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:

** SG in Yaounde

Good afternoon.  Africans are showing "a new will to look their problems squarely in the face", the Secretary-General said this morning in an address to the France-Africa summit in Yaounde, Cameroon.  He cited as examples the recent peace agreement between Eritrea and Ethiopia, the free and fair elections in Ghana and African leaders' willingness to break the wall of silence on HIV/AIDS.

Industrialized countries must be convinced of the importance of Africa, he told the assembled heads of State.  "We must appeal to their enlightened self-interest", he said.  "We must convince them that Africa matters, and that this is a time to increase, not diminish, their positive engagement with us."

In the margins of the summit, he had the occasion to talk with a large number of African leaders, both in bilateral meetings and in casual conversation.  A list of his bilateral meetings is available in my Office, as is the full text of his speech.

** Kosovo

The Security Council is currently holding a formal meeting on Kosovo, on which it heard a briefing by Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean Marie Guéhenno on the latest developments there since mid-December.

In the briefing, Guéhenno noted the work the United Nations has done to deal with the possible depleted uranium problem in Kosovo.  He said that an initial survey by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Mission's Department of Health and Public Welfare indicates that the incidence of leukemia in adults in Kosovo has not increased.  However, he added, the Mission has posted warning signs in all areas known to have been targeted by shells containing depleted uranium, and the WHO is dispatching to Kosovo three specialists who can assess the consequences of exposure to depleted uranium.

To remind you, the final report on depleted uranium of the team of scientists led by the United Nations Environment Programme, which visited Kosovo last November, is expected by March.

Guéhenno also noted that additional progress has been made to deal with the issue of Kosovo Albanians detained in Serbia.  (I had a question on that a few days ago).  However, he added, the security situation remains serious, with a United Nations municipal building in Zubin Potok struck in a shooting and grenade attack last month.  Also, attacks have continued against minorities, including Kosovo Serbs and Ashkalijas.  (That’s terrible pronunciation!).

We have copies of his speech upstairs, and following his briefing, members of the Council began to discuss Kosovo, and that discussion is continuing right now.

Then, at 3:30 this afternoon, the Council will go into closed consultations to discuss recent developments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Liberia.

Tomorrow, the Council will have another public meeting -- this time on the follow-up to Security Council Resolution 1308 (2000), which concerns the impact of HIV/AIDS on peacekeeping.

** Financing for Development

Last month, when the Secretary-General announced his new High-level Panel on Financing for Development, which is chaired by former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, he noted that more people might be added to the initial nine names on the panel.

Today, we can announce the addition of two more people to the panel.  They are Masayoshi Son, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Softbank Corporation in Japan; and Aleksander Livshitz, Chairman of the Board of the Russian Credit Bank.

We have their c.v.'s, as well as the revised list of the High-level Panel, available in my Office.

** Iraq

Benon Sevan, Executive Director of the Office of the Iraq Programme, sent a letter to the Security Council’s 661 sanctions committee on Iraq expressing concern at the “unacceptably slow” rate of contracting of humanitarian supplies by the Government of Iraq under Phase Eight of the Programme.

The letter was sent on 16 January and it said that as of 15 January, the Iraq Programme had received a total of $4.265 billion worth of contracts for humanitarian supplies under Phase Eight, against a total of $7.798 billion  allocated for that phase for that purpose.

The letter underlines that despite all the concerns expressed regarding the nutritional and health status of the Iraqi people, the total value of contracts received under the health sector, for example, was only $83 million, against $624 million allocated for that sector under Phase Eight.

Sevan said he was “gravely concerned with regard to the unacceptably slow rate of submission of applications, in particular under the health, education, water and sanitation, as well as the oil sectors".  A similar letter was addressed from the Executive Director to the Permanent Mission of Iraq on

15 January.

** Mongolia Helicopter Crash

In a final mark of respect to our colleagues who died in the helicopter crash in Mongolia on Sunday, a memorial service was held today at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ulan Bator.  Carolyn McAskie, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, a.i., paid tribute to United Nations staff members Sabine Metzner-Strack, Gerald Le Claire, Matthew Girvin and Batchuluuny Bayaramaa, as well as the nationals of Mongolia and Japan who died in the crash.  During the ceremony, 17 year-old Sarah Strack, one of the daughters of Sabine Metzner-Strack, said, ”My mother left us much too early.  She had so much more to give us, so much more to receive, so much more to become.”

** Lebanon

Staffan de Mistura, the Secretary-General’s Personal Representative for Southern Lebanon, met today with Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to discuss development efforts to promote living conditions.  The two also agreed to exert further efforts in promoting the demining of the area, where an estimated 130,000 mines are still located.

We have a press release from Beirut.

** UNEP

Klaus Toepfer, the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), today began a two-day official visit to the Russian Federation.  This morning in Moscow, he opened the International Conference on Environmental Legislation in the Commonwealth of Independent States.  In addition to meetings with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and of Natural Resources during his visit, he will be opening a new UNEP branch office in Moscow.  

** Signings

This afternoon India will become the 82^nd country to sign the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity.  The Protocol will remain open for signature here in New York until 4 June.

** Budget

Today, Estonia became the 21^st Member State to pay its regular budget dues for the year 2001 in full with a payment of more than $100,000.

** Press Releases

We have two press releases out today that we'll flag for you; one from the Pan American Health Organization, the arm of the WHO operating in the Americas, which announced that it had revised its appeal for assistance to El Salvador and is now seeking $1.5 million for the emergency needs of the heath sector.  Early assistance has already been received from the Governments of Canada, United Kingdom, Italy and Norway, and that, of course, is in response to the earthquake that took place last week. 

And then from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Director-General Koichiro Matsuura welcomed the statement issued by United States President Bill Clinton urging the resumption of United States membership in the Organization.  Matsuura said that United States participation would provide a “valuable boost” to the Organization’s work in the many areas.

Both press releases are available upstairs.

** Press Conference Tomorrow

Final announcement today, press conference tomorrow 12:30 p.m. in this room.  The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) will be sponsoring a press conference by the International Action Network on Small Arms and that would be on the outcome of the meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects.

** Questions and Answers

Question:  In the Secretary-General’s speech to the France-Africa summit, there was no mention of the DRC, whatsoever.  Do you have anything attributable to the Secretary-General with respect to the situation this morning?

Spokesman:  As far as we’re concerned, there’s still no official announcement concerning the reported death of President Laurent Kabila out of the Government in Kinshasa.  We have seen Government representatives outside of Kinshasa make comments, and ministers and officials of other governments make comments, but until we hear from the Government in Kinshasa we will not comment. We’re still waiting for it to become official.

Question:  Would he be regarded as someone who had obstructed United Nations causes and interests in the Congo? 

Spokesman:  I don’t think we’ll say anything like that, much to your disappointment.  I think everyone is concerned about the peace process for that country which had been held up, locked up, delayed for a long, long time.  We have already expressed our disappointment in the Government’s lack of cooperation.  But they are not the only problem.  There has been continued fighting, particularly in the eastern part of the country involving the troops of neighbouring countries.  It’s really been a royal mess, and our hope is that if this development were confirmed, in other words, if the death of Laurent Kabila were confirmed, it would not set back further the process, and that somehow, we can turn it around.  But stability in the DRC, of course, is essential to the whole of central Africa, and therefore it’s a critical concern to all of us.

Question:  Is there any communication between the United Nations and Kinshasa, at all, with regard to the situation there?

Spokesman:  We have the Special Representative Kamel Morjane in Kinshasa.  He’s talking to members of the Government and he’s reporting back to us.  The Peacekeeping Department was talking to him just this morning, and with other representatives on the humanitarian side who are reporting back to their agencies, and OCHA, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. So there’s contact. Phones are working; the e-mails are working.  We haven’t had a problem communicating with Kinshasa.

Question: Concerning the meeting tomorrow in the Security Council on HIV/AIDS, is there any agenda for that? What are they going to discuss about the AIDS epidemic?

Spokesman: You could ask the United States delegation, because I think it was Ambassador Holbrooke who asked for this meeting. But the agenda item, as far as we are concerned, is the Security Council resolution on AIDS.

Question: Carla del Ponte will be in Belgrade next week, as you know, and President Kostunica has said he won’t meet with her. Do you have any comment on that?

Spokesman: We won’t have any comment on that. I have seen her say that she hopes he would change his mind if he’s in town when she would be in town.  She still hopes he would see her, and I believe she wants to present to him a number of sealed indictments. She can, I assume, present those to any representative of the Government. I think it’s her fervent hope that he would change his public stance and agree to meet with her.

Question: Do you have any contact with the son of President Kabila?

Spokesman: I don’t know, honestly. I have to check.

Question: Is there any one at the Peacekeeping Department who could get us some statistics, ahead of tomorrow’s meeting, on the incidence of AIDS among peacekeepers or reports from various countries.  I assume they have some kind of tabulation or keeping track of peacekeepers who might have been sent home.  Any kind of follow-up like that?

Spokesman: Yes, we could. I assume we could give you statistics on the number of peacekeepers who have been sent home.  Our position has been that they would be sent home only if their health condition prevented them from doing their work.  And we don’t do any testing or screening ourselves.  More recently, we have been encouraging governments to do their own testing and screening.  So for those reasons, probably we won’t have comprehensive statistics to give you, but I’ll ask them what they might have to share with you.

Question: I think Mr. Holbrooke has been very critical of the steps taken so far by the Department in implementing the resolution.  So they could have a response to what, I assume, would be further criticism at tomorrow’s meeting that they haven’t done whatever the resolution asked them to do, and that’s still a problem.

Spokesman: My understanding is that they have asked the head of the Peacekeeping Department, Jean Marie Guéhenno, to also make a presentation.  I assume he will be available in the room to respond to any questions from members. So, we may see give-and-take during the course of the meeting.

Question: In conjunction with that, will your office or any other agency, say UNICEF or WHO, have a videotape involving peacekeepers and distribution of condoms?  We will be interested.  On the Sevan letter, what exactly is he complaining about?  What is he upset about?

Spokesman: The Security Council makes available a certain amount of money to Iraq to spend on humanitarian needs.  More recently, there has been money for the refurbishing and overhaul of the oil sector.  He’s saying that Iraq’s spending of this money is unacceptably below the level of the available funds.

Question: One further question.  Was the Secretary-General invited to George W. Bush’s inauguration?  And he is already breaking precedent. If he wasn’t, and he’s not there……?

Spokesman: I’ll have to find that out for you.  I don’t know.  Ask me tomorrow, if you need it on camera.  [He later announced that the Secretary-General had not been invited to the inauguration this weekend.]

Question: Can we get a copy of Sevan’s letter?

Spokesman: I believe so. I have copies, but I’ll have to see if they are to be made public.

Question: Just a couple of days ago, OIP said they [Iraq] lost a million dollars in December alone because of the fall in exports.  Is it safe to assume that this is related; that they are not only not exporting, but they are not contracting and it’s all tied into this pricing dispute.  Is that where Sevan is coming from? 

Spokesman: I don’t think those two are directly related.  Iraq would have to say why it is exporting its oil well below previous levels, and of course there’s no limit.  There is no ceiling on the amount of oil that they can export.  It’s all just a matter of their capacity.  But they’re well below capacity; they’re well below previous levels of export.  Why they are doing that, they would have to explain.  This is money from oil that has already been sold that has been set aside by the United Nations for humanitarian purchases that Iraq is not spending fast enough.  And that is the purpose of his latest letter.

Correspondent: It may be Iraq is simply trying to grind the programme to a halt.  They are not only not exporting, but they are not contracting what they already have money for.  It seems, maybe, that it is in their interest to see the programme flounder and money dry up.

Spokesman: Again, you have to ask them what their intentions are.  There’s so much money in the bank right now that this programme would not be ground to a halt quickly.  It’s $12 billion.

Question: Why are they not spending it? [Spokesman shrugs.]

Question: What is the latest regarding the Taliban sanctions that were voted upon.  Is the deadline up tomorrow?

Spokesman: Midnight tonight.  If the Taliban does not comply with the requests of the Security Council, the sanctions will automatically come into effect.

Question: Morjane’s contacts with Government officials in Kinshasa.  Has he heard what other governments are hearing from their sources in Kinshasa that President Kabila really is dead and that the Government just doesn’t want to admit it?  Does Morjane has that same information?

Spokesman: He was given information from a variety of sources, but it’s not official until the Government announces it.  So, I can’t tell you what he was told.  But we, again, are not going to go public with reaction to something that the Government has not officially acknowledged with a statement in Kinshasa.

Question: Will the Secretary-General go to his funeral, hypothetically, if there was one in Kinshasa?

Spokesman: The Secretary-General?  He’ll be in China.  He’s leaving for China and Japan on Friday.  Until we get official confirmation, the rest would be just speculation.  But I doubt that he would change his travel plans.  But, that’s his call.  Thank you very much.

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