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

      **Briefing on Democratic Republic of the Congo

Immediately after this briefing, Ambassador Jean-David Levitte of France will talk to you about the Security Council mission, which will be going to the Great Lakes region.  As you know, he’s the leader of that mission, which will be leaving New York tomorrow.  The programme of that mission will be available in our office later today.

**Secretary-General opens LDC Conference

I have a very long note on the Secretary-General’s activities of the day in Brussels, because it is a very heavy day for him, not yet finished.  I’ll go through it with you.  This morning he participated in the opening in Brussels of the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries.

One tenth of the world’s population lives in these 49 countries, the Secretary-General said at the inaugural ceremony, noting that "they would like to join in the global market, as both consumers and producers.  It is in everyone's interest that they do so, but they cannot do it without support.  We are here", he said, “to consider what kind of support would be most useful to them, and to make sure that they get it".

The Conference is organized by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and hosted by the European Union.  It got under way with a special event, involving representatives of private companies and non-governmental organizations as well as leaders of poor and rich nations.   The Secretary-General, who chaired this particular event, called for more countries to open their markets to products from the least developed countries, including by eliminating non-tariff barriers.

While noting that not all objectives of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations have been achieved, he urged support for a new round of talks, arguing that it was in the best interest of the poor countries.  "This time", he said, "it must be a true development round".

In the margins of the Conference, the Secretary-General at midday met with French President Jacques Chirac.  They spoke of the worrying situation in West Africa, especially the current conflict involving Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.  They also touched on the encouraging trends in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and they discussed the latest efforts to fight the AIDS epidemic.

The Secretary-General then dropped in on the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) Forum, a parallel conference by NGOs concerned with the agenda of the poorest countries.  He acknowledged recent successes of NGO efforts on behalf of the landmine ban, debt relief and establishment of an International Criminal Court.  He outlined his agenda for helping the poorest countries and asked for their support.  “My biggest fear”, the Secretary-General said, “is that we will

hold another conference in 10 years time, and find the list [of poorest countries] is even longer.  I beg you not to let that happen”.

A bit later in the day, the Secretary-General and his wife Nane had an audience with their Majesties the King and Queen of the Belgians (Albert II and Paola).  Following the audience, the Secretary-General and Mrs. Annan attended a luncheon hosted by the King and Queen.

After lunch, the Secretary-General was to meet with Louis Michel, Belgium’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister.  He was then to attend a ceremony for the award of the King Baudouin International Development Prize, given each year for sustainable achievement in improving the lives of people in the developing world.  The Secretary-General is scheduled to make remarks at a reception for the laureates after the ceremony.   In the evening, he is to attend a working dinner at the Council of the European Union hosted by the Foreign Minister of Sweden, Anna Lindh.

The Secretary-General's remarks are quoted from the speeches he delivered today.  There are about three or four of them, which are all available in our office. 

      **Middle East

In an interview given to Reuters Television over the weekend in Brussels, the Secretary-General commented on the ongoing violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories.  He said, “I do not believe that this cycle of violence is going to get them anywhere, and I have made that absolutely clear.  I have also indicated that Israel has used excessive force, in my judgment.”  The Secretary-General added that he hoped some of the informal contacts between both sides would lead in time to a ceasefire, as well as to “an easing of the economic restrictions on the Palestinian people and eventually getting the two to the table to discuss their issues through dialogue and economic means”.

Meanwhile, this morning the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Terje-Roed Larsen, visited the site of some of the recent Israeli attacks on Palestinian targets, including the Khan Yunis refugee camp.  Larsen told journalists there that he was extremely appalled at the level of violence, adding that the Israelis were using excessive force, which was “deliberate, unnecessary and completely provocative".  Larsen also stressed the illegality of the settlements under international law.  While in the camp, Larsen also met with the family of Himan Hiju, the four-month-old Palestinian girl who was killed by Israeli shelling last week.

**Statement by Spokesman

This statement attributable to the Spokesman is on the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia:

The Secretary-General welcomes the formation of a government of national unity by the political parties in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.  He considers such a government essential to arriving at a sustainable solution to the very difficult situation facing the country.  The Secretary-General joins the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and others in expressing his strong support of the current efforts of all the political parties to demonstrate their commitment to peace and stability in the country and participate constructively in the new government.

**Kosovo

Still on that part of the world, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Kosovo, Hans Haekerrup, is expected to address the people of Kosovo at 7 p.m. local time, or about in an hour’s time.  The Special Representative is expected to brief on the status of the so-called legal framework, on which he had extensive discussions last week here in New York, and to announce a date for elections in Kosovo (later announced as 17 November).  The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) is preparing a press release on the announcement and we’ll let you know as soon as we get it.

Meanwhile the Kosovo Force, or KFOR, reports today that a suspect being held at the Camp Bondsteel Detention Centre, on suspicion of murder in relation to the bus bombing in February, escaped last night.

**Security Council

Here in New York, the Security Council is holding an open briefing on West Africa, at which a number of Secretariat officials are participating in an interactive session with the 15 Council members to discuss developments in the subregion, and particularly in Sierra Leone.  Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean Marie Guéhenno began the briefing by noting the 2 May meeting in Abuja of delegations from the Sierra Leone Government and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), which he called a "first step" towards building confidence between the parties.  As part of the Abuja Agreement, he said, the RUF will meet tomorrow with the Government and the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) to discuss a firm timetable for disarmament.  Mr. Guéhenno also noted the Mission's forward deployment to Lunsar, Makeni and Magburaka last month and recent clashes between the RUF and the Civilian Defence Force (CDF) near Tongo fields and at Talia.

Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Carolyn McAskie then informed the Council of her recent visit to Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, where she travelled to assess the humanitarian needs in those three countries.  You’ll recall that just a few days ago she was here to brief you on that as well.  The Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Ibrahima Fall, then briefed the Council on the March trip by a United Nations inter-agency mission, which he led, to West Africa.  Details of that are available in their report, which came out last week.

The Council meeting is still going on, with Council members speaking and asking questions of the three Secretariat officials.  We have the statements by the three officials in the Spokesman's Office, along with a press release from UNAMSIL which says that, starting today, nearly 10,000 weapons placed under the Mission's custody will be destroyed, and then converted into tools.

**Bosnia and Herzegovina

In Bosnia and Herzegovina today, the Commissioner of the United Nations International Police Task Force, Vincent Coeurderoy, permanently removed six senior police officers from participating in any aspect of police work.  The officers had signed a statement that renounced the authority of the Bosnian Federation and pledged allegiance to an illegal Bosnian Croat entity that seeks to be separate from the Federation.  He also issued reports of serious non-compliance against 10 other police officers; those officers can continue to work, although any further violations could result in their decertification.  We have further information from the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH) available in our office upstairs.

**East Timor

Also available upstairs are the briefing notes from East Timor.  I will highlight that today in Dili, the East Timorese capital, 15 East Timorese diplomats began their first working day at the Department of Foreign Affairs of the East Timor Transitional Administration.  The diplomats come from a batch

50 East Timorese who graduated from the Diplomatic Training Course in August last year and will be working in administration, protocol, policy and media relations.

**Southern Lebanon

This morning in Beirut, the Secretary-General’s Personal Representative for southern Lebanon, Staffan de Mistura, chaired a donor meeting on the demining of south Lebanon.  Mr. de Mistura briefed the donor community on the United Nations coordination activities undertaken in view of the upcoming "International High-Level Workshop for Demining Lebanon, Beginning with the South", that will be held in Beirut on 21 May.  More than 100,000 mines are still left in southern Lebanon.

**Chemical Weapons Convention

The States parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention today met in Geneva, and Vladimir Petrovsky, Director-General of the United Nations Office in Geneva, delivered a message on behalf of the Secretary-General, urging those States to provide the necessary resources for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to function effectively.  The Secretary-General noted that, although the number of States that are party to the Convention has grown to 143, "there is no room for complacency", and he urged all States to join the Convention without delay.  Copies of his message are available upstairs.

**UNICEF

I’m reaching the end of this briefing with two notes.  One is a survey conducted by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) among children and young people in East Asia and the Pacific, which has found that many are unprepared to deal with the rapid growth of HIV/AIDS in the region.  Sixty per cent of 9-13 year olds and 25 percent of 14-17 year olds said they know absolutely nothing about the virus.  The UNICEF’s Regional Director for East Asia and the Pacific, Mehir Khan, said the results of the survey should serve as a wake-up call to governments and societies in the region.

**UNDP

From the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), we have a note that they announced Saturday they will set up a Regional Disaster Management Support Facility in India which will work closely with countries in the region to build government and community capacities in disaster mitigation, preparedness and recovery.  The UNDP Assistant Administrator, Hafiz Pasha, announced the establishment of the facility while visiting the Indian city of Ahmedabad.

**Press Releases

This is all I have, but we remind you that we have a number of press releases upstairs from the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).

**Question and Answer

Question:  Any recent report to the Security Council from the Secretary-General’s Special Representative to the Middle East on the situation there?

Answer:  No, he was here last week in discussions with the Secretary-General.

* *** *