DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Stephane Dujarric, Associate Spokesman for the Secretary-General:

Greetings to you all, and a very happy Friday.

**Security Council

We'll start off with Security Council this morning -- their activities.  They are meeting in closed consultations this morning.  On the agenda are discussions on resolution 1306 on Sierra Leone diamonds and the draft resolution on Ethiopia-Eritrea.  The Council is also being briefed this morning by the Chairman of the Sierra Leone Sanctions Committee, and we do expect the President of the Council to make a statement to the press at the stakeout microphone at the conclusion of this morning's activities.

**United Nations Environment Programme

Today, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) issued a press release in Geneva on its ongoing analysis of the depleted uranium ordinance that was used during the Kosovo conflict in 1999. 

The UNEP says that samples collected at 11 sites in Kosovo during a November field mission are currently being analysed at laboratories in Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, the United Kingdom and Austria.  The UNEP team, which consisted of 14 scientists, collected soil, water, vegetation samples and conducted smear tests on buildings, destroyed army vehicles and depleted Uranium ordinance found on the ground.  Remnants of depleted uranium ammunition were found at eight sights, altogether about 340 samples are being analysed in these different labs. 

Special attention is also being paid to the risks that the depleted uranium toxicity might pose to ground waters around the sites where it was found. 

The final results of this study will be known in March of this year when UNEP issues its final report, but there is enough preliminary evidence to call for precautions when dealing with used depleted uranium ordinance or with sites where such ammunition might be found.

In addition to that UNEP press release, in today’s briefing notes from Kosovo, the Secretary-General's Special Representative, Dr. Bernard Kouchner is said to be meeting with World Health Organization (WHO) representatives and local Department of Public Health representatives in Kosovo on the matter of depleted uranium.

**Western Sahara

I have a statement here attributable to the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Western Sahara, William Eagleton.  It reads:

"During recent days, the planned passage of the Paris-Dakar rally through the territory of Western Sahara has taken on unintended political connotations.  This has led to statements by officials of the Polisario Front warning that the ceasefire would be considered broken if rally participants enter into Western Sahara on 7 January as contemplated, and that force would be employed to prevent passage of the rally through the Territory.  We are seriously concerned by these statements.

It should be emphasized that there is no reason to infer that the crossing of Western Sahara as part of a sporting event in any way constitutes recognition of the sovereignty of either side over the Territory, whose final status, as is well known, remains to be determined.  Any hostile action by either party would constitute a gross violation of the ceasefire, and would only serve to undermine the ongoing efforts towards achieving an early, durable and agreed resolution of the dispute over Western Sahara.  In these circumstances, we appeal to all concerned to exercise the utmost restraint.”

Copies of the statement are available upstairs.

**Democratic Republic of the Congo

On the Democratic Republic of the Congo, yesterday in Kigali, General Diallo, the Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), met with Rwanda's Army Chief of Staff, Major General Kayumba Nyamwasa, and other senior Rwandan officials.  The Force Commander held cordial talks with his Rwandan counterpart to try to prevent any upsurge in fighting and to follow up to Rwanda's offer to withdraw its forces from the town of Pweto in the southeastern province of Katanga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In terms of news, that's all I have for you.  I'll just run through the week ahead.  And before I do that I'd remind you, for those who haven't already done so, if you could hand in the surveys that Fred distributed at the end of last year concerning the work of the Spokesman's Office.  We'd appreciate it. 

**Week Ahead     

On Monday, the Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), Catherine Bertini will be the guest here at the noon briefing.

And as I mentioned yesterday, also on Monday, the Secretary-General will be inaugurating the new offices of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in the Chrysler Building.

And on Wednesday, we have the Security Council, which will hold its monthly luncheon with the Secretary-General. 

And the Secretary-General on Wednesday will also speak at the National Conference of the World Affairs Council of America.

On Thursday, the Acting Emergency Relief Coordinator, Carolyn McAskie, will begin a visit to northeast Asia, which is to last through 24 January. 

Her trip will include visits to China, Japan, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea and Mongolia.

And on Friday of next week, the Chairmanship of the Group of

77 developing nations and China will pass from Nigeria to Iran, and the Secretary-General will be attending that event.

And the President of the General Assembly, Harry Holkeri, will begin a visit to East Timor on Friday, which is to last through 14 January.  During the visit he will meet with Special Representative Sergio Vieira de Mello and senior East Timorese officials.

**UNCA Announcement

And I have an announcement here on behalf of the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA).  Ambassador Kishore Mahbubani, the Permanent Representative of Singapore to the United Nations and the current President of the Security Council will be present at the UNCA Club on Monday, this coming Monday, at 3 p.m.

And that's it.  Any questions?

**Questions and Answers

Question:  Is there any reaction to the report in a local paper about the lawsuit accusing a United Nations official of illegally paying low wages to household help in yesterday's Post?

Associate Spokesman:  We saw the report, and that is the first we heard of this case.  I'm not going to comment on any specifics of the case since it is before the courts. 

What I would say is that we do have very strong and clear guidelines on how United Nations international staff residing in New York are to treat their household employees, especially those who hold visas that are linked to the international staff.  The requirements include obviously fair and proper treatment, but also require the United Nations employee to report regularly on their compliance with United States regulation in the treatment of their domestic workers, which includes the payment of wages, taxes, United States Social Security tax, and health insurance.  And if the United Nations employee doesn't follow those guidelines, then we do have a procedure by which we reserve the right to take disciplinary action against the United Nations employee.

We're trying to get a hold of those guidelines, and I would be happy to make those available to you. 

That's it?  Have a wonderful weekend.  Thank you.

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