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.

We have a rather full agenda here, and we’ll try to get it all done in about 45 minutes.

Immediately following this briefing, at 12:30 p.m. precisely, we’ll have a senior United Nations official giving you a background briefing on the Secretary-General’s forthcoming trip to South Asia.  He leaves tomorrow morning.  There will be no coverage of this, of course.  Delegations can always watch it at the studio 4 viewing room in the first basement.

**International Women’s Day

In a message issued on International Women’s Day, today, the Secretary-General noted that even though much progress has been achieved in the advancement of women, this day is also a reminder that “for the majority of the world’s women, daily life remains a difficult and sometimes dangerous struggle”, he said.

Copies of the full message are available upstairs as well as on our Web site.

Today the guest at our briefing here will be Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, the Executive Director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) who will speak to you about the first Millennium Peace Prize for Women.

Yesterday I outlined the main events relating to International Women’s Day here at Headquarters -- information on those events is available upstairs.  I just add that the Deputy Secretary-General is participating in two seminars today.  This morning, she addressed the symposium on “Women & Peace:  Women Managing Conflict”, and this afternoon, she will give the keynote address at the celebrations hosted by the Group on Equal Rights for Women and the Women’s Environment and Development Organization.

Her speeches are available upstairs, as well as those of Mark Malloch-Brown, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Elizabeth Rehn, the former Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as other participants in today’s events.

We also have a press release from the International Labour Organization (ILO) that concerns the speech delivered today in Geneva by Juan Somavia, the organization’s Director-General, on the issue of gender equality in the workplace.

**Security Council

The Security Council, last night, held an urgent open meeting during which it heard from the Foreign Minister of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Srgjan Kerim.

In a presidential statement afterwards, the Council condemned recent violence by ethnic Albanian armed extremists in the north of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and called on all political leaders in the area, who are in a position to do so, to isolate the forces behind the violent incidents and to shoulder their responsibility for peace and security in the region.

The Council welcomed steps taken by the international security presence (KFOR) to control the border between Kosovo and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, as well as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, in accordance with the military-technical agreement of 9 June 1999.  It also welcomed the ongoing dialogue between the government of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and KFOR on practical steps to address the immediate security situation and to prevent crossing of the border by extremists.

The Security Council is holding closed consultations this morning on Iraq.  Benon Sevan, the Executive Director of the Iraq Programme, introduced the Secretary-General’s report on the implementation of phase IX of the oil-for-food programme, which came out earlier this week.  Ambassador Ole Peter Kolby, of Norway, Chairman of the Sanctions Committee on Iraq, is also briefing the Council.

At the end of this morning’s session, we have asked Benon Sevan to come to the stakeout outside the Security Council to take your questions.  We hope he’ll do that.

This afternoon, at 3:30, the Council will hold a formal meeting to hear a briefing by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Ruud Lubbers, on his recent mission to West Africa.  He is expected to tell Council members that the UNHCR is seeking their support for a comprehensive solution for refugees within Guinea, but is also exploring the possibility of safe passage from Guinea to Sierra Leone, should the refugees wish to repatriate.

At the end of the meeting, Lubbers will go to the second floor stakeout to speak with you and take your questions.  On that one we have a commitment.

**Mozambique

The following statement, attributable to the Spokesman, concerns the situation in Mozambique.

“The Secretary-General is deeply concerned at the rapidly deteriorating flood situation in Mozambique, which has affected some 450,000 persons in four provinces, causing the deaths, to date, of 75 people.  Water levels continue to rise in the Zambezi River basin and with a tropical storm predicted to strike the country this weekend, Mozambique is inches away from a humanitarian disaster.  Despite the continuing efforts of the Government, United Nations agencies and other humanitarian partners, some 50,000 people may need urgent evacuation.

“The Secretary-General appeals to governments and the private sector with the capacity to position marine and helicopter assets in central Mozambique to respond urgently.

“The Secretary-General also wishes to draw attention to the United Nations Inter-Agency Appeal for $10.7 million, launched yesterday in Maputo, in support of the Government’s appeal for emergency assistance and urges donors to react expeditiously and generously. 

“He has assured the Government of Mozambique of the commitment of the United Nations to lending its full and continuing support to deal with the ongoing relief effort and this potential tragedy.”

**Ethiopia-Eritrea

The Secretary-General's latest report to the Security Council on the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea will be issued today, and in it, the Secretary-General notes his concern at the delay in formally establishing a temporary security zone between Ethiopian and Eritrean forces.  The security vacuum in the zone as a result of that delay, he says, creates "a potentially dangerous situation, which should be expeditiously resolved".

The report notes that Eritrea has halted the repositioning of its forces from the zone, because of its objections to adjustments made to the original map of the zone.  As a result, the United Nations Mission has not been in a position to establish the security zone formally, and the Mission has also been concerned by recent instances in which the parties have restricted its freedom of movement.

The Secretary-General also notes some positive developments, including the fact that no significant ceasefire violations occurred during the past three months, as well as the establishment of a Boundary Commission and a Claims Commission that include representatives picked by the parties.  However, Ethiopia has challenged one of the commissioners appointed by Eritrea, an issue the Secretary-General hoped would be resolved quickly.

The Secretary-General says that the United Nations Mission has achieved significant progress since its establishment, and he recommends that its present mandate, which expires the 15^th of this month, be extended by six months, until 15 September.  The Security Council is expected to discuss the report in its consultations next Tuesday, and the Secretary-General's Special Representative, Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, is expected to be here next week for that discussion.

**Bosnia and Herzegovina

In Sarajevo today, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jacques Klein, welcomed the decision taken yesterday by the High Representative, Wolfgang Petrisch, to remove Bosnian Croat leader Ante Jelavic from his seat in the Bosnian Presidency and to bar him and several of his associates from holding public office. 

Petrisch took the action following a decision by some Bosnian Croat politicians to set up a parallel structure separate from the Bosnian Federation; the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina criticized any such effort to set up parallel governing structures earlier this week.

Klein said that Jelavic "has been leading the Croat people into a cul-de-sac of isolation and intolerance -- a fate which the honest and hard-working Croat people neither want, nor deserve".  He also reminded all police officers in Bosnia to remain on duty and uphold the rule of law in a non-political manner.

We have the full text of his statement upstairs.

**International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

The Prosecutor's office of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) today reiterated that all indicted suspects must be surrendered to the Tribunal.  It made the statement following remarks by the Deputy Prosecutor, Graham Blewitt, in London yesterday which took note of recent efforts in Belgrade to prosecute former President Slobodan Milosevic on charges unrelated to his indictment by the Tribunal.

Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte emphasized that she is ready to proceed to trial against Milosevic and his four co-accused on charges of alleged crimes committed in Kosovo in 1998-99.  She is also prepared to issue new indictments against Milosevic for alleged war crimes in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina in the near future.

We have a press release from the Tribunal with more details.

**Lebanon

Staffan di Mistura, the Secretary-General’s Personal Representative for South Lebanon, met today in Beirut with the Lebanese Minister of Defence, Khalil Harawi.  Di Mistura raised with the Minister the urgent need to prevent incidents such as the one that occurred yesterday at the Sheikh Abbad tomb on the Blue Line, when a group of young Lebanese men attempted to remove the United Nations flag that is hoisted there.  Both men also agreed on the need for a joint effort by the Lebanese Government and the international community to accelerate the demining efforts in the south of the country.

**East Timor

A fact-finding team from the United Nations mission headquarters in Dili, East Timor, went to Baucau today to look into the series of violent incidents which took place in that city on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Following a confrontation in the Baucau market on Tuesday, as a result of which the United Nations Civilian Police Rapid Response Unit (RRU) arrested

16 individuals, an estimated 300 people demonstrated yesterday, stoning and damaging two RRU vehicles, throwing stones at the United Nations Civilian Police headquarters, setting up a number of roadblocks, burning down the local mosque, torching the District Administrator’s car, and damaging a restaurant.

The situation was reported calm today.  The fact-finding team will meet local leaders, the District Administrator and the Bishop of Baucau, Basilio Nascimento.

More details are available in today’s Briefing Note from Dili.

**Press Releases and Announcements

This afternoon at 3 (in conference room 8), the Deputy Secretary-General will convene an urgent ad hoc meeting with donors to discuss enhanced support for United Nations humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan and the need to fund the United Nations consolidated appeal for that country.

Among the press releases available in my office today is a note from the UNHCR on the global consultations on ways to improve refugee protection, which began today in Geneva.

The United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) has asked me to announce to you that today, International Women’s Day, at 1 p.m. they have a speakers programme, including Gabrielle Kirk McDonald, the former president of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and that will include lunch.  It is sponsored as well by Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and the Women’s Caucus for Gender Justice.

That is all I have for you.  I’ll take your questions, and then we’ll go to Noeleen.

**Questions and Answers

Question:  What kind of support is Mr. Lubbers seeking from the Security Council regarding the refugee situation in Guinea?

Spokesman:  When he visited there, he called for safe corridors to be set up.  Initially so that relief could be brought in to refugees there, and secondly so that he could organize movement of these refugees away from the conflict-ridden border area to the centre of Guinea.  And then a number of the Sierra Leonean refugees indicated an interest in returning to Sierra Leone.  So the third thing I think he would like to do is:  to establish how many of those would like to return; and to establish whether Sierra Leone is in a position to accommodate them, because there could be a large number of them.  I think those are his three priorities.

Question:  (inaudible)

Spokesman:  I don’t think there has been any discussion of United Nations peacekeepers being deployed to the border.  They are in Sierra Leone, they are not deployed in that northern part of Sierra Leone, which is controlled by the RUF.

Question:  Is there an investigation into the fact that some UNHCR personnel were abusing refugees by taking money?

Spokesman:  You are talking about Nairobi.  Yes, there is an Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) investigation underway, involving investigators for countries who are the major recipients of the resettled refugees processed through Nairobi.  I don’t think I can say any more about it. The allegations -- as you know they have been reported in the press -- were that some local employees of UNHCR and possibly, at least one international, were taking money for processing these requests for resettlement.  That investigation is going on.

The international who is a suspect is no longer working for UNHCR, and I’d have to check on the status of the locals, but I doubt they are still at their jobs.

Question:  Is there any positive feedback from the Security Council to the  request from the Foreign Minister of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Srgjan Kerim, for establishing a buffer zone?

Spokesman:  I know that was discussed.  I’m just trying to find out that as a matter of record the Council reacted to that specific proposal.  Let me say this:  my understanding is that the Council did not accept the idea that a special security zone should be established inside the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Question:  Do you have any information on the agenda of the Secretary-General’s meeting with Bill Gates?

Spokesman:  You might try to catch the Gates as they go out of the building, if they haven’t left already.  The meeting was requested by Bill and Melinda Gates.  I think the general subject was the relationship between their foundation and the United Nations.  I think they wanted to focus on the fight against AIDS in Africa and their Global Fund for Children’s Immunization and the Secretary-General wanted to bring into that discussion, if he could, the digital divide and certain development issues.  I can try to get a read-out from the Secretary-General’s side as to what actually was discussed, but that was roughly the agenda.

Question:  Does the Secretary-General have any comment on criticism today about the pace of promotion of women in the United Nations, and do you have any numbers?

Spokesman:  I don’t have those, but the Secretariat certainly does and we could get them for you.  I think at the senior-most level -– Under-Secretary-General, Assistant Secretary-General -– there was an increase in the last year in both those categories for women in those jobs.  I can get the specific numbers for you.  It never goes fast enough.  The United Nations hiring system, of course, makes everything proceed at a glacial pace, and there are other things in the way.  I think the Secretary-General really has tried his hardest and made it a priority to promote women.  The overall statistics, I think, are going in the right direction.  Whether they are going fast enough or not is a judgment call.

Question:  Does the Secretary-General have anything to say about death threats against women’s groups in Colombia by the paramilitaries?

Spokesman:  I would have to look into that.  I am not aware of it.  I’ll see if I can get a reaction for you.

Question:  Is the Secretary-General aware of Mo Mowlan’s record in  international affairs and is there a role for her in the United Nations in the future?

Spokesman:  He holds her in high regard, but whether there is a job offering in the works I can’t tell you and I don’t want to speculate.

Question:  Any comment on allegations of Iraqi violations of the oil-for-food programme?

Spokesman:  I said yesterday that the Secretary-General’s latest report only commented on the request by Iraq for a surcharge.  That request was turned down by the Sanctions Committee.  The Sanctions Committee sent a letter to all Member States, reminding them of the ground rules for the oil-for-food programme, saying that all money to Iraq had to pass through the United Nations fund.  I said we did not have sufficient substantiation of these further allegations of “kickbacks” to include in the Secretary-General’s report.  We are aware of the allegations.  We hope Member States are equally aware of them and would look into these allegations, should they consider them valid or worth looking into.

Question:  Will the Secretary-General’s Office be looking into them?

Spokesman:  No, that is not his job.

Question:  Regarding the Democratic Republic of the Congo, are there, in addition to the deployment of 1,500 troops you announced yesterday, any other troops in the pipeline?  What are those 1,500 troops going to be doing there?

Spokesman:  I don’t know what is in the pipeline.  Why don’t you talk to Marie afterwards?  My understanding is that this is a process underway.  I think yesterday we announced these deployments were the first of many.  The job is as before.  The monitors are there to monitor.  The infantry is there to protect the monitors.  We are not there to protect the population; we are not there to impose peace; we are there on the assumption that the parties to the peace agreement are now serious about implementing it, and we are there just to verify and record for the record that they are living up to their agreements.

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