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 Manoel de Almeida e Silva, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Hi, good afternoon everyone.  Sorry for this short delay. I am going to start with Afghanistan.

**Afghanistan

On Afghanistan, the United Nations today warned that aid workers may have to engage in humanitarian triage while attempting to save lives, as the capacity to improve conditions in that country is limited.

Recent information from northern Afghanistan indicates a deterioration in the conditions of displaced persons in the area.  The UN humanitarian office has issued a press release on the latest findings, which we have available in our Office upstairs.

Amid reports that the Taliban has begun carrying out its edict against non-Islamic relics, UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura announced that he has sent a special envoy to Afghanistan to deliver a message to the Taliban authorities, urging them to reverse their decision to destroy the ancient statues of Afghanistan's cultural heritage.

Meanwhile, here in New York, the Secretary-General received a call from the Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Philippe de Montebello, who made an offer to field a team to remove at the Museum's cost all movable sculptures from Afghanistan.

The Secretary-General has asked his Special Representative for Afghanistan Francesc Vendrell and Pakistan's chief executive General Pervez Musharraf to press this offer with the Taliban authorities.  Mr. Vendrell conveyed the offer to the Taliban representative in Islamabad today.

Mr. Matsuura, the UNESCO director, made the announcement to send an envoy at the opening at UNESCO headquarters of an international symposium entitled "Cultural Heritage of Central Asia”, during which he expressed his "powerlessness" to reverse "the irreversible damage that is being done to Afghanistan's exceptional cultural heritage".

**Security Council

The Security Council is meeting this morning in closed consultations.  First on its agenda is a discussion of the programme of work for March since this is the first day on the Ukrainian presidency of the Council.  They are now being briefed by Kieran Prendergast, the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs.

In his briefing, he will touch upon the state of the ongoing peace process, the humanitarian situation, as well as the recent reports of fighting around the capital Bujumbura.

The Council is then expected to move to a formal meeting to adopt presidential statement on Burundi.  Today is also the Council's monthly luncheon with the Secretary-General.

This afternoon at 4 o’clock, the Council will reconvene in closed consultations to discuss the draft resolution on Liberia sanctions.

Returning to Burundi for a moment, the information we received from the Office of the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs indicates that 53,000 people have been displaced as a result of the most recent fighting.  United Nations agencies and international non-governmental organizations present on the ground are focusing their efforts on immediate access to food, water and sanitation.

**Secretary-General’s Trip to South Asia

Earlier this week, we announced the trip of the Secretary-General and

Mrs. Annan to South Asia, and in addition to Pakistan, Bangladesh and India, today I would like to announce that they will also visit a fourth country, Nepal.

The Secretary-General should be there on Monday, 12 March, after arriving in Pakistan on 10 March.  From Nepal, the Secretary-General will proceed as previously scheduled to Bangladesh and then on to India.  He is expected to return on 18 March.  While in Nepal, the Secretary-General expects to pay a call on the King of Nepal and to meet with the Prime Minister.

**China/Mary Robinson

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, welcomed the ratification by China of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Speaking in Bangkok where she is attending the ninth Asia-Pacific Workshop on Human Rights, Mrs. Robinson voiced her disappointment that the ratification was subject to a reservation in relation to the article dealing with trade union rights.

"It is heartening to see that China has decided to ratify the Covenant", she said.  But she also added:  "I hope the decision by the National Peoples' Congress is indicative of China's intention to ratify soon the Covenant's sister treaty, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.  I also hope that any reservation on article 8 of the Covenant would be withdrawn", she said.

There is a press release from her office available in our Office.

**Inter-agency Mission to West Africa

As you may recall in the month of February, the Secretary-General in a meeting with the Security Council announced his decision to dispatch an inter-agency mission to West Africa.  That mission will be leaving next Tuesday, the   6^th of March, and it will be led by Ibrahima Fall, the Assistant Secretary-General, Department of Political Affairs.

The mission will visit Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.  The primary objective of the mission, which will last until the 26^th of March, is to take stock of the priority needs and challenges in West Africa and make recommendations on a coordinated United Nations response to the multifaceted problems confronting the region, taking into account initiatives already under way or being proposed by the various actors.

A full statement on the mission is available in our Office upstairs.

**UN Peacekeeper

A Finnish peacekeeper serving with the UN operation in Lebanon died today following severe injuries sustained when he fell through the roof of a garage on Wednesday, in what was a work-related accident.

His name will not be released until we can confirm the family has been notified.

**UNEP Report

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) released a report this morning on  future choices for renewable energy technology.  The study says that over the next 20 years, up to $15 trillion will be invested in energy and power projects.  It goes on to suggest that if this investment is directed towards clean energy technologies, the world will enjoy a global economy that is both more robust and much cleaner than that of the twentieth century.  A press release is available in our Office.

On a related topic, on Monday the third and final report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will be released.  This one will be an assessment of the technology and policy options for reducing greenhouse gases.

As you know or you may not know, I would like to remind you that Monday is a holiday for the United Nations and this Building will be closed.  So if you wish to have access to a copy of the report, you can get it from the panel's Web site which is www.ipcc.ch.

**HIV/AIDS Special Session

The first round of substantive consultations for the UN General Assembly special session on HIV/AIDS is wrapping up today after a week of productive talks.

Two days of discussion were devoted to the Secretary-General's report and the seven challenges in the fight against AIDS that he outlined in that report. After a one-day dialogue with civil society, the last two days of talks have focused on a paper outlining critical issues in each of these seven areas.

The dates of the second round of consultations have been set for 21-25 May, here in New York.  For more information on this session, please contact Pragati Pascale of the Department of Public Information (DPI), 963-6870.

**Press Releases

I have a series of short notices and press releases.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports today that alleged rebel attacks in Angola have driven thousands of people into neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo and that the security situation in southern Guinea appears to have deteriorated again, with reports of fresh attacks on the western edge of the Parrot's Beak.

The UNHCR briefing notes have more details.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia announced today that its appeals court had upheld the conviction of a lawyer, Milan Vujin, who had represented suspect Dusko Tadic, on charges of contempt of court.  Those charges included allegations that Vujin had bribed a witness and manipulated the testimony of other witnesses.  The Tribunal has a press release with more details.

There is also a press release from the World Health Organization (WHO) announcing that it has signed an agreement with the pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline to develop a new treatment for malaria.

Also, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)  said in a press release that more than 110 countries have adopted a plan of action against illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing.

**Budget

On budget, today, three more Member States have paid the full balance for their regular budget assessments for this year.  They are Belgium, which paid more than $11 million; Madagascar, which paid just over $19,000; and Tunisia, which paid more than $310,000.  So far, 57 Member States have paid their regular budget dues in full for this year.

**The Week Ahead

Finally, we have our regular weekly feature, the Week Ahead, and I would like to highlight again that Monday is a holiday here at the United Nations.  We’ll be celebrating Eid-al-Adha.

On Tuesday, the Security Council will hold consultations on the Fourth Quarterly Report of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) for Iraq and on Afghanistan.

At 4 p.m., the Swedish Minister of Gender Equality Affairs, Margareta Winberg, and Angela King, Assistant Secretary-General and Special Adviser on Gender Issues, will hold a press briefing on the role of men in gender equality, human trafficking and other issues.

The week goes on and I will just highlight here Thursday, 8 March, which is International Women's Day, which this year will focus on the theme of "Women and Peace".  There will be a number of events here at Headquarters.

On that same day, Secretary-General's report to the Security Council on the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) is expected towards the end of the week.

Also on that day, the latest 90-day report to the Security Council on the "oil-for-food" program for Iraq will be issued.

Any questions?

Questions and Answers

Question:  Regarding the call from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, who called Mr. Annan and what was the proposal?

Deputy Spokesman:  The Director of the Museum, Philippe de Montebello, called and he offered a team to remove at their cost all movable artifacts and sculptures from Afghanistan.  The details will certainly have to be worked out, but we conveyed their offer to the Taliban through Francesc Vendrell today in Islamabad to the Taliban representative there.

Question:  Was there any response?

Deputy Spokesman:  I don’t know.  We don’t have feedback on that.

Question:  (inaudible)

Deputy Spokesman:  UNESCO Director-General Matsuura is sending his own envoy.

Question:  But that is separate from this whole other thing?

Deputy Spokesman:  Yes.  That’s separate from this other thing.

Question:  What can you tell us about this meeting on AIDS reported in the Wall Street Journal?

Deputy Spokesman:  There was an internal meeting held here on Wednesday which was led by the Secretary-General.  It was a tele-conference and brought together all the key actors of the UN system that work on the HIV/AIDS issue.  That means UNAIDS, WHO, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF and the World Bank, and it was a preliminary meeting for the establishment of the way ahead for a concerted effort by the UN system in the lead up to the General Assembly special session on HIV/AIDS which will happen next June.  It was basically the Secretary-General being briefed, getting an update on recent developments from the perspective of the key stakeholders within the system.  They reviewed a number of issues relating to a comprehensive strategy regarding the HIV/AIDS problem.  That story focused on the price of drugs, but that was just one aspect of the many elements that have to be looked at as we discuss the issue.  It was just one of several meetings that will take place within the system on the issue.

Question:  What is the next step?  Is there another meeting scheduled?  Will we be notified in advance?

Deputy Spokesman:  I don’t have a date for the next meeting.

Question:  With regard to the religious relics in Afghanistan, did the Secretary-General personally ask the Taliban to stop the destruction?  Is that

part of the message that is being conveyed by Vendrell?  Has he asked Vendrell to tell the Taliban that they should accept this offer by the Met?

Deputy Spokesman:  Well, the Secretary-General, as you may recall, issued a statement on this matter two or three days ago in which he expressed his great concern regarding the situation.  He did ask Vendrell to convey that message in a meeting he had with the Taliban a few days ago.  And again today, at the request of the Secretary-General, he conveyed this proposal by the Metropolitan Museum.

Question:  Would the sanctions have any implications if the Taliban accept the offer from the Metropolitan Museum?

Deputy Spokesman:  You would have to check with the Sanctions Committee regarding that.  But I don’t think the resolution on sanctions was concerned with this kind of thing.  There are, however, General Assembly resolutions which deal with the protection of cultural heritage which may be relevant to this kind of situation.  On the issue of sanctions, I would suggest that you check with the Sanctions Committee.

Question:  Can you just confirm who the director of the Met called and when? And also when the offer was conveyed to the Taliban?

Deputy Spokesman:  He called the Secretary-General yesterday and the offer was conveyed to the Taliban by the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Francesc Vendrell.  Anything else?  Thank you very much.  Have a nice long weekend.

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