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

This is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, the Spokesman for the Secretary-General, and Susan Markham, Spokesperson for the President of the General Assembly.

Spokesman for the Secretary-General

Good afternoon.

**Secretary-General Arrives in Amman  

The Secretary-General arrived in Amman, Jordan last night to attend the Arab League Summit, which starts tomorrow.

He is holding a number of bilateral meetings today, starting with Javier Solana, the European Union's High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy.  Solana, who also serves as a member of the Mitchell Commission, briefed the Secretary-General on the Commission's recent visit to Israel and the [Palestinian] territories.  Solana was on his way to Skopje in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and the two also discussed the latest crisis in the Balkans.

The Secretary-General then met with His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan, for a general review of the situation in the Middle East, including the situation in the Palestinian territories and Iraq.

He then met with his Middle East team -- Terje Roed Larsen, his Special Coordinator for the region; Staffan de Mistura, his Special Representative for southern Lebanon; Peter Hansen, Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA); Lakhdar Brahimi, his special envoy on preventive and peacemaking efforts, as well as senior military officials from peacekeeping missions in Lebanon, the Golan Heights in Syria and in Jerusalem.  They briefed him extensively on the latest situation in the region.

He should now be leaving for a meeting with Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi, requested by the Lybian.  After that, he is to receive the Moroccan Foreign Minister, Mohamed Benaissa.  His last appointment of the day will be with the President of the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat.  Tomorrow morning he will address the opening session of the Arab Summit.

**Security Council

The Security Council's consultations have just started on the “situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question”.  Consultations had taken place throughout the weekend on Saturday and Sunday.  European and Non-Aligned members of the Council are reviewing changes in the text that emerged from the marathon session over the weekend. 

As you will recall, the text currently being discussed was originally proposed by the European members of the Council, with amendments proposed by

Members of the Non-Aligned Movement.  Today’s consultations were scheduled with a view to a formal meeting.  Council members hope to vote on the resolution today, before the start of the Arab Summit in Amman, Jordan tomorrow morning.

**Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the number of people displaced by the recent fighting in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia -- or FYROM -- has risen above 30,000.  More than 16,000 of that number have remained in FYROM, with the rest fleeing to neighbouring countries, including some 3,800 reported in Turkey, 2,600 in Albania and more than 4,500 in Kosovo, according to the UNHCR.  The people fleeing the fighting belong to all the ethnic backgrounds of FYROM, and the majority continue to say they are leaving as a precautionary measure.

We have further details in today's briefing notes from the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, which also notes that the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Kosovo, Hans Haekkerup, will travel to Skopje this week for discussions with the Government of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

The border between FYROM and Kosovo remains closed to all non-United Nations and non-Kosovo Force (KFOR) vehicles, creating problems for the delivery of essential supplies.

**Liberia

The Secretary-General, in a letter to the Security Council dated Friday, submitted five names for a panel of experts pursuant to Resolution 1343, which concerned the imposition of new sanctions on Liberia.  That panel was to be established for a period of six months, and would investigate any violations of the sanctions, as well as possible links between the exploitation of natural resources and the fuelling of the conflict in the region.

The Secretary-General appointed Martin Chungong Ayafor of Cameroon, who had chaired an earlier panel of experts that dealt with violations of the sanctions in Sierra Leone, to head the Liberia panel of experts.  He also appointed Atabou Bodian of Senegal, from the International Civil Aviation Organization; Johan Peleman, an expert on arms and transportation from Belgium; Harjit Singh Sandhu of India, an expert from Interpol; and Alex Vines, a diamond expert from the United Kingdom.  The letter is out on the racks today.

Also on the racks is a letter from Liberian President Charles Taylor, who wrote to the Secretary-General last week, saying that Liberia had taken several measures consistent with the Security Council's demands.

**Ethiopia-Eritrea

The Secretary-General's Special Representive for Ethiopia and Eritrea, Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, met on Saturday with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki in Asmara, the Eritrean capital.  They had positive discussions on a range of issues, including the Temporary Security Zone.  Following those discussions, Legwaila is heading to Addis Ababa, where he is to meet with the Ethiopian Foreign Minister tomorrow.

Last Friday, the United Nations and the Ethiopian Government signed a Status-of-Forces Agreement concerning the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea.  The United Nations is still negotiating a Status-of-Forces Agreement with Eritrea.

**Human Rights

Today is the twenty-fifth anniversary of the entry into force of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.  To mark the occasion, the Commission on Human Rights, meeting in Geneva at its fifty-seventh session, is holding a special debate on tolerance and respect.  In her statement to the Commission, the High Commissioner, Mary Robinson, said that the promotion of tolerance and respect is a key element for a preventative strategy.  She also pointed out four negative forces -- of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance -- which should be considered at the upcoming conference on racism in South Africa.

We have her speech available in my Office.  We also have more information in a press release.  Also to mark the occasion, the Human Rights Committee will host a commemorative event here at Headquarters this afternoon, at which the Committee’s activities over the last 25 years will be evaluated.

**Rwanda Tribunal

Available on the racks today is a letter from the Secretary-General, addressed to the President of the Security Council, which forwards the names of four candidates to take up two additional seats in Arusha, Tanzania, for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.  The Council is supposed to transmit a list of not less than four candidates for the two positions to the President of the General Assembly.  The terms of the two new judges are to last until May

24, 2003, when the terms of all the judges currently sitting on the Rwanda Tribunal are to expire.

**Drug Abuse and Sports

Nine basketball players, led by Vlade Divac, national of Yugoslavia playing with the Sacramento Kings, and Toni Kukoc, native of Croatia, playing with the Atlanta Hawks, will conduct a basketball camp in Treviso, Italy for young players from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Slovenia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.  It will happen between June

29 and July 2.

The three-day event, called “Basketball without borders”, will also include seminars designed to promote leadership, conflict resolution and living a healthy life without drugs.  It is all to commemorate the International Day against Drug Abuse on June 26.  The nine players who will run the workshop are from the countries where the young players come from.  Pino Arlacchi, Executive Director of the United Nations Drug Control Programme, said they “are heroes to young people around the world who give meaning to the slogan, ‘Sports.  Not Drugs’.”

The workshop brings together the National Basketball Association (NBA), the International Federation of Basketball (FIBA), Benetton, Blu, which is an Italian mobile phone service company, and the United Nations Drug Control Programme.  “This is a wonderful example of the public and private sectors working together to make a difference in young people’s lives”, Arlacchi noted.  More details in the press release upstairs.

**Press Conference Tomorrow

And finally, or next to finally, at 11:15 a.m. in this room, Michel Rocard, the former Prime Minister of France, will be here to discuss the small arms issue.

And then the Correspondents Association asked me to inform you of a meeting today from 5 to 6 p.m. in the UNCA Club of international writers and editors.  They are here in New York to take part in a three-day literary conference honouring the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations.  I have a flyer upstairs with more details if you are interested.

Any questions before we go to Sue?

Spokesperson for the General Assembly President

Thank you.  There is no plenary today and we don’t expect at this stage that there will be one this week.  The only ongoing thing that I have to report to you on is the Fifth Committee meeting, which, as you know, is in a resumed session starting last week and will continue through until 6 April.

At the end of this week, the President of the General Assembly will leave for a two-week trip to Japan and China at the invitation of the Governments of those countries.  He will arrive in Tokyo on the first of April and hold a number of meetings the following day, including with the Prime Minister, Yoshiri Mori, and also with the Foreign Minister and other senior officials.  On that Tuesday, he will visit the United Nations University in Tokyo and attend the opening of the exhibit gallery at the University, as well as a luncheon.  He will also travel to Hiroshima and Kyoto, before leaving for China on 6 April.

In China, Mr. Holkeri will meet with the Premier, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and other officials.  He will be in Beijing and then Shanghai and will leave China on 12 April.

Mr. Holkeri will then spend a week in Finland, so he will be out of New York for at least three weeks.  We have more details on his trip, if anyone is interested, in the Spokesman's Office.  That's what I have.  Thank you.

Spokesman:  Questions about the trip?  Okay, thanks very much.

Question:  Fred?  The Secretary-General said recently that it is not time yet to close the Tribunal in The Hague for the former Yugoslavia because the war in the former Yugoslavia is not over yet.  What war was he referring to?

Spokesman:  Who said this?

Question:  The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan.

Spokesman:  It doesn't sound familiar to me.  Thank you very much.

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