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

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

Following is a near-verbatim record of today's noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

We have a little confusion as to the sequencing of out guests today.  Yesterday, you asked if we could arrange for the Foreign Minister of Zimbabwe to come and talk to you about the meetings on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and we have arranged for that.  We've also invited Special Representative for the Congo, Kamal Morjane.  We'll bring them in sequence, I think.  We had initially told you that Klaus Töpfer, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) would be our guest, and I think that is still going to hold.

Going back to the Security Council now:

**Security Council

In a private meeting that began around 10:15 this morning, the Security Council heard a briefing by the facilitator of the inter-Congolese dialogue, Ketumile Masire of Botswana.

As you’ll recall, the Secretary-General yesterday welcomed the decision of Congolese President Kabila's Government to permit Masire to work with the various Congolese parties in conducting the national dialogue.  He added that without broad political agreement among the Congolese people, based on a dialogue leading to free and fair elections, there could be no lasting peace and stability in the country.  The Secretary-General appealed for financial and other support for Masire's work.

The Council was to go into a formal meeting –- and I think it is doing that now -- together with the Political Committee of the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement -- to approve a draft resolution on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including an endorsement of the Secretary-General's revised concept of operations for the United Nations Mission in that country and a timetable for disengagement of forces.

And then, as I just said, Stan Mudenge, Zimbabwean Foreign Minister and chair of the Political Committee for the Lusaka Agreement, and Special Representative Kamal Morjane, are expected to be available here after the meeting if the timing is right, or at the stakeout.

On the racks today is a statement issued by the Government of Uganda, which includes the announcement of the withdrawal of two battalions from the Democratic Republic of the Congo -– a development welcomed by the Secretary-General.

Then this afternoon, the Council has scheduled at 3 p.m. an open debate on the monitoring mechanism on Angola sanctions.

      **Iraq

The Secretary-General has sent a letter to the Foreign Minister of Iraq, Mohammed Said al-Sahaf, in response to a letter sent by the Minister to him on 17 February following the raids by American and British aircraft on Iraq.

In his letter the Secretary-General says that it is up to the Security Council to determine whether or not its resolutions provide a legal basis for the so-called “no-fly zone”.  The Secretary-General goes on to defend the efforts by the United Nations Mission along the Iraq-Kuwait border (UNIKOM) to monitor the demilitarized zone and report on any violations of it.  UNIKOM, he says, regularly records and reports such violations, but that in most cases it has not been possible for the Mission to identify the aircraft or to determine their nationality.  He added that the inability to identify the States responsible for air violations is in no way to be understood as condoning those flights.

We will release the full text of this letter, once it has been circulated as a Security Council document.

**Togo Report

In a report released today in Geneva, the International Commission of Inquiry for Togo said that the allegations made by Amnesty International that hundreds of people in Togo had been victims of extra-judicial executions during 1998 "must be taken into consideration".

In this report, which was jointly commissioned by the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity in June of 2000, the three-member commission concludes that "executions were aimed especially at political activists linked to opposition parties".  The members of the commission expressed their concern for the security of persons who cooperated with them.  The Commission based its findings on investigations carried out in Togo and neighbouring countries in November and December of last year.

The report recommends, among other things, that the Commission on Human Rights consider appointing a Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in Togo and that the Special Rapporteurs on Summary and Arbitrary Executions; on Torture; and on Violence against Women undertake missions to Togo.

The report is being issued this morning as a document of the Commission on Human Rights, which is set to meet from 19 March to 27 April in Geneva.  We have copies of the report available in my Office and it is also available on the Web site of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.  At this time it is only available in French.

**International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

Today, in The Hague, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia found three Bosnian Serbs -- Dragoljub Kunarac, Radimir Kovac and Zoran Vukovic -- guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the municipality of Foca in 1992 and 1993.

The three were accused, in particular, of involvement in the sexual abuse of women and girls in Foca, in which Muslim women and girls -- some as young as 12 -- were kept in buildings where they were repeatedly raped, and some were kept in servitude for months on end.  Today's decision was the culmination of the first international trial for sexual enslavement as a crime against humanity.

Presiding Judge Florence Mumba said in her ruling, "What the evidence shows is that the rapes were used by members of the Bosnian Serb armed forces as an instrument of terror -- an instrument they were given free rein to apply whenever and against whomsoever they wished".  She added that authorities, which should have protected the women, instead guarded them and even joined in their abuse, while Foca, as a whole, was ethnically cleansed of Muslims.

Of the three accused who were convicted today, Dragoljub Kunarac was sentenced to 28 years imprisonment, Radomir Kovac to 20 years and Zoran Vukovic to 12 years.

We have a press release, which contains the summary of the trial chamber's judgment, available in my Office.

**UN Special Coordinator for Middle Peace Process

Terje Roed Larsen, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle Peace Process, is in Stockholm, Sweden, today, where he met with Foreign Minister Anna Lindh and other senior Swedish officials.  As you know, Sweden currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union.

In speaking to the press following his meetings, Larsen said that this visit is part of the continuing joint effort by the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Government of Norway to raise awareness of the “dire fiscal and economic situation of the Palestinian Authority”.

Larsen told journalists he had used the occasion of these meetings to thank the European Union for “formidable efforts on both the fiscal and economic aspect of the crisis”.  He referred to the Union as a critical partner and expressed the gratitude of the Secretary-General for its ongoing efforts in the region.

The Special Coordinator also emphasized during the talks that “we are now in the deepest crisis of the peace process since the signing of the Oslo Accord”.  He added that the economic and social crisis was generating “an individualization of terror which was producing a very difficult security situation” and that only a resumption of dialogue between the parties could produce the necessary political progress to contain the current crisis.

Larsen’s next stop is Oslo, Norway.

**East Timor

The Timorese National Council today approved a set of recommendations on the political transition in East Timor.  The recommendations call for elections to an 88-member Constituent Assembly to be held on 30 August and that by

15 December a constitution should be proclaimed.  The Constituent Assembly would then be transformed into a national parliament.  The National Council will discuss final dates before submitting them for approval to the Transitional Administrator.

Meanwhile, Sergio Vieira de Mello, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and the Transitional Administrator, arrived today in Jakarta for a two-day visit.  He will have a series of meetings with senior Indonesian officials.  José Ramos-Horta, a member of the Timorese Cabinet in charge of foreign relations, is a member of the delegation.  It will be the first time Vieira de Mello has held talks in Jakarta together with a Timorese official, reflecting the Timorisation of the Transitional Administration.

More details are available in the briefing notes from Dili.

**Guatemala

We have available a press release issued by the United Nations Mission in Guatemala expressing concern about an increase in threats and intimidation against indigenous and human rights workers as well as political figures.  The most recent incident occurred yesterday, with two simultaneous attacks against the family of General Oto Perez Molina, a signatory of the Guatemala peace agreements.  The press release is available in Spanish only.

**Eritrea

The United Nations Country Team in Eritrea today announced that it is issuing a humanitarian appeal for more than $157 million to meet the needs of 1.76 million Eritreans who have been affected by the recent conflict and drought.  The appeal includes $103 million sought by the World Food Programme to provide nearly 230 thousand metric tons of emergency food aid, and $20.5 million requested by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to support voluntary repatriation and reintegration of Eritreans.

**Technology Task Force

At 3:30 p.m. today, the Secretary-General will meet with his Special Representative on Information and Communication Technologies, former Costa Rican President José Maria Figueres Olsen.  He is to present the Secretary-General with a report outlining a viable strategy for a task force on information and communication technologies to combat poverty worldwide.

That report was prepared by an Advisory Group, headed by Figueres, which held consultations worldwide with governments, members of academia, non-governmental organizations and partners in the private sector.  An advance, unedited copy of the report, which is embargoed until 3:30 p.m. today, is available at the press counter on the third floor, along with a press release.

**Department of Public Information News

The Department of Information has updated its background note on political and peace-building missions.  The closure of the United Nations Civilian Support Mission in Haiti on 6 February has reduced the number of such missions to

13.  This note is available in my Office and on the United Nations home page in English and in French.

The Department of Public Information has also asked me to tell you that the ministers of the countries directly involved in the Great Lakes crisis, who are here for the Security Council meetings yesterday and today -– that is Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia, Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe -– all will be taking part in the round-table discussion organized by United Nations radio. 

The discussion will be chaired by Ibrahim Gambari (Nigeria), the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Africa.  It will start immediately after the conclusion of this morning's meeting of the Security Council.  The show will be transmitted live to a number of radio networks and stations, and any interested broadcasters should call extension 6856 to receive an audio of this programme.  It will also be televised on one of our in-house channels.

**Press Briefings

Finally, tomorrow the guest at the noon briefing will be Hafiz Pasha, the head of the Asia and Pacific Bureau of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), who will be briefing you about his recent trip to the region. 

Also, the Correspondents Association has informed me that there will be a briefing at the UNCA club at 11 a.m. tomorrow on the Montenegro issue.

Okay.  Any questions?

Questions and Answers

Question:  Is there any schedule of the Iraq talks on Monday?

Spokesman:  We expect to have something for you tomorrow.  We have presented a format to the Iraqis and we are waiting for their reaction.

Question:  Has the Secretary-General designated a team for those negotiations?

Spokesman:  That is implicit in the programme that we have presented to them for their approval. 

Question:  Is there any further word on possible communication or meeting between the Secretary-General and President Bush prior to the talks?

Spokesman:  Prior to the talks, I am not aware that any phone calls have been scheduled.  As you know, the planned meeting with the new President in Washington, D.C. is still awaiting a date from the White House.

Question:  In today's Security Council resolution, there is a number of dates for withdrawal from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  Does this resolution reflect an agreement among the parties, or is this just a wish-list that the Security Council is sending out?

Spokesman:  The meetings of the last few days have included representatives of the parties, but I think it would be better if you could put that question to the Foreign Minister of Zimbabwe, and we hope to bring him here right after the formal meeting of the Council.

Okay.  Klaus Töpfer -– welcome to the briefing, and I understand you want to talk to us about global warming.

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