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.

** Earthquake in India

The following statement is attributable to the Spokesman concerning the earthquake in India:

“The Secretary-General is deeply saddened to learn of the massive loss of life and destruction caused by the powerful earthquake that struck northwestern India today.  He offers his sincere condolences to the families of the victims and to the Government of India.  He notes the valiant efforts of the Government to assist the affected areas, and extends his assurances that the United Nations stands ready to support these efforts in any way that the Government deems appropriate.

“The Secretary-General is also deeply saddened at the deaths that took place in Sind Province, Pakistan as a result of this earthquake.  He extends his sincere condolences to the families of the victims and to the Government of Pakistan.”     

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has deployed a five member United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination Team, after an earthquake that measured 6.9 on the Richter Scale shook Northern India at

8:46 local time this morning.  The team of earthquake experts is due to arrive in India on Sunday and will support the United Nations Resident Coordinator.   Although the Government of India has not issued an official request for assistance, it has indicated that it will accept any assistance offered by the international community in the spirit of international solidarity.

** SG in Zurich

The Secretary-General is in Zurich, Switzerland today, where he is closely monitoring the peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians.  He has had telephone contact with a number of leaders from the region and outside it, including Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

He leaves for Davos, Switzerland, tomorrow to attend the World Economic Forum.  John Ruggie, the Assistant Secretary-General in his Office, will be joining us shortly to brief you on the Forum.

There is an embargoed copy of the Secretary-General's speech –- both English and French -- which he will deliver on Sunday in Davos, as well as a background note on the Global Compact.  Those are available in my office as well.

* Security Council -- East Timor

The Security Council is holding a public meeting on East Timor all day today.  In addition to the 15 Council members, 17 other speakers are expected to take the floor.

In his opening address, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in East Timor, Sergio Vieira de Mello, briefed the Council on the so-called ‘Timorization’ process –- the establishment of Timorese structures of government in preparation for independence.  “UNTAET”, he said, “should no longer be seen as an international transitional administration, but rather as a support structure to the embryonic government of East Timor and other institutions of State”.

Vieira de Mello said that elections are expected for mid-2001; a final decision will be taken by the National Council once it resumes its session on

12 February.  In addition to the political timetable, he also reviewed developments in the fields of social-economic development, security and law enforcement.  Vieira de Mello reiterated his appeal for additional resources for the justice sector, in particular the investigations into serious crimes.

He concluded by highlighting the need for continued support of the international community to East Timor beyond the mandate of the United Nations mission.

Other speakers addressing the meeting are Jose Ramos Horta, Member of the Transitional Cabinet of East Timor responsible for Foreign Affairs, and the President of the General Assembly, Harri Holkeri.  And Sue, I think, will have more on that for you in a minute.  Mark Malloch Brown, the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and representatives of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund also took the floor.

When the session breaks at lunch time Ramos Horta and Vieira de Mello are expected to go to the second floor stakeout to take questions from the press.

** New Registrar for Arusha Tribunal

The Secretary-General today appointed Adama Dieng of Senegal to replace Agwu Okali of Nigeria as Registrar of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

He wishes to pay tribute to Mr. Okali, who has been Registrar since February 1997, and who corrected many of the organizational problems that affected the Tribunal in its early days.

Mr. Dieng had served as the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Senegal.  He did that for six years and more recently was Secretary-General of the International Commission of Jurists for 10 years.

We have his bio available in my office.

** Democratic Republic of the Congo

As you know Joseph Kabila was sworn in today as the new President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative in the DRC, Kamel Morjane, represented the United Nations at the ceremony which took place at the Palace of the Nation in Kinshasa.

Also on the DRC, according to the briefing notes from the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there are increasing numbers of refugees crossing into the Republic of the Congo from the northern DRC –- Democratic Republic of the Congo -- in search of food and medicine.  The agency also reports that some refugees have been robbed and detained by DRC soldiers as they make their way down the Congo River. 

** Cyprus

The Secretary-General’s Special Advisor for Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, arrived on the island late last night for a working visit to consult with the parties regarding the plan of work for the coming weeks.

He this morning met with Glafcos Clerides and he’s scheduled to meet on Sunday with Rauf Denktash.  He is expected to hold a press conference on Monday afternoon before leaving the island.

** Appeals

The World Food Programme (WFP) today launched an appeal for $24 million for an emergency operation to feed some 335,000 displaced and poor Chechens in the Northern Caucasus.  Food deliveries, suspended about a month ago, are due to resume in February, pending clearance by the United Nations security management team.  We have a news release with more information.

And the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced the launch of an Interagency Appeal this morning in San Salvador, for the victims of the earthquake in El Salvador.  The Appeal calls for more than $34 million to assist 200,000 people and covers the areas of food, health, water and sanitation, as well as agriculture, education and housing.  As part of the appeal, the UNDP is seeking $12.7 million to provide emergency shelter and economic recovery projects.  A summary of the Appeal is available in the OCHA Situation Report which is upstairs in my office.

** United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) remains extremely worried at the overall security situation in southwestern Guinea, where men carrying guns and grenades were seen during food distribution at two refugee camps yesterday.

In the camp at Massakoundou, the Office of the UNHCR reported that armed men claiming to belong to one Liberian rebel group were seen leaving the camp with several bags of food aid intended for the refugees.  Many people in the camps in Nyaedou and Massakoundou, which together house some 30,000 refugees, have expressed their frustration that they have not received food aid consistently and would like to leave Guinea and return to their home countries.

Further details are in today's briefing notes from the Office of the UNHCR, which also notes the increase in the number of Afghans arriving in Pakistan.  There are now a reported 60,000 to 70,000 new refugees at the Jalozai campsite close to Pakistan's border with Afghanistan, and the Office of the UNHCR estimates that huge numbers of people -- potentially in the hundreds of thousands -- are on the move in Afghanistan because of the fighting, drought and malnutrition there.

** Bosnia and Herzegovina

In Sarajevo yesterday, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jacques Klein, held a ceremony in honour of the first multi-ethnic contingent of military observers from Bosnia and Herzegovina to join a United Nations peacekeeping operation.  The observers -- nine in all, representing the Bosniak, Serb and Croat communities -- will be deployed next month in the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Klein said that the value of their deployment for the development of better understanding and cooperation in Bosnia itself "cannot be under-rated".

Bosnia previously sent a multi-ethnic team of civilian police to the United Nations Mission in East Timor.

** Financing for Development

The Secretary-General's report on "Financing for Development", which will offer a comprehensive set of recommendations on meeting the world's development financing needs, will be launched on Tuesday, at a press conference here at 11:15 a.m.  The report will be presented by the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Nitin Desai.  Also speaking will be Reinhard Munzberg, special representative of the International Monetary Fund to the United Nations, and Enrique Rueda-Sabater, Senior Manager at the World Bank.

Copies of the report, in six languages, will be available at that briefing.

** Press Releases

I have a press release from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) which is urging countries to be concerned about the risks of BSE, or ‘Mad Cow Disease’.  In the press release, the Organization says that all countries which have imported cattle or meat and bone meal from Western Europe since the

1980s can be considered at risk and should implement surveillance measures for BSE.  These methods include both testing of samples of slaughtered cattle and correct disposal of affected stock.

** Budget

The cheques keep rolling in:  three more countries have paid in full their contributions to the regular budget for 2001 -- Armenia with just more than $20,000, Kuwait with $1.4 million and Monaco with more than $41,000.  We now have 32 countries paid in full.

The Contributions Section has determined that the 30-day deadline will fall on 3 February because of a certain lateness in getting out the notices to the Member States of what they owe for this year.  So, we have until 3 February before Member States start going into arrears for non-payment.

** Signings

This morning, the United Republic of Tanzania became the second country to sign the International Coffee Agreement 2001 and the Slovak Republic became the 38th country to sign the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.

** Week Ahead at United Nations

We have the Week Ahead for you, and I see John Ruggie is here.  John, why don't you come up, and join us.  I'll take your questions; we'll go to Sue and then John.

Good, no questions.  Over to you Sue.

Briefing by the Spokesperson for the President of the General Assembly

Sue Markham:  Good afternoon.

** Earthquake in India

The President this morning expressed his deepest sympathy for the tragic loss of life and extensive material damage sustained during the earthquake that this morning struck India, affecting India and Pakistan.

He hopes the international community will demonstrate its solidarity by responding promptly and generously to any requests for assistance from the Governments of the countries affected.  He took the opportunity of expressing his condolences to the people of India and Pakistan as he briefed the Security Council this morning during its discussion on East Timor.

GA President Briefs Security Council

As he invited the President to take a seat at the Council table, the President of the Security Council noted the historic nature of the occasion.  The President of the General Assembly has not participated in a Security Council meeting in this way since 1946, which was the only other occasion.

The President of the General Assembly visited East Timor during a week-long visit to South East Asia from 10 to 17 January this year, visiting Singapore, East Timor and Indonesia.  The purpose of his visit to East Timor was to observe, in the light of the Assembly's recent discussions on the Brahimi Report, how a comprehensive and complex peace operation works.  The visit also gave the President an opportunity to assess first hand the situation in East Timor itself, and he briefed the Security Council about his observations.

He noted that the people of East Timor are growing impatient and their expectations are high.  This creates a gap between their expectations and the reality, which is that nation-building is a long process.  He said East Timor will need the assistance and presence of the international community for a long time to come, and that the United Nations cannot afford to exit East Timor prematurely or without a well-prepared strategy.

The President also noted that the situation along the border areas between East and West Timor is of grave concern and that much more needs to be done to disarm and disband militias.

During his discussions in Jakarta, where he met with the President of Indonesia and the Foreign Minister and other high officials, they gave the President of the General Assembly assurances of their cooperation and determination to facilitate refugee return from West Timor, and they expressed their hope that the United Nations, and especially the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), could soon return to West Timor.

For his part, the President of the General Assembly emphasized the need for Security Council resolution 1319 to be fully implemented and stressed that the success of UNTAET depends on the full cooperation of all parties.

The full text of the President's statement to the Security Council is available on his Web site and also in the Spokesman's Office.

** Plenary on El Salvador

This afternoon, the plenary of the General Assembly will meet to take action on a resolution concerning assistance to El Salvador following the devastating earthquake that hit El Salvador on 13 January.  The resolution requests the international community to continue to respond generously to the emergency, rehabilitation and reconstruction needs of El Salvador.

The list of speakers for this afternoon's meeting of the plenary is available in the Spokesman's Office.

When the President of the General Assembly returned to New York Monday, he sent a letter to Ambassador (Jose Roberto Andino) Salazar, who's the Permanent Representative of El Salvador to the United Nations, expressing his condolences to the Government and people of El Salvador for the loss of life and property sustained during that earthquake.  The President appeals to the international community to continue to assist in relief activities and to respond generously to the needs of the people affected.

** PrepCom for Special Assembly Session on Children:

Looking ahead:  On Monday, the President of the General Assembly will speak at the second session of the Preparatory Committee for the special session of the General Assembly on Children.  The PrepCom will be held, starting Monday, for five days ending on Friday, and we expect a number of high-level speakers, including the Crown Prince of Morocco, the First Lady of Guyana, and a number of Ministers and other dignitaries.

The speakers list for Monday will be made available later today and the agenda for the PrepCom is also available.  We'll make copies, if you don't have it.  It is available on the racks.

That's all I have.

Questions and Answers

Spokesman:  Any questions for Sue?

Question:  What was the occasion in 1946 at which the President of the General Assembly last participated in the Security Council?

Sue:  The last time, and the only other time, that a President of the General Assembly addressed the Council, was on a procedural matter -- giving advice to the Council on how it should proceed; there was an election under way. He happened to be in the room and he was asked what the General Assembly would do in similar circumstances.  I can give you some further details on that, if you're particularly interested.

The President noted in his speech to the Security Council that he welcomed his participation in the Security Council debate, as it fostered closer cooperation and coordination between the United Nations main bodies and actors.  And, as I have said before, the President has a working lunch every month with the President of the Security Council.  So, he's fostering closer working relationships with that body, and indeed with other bodies as well.

Question: I do not have his statement to the Security Council, but I understand he made the reference to the problem of continued clashes and violence?  Has he talked about that before?  What did he see when he went there?

Sue:  He did not go to West Timor, but he was briefed clearly by the UNTAET officials and he also met with people in Suai, in particular, which was the site of a massacre in 1999.  He didn't see any clashes while he was there, but information was related to him by people and by officials.    

* *** *