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 Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-general:

Good afternoon.  We’ll start, again today with reaction to the earthquake in El Salvador.

** Earthquake in El Salvador

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has received a contribution of 1.5 billion lira, which is roughly $700,000, from the Government of Italy for its rehabilitation and reconstruction work in El Salvador following the weekend earthquake.  The contribution forms part of the $1.2 million being channeled through the UNDP, including $100,000 from its Emergency Response Division to support coordination and logistics.  Ten United Nations Volunteers are also assisting in the relief operations.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced today that it has committed $500,000 for immediate relief aid to El Salvador.  The money will be used to provide water tanks, water purification tablets and portable latrines for those displaced by the earthquake, as well as medical supplies and drugs to fight the spread of disease.  The UNICEF has also to address the psycho-social impact of the earthquake on children.  Educational supplies and school kits are being provided to reopen schools, in tents if necessary, in order to restore a sense of normalcy to the affected children.  A press release is available in my office with more details.

The World Food Programme (WFP), meanwhile, is continuing to provide emergency food to the hardest hit communities of El Salvador.  Some

54,500 people are currently being fed in the towns of –- excuse my Spanish mispronunciation -- La Libertad, La Paz,  Usulután,  Don Rúa,  Tecoluca and Comasagua.  It doesn’t sound right, does it?

** Security Council

Anyway, this morning, the Security Council began an open debate on the strengthening of cooperation with troop-contributing countries, which is being chaired by the Foreign Minister of Singapore (S. Jayakumar).

Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette opened the meeting by underscoring the need for consultations between the Security Council and troop-contributors, noting that "we all stand to gain from a clear understanding between those who prepare the mandates and those who execute them".  She said that the Secretariat is committed to providing frequent and comprehensive briefings to Member States.

She also noted the recommendations of last year's Panel on Peace Operations, chaired by Lakhdar Brahimi, to strengthen cooperation with troop-contributing countries, by, among other steps, the establishment of a list of military and civilian police specialists who are on call.

The debate is now proceeding.  There are 36 speakers inscribed for this debate, including 21 troop-contributing countries, who will speak before the

15 members of the Security Council.  The debate is expected to last into the afternoon.

Tomorrow, the Council is expected to hold consultations on Ethiopia and Eritrea, and a meeting of troop-contributing countries involved in the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon has been scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.

** SG’s Report on Ethiopia-Eritrea

The Secretary-General’s progress report on Ethiopia and Eritrea is out as a Security Council document today.

The Secretary-General described the signing of the 12 December Peace Agreement in Algiers as a major achievement, which underlines the commitment of both countries to the consolidation of the peace process.  He said that the delay in establishing the Temporary Security Zone, due to disagreements between the parties over redeployment plans, is a source of concern, and that his Special Representative has been asked to work with the parties to resolve this matter.

The Secretary-General also outlines “a few matters” pertaining to the deployment of the United Nations mission which also remain to be resolved, such as the signing of the status-of-forces agreement.

Subject to the availability of resources, he said the United Nations will be ready to assist in the work of the so-called Boundary Commission.

He flagged the issue of mines and unexploded ordnance as the remaining pre-eminent threat to the United Nations troops and population around the Zone to be established.

** Iraq

The Office of the Iraq Programme, in its weekly update, notes that during the week of 6 to 12 January, Iraqi oil exports under the United Nations oil-for-food programme continued to register below average figures.  Through three oil loadings at Mina al-Bakr terminal, Iraq exported 4.7 million barrels of oil, raising an estimated 98 million euros in revenue.  There have been no oil loadings at Ceyhan terminal this month, while there was only a single loading in the month of December.

According to the United Nations oil overseers, there was an estimated loss of $1 billion in revenue, as a result of disrupted and reduced Iraqi oil exports, under the programme during the month of December only, with an additional estimated revenue loss of $380 million in the first 10 days of January.

Iraq exported approximately 18 million barrels of crude oil in December -- some 50 million barrels less than expected, while during the first 10 days of January, the exports were 22 million barrels below those anticipated.

In the current phase, Phase IX, Iraq so far has exported 22.4 million barrels of oil for an estimated 464 million euros.  The US dollar was replaced with the euro for the Iraqi oil purchases in early November 2000, at the request of the Government of Iraq and with the authorization of the Security Council’s 661 sanctions committee for Iraq.    

You can pick up the full text of the weekly update in my office.

** Sierra Leone

Late last week, the Secretary-General, in a letter to the Security Council, presented his views concerning the Council's response last month to his report on the establishment of a Special Court for Sierra Leone; that letter is out on the racks today.

In it, the Secretary-General notes the Security Council's preference that the Court's jurisdiction be extended to "persons who bear the greatest responsibility", limiting the focus of the Court's activities to those who played a leadership role in human rights violations in Sierra Leone.  However, the Secretary-General adds, "Any such determination will have to be reconciled with an eventual prosecution of juveniles and members of a peacekeeping operation, even if such prosecutions are unlikely".

He also notes that Council members have proposed that the Court should not be established until the United Nations Secretariat has obtained sufficient voluntary contributions to finance its first 12 months of operations, as well as pledges equal to anticipated expenses over the next 12 months.

In response, the Secretary-General, cautions in his letter about the risks of establishing an operation of this kind with insufficient funds.  He proposes that the Court should not be established until contributions for the first

12 months, and pledges to handle anticipated expenses for the next 24 months, have been received.

** East African Community

We have the following statement attributable to the Spokesman concerning the new East African Community:

“The Secretary-General welcomes the creation of the new East African Community (EAC) comprising Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, launched on 15 January, in Arusha, Tanzania, at a signing ceremony presided over by the presidents of those three countries.  The EAC is the latest of many efforts of groups of African countries to integrate their economies more effectively and to collaborate more actively in the design and implementation of their economic and social policies.  This most recent effort may well turn out to be a building block for the envisaged African Economic Community.  The United Nations supports the strong commitment of African countries to multilateralism and initiatives such as the EAC that strengthen Africa's capacity to meet the challenges of globalization.  The demands of a rapidly changing international economic environment require new responses and the Secretary-General wishes the EAC all success.”

** Lebanon

Staffan di Mistura, the Secretary-General's new Personal Representative for Southern Lebanon, just concluded a cordial and constructive meeting in Beirut with Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, in which the two discussed political, economic and humanitarian issues related to southern Lebanon.

The Prime Minister requested that the United Nations take the lead role on the issue of demining in the south, and recalled that 130,000 mines remain planted in that region.

The meeting also focused on the need for cooperation between the United Nations and Lebanon to promote better economic and social conditions in the south.

** East Timor

Last item for today.  Next week in Baucau, the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor will officially receive from East Timorese construction companies three rehabilitated buildings which had been destroyed in the violence following the popular consultation in 1999.

The East Timorese companies last month finished rehabilitation work on the buildings, which were the Public Prosecutor's Office, the administration building of the prison and the court.  Meanwhile, in Dili, four other major public buildings are being reconstructed, in work that has employed more than 350 East Timorese, and seven other buildings have already been rehabilitated in Dili.

If you want more information, see today’s briefing notes from Dili.

** Questions and Answers

Question:  Concerning the fate of President Kabila, does the United Nations have any information from Kinshasa?

Spokesman:  We saw wire service reports late this morning that there had been some shooting in Kinshasa.  We did contact Kamel Morjane, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a few minutes ago in Kinshasa.  He says that the situation in the centre of the city is quiet now.  There was some indication that fighting had taken place and that “something”, he said, had happened in the area of the presidential palace. Movement around the presidential palace was now controlled.  Separate reports indicated that troops with heavy weapons were patrolling that area.

Morjane also reported that the DRC’s borders have been closed, and the airport also reportedly has been closed.

President Kabila had been scheduled to attend the Franco-African Summit in Yaounde, where the Secretary-General is also going, and we are checking with Yaounde to see if there are any indications that he has arrived there.

Question:  What is the latest on the Congo?  After months and months of the United Nations trying to get troops there, what is the latest with the observers; what is the United Nations presence there?

Spokesman:  As you know, we have a number of observers there.  The idea was to dispatch troops who would provide protection for the observers who had been organized into four different camps around the country.  The cooperation that would be necessary from the Government to implement these plans has not been forthcoming.  The Security Council, though, has not wanted to shut down the mission.  And so we maintain observers there.  They are not deployed in all the areas we would like them to be and those that are deployed have often had difficulty with their freedom of movement.  So it’s not a particularly satisfactory situation, but it’s not one that the Security Council wants to give up on yet.

Question:  How are you monitoring this?

Spokesman:  We report to the Council regularly on our effort to implement the mandate they have given us.  When it’s time to renew this mandate, they debate it and take action, and the latest action is to keep us there.

Question:  The Iraqi oil exports are much lower than expected.  Is there any explanation for that?  Is Iraq still trying to get this 57 cents per dollar surcharge?

Spokesman:  To my knowledge they are and, of course, that has not been approved by the Security Council.  But you’ll have to ask Iraq why their exports are below anticipated levels.

Question:  When is the Security Council going to have on resolution

1244 on its agenda -- this week some time?

Spokesman:  You’re talking like a bureaucrat.  What is 1244?

Correspondent:  It’s the Kosovo resolution.

Spokesman: I don’t have their programme for this week.  If you ask me back at the Office, I’ll tell you when that’s coming up.  [He later said the Security Council had scheduled an open meeting on Kosovo on Thursday.]

Question:  The tenth anniversary of the Gulf War eruption is today, or tonight.  Is this a significant day in United Nations history?  Also any special notes, memories or is it just another day?

Spokesman:  I think it’s mainly the media who are doing the 10-year retrospectives on Iraq.  There are no events scheduled in the building that I’m aware of.  Thank you very much.

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