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

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, and Sue Markham, Spokeswoman for the President of the General Assembly.

Briefing by the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

      Good afternoon.

Directly after this briefing, the Deputy Secretary-General, Louise Fréchette, will brief you on the global fight against HIV/AIDS and the United Nations efforts in this fight.  That is in advance of the Secretary-General’s address to the African Summit on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Other Related Infectious Diseases.  That speech will be given in Abuja, Nigeria, on Thursday. The African Summit runs from Wednesday to Friday of this week.  The Deputy Secretary-General will be joined by Elhadj Sy, who heads the New York Office of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).  She is expected here at 12:25, so we better rush.

**Secretary-General in Africa

The Secretary-General met this morning with the Foreign Minister of Ghana, Hackman Owusu-Agyeman, and then he met with Ghana's new President, John A. Kufuor. He arrived in Ghana last night for what we billed as a private visit, but he was met at the airport by the Minister of Foreign Affairs as well as by the press.

He told the media that it was his first visit to Ghana since the elections of last December, and he praised the smooth democratic transition that had taken place.

In response to a question about the spread of AIDS worldwide, the Secretary-General said that the "conspiracy of silence is broken, and we need to have a comprehensive approach to the disease which combines prevention and treatment".

He also took questions on his prospects for a second term, the peace process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, debt relief for Ghana and the United Nations role in the Middle East.

And we have a transcript of that exchange in my office.

**Middle East

The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East, Terje Roed-Larsen, arrived in Damascus, Syria, today where he will meet in about a half hour’s time with Syria’s Foreign Minister, Farouk al-Shara.

Last night in Amman, Jordan, he met with the Jordanian Foreign Minister, Abdulilah al-Khatib.  The two discussed the joint Jordanian-Egyptian peace initiative and possible ways to move forward on that track.

We will let you know as soon as we get a read-out of the meeting today with the Syrian Foreign Minister.

** Security Council

The Security Council began with closed consultations to hear a briefing by Assistant Secretary-General for peacekeeping, Hedi Annabi, on the United Nations Observer Mission in Prevlaka.  The Secretary-General’s report on the United Nations Mission in Prevlaka came out last week.

The Council has now just moved into a private meeting to hear from the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Georgia, Dieter Boden.  The Council has just heard from Georgia's Minister for Special Affairs, Malkhaz Kakabadze.

After the private meeting, the Council is expected to hold a public meeting to adopt a draft presidential statement on Georgia.

And then we have asked Mr. Boden to come to the stakeout –- we think that will be around one o’clock –- to take your questions.

**Western Sahara

The Secretary-General's latest report on Western Sahara has just gone to the Security Council.  It includes no sign of progress over the past two months in overcoming the obstacles to the implementation of the Settlement Plan.

However, the Secretary-General believes that substantial progress has been made toward determining whether Morocco is prepared to offer or support some devolution of authority for Western Sahara that is genuine, substantial and in keeping with international norms.

Because of the progress that has been made, the Secretary-General's Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, James Baker, has recommended that the mandate of the United Nations Mission be extended by two months, until 30 June, to provide time for him to consult further with the parties.  The Secretary-General shares Baker's views on this two-month extension.

The Council is expected to hold consultations on Western Sahara on Thursday.

**Sierra Leone

The United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone, in line with an understanding between UNAIDS and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, announced today in Freetown the creation of an HIV/AIDS unit.  The aim of this unit is to raise awareness and sensitize the peacekeepers, as well as the civilian staff and the communities where they are deployed, to the problem of AIDS.

We should be getting a transcript of a press briefing on the subject shortly.

**East Timor

The United Nations Mission in East Timor reports that an all-Timorese working group dealing with sexually-transmitted diseases and AIDS is being set up by the Transitional Administration.  The group will comprise twelve members of non-governmental organizations, the churches, women's groups and medical associations, and will advise the Transitional Administration and the future government on prevention and care of sexually-transmitted diseases and AIDS.

The group's members will be formally nominated tomorrow in Dili.

We have more information upstairs.

**Kosovo

The President of the Municipality of Klina, in central Kosovo, was shot dead today.  His body was found in the stairwell of his apartment.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Hans Haekkerup, said he was shocked to learn of the murder of Ismet Raci, a member of the Democratic League for Kosovo (LDK) political party.

Haekerrup said it was outrageous that there were continued killings in Kosovo, which was not good for the overall security situation.  He is awaiting a full investigation into the incident, as to whether the murder was politically motivated or perpetrated for some other reason.

**Iraq Programme

The weekly update from the Office of the Iraq Programme shows that, at just over 2.1 million barrels per day, Iraqi oil exports totalled 14.9 million barrels in the week from 14 to 20 April 2001.

The exports generated an estimated €370 million (Euros) in revenue at current prices.  There were a total of nine loadings at the two authorized terminals.

The total value of contracts placed on hold by the Security Council’s

661 sanctions committee rose yet again, standing now at $3.59 billion, and that covers 1,703 contracts for both humanitarian supplies and oil industry spare parts and equipment.

** Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific

Today in Bangkok, Thailand, China deposited its instrument of ratification for the “Bangkok Agreement” -- one of Asia's oldest regional trading agreements. Under the terms of the agreement, the other member countries, which are the Republic of Korea, India, Laos, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, will be able to export 634 products to China at reduced tariffs.

China's accession to the Bangkok Agreement occurred at the 57th session of the Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific (better known to you, I think, as (ESCAP), which is meeting from Monday through Wednesday this week.

We have two press releases upstairs.

**United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

The United Nations Trade and Development Report for 2001, which was launched this morning, says that, although the performance of the world economy last year was the best in more than a decade, the United States’ economy began to slow sharply during the last quarter of 2000.  The landing, the report said, could well be harder than optimists had expected.

The report, which is produced annually by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), says that the downturn in the United States, sluggish growth in Japan and undue emphasis that monetary policy continues to place on inflation in Europe may slow the pace of economic activity in the major industrial countries.  Consequently, instability in the world economy could be more pronounced than under normal conditions, and cooperation among all major players in the world economy becomes more necessary.

You can get copies of that report at the Documents Counter.

**Ozone

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has issued its seasonal ozone update today in Geneva.  In the press release, WMO said that the northern middle and high altitude ozone values in the Arctic (do you have that? I don’t understand) appeared to be higher than in recent years according to the latest measurements.  These higher ozone values are attributed to natural variations.

For more details, pick up the WMO press release, which, I’m sure, will explain everything.

**Mrs. Annan

Today, Nane Annan, the wife of the Secretary-General, visited two youth projects in Izmit, Turkey, supported by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).  Izmit was one of the areas hardest hit by the 1999 earthquake that rocked western Turkey.  The most affected population segment was children, who suffer from trauma and disorientation long after the quake.

In the morning, Mrs. Annan visited the Kocaeli guidance and research centre to learn about psychological intervention activities for children affected by the quake.  To date, the centre has reached approximately 170,000 children, parents and teachers. According to UNICEF, this centre’s work is unique in the way it assists the psychological well-being of children who have suffered major trauma. It hopes that this centre can be used as a model.

And then, in the afternoon, Mrs. Annan visited another youth centre –- this is too long for me to even attempt to pronounce, we’ll give it to you in writing later.  [The Uzunciftlik Youth Center.]  This is one of ten set up in the quake area.  The centre provides young people with a place to share experiences and develop activities that provide education and common goals.

Mrs. Annan returns to New York tomorrow.

**Book Signing

Tomorrow at 1 p.m., Maurice Strong, the distinguished international civil servant and former Secretary-General of the Earth Summit, will be signing copies of his book Where On Earth Are We Going.  And that will be at the United Nations bookshop in the visitors area.

All are welcome to attend.

**Press Conferences

Press conference tomorrow, one o’clock in this room:  Kenzo Oshima, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, together with Sergey Lavrov, the Ambassador of the Russian Federation, Valeriy Kuchinski of Ukraine, and Sergei Ling of Belarus.  And they will hold a press conference on the 15^th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident.

That is all I have for you.

**Questions and Answers

Question:  What progress has been made on the Western Sahara?

Spokesman:  Well, for that you have got to have the exegesis of the Secretary-General’s report.  But I will give you the words, and interpretation I will not venture to provide.  If you need additional help, see us after the briefing and I’ll put you onto one of the desk officers.

“Substantial progress has been made toward determining whether Morocco is prepared to offer or support some devolution of authority for Western Sahara that is genuine, substantial and in keeping with international norms.”

Question:  So progress has been made towards finding out what Morocco

might . . .

Spokesman:  That is what it sounds like to me, but I’m not going to interpret it without a lawyer.

Question:  Does this raise any hope for the future of the referendum?

Spokesman:  No, it extends the mission by two months.

Question:  Does it mean that the Secretary-General is now ready to jettison the settlement plan?

Spokesman:  No, that is not what it says.  Please, don’t ask me to interpret the report.  If you do need specialized help, we’ll try to get you briefed by a desk officer afterwards.  This wording, you can tell from the tortuousness of it, was carefully drafted.

Question:  Do you have any comment on the Plan of Action of the Summit of the Americas in Quebec last weekend?

Spokesman:  I had a brief comment yesterday, merely saying that we welcomed their commitment to the Millennium Summit goal of reducing the number of people in absolute poverty by half by the year 2015.  That is all I had to say about the summit yesterday.  I have nothing to add today.

Going back to the settlement plan. What the Secretary-General has been doing the last couple of years, I think, under James Baker, is to explore with the parties whether there is any mutually-acceptable (resolution).  I don’t mean to say it is based purely on the plan, but on anything the two parties can agree to.

Question:  Is it your understanding that the new explorative talks are seeking to go away from the process that leads to the referendum, that information process, the peace process and then finally the referendum?

Spokesman:  No, again, I am not going to go into it.  Read the report.  If you have questions, we’ll get an expert to answer them for you.

Question:  What is the joint meeting of the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council about?

Spokesman:  I am not going to try to attempt an answer.  Let me get back to you after the briefing.  (Members of both Councils will meet to discuss coordination in conflict management and the complementary roles they can play in that process.)

Briefing by the Spokeswoman for the President of the General Assembly

Nice to see you all again.

The President of the General Assembly [Harri Holkeri (Finland)] returned yesterday to New York having been away since the beginning of the month in Japan, China and Finland.

This morning, he presided over the Plenary meeting, where the election of two additional judges for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda was held. And I am pleased to announce that they have reached agreement on the second round.  They have elected Ms. Ramaroson from Madagascar and Mr. Maqutu from Lesotho as the two new judges for the Rwanda Tribunal.

There were four candidates, including candidates from Benin and from Malawi. The fifth candidate who was listed in the document in case you are wondering, from Zambia, withdrew before the election.

The two additional judges are required because of a Security Council decision last November to increase the number of appeals judges in the Rwanda Tribunal and for the Yugoslavia Tribunal.  The term of office for the current nine judges of the Rwanda Tribunal runs until May 2003, and these two new judges who were elected today, will also serve until May 2003.

Tonight, the President of the General Assembly will leave for Africa where he will attend the African Summit in Abuja.  The Deputy-Secretary-General, of course, will be telling you what the Secretary-General is going to talk about there, and we will make copies of the President’s speech available as soon as possible.

And finally, I would like to draw your attention to a non-paper prepared by the Office of the President of the General Assembly on improving the efficiency and revitalization of the Assembly.  The document summarizes the results of the informal brainstorming meeting of the General Committee held in February, and of informal consultations held since then by Ambassador Valdes of Chile.  We can provide you with copies of this document in my office, and it is on the Web site of the President.  A further round of discussions will be held on 10 and 11 May concerning the revitalization of the Assembly.

That is all I have, thank you.

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