coming back to the Suai region report that the militias continue to intimidate refugees in West Timor camps.
In the afternoon, the Council delegates visited the site of the Suai church massacre, which occurred on 6 September 1999. After the visit, they participated in a town hall meeting at the newly constructed Peace and Reconciliation Centre.
Ambassador Martin Andjaba, who leads the delegation, opened the town hall meeting and said: "We are here to listen to your problems". He asked those gathered for the meeting, "Have you achieved your aspirations for freedom and independence?".
Upon returning to Dili, the East Timorese capital, the Security Council delegation met with Timorese community leaders involved in reconciliation initiatives. They also met with representatives of international and local non- governmental organizations.
Yesterday, the Council mission joined Xanana Gusmao, President of the National Council of East Timorese Resistance, and Special Representative Sergio Vieira de Mello at a ceremony at the Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili and laid a wreath in honour of those killed in 1999. Further details on that mission can be found in today's briefing notes from Dili which are available upstairs.
**Sierra Leone
The Secretary-General's Special Representative for Sierra Leone, Oluyemi Adeniji, today briefed correspondents in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, upon return form Abuja where the Government of Sierra Leone and the Revolutionary United Front signed a 10-point ceasefire agreement late Friday.
In response to questions, Adeniji said he would now enter discussions with the parties of the agreement -- the Government and the Revolutionary United Front -- to discuss its implementation. The Security Council is expected to take up this matter in consultations tomorrow. Meanwhile, a British naval task force arrived off the coast of Sierra Leone over the weekend. The task force is aimed at supporting the United Nations peacekeeping force in that country.
**Security Council
The Security Council met in closed consultations this morning, where they discussed the draft resolution on the Brahimi report and the report of the Council's Working Group on the Brahimi Report. They are currently in a formal meeting and are expected to formally adopt the resolution shortly.
Tomorrow, the Council is expected to discuss a draft presidential statement on the situation in the Solomon Islands relating to the recently signed Townsville Agreement and they are also expected to be briefed on the recent ceasefire agreement, as I just mentioned, between the RUF and the Government of Sierra Leone.
**State of the World's Refugees
The number of asylum seekers in developed countries will continue to swell unless more is done to address the root causes of conflict and to help millions of displaced people within their own regions, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warns in a new book launched in Washington, D.C., this morning.
The State of the World's Refugees: Fifty Years of Humanitarian Action, provides a historical overview of refugee movements over the past five decades. Other issues covered by the book include internally displaced people who have been forced to flee their homes, but have not crossed an international border to become refugees.
The Secretary-General, in the book's preface, said that as a former UNHCR staff member himself, he had witnessed the desperate plight of uprooted people in many situations and that the book was a tribute to the courage demonstrated by millions of displaced around the world and the dedication of all those who have worked to protect them.
The text of the book is available on the UNHCR Web site.
**Global Warming
The Sixth Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change opened in The Hague today.
Addressing the opening session by video message, the Secretary-General said the task facing the conference was enormous. "If we are to bring greenhouse gas emissions down to a sustainable level", he said, "we need to make radical changes in the world economy, and in the way we all live".
He added that if the Kyoto Protocol could be brought into force by 2002 "our hopes of a sustainable future will be greatly strengthened".
The Conference, which is scheduled to run through 24 November, elected as its president Jan Pronk, the Dutch Environment Minister. Copies of the Secretary- General's message are available upstairs.
And also available upstairs is a press release from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) highlighting a statement on the climate change conference from its Executive Director, Klaus Toepfer, who said that decisive, early action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by industrialized countries was needed. You can pick that up upstairs.
**Bosnia and Herzegovina
Last Friday, just a day before the elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina took place, the UN Mission's International Police Task Force carried out a series of unannounced weapons inspections of law enforcement facilities in Canton 10, which includes Glamoc and Kupres.
The UN police found more than 250 unauthorized and undeclared weapons including AK-47 assault rifles and Uzi machine guns, in the possession of the local police. In a press release, the UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina called the weapon discoveries "clearly alarming" and added: "There is no justification whatsoever for civilian law enforcement agencies operating in a peacetime environment to have such a large number of military-style weapons".
Elsewhere in the Balkans, the weapons found by the Kosovo Force, that's the KFOR troops, and UN police last week near the village of Dac Mala in Kosovo will be destroyed this Friday at KFOR's Camp Bonsteel. Additional details are in today's briefing notes from Pristina.
**World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is proposing the creation of a new top-level domain dot health (.health), to make reliable health information easier to locate on the Internet.
Top-level domains are the extensions to Internet site names, such as dot com and dot org. The proposal is among those being considered this week by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the body which regulates Internet site names, as it meets in Los Angeles.
We have a press release in English and French with more information.
**Reports and Press Releases
Just a couple more reports and press releases. On the racks today are three on the financing of peacekeeping missions. The reports of the Secretary-General on the Financing of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo and of the United Nations Transnational Administration in East Timor contain the proposed budgets for the period 1 July 2000 to 30 June 2001. There is also a report of the Secretary-General on the Financing of the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force, detailing the final disposition of assets of that mission.
And UNICEF announces that its Goodwill Ambassador, Susan Sarandon, will be visiting India for three days starting tomorrow. We have this release upstairs and the reports, as I mentioned, on the racks.
**Press Conference
And finally at 1 p.m. this afternoon here in room 226, Under Secretary- General for Economic and Social Affairs, Nitin Desai, will be joined via video conference by former Costa Rican President Jose Maria Figueres, who is the Secretary-General's Envoy to deal with information technology development issues. Please note that this press conference was originally scheduled for 11 o'clock.
And that's all I have for you. Before I turn to Sue, are there any questions?
Question: On Wednesday, regarding the Security Council meeting on exit strategies, are there going to be any draft decisions or resolutions coming out of that, or is it just a debate?
Associate Spokeswoman: As I mentioned to you, I think on Friday, there is a discussion paper that has been circulated by the President of the Security Council in a letter to the Secretary-General. That paper outlines the topics that will be discussed. It is an open debate, so everything will be on air for you to see.
Question: Did you say that regarding the draft resolution of the Brahimi report, the Council is going to hold an open session now?
Associate Spokeswoman: The formal meeting is I think about to get started. [The resolution was adopted unanimously.]
Question: Have there been any developments since the agreement between the two sides in Afghanistan?
Associate Spokeswoman: As you know when the Secretary-General's Personal Representative, Francesc Vendrell, was here, he said that this was a beginning of a process and that the process started from the moment when the two sides signed the agreement. He is in the region and he is beginning his shuttle diplomacy and I believe he said he hoped that some kind of meeting between the parties might take place by the end of the month. Sue?
Briefing by Spokeswoman for President of General Assembly
Thank you. The plenary this morning began its discussion of the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations and we expect them to adopt a resolution on that. If it is adopted, the General Assembly will decide to hold two days of plenary meetings next year on 3 and 4 December on this issue. As you know, next year is the international year.
**General Assembly President in Washington, D.C.
The President of the General Assembly is travelling to Washington, D.C. this afternoon and among his meetings there, the primary reason for his going is to meet with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Apparently this is the first time that a President of the General Assembly has travelled to Washington, D.C. to meet with the World Bank or the IMF.
This is really to further some of the work of the General Assembly. There are resolutions that say there should be a close working relationship between the World Bank and the IMF and the General Assembly. So he is going to discuss a number of issues, including financing for development and information communications technology. His programme is in the Spokesman's Office.
**Fourth Committee
In the Committees today, the Fourth Committee took up the issues of public information, Questions Relating to Information is the actual title of the agenda item.
**Sixth Committee
The Sixth Committee is discussing terrorism.
**Fifth Committee
The Fifth Committee is meeting this morning on a whole series of UN related issues, including the common system, efficiency, the pension system and the other issues.
**Second Committee
The Second Committee is having informal consultations.
And as you know the First Committee and the Third Committee have now finished their work. That's all I have.
Question: Is it still scheduled for their reports to go to plenary on 20 November?
Spokeswoman: That's what I heard but I think it might be changed. I haven't got a firm date yet. When we have a date for the First Committee report, I'll let you know as far in advance as I can. It's not firm for 20 November.
Question: The IMF and the World Bank already send their reports to the General Assembly. Are you now going to upgrade those institutions?
Spokeswoman: We wouldn't upgrade the institutions at all. Its really to try and get a closer working relationship because many of the issues that are dealt with in the General Assembly are also very important issues for the World Bank and the IMF. So the President is really exploring ways that the IMF and the World Bank can work closer with the Assembly. One way might be to have them speak during discussions on the follow-up to the Millennium Summit in the General Assembly. They are trying to just explore how to make that working relationship closer. There are a whole lot of things they are going to discuss on that issue but certainly we wouldn't be upgrading these institutions, no.
Question: What do you do with their reports, because every year they are mandated to send their reports to the General Assembly?
Spokeswoman: That would continue but this is to try and get involved in other issues at the working level as well.
Associate Spokeswoman: Any other questions? Have a good afternoon.
* *** *