DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
| Press Briefing |
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s press briefing by the Spokesman for the Secretary-General:
Okay, settle down and be comfortable, because we’ve got a lot of stuff. Let’s start by catching up with our Secretary-General.
** Secretary-General in China
From the Africa-France summit in Cameroon, [the Secretary-General] returned to Paris on French President Jacques Chirac’s plane, arriving early Saturday morning. From Paris, he flew to Beijing where today he met with China's President Jiang Zemin. On Sunday, he met with Vice-Premier Qian Qichen and Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan.
The talks ranged from the follow-up to the Millenium Summit and the status of United Nations reform to peacekeeping, disarmament, the Korean Peninsula and the Middle East.
In these meetings, the Secretary-General also discussed human rights, and specifically the continuing work following on the Memorandum of Understanding signed last year between China and Mary Robinson, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
He welcomed the news that China will soon ratify the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
This morning, the Secretary-General joined his wife Nane to visit World Food Programme staff member Xie Hongyi, who is recovering in a Beijing hospital from injuries suffered when, on 14 January, a helicopter crashed in Mongolia that took nine lives, including four other UN staff members.
The Secretary-General had two press encounters while in Beijing, and we have transcripts of both in my Office. At one, with the Foreign Minister yesterday, when asked about the transfer of power in the Philippines, he answered that he was happy that the change had taken place peacefully and he called it "a victory for democracy".
On his arrival in Beijing on Saturday, he did a joint press encounter with Carolyn McAskie, the UN Emergency Coordinator ad interim, where they talked about the humanitarian crisis in Mongolia. And we also have his brief comments on his arrival in Tokyo today, and by now I would hope he is fast asleep because it’s
2 o’clock in the morning in Tokyo.
**Democratic Republic of Congo
This morning in the Security Council, Mme. Safiatou Ba-N'Daw of Côte d'Ivoire, the Chairperson of the Expert Panel on the Illegal Exportation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth in the Democratic Republic of Congo, introduced the Panel's interim report.
The final report is due in mid-March, but the Panel members are asking for an additional three months to complete their work.
And then, at the Council's request, there should be a briefing by the Secretariat on the current political situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We don’t yet know who will give that briefing.
**Death of Laurent Kabila
And tomorrow, the United Nations flag will be flown at half-mast in observance of official mourning for the late President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Laurent Désiré Kabila, whose funeral will take place in Kinshasa tomorrow. As is the custom, no other flags will be flown that day.
**Climate Change
Meeting in Shanghai, the world’s leading experts in climate change say that evidence of man’s effect on global climate change is now stronger then ever before.
New evidence suggests that most of the warming observed over the last
50 years is attributable to human activity.
These experts, who gathered as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) set up under the auspices of the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) and
the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), also predict an increase of up to
5.8 degrees Celsius in global temperature and a possible rise of sea levels of up to 0.88 metres over the next century.
These findings are part of the first volume of the Panel’s Third Assessment Report, which is being issued today. The previous assessment report was issued in 1995.
Also included in the report’s conclusion is the finding that snow cover in the high and mid altitudes in the northern hemisphere has decreased by 10 per cent since the late 1960s, and that there has been a likely 40 per cent decline in Arctic Sea-ice thickness during late summer and early autumn in the recent decades.
A press release is available in my Office, and a full summary of the
1,000-page document is available on the web, and we’ll give you the Web site if you want.
**Georgia
The Secretary-General's latest report on the UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) is available on the racks today, and it emphasizes the continued lack of progress on the issue of the future political status of Abkhazia. The Secretary-General calls, in the report, for both sides, particularly the Abkhaz, to show flexibility to overcome the present impasse.
The report also notes the recurring pattern of abductions of UN military and civilian personnel, and says the two sides should make improved cooperation between their law enforcement agencies a priority.
The Secretary-General also recommends that the Mission, which currently comprises 103 military observers, be extended by six months until the end of July.
**Secretary-General’s Report on Lebanon
The Secretary-General's report on the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is expected to come out later today.
**World Drug Report 2000
The World Drug Report 2000 was launched today in London by Pino Arlacchi, Executive Director of the UN Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention .
The report says that global production of drugs such as heroin and cocaine shows signs of stabilization and even decline. Production is now limited to fewer countries than ever before: Afghanistan and Myanmar together account for about
90 per cent of global illicit opium production, and Colombia alone is responsible for two thirds of global coca leaf production.
The main consumer markets have stabilized or even experienced a decline in numbers. In the United States, for instance, cocaine use fell by some 70 per cent over the 1985-1999 period, compared with a 40 per cent fall in overall drug use.
However, more than 130 countries, both developed and developing, reported drug abuse problems. That total is probably higher, the report estimates. The most significant increase worldwide in the 1990s was in consumption of amphetamine-type stimulants such as methamphetamine and Ecstasy.
Although not all is good news, the report says that the drug problem -- often characterized as hopeless -– is neither unstoppable nor irreversible.
Mr. Arlacchi said that “the time has come to change the way we think about drugs” The world community, he added, must “focus on a pragmatic, long-term approach to reducing both the supply of, and demand for, illicit drugs”.
The London press was more focused on dogs, however, because part of the presentation at the press conference was Mr. Arlacchi, accompanied by Keith Halliwell, who is the United Kingdom national drugs coordinator, doing a demonstration of British police action in the fight against drugs and money smuggling.
First, the Marine Unit of the Metropolitan Police made a demonstration on the Thames of the speedboats used on anti-drug actions -- a great photo-op. And then at the press conference site, just before it began, an amount of amphetamine was placed in Mr. Halliwell’s pocket and a briefcase with money was given to
Mr. Arlacchi. They sat in the audience among the journalists. Police-trained dogs came in and sniffed the drug and the money, identifying Halliwell and Arlacchi as carriers of smuggled articles.
Apparently, when a dog sniffs drugs, he sits down in front of the person, and looks at the trainer and then the person, and when they sniff money they hit the briefcase with their paw and then sit on it.
The sound recording of Pino Arlacchi’s press conference is available in the Audio Library. And as I announced on Friday, Vincent McClean, head of the UN drug control and crime prevention office in New York, is here to take any of your questions after the briefing, if you have any, concerning the Drug Report. Vincent is in the back here.
** Guinea
We finally have some news about the missing radio operator from Guinea. He was with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and we reported to you that he went missing and was presumed abducted in southern Guinea on 6 December. He was freed today in Liberia -- 47 days after he had been seized.
The UNHCR reports that the radio operator, Joseph Loua, is in good shape, and the agency is trying to arrange for his speedy transfer to Conakry, Guinea.
Mr. Loua had been abducted from the town of Gueckedou by gunmen as he tried to send a radio message about an attack on that southern Guinean town. The UNHCR subsequently pulled its staff out of Gueckedou, although some relief work has now resumed in nearby areas.
The UNHCR continues to be concerned about the fate of some 250,000 people stuck without aid in Guinea's "parrot's beak" area, where fighting has hampered access by aid workers.
**Afghanistan
The UNHCR today called on the Government of Tajikistan to admit thousands of Afghan refugees stranded on the border with Afghanistan.
The group, including more than 6,000 children, has been living in appalling conditions on two fingers of land in the Pyani River, and they have been there for several months, many in shelters that are little more than holes in the ground covered with reeds. Food is in short supply, drinking water is unsafe and sanitation is inadequate. The refugees are also within range of artillery on the Afghan side of the river, and a number of shelling and shooting incidents have been reported. The first inter-agency mission since 26 December made a brief visit last week and found 1,000 people in a very poor state, with up to 60 per cent suffering from some sort of illness.
There's an UNHCR press release in my Office.
**IAEA inspections
A four-person inspection team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is currently in Iraq conducting an on-site inspection of nuclear material.
This inspection is not related to any Security Council resolution, but is being conducted as part of the IAEA’s obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) of which Iraq is a signatory.
The work of the inspectors, which should be concluded by the 24th of this month, consists of verifying that significant amounts of low enriched and natural uranium remains under IAEA seal at sites in Iraq.
As part of its Security Council-mandated work, the IAEA had removed all weapons-usable uranium from Iraq. Like the UNSCOM [and UNMOVIC] inspectors, the IAEA has not been able to conduct its work related to Security Council resolution 687 since December 1998.
The IAEA’s Director-General, Mohamed El Baradei, had said this inspection, as part of the NPT obligations, cannot serve as a substitute for weapons inspections mandated by the Council.
**Racism Conference
The three-day African regional preparatory meeting for the World Conference against Racism began its deliberations in Dakar, Senegal, today with a call by the President of Senegal for more democracy in Africa.
In his keynote address, President Wade said that Africans should courageously look into the future, where the real challenges were respect for human rights and genuine democracy.
Speaking to some of the 500 delegates gathered for the Conference, Mary Robinson, the High Commissioner for Human Rights and Secretary General of the World Conference, called for a discussion, during the conference, of gender discrimination as an essential element in the preparation of the World Conference against Racism. She underlined the multiple forms of discrimination suffered by women and commended the role of African women’s organizations in the mobilization of support for the World Conference.
Mary Robinson added that Africa should continue to speak up and determine its priorities, articulate its recommendations, listen to civil society, express its commitments and underline what it expects from others.
The Dakar meeting is the third of regional meetings in preparation for this year's World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, to be held in Durban, South Africa, from 31 August to
7 September 2001.
We will eventually have a full press release on that.
** Kosovo
The World Health Organization (WHO) expert mission is due to arrive in Kosovo today. That mission, you'll recall, is coming at the invitation of former Special Representative, Bernard Kouchner, to make an initial assessment on the UN mission's requirements and needs so that it can respond to claims of health risks arising from exposure to depleted uranium.
The mission will collect information on the population's exposure to depleted uranium and other toxic substances, and will verify available data on the incidence of cancer and leukaemia in the Kosovo population.
For further information, see today's briefing notes from Pristina, which also include information by UN police about their anti-drug operations in Kosovo.
**Forests
A global forest assessment by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) shows reduction in the global rate of loss of forests to about 9 million hectares a year, which is 20 per cent lower than the global figure reported in 1995. The figures, published on FAO’s Web site, will form part of the State of the World’s Forests 2001 report, which is due out in March. The rate of disappearance varies from region to region, with Africa and Latin America having the highest rate of disappearing forests, while Europe and North America have a net increase. The assessment covers a 50-year period and is the first to be implemented using a uniform definition of forest.
We have more information in a press release from FAO.
** Budget
Today, the number of Member States to pay their regular budget contribution for this year in full has reached 25, with payment by three countries -- Cameroon with more than $93,000, Canada with over $26.6 million, and Hungary with over
$1.2 million.
**Peacekeeping
The updated background note on UN peacekeeping operations is available in the Spokesman's Office, and it can also be found on the UN Web site.
It shows that we currently have a total of 15 peacekeeping operations, in which some 38,000 military personnel are serving. The peacekeeping budget from the beginning of July last year until the end of June this year is estimated to be between $2.6 billion and $3 billion.
**United Nations Development Programme
And finally, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) has started a Web site containing information on relief efforts in El Salvador following the recent earthquake there. And it can be found on the web as --- don't ask me to pronounce that -- terremotoelsalvador.org.sv. I'm sorry, that was so long.
** Questions and Answers
Question: Apparently, Baghdad announced on Friday night on national television that the meeting between the Baghdad delegation and the Secretary-General will take place on 26 February. Do we have any details on what they’re gonna talk about yet?
Spokesman: You’ll remember the history. The Secretary-General met the Vice-Chair of the Revolutionary Command Council of Iraq in Qatar, at which point the Iraqis proposed a discussion with the Secretary-General -- a kind of comprehensive review of where we stand. The Secretary-General said he’d be happy to meet with them and asked them to put their thoughts on paper as to what these talks would address specifically and when they might take place. To my knowledge, we haven’t received anything in writing on the content of the talks, but, seeing you are twisting my arm, I can now confirm that they will take place on the 26th and the 27th. And yes, it is our understanding that their delegation will be led by the Foreign Minister, Mohamed Said Al-Sahaf, and they’ll take place in New York.
Question: (Inaudible)
Spokesman: Not yet.
Question: Do you have any comment on Iraq’s letter regarding its intent to offer money to help America’s poor?
Spokesman: If it’s from oil sales, it would have to go to the 661 Iraq Sanctions Committee, as their request to give funds to the Palestinians did. It’s in the same category. If it’s not, I’d have to talk to the lawyers.
Question: Is there any possibility that we can have a second-hand briefing about the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo after the Secretariat has briefed the Security Council?
Spokesman: We’ll see if we can ask whoever does the briefing to stop at the microphone. I don’t think we are eager to go public. The cable traffic that we are receiving, even as of this morning, indicates that the situation is calm throughout the country except for the tribal fighting at Bunia in the north-east corner which is not directly related to the larger conflict there. So that’s the situation in general. Whether the person from the Secretariat who briefs will be willing to come to the stakeout or not, we will have to see, but we’ll ask for you.
Question: Did the Secretary-General get any approval from the Chinese Government that they would look kindly on a second term for him? Is that one of the topics that you believe came up there?
Spokesman: To my knowledge, the words “second term” never came up in the conversations he had with the Chinese leaders. It certainly wasn’t on his agenda.
Question: Who will lead discussions with the Iraqi Foreign Minister from the United Nations’ point of view?
Spokesman: I don’t know that yet. I know the Secretary-General intends to be personally involved. Whether his programme would permit him to give two full days to that or not is not quite clear yet.
Question: The President of the United States has hinted at cutting off grants for groups that are sanctioning abortion overseas. This has been a US-UN problem for a decade. Is there a way to get a briefing later on UN agencies that might be affected by it?
Spokesman: Well, I think the primary agency concerned is the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), but, of course, as a matter of policy it does not support abortion and it does not fund [abortion], as a means of family planning. There have been members of Congress who have been defining the issue in, I guess, more extreme terms, if I could characterize it in that way. I frankly don’t know how the new Administration is going to deal with that. We could ask UNFPA whether they wanted to talk to you at this point. I don’t think anyone knows what the new Administration is going to do, but if you wanted a factual briefing on where things stand as of today on funding issues and the US Congress and where they’ve been over the last 10 years or so, I’m sure they’d be happy to talk to you and we’ll ask them to do that. Okay anything else? Thank you.
Briefing by the Spokesperson for General Assembly President
Sue Markham, Spokesperson for the President of the General Assembly: This is the first time I have been to the noon briefing this year, and I would like to
wish you all a Happy New Year, and look forward to working with you, and to the conclusion of the fifty-fifth session of the General Assembly which will be on
10 September.
The President of the General Assembly returned to New York last night, after a week-long trip to South-East Asia where he visited East Timor, Indonesia and Singapore. The purpose of his visit was to familiarize himself with United Nations operation in East Timor. Following his visit to East Timor, he met with the President of Indonesia and a number of high-level officials.
One of the issues his discussions focused on was the Indonesian Government’s efforts to implement Security Council resolution 1319, which is a prerequisite for the return of refugees to East Timor and for United Nations agencies to resume their work in West Timor. The President received assurances from the Indonesian Government of their commitment to restore order in West Timor.
A press release containing details of the President's visits is available in the Spokesman's Office.
On Friday, the President of the General Assembly will participate in a meeting of the Security Council which is expected to discuss East Timor. This is the first time the President of the General Assembly has been invited to address the Security Council on a substantive question. The last time the President of the General Assembly participated in a Security Council meeting was in February 1946, and this was related to a procedural issue, and not an issue of substance. So, this will be the first.
On Wednesday, the President of the General Assembly will open informal discussions of the General Assembly relating to the organization of the special session of the General Assembly on HIV/AIDS, which is to be held in New York from 21 to 27 June. The informal discussions on Wednesday will relate to organizational matters of the special session, including the participation of civil society. A document was circulated last week, and I'll give you copies if you don't have it, containing proposals from the President of the Assembly on these matters. And at Wednesday's informal meeting, the President will introduce draft elements of a resolution.
Copies of today's schedule of the President are available in the Spokesman's Office, and highlights of his daily activities will again be posted on his Web site starting today, at www.un.org/ga/president.
I intend to come in and be at the briefing every so often. I won't be here daily because I don't think it warrants it. But if something does, I'll be here, and if there's any news I'll certainly be. Otherwise, you can find me in the Spokesman's Office or in my ninth floor office.
Spokesman: Any questions for Sue?
Question: Do you know why the President of the General Assembly does not have any access to the Security Council?
Sue: What I'm saying is that he has not been invited before. This is the first time he has been invited. Informally, of course, he meets regularly with the President of the Security Council. He has access, but not formally.