DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
| Press Briefing |
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.
Good afternoon.
**Security Council
The Security Council is meeting in closed consultations this morning.
Kieran Prendergrast, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, briefed Council members on the closure of the United Nations political offices in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
You’ll recall that on 1 May, the UN Special Mission to Afghanistan, which the political office is called, received a note verbale from the Taliban requesting the closure, as soon as possible, of the mission’s offices outside Kabul. The Secretary-General’s Personal Representative, Francesc Vendrell, met with the Taliban’s so-called Foreign Minister, Wakil Ahmed Mutawakkil, the following day in Kandahar. At that meeting, it was agreed that the UN mission would close its offices in Herat, Jalalabad, Kandahar and Mazar-I-Sharif by
20 May. The Kabul office is to remain functional. The office in Faizabad, which is not in Taliban-controlled territory, is not affected.
The second item discussed is Ethiopia-Eritrea. Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Ethiopia and Eritrea, briefed Council members on developments since the establishment of the Temporary Security Zone on 18 April, including freedom of movement and air access by UN peacekeepers. He's to join us here before the end of this briefing, if our timing is good.
The Council will also discuss its upcoming mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. French Ambassador Jean-David Levitte, who is leading that mission, is now scheduled to brief you here in Room 226 on Monday immediately after the noon briefing.
**Middle East
Today in Gaza, the office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East, Terje Roed Larsen, received a delegation of women whose families had been affected by yesterday's violence in Gaza.
Speaking from New York, where he is meeting with UN officials this week, Larsen voiced his distress at the loss of civilian life in Gaza and the West Bank and said he would brief the Secretary-General on the acute situation facing the Palestinians. He said he was particularly shocked by the death of a four-month-old girl in yesterday's violence. We have a statement issued by his office in Gaza, available in my office.
**Bosnia
Last night in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a hand grenade was thrown at a Serb Orthodox Church in the Federation-controlled town of Sanski Most, in the second attack on a religious institution following the violence at a sixteenth-century mosque that was to be reconstructed in Banja Luka earlier that day. There were no injuries in the latest incident, although the church sustained minor damage.
Police in the area have arrested two Bosnian Muslim men, one of whom has made a confession. The United Nations International Police Task Force welcomed the quick reaction of the police and condemned the targeting of religious sites.
Today, UN officials are meeting with Republika Srpska officials in Banja Luka, following the violent standoff near the mosque, in which 30 people --
19 Muslims and 11 Serbs -- suffered injuries that required medical attention at the nearby hospital.
Also today, UN officials met with local court officials in Trebinje, where Bosnian Serbs demonstrated violently on Saturday at another mosque that is to be reconstructed. The UN Mission expects that criminal charges will be filed later today against participants in Saturday's violence.
**Olympic Truce
This morning, just outside the General Assembly building, the Secretary-General attended the presentation of a statue that is to be displayed temporarily on occasions when the Olympic Truce is in effect, or is being discussed in the General Assembly.
The Secretary-General had been greeted at the delegates' lobby by several officials who are attending today's meeting of the Board of Directors of the International Olympic Truce Foundation, including the President of the International Olympic Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch, and the Foreign Minister of Greece, George Papandreou.
Samaranch announced that the International Olympic Committee would make a $100,000 donation to the United Nations for the fight against AIDS. That offer follows the Secretary-General's decision to donate the $100,000 cash prize for the Philadelphia Liberty Medal, which he is to receive on the 4th of July, as the first contribution to a proposed global fund against AIDS.
The Secretary-General also spoke at the Board of Directors meeting, and noted the importance of a truce at the time of the Olympics as an opportunity for warring parties to lay down arms, at least for a while.
As he told reporters from Greek public television upon entering the building today, the Olympic Truce allows people to envision what it would be like to have 24 hours without war. He added, "Any time you can get protagonists to stop fighting, you are winning the game."
Following today's meeting, Greek Foreign Minister Papandreou will talk to you in this room at 3 p.m. today.
**Secretary-General in Washington
The Secretary-General is going to Washington D.C. tomorrow afternoon. In order to further his discussions with senior US officials on the global fight against HIV/AIDS, the Secretary-General will meet with Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson. The Secretary-General will come back to New York tomorrow night and is expected back at Headquarters Thursday morning.
**Kosovo
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said today that some 6,000 people have arrived in Kosovo from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) since May 3rd amid new clashes between ethnic Albanian militant and FYROM security forces. Most of the people are leaving as a precautionary measure, UNHCR says.
Also on the Balkans, as you know from his schedule, the Secretary-General met today at 11 with Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica, who just briefed you at the Security Council stakeout.
The Secretary-General had met earlier in the day with his Special Representative for Kosovo, Hans Haekkerup, and his Special Envoy for the Balkans, Carl Bildt.
Hans Haekkerup will brief the Council tomorrow morning, and then we hope to have him here at the noon briefing afterwards.
**Iraq
The Office of the Iraq Programme, in its weekly update, notes that the total value of contracts placed on hold by the Security Council’s 661 sanctions committee decreased last week, both in absolute and relative terms, after months of gradual increase. Overall, 1,691 contracts worth $3.5 billion were on hold, representing 17.1 per cent of the value of all contracts circulated to the Committee. For the first time in many weeks, more humanitarian supply contracts were released from hold by the Committee than new ones placed on hold.
In terms of Iraqi oil exports under the oil-for-food programme, in the week 28 April to 4 May, Iraq exported 14.4 million barrels of oil, at the rate of
2.06 million barrels per day, raising an estimated €371 million (euros) in revenue at current prices. We have the full report available in my office.
**Angola –- Children Abducted
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Angola have strongly condemned the abduction last weekend of 60 children during an attack by an armed group and have called upon those responsible to ensure their safe and immediate release. The children, who range in age from 10 to 18 years, were abducted from a children’s home outside the town of Caxito, just north of Luanda. The whereabouts of the group of 5 girls and 51 boys and one of their teachers is unknown. Four humanitarian workers were also killed in that attack and a number of civilians were wounded. Although the motivation behind the abduction is unclear, armed groups have been known to use children to carry goods and ammunition and to cook and clean, and even to recruit them as soldiers.
We have more information in a press release.
**Congo -– Humanitarian Crisis
The World Food Programme (WFP) today warned of a humanitarian crisis emerging in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. WFP is deploying more emergency staff to various parts of the country as aid workers gain access to areas previously cut off and isolated in the conflict. The agency is planning an airlift of emergency supplies to a number of isolated areas and is appealing to donors for funds. $43 million is still needed to fund the operation in the country, which will feed 1.4 million people to the end of this year.
WFP estimates that there are tens of thousands of hungry and malnourished people who have been displaced or trapped in the bush and hundreds of thousands more who need food aid. In the town of Manono in Katanga province, WFP recently made its first food delivery and estimates that 23 per cent of the children there under five are malnourished, 19 per cent severely. We have a press release on that.
**UNDP/Mines
A new study commissioned by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) recommends that demining programs should focus on the impact mines have on people's lives, rather than on the number of mines that are deployed. Social aspects of mine clearance, such as how landmines affect economic activity, should be considered in mine action programs, the study says. UNDP has a press release with more information.
**ESCWA
Today in Beirut, experts from the 13 countries that make up the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia began a preparatory meeting, two days ahead of the Commission's two-day ministerial session. At that meeting, the Commission's Executive Secretary, Mervat Tellawy, said that, despite many obstacles, the Commission has carried out a record high of 99 per cent of its activities through 1998 and 99. We have some press releases on that.
**Signings
Today, this morning actually, the Russian Federation became the 67th country to sign the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
**Press Release
We have one from the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, which begins its tenth session today in Vienna. Representatives of 40 countries will focus on the progress made in fighting corruption. The session will end on 17 May. Pick up the press release if you're interested.
**Portuguese Event
The Correspondent's Association asked me to tell you about a Portuguese language programme and the Portuguese Language Club of the United Nations. Apparently they're launching a Web page of the UN Radio in Portuguese. The launching ceremony will be followed, you'll be happy to know, by cocktails. That will happen today at 5:30 p.m. in the UNCA Club and you're all invited.
That's all I have. Yes.
**Questions and Answers
Question: On the Kosovo legal framework, has everything now been done?
Spokesman: No, nothing has changed since I answered your question yesterday or the day before. The framework is still being finalized, and intends to take into consideration the specific concerns of minorities, specifically the Serb minority in Kosovo. Yes, Mike?
Question: What sort of concerns are there over the effects of the closures of offices in Afghanistan?
Spokesman: It affects the political efforts of the United Nations in trying to bring about some kind of agreement, truce, whatever, between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance. Our humanitarian offices are still open, so our humanitarian work is not affected. Yes?
Question: I'm asking again about the Kosovo legal framework because President Kostunica said here today that Yugoslavia was not pleased with it; he wanted some things to be changed.
Spokesman: The discussion that he had with the Secretary-General this morning was, I think, sober and positive. The President expressed his concerns on the legal framework; the Secretary-General said that he expected that these issues would be dealt with by Mr. Haekkerup in follow-up conversations with Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) authorities. So, as I mentioned a minute ago, the framework is not yet finalized and we're trying to take into consideration the Serb minority views. Yes?
Question: How do the Security Council and the Secretary-General plan to react to the Mitchell Committee fact-finding report on the Middle East?
Spokesman: The agreement was that the draft report would be shown to the Secretary-General. It was given to him on the same day that it was given to the Israelis and the Palestinians. I think there's roughly a two-week period for the parties to study the report and comment on it. The Secretary-General is doing the same -- he's studying it. What the Council will do? I don't know that there was a specific understanding at Sharm el-Sheik of a role for the Council, but, of course, they're free to do whatever they want. But we'd have to ask them if they intend to take this up. Richard?
Question: How important and significant is the legal framework agreement -- if you could explain to our viewers -- in keeping the peace in Kosovo?
Spokesman: It's the blueprint for the way forward. The objective is to provide Kosovo with substantial autonomy. The legal framework attempts to define that legal autonomy, and, in the process, to make possible local elections. It's really the key to the future, I would say. It's probably the most significant thing that the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) is working on.
Question: Are the closings of UN offices in the Taliban area going to affect needy people who are getting help from the UN?
Spokesman: No, I said just a minute ago that it doesn't affect our humanitarian work, just the political work of the United Nations.
Question: What is the position of the Security Council about the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East and the many people being killed?
Spokesman: I can't speak for them. I think when the President comes out of today's session, if he goes to the microphone, that's a question you should put directly to him.
Question: In the political framework for Kosovo, will the provision for a referendum in the near future be changed?
Spokesman: With a technical question like that, I suggest you wait until tomorrow. We're going to bring Hans Haekkerup here to speak to you tomorrow and you can ask him all those questions.
Question: Does the United Nations consider the Taliban a legal government? Why can't it put pressure on them, like in Angola, when the Angolans wanted the UN to close the office.
Spokesman: The General Assembly has not recognized the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan, as you know. The United Nations continues to maintain contact with the authorities; we still have our political office in Kabul open. Francesc Vendrell will continue his interaction with the parties. It's just that we no longer have a network of offices, and so that will hinder, to a certain extent, our political work, which, nonetheless will continue. Richard?
Question: I don't know if you officially announced it yesterday, but do you have the results of the International Drug Control vote last Thursday, including how much the United States lost by?
Spokesman: I don't have those numbers with me, but they're a matter of record. What, they're not?
Question: It's hell finding out anything from the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). We're catching up with last Thursday's meeting today. The press releases are one of the few things we have, and they give winners and not losers, where it is insignificant in this case who won as compared to who lost. That went for both the Human Rights Commission and all the elections on Thursday. I don't know if there's anything your office can do about it.
Question: I was also looking for an official statement. Does ECOSOC come under your purview, as far as announcing who won and who lost?
Spokesman: No, their activities are reported by the Department of Public Information (DPI) that issues the press releases you're referring to. If you think that the way those press releases are written, not emphasizing or not mentioning the losers because there's news value to that, we can convey that view to DPI.
Question: But did they purposely not push any publicity for this vote? In the past, we've talked about some ECOSOC issues. I mean, have they not given you information? You've read many DPI statements before.
Spokesman: We followed that story, I think, at the same pace that you did. It kind of took us by surprise. It was mentioned in the Journal. The long list of votes that the Economic and Social Council was going to take that day were listed in the Journal. We did not pick up on the possibility that something newsworthy would come out of those votes. So we're partly at fault, we'll have to look into how DPI does its press releases, and, in the future, I guess we all have to be more vigilant.
Question: It's not just DPI. The people taking notes for DPI had the same problem everybody else did, in trying to find out what the vote was, who was running and so forth. ECOSOC seems to be dreadfully disorganized in giving comprehensive information.
Spokesman: Well, the Economic and Social Council, like the Security Council, doesn't have a formal mechanism for dealing with the press. The Security Council cooperates pretty closely with my office and we have arranged over the years a number of procedures to see to it that the information gets from the Council to you. That has not yet been done for the Economic and Social Council. Maybe that indicates a new effort that has to be made on our part.
Question: The current Chair of ECOSOC is?
Spokesman: Off the top of my head, I can't tell you.
Question: You said on Friday that the United Nations should not be blamed for these votes. Now that there is this second vote, has there been any feedback?
Are UN officials doubly concerned now after this vote?
Spokesman: No, I think the editorial reaction that we've seen has been somewhat mixed. But we're pleased that a number of media outlets have decided to look at why governments are voting this way. That's really the issue, and not the people like us, the Secretariat, who are merely counting the votes and, in this case, not reporting to you the outcome adequately. But I think there's a sophisticated enough perception that this is a matter of government policies and inter-governmental relations.
Question: Yesterday you said you took note of William Safire's column. Have you heard of the plot that he mentioned, with 100 countries involved, to keep the United States off?
Spokesman: No, I didn't hear anything about that. Nor do I know anything about it.
Question: Are the 6,000 refugees arriving in Kosovo all Albanians, or are there others as well?
Spokesman: To my knowledge they are ethnic Albanians from the northern part of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. As I mentioned to you, they are moving out of their villages as a precaution, which is what they told UNHCR on their arrival in Kosovo.
Question: Was there any significance to the fact that, at the photo opportunity with the Secretary-General and President Kostunica, they did not sit at the table as usual? It that going to be a new style, or was there some reason that he didn't want to have more time on camera with him?
Spokesman: No, they had a tête-a-tête. They met one-on-one and then they met with their full delegations.
Question: Concerning the same meeting, did the question of relationships within Yugoslavia, in regards to Montenegro, come up?
Spokesman: I did not get a detailed read-out. I heard the President tell you that these issues were raised. He did comment also about Montenegro and Kosovo. I assume that that's the issue that they discussed together when he talked about issues within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. But I don't know any more than that.
Thank you very much.
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