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.

**Statement on Afghanistan

Thank you for waiting.  Good afternoon.  I’ll start with a statement attributable to the Spokesman concerning Afghanistan.

“The Secretary-General is dismayed by the proposal by the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan to force non-Muslim citizens of their country to wear identity labels on their clothing.  Such an order would constitute a grave violation of human rights, and recall some of the most deplorable acts of discrimination in history.  The Secretary-General appeals to the Taliban leadership to reject this proposal and to focus their efforts on alleviating the suffering of their people, who yearn for peace and security.”

**Joint Statement on Afghanistan

A joint statement on the same subject is just being released in Geneva and Paris by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).  Their statement reads in part:  "Prescribing how certain groups of people should dress or otherwise singling them out so that they can be easily identifiable is at best discriminatory.  Similar practices in the past,” they say, “from Nazi Germany in the 1930s to Rwanda in the early 1990s, have led to the most horrible crimes."  You can get the full text of that latter statement in my office.

**Security Council

The Security Council held consultations today on the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) on the Golan Heights, on which it received a briefing by Joachim Hütter, who’s the Director of the Asia and Middle East Division of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations.

He presented the Secretary-General's latest report on the Force, which we issued yesterday, and which recommends a six-month extension of the Mission, whose current mandate expires at the end of this month.  The Council expects to vote on the Force next week.

Yesterday afternoon, the Council held consultations on Iraq, and two delegations, the United Kingdom and Russia, each introduced draft resolutions concerning the next phase of the "oil-for-food" programme.  The current phase, which is Phase Nine, expires on 3 June.  United States Ambassador James Cunningham, the Council President, said after the consultations yesterday that the United Kingdom draft, which is supported by the United States, will be discussed at the expert level on Thursday.

There are no Security Council consultations scheduled for tomorrow, however.  The Council Ambassadors have been invited by the United States to tour USS John F.

Kennedy, one of the ships that will be in New York for the United States’ "Fleet Week," prior to the Memorial Day holiday in this country, which is next Monday.

**Security Council Mission to the Great Lakes

We have this from the Security Council mission to the Great Lakes.  They arrived in Bujumbura, Burundi, this morning to begin the second part of their mandate, which is to support the Arusha Peace process for Burundi.  The Council delegation leader, Ambassador Jean-David Levitte of France, reiterated the Council’s message to all the parties involved in the Burundi conflict.  “There is no military solution to this crisis,” he said.  The Council was there to plead for peace and for the establishment of democratic solutions that fully protect the rights of minorities.

Mr. Levitte went on to say that the Council delegation was fully aware of the link between the situation in Burundi and that in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  “We will not allow,” he said, “for a solution to the conflict in the Democratic Republic to be had at the expense of Burundi.”  He noted that late last night, during a joint meeting of the political committee of the Lusaka Accords and the Council mission members, Burundi was present as an observer for the first time.  The Council members then met with signatories of the Arusha Peace Accords for over an hour.  They then met with President Pierre Buyoya at the Presidential Palace.

Council members will fly out to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where the delegation will meet with the leadership of the Front National de Libération (FNL), one of the two armed Hutu rebel groups who have so far not signed the Arusha Accords.  We have the full report from Bujumbura in my office.

**Myanmar Visit

The following statement is attributable to the Spokesman on the subject of Myanmar.

“Mr. Razali Ismail, the Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Myanmar, will visit Yangon from 1 to 4 June this year to help facilitate the process of democratization and national reconciliation in Myanmar.  This will be his fourth mission to Myanmar.  During his stay in Yangon, Mr. Razali will hold discussions with officials of the Government and with the National League for Democracy, including with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi."

**WHO on Malaria

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Swiss drug company Novartis today signed an agreement to provide developing countries with a new treatment for drug-resistant malaria.  The new drug has cure rates above 95 per cent, even in areas of multi-drug resistance.  Novartis will supply the drug to WHO at the cost of 10 cents a tablet, or less than $2.50 for a full adult treatment, and that would be even less for children.  Malaria is a bigger killer of young children in Africa than AIDS.

In a statement at the signing ceremony, Gro Harlem Brundtland, the Director-General of WHO, said that public-private partnerships are key to fighting the diseases of poverty.  She went on to say that the collaboration with Novartis was “important proof of pharmaceutical companies responding to the call to action against the main diseases which are linked with poverty in developing countries.”

We have the full text of her statement in my office.

**UNHCR on the Internally Displaced

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Ruud Lubbers, today identified steps for a more coordinated international effort to help the world’s estimated 20-25 million internally displaced persons (IDPs).  He said UNHCR was ready to continue its IDP-related work, but other humanitarian agencies should also remain involved.

While emphasizing the primary responsibility of states to protect their own citizens, Mr. Lubbers stressed the importance of a clear system for allocating responsibilities among the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies for the provision of help to internally displaced people in dire need.  He also said humanitarian involvement in internal displacement situations must be accompanied by an effort to resolve the political problems which cause the crises in the first place.

**Secretary-General to Washington

The Secretary-General will be going to Washington tomorrow for a series of meetings with Congressional leaders.  In the morning, he’ll be seeing Minority Leader of the House of Representatives Richard Gephardt and other Democratic members of the House.  He’ll then meet with Chairman of the House International Relations Committee Henry Hyde and other members of that committee, including the ranking minority member Tom Lantos.

After a private lunch, he’ll meet with the editorial board of the Washington Post before going to the Senate side of the Hill, where he will meet with members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and these will include Chairman Jesse Helms and ranking Democratic Member Joseph Biden.  After that, he’ll meet with Democratic Senate Leader Tom Daschle, as well as members of the Senate Appropriations Committee.  He’ll return to New York in the evening.

**Senegalese Refugees in the Gambia

UNHCR also reported today that more than 2,200 people have fled to the Gambia in the past few days following an upsurge of fighting in the neighbouring Senegalese province of Casamance.  The majority of those fleeing the fighting so far have been women and children.  UNHCR staff on the border reported that the refugees were exhausted, but appeared generally to be in good health.  The refugees say they fled from villages in the northern part of the troubled Casamance region after Government troops launched a search operation for rebels.

**Afghan Refugees in Pakistan

Earlier this week, we reported on food aid being delivered to Afghan refugees at the Jalozai refugee camp in Pakistan.  Today we have a press release from Islamabad outlining the various types of emergency assistance being offered to the 70,000 refugees at the makeshift camp by United Nations humanitarian agencies and their partners.

**East Timor

Today in East Timor, a draft labour code was agreed upon following three days of consultations between the Transitional Administration, employers, workers and civil society.  The code covers a range of issues, including termination of employment, the setting of a minimum wage, labour relations, occupational safety and health.  The code now goes to the legal advisers of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), and a final draft is expected to go to the Timorese Transitional Cabinet by mid-June.

**Statement on Solidarity Week

Today, during the Week of Solidarity with the Peoples of the Non-Self-Governing Territories, a Caribbean regional seminar is taking place in Havana, Cuba, on decolonization, and the Secretary-General has issued a message supporting that seminar's work.  In the message, the Secretary-General says, "decolonization is clearly one of the great success stories of the last half-century, and we must see the process through to its end."  We have copies of the statement in my office.

**Payments

Payments, we got from Portugal today about $4 million, and it became the eightieth Member State to be paid up in full for its regular budget dues for this year.  We’re still behind last year’s rate.  On this date, we had 89 Members paid in full.

**New Shoes for United Nations Guides

And now, an item of great interest to you.  The United Nations international team of tour guides in both New York and Geneva has received a donation of footwear from the Italian company Valleverde.  The shoes were chosen for both comfort and style and will complement new uniforms which will be unveiled in the summer.  These pictures I’m showing will take your breath away.  The guides will be celebrating their 50th anniversary next year.  More information on the tours can be found on their Web site, which was launched earlier this month.

**UNCA Directory Reminder

A second reminder now, you had one yesterday.  The United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) is launching its directory of journalists, and tomorrow, Thursday, there’ll be a reception in the UNCA Club at 5:30 p.m.  Refreshments will be free.

**Personal Note

On a personal note, we heard from Mark Devenport, the former British Broadcasting Service (BBC) bureau chief here.  Patricia has given birth to a baby boy in Belfast, six pounds, seven ounces, and he's fit and well.  Congratulations to Mark and Patricia.  Any questions?

**Questions and Answers

Question:  In addition to the statements on Afghanistan, does the United Nations plan to be in contact with the Taliban or maybe try to put some pressure on them, direct pressure to maybe counter this reported edict?

Spokesman:  There’s a limit to what we can do.  The Special Envoy there, Francesc Vendrell, has been in touch with the Taliban leaders.  I think I reported to you yesterday that the Taliban’s Ministry of Information had told Mr. Vendrell that this recommendation had not yet been adopted and it remains to be seen whether it will go into force.  I believe it has to be approved by Mullah Omar to take on the force of law.  Our comments today are aimed at the leadership, asking them not to take this final step and reminding them of our collective historical memory, where actions like this are often linked to persecution of minorities.  So we asked them to refrain.

Question:  Today is the final day for contributions to the special court in Sierra Leone.  How much has the United Nations received at this point and does that match what the Secretary-General requested?

Spokesman:  The situation is not clear.  We have been talking with the donors of those governments interested in contributing to the support of this court.  A number of them are offering contributions in kind.  The amount we can best calculate that governments are currently saying they’re prepared to contribute does not come near the amount the Secretary-General had said would be necessary.  So we will continue our contacts with the donors to see if we can’t get up to the required amount. 

Question:  Is there a new deadline for that? 

Spokesman:  The deadline is behind us already and so we’ll continue talking to the donors to see if we can’t get the amount needed, in effect extending the deadline. 

Question:  How long will that take? 

Spokesman:  We can’t say; it’s a very confused situation.  We’re doing our best to get the amount the Secretary-General said is the minimum, from his point of view, to launch this court.

Question:  The Secretary-General is going to Washington.  Is this his own initiative or has he been invited by the Congressional leaders to be there?  Secondly, what will be his agenda?  Aid to Africa, or with the United States overdue payments?

Spokesman:  First, the trip was in reaction to some invitations that the Secretary-General had received, and then we fleshed out the programme in order to have a good, balanced mix of members of Congress.  The last couple of times he was in Washington, he did not have time to go up on the Hill and talk to members of Congress, and he considers that an important priority.  Certainly, they’re the ones that control the purse strings.

Is it just about money?  No, I think there are a number of issues he’d want to discuss with them, but also to hear their concerns and to take their questions.  So it’ll be a series of working visits on whatever issues the members want to bring up. 

Question:  So would you say this is public relations? 

Spokesman:  Public relations? 

Question:  You know, United Nations promotion to the Congress at the top, at the Capitol? 

Spokesman:  No, it’s government relations.  He’s periodically, I’d say regularly, visiting governments around the world, Member States.  It’s part of his job.  And in Washington, the Congress, of course, plays a crucial role in approving funds for anything the Administration proposes.  But that said, when he visits other governments as well, he almost always visits Parliamentarians, as he did on this last visit to Moscow, for example.

Question:  Is the Security Council trying to review the same process as before, or is it expanding on the humanitarian relief to the Iraqi people?

Spokesman:  All I can tell you is there were two resolutions introduced yesterday.  I shouldn’t go beyond that, but I can probably say they represent two different approaches to the oil-for-food programme and the question of sanctions.  And I understand that the Council is now trying to resolve the differences that exist among the members to try and come up with a single draft resolution, and we’ll have to see how long that will take.  I think their intention was to try and complete this process by 3 June, when they would turn over the oil-for-food programme to the next phase. 

Question:  When do you anticipate they’ll make the decision? 

Spokesman:  I can’t predict their work schedule and you can’t predict how these events will evolve within the Council.  I think we’ll just have to be patient and wait.

Question:  I have a few questions.  Is there any plan for the Secretary-General to meet the Supreme Court of the United States?

Spokesman:  The Supreme Court has its own rules on its activities.  They don’t announce what they are.  I’m not going to announce what they are and so I have nothing further to say. 

Question:  Any chance that he’d encounter them in some format? 

Spokesman:  I’m not going to say.  You’ll notice there’s a private lunch on the programme.  That’s all I’ll tell you. 

Question:  Oh, I guess I missed that, with the editorial board of the Washington Post. 

Spokesman:  No, he’s not having lunch with the Washington Post.

Question:  Oh, okay.  On the Taliban, whatever happened to their plans for having some kind of contact office here after they were shut down in Queens?  Where’s that stand with the United Nations?

Spokesman:  The United States has closed the Taliban office, and I think that’s all I have to say about that.  

Question:  I was out for the last two days.  Where does it stand regarding the closure of the United Nations political offices in Afghanistan? 

Spokesman:  Four of the five political offices [in Taliban-controlled territory] were closed on 20 May, which was Sunday, as they had announced they would.  Mr. Vendrell’s Kabul office stays open and is operating, and the United Nations humanitarian work is largely unaffected by these closures of the political offices.

Question:  Was the trip to Washington set before the vote on the Human Rights Commission or was it reinvigorated by the fall-out from that?

Spokesman:  I think it’s been in the works for a much longer time. 

Question:  Do you know which trip he last met Senator Helms and everyone?  Was it two years ago?

Spokesman:  I think it was more recent than that.  We’ll have to check in my office to give you a precise date.

Question:  Why are the uniforms being changed for the tour guides?

Spokesman:  Periodically they’re updated.  Buttons pop off and fabrics get shiny from wear.  They need new ones.  These uniforms are almost always contributed by some apparel manufacturer somewhere in the world. 

Question:  You’ll let us know and perhaps invite one of the guides to the briefing to show them off before they’re unveiled? 

Spokesman:  When the new uniforms are unveiled in the summer, we’ll have a catwalk here in front of you to show them off. 

Question:  And their shoes and accessories? 

Spokesman:  They’ll lift up their feet for you.  Thank you very much.

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