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 Susan Markham, Spokesperson for the President of the General Assembly.

** Spokesman for the Secretary-General

** Middle East

Good afternoon.  The Secretary-General has invited members of the Security Council to his conference room at 12:30 today to brief them on the latest developments in the Middle East.

There may be a statement that would be issued afterwards.

Meanwhile, on the ground, United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Terje Roed-Larsen, is continuing his contacts with both parties as well as all the various envoys currently in the region.

Tomorrow, he will see Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and the United States Special Envoy William Burns. 

** Security Council

On the agenda of this morning’s closed consultation of the Security Council is the report of the Working Group on Peacekeeping Operations, which examined the relationship among the Security Council, troop contributors and the United Nations Secretariat.

The report was introduced in the Council by Ambassador Curtis Ward of Jamaica, who is the group’s chairman.

The Security Council President, Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury of Bangladesh, will be at the stakeout at about 12:30 to take your questions before going to meet with the Secretary-General.

** Angola

This morning in Angola at 6:27 a.m. local time, a Boeing 727 operated by the World Food Programme -– and clearly marked as such -- was hit by an anti-aircraft missile while on its approach to the airport in Luena.

The plane, which was about 10 kilometres out of the airport was at an altitude of 15,000 feet and took a hit in its number 2 engine.  Although badly damaged, the crew managed to regain control of the plane and land safely.

WFP is conducting an investigation and has suspended air operations into Luena, at least for today.

Luena, located in the eastern part of the country, is one of the many towns in Angola that WFP can only supply by air.  Right now, WFP tells us that they have supplies in Luena to cover the next four to five weeks.

** DRC

The United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo says that two speed patrol boats, named Uruguay 1 and Uruguay 2, escorting a barge carrying fuel and vehicles, left Kinshasa today for Mbandaka.

The convoy, with 12 crew members of the Uruguayan riverine unit on board, is expected to reach Mbandaka after seven days.

This mission aims at testing the navigability of the river, which has remained closed for over two years.  It will also test safety on the river in order to open it to normal traffic, in a bid to resume trade between the Congolese provinces.

Yesterday, a team of three United Nations observers boarded a boat from Mbandaka to Kisangani to prepare the openness of the river to free movement of people and goods.

All these movements are in line with the Security Council decision to open the river Congo, as announced by a Council mission to the Great Lakes region.

Also on the DRC, the Secretary-General’s report to the Security Council is now expected on Monday.

** OCHA on Sudan

We have a statement from Kenzo Oshima, United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, expressing concern over the humanitarian consequences of the intensified fighting in southern Sudan which has displaced an estimated

30,000 civilians.

You can pick up that statement in my office.

** AIDS

Peter Piot, Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), welcomed today the one million dollar contribution by Winterthur Insurance, a subsidiary of Crédit Suisse, to the Global AIDS and Health Fund.  “We commend Winterthur for being the first private company to commit needed resources in the fight against HIV/AIDS to the Global Fund,” he said.

The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Gro Harlem Brundtland, also commended Winterthur.  She said it was “very exciting to see that the private sector is now beginning to mobilize its support for this new initiative to control AIDS, TB and malaria”.

In other news on AIDS, the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs has issued a chart on the worldwide population impact and policies of HIV/AIDS.  The chart outlines the number of people and the percentage of population living with HIV/AIDS and gives figures for the numbers of AIDS deaths and AIDS orphans, life expectancy, government expenditure and policies.

Copies of the chart are available at the documents counter on the 3^rd floor.

We also have a few press releases related to the AIDS campaign.  The first announces that UNAIDS has appointed the Pakistani musician, Salman Ahmad, as a national spokesman.  The second announces a joint programme between the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre and the United States Centers for Disease Control.

** East Timor

Eighty-two per cent –- more than 668,000 people -– of East Timor’s population have been registered by the United Nations Mission’s Civil Registration Unit as of yesterday.

Three districts have registered over 90 per cent of their population and

83 per cent of the population in the capital, Dili, has been registered.

The civil registration will provide numbers on the East Timorese population and will generate the data for the establishment of the list of voters in the

30 August Constituent Assembly election.

On a separate development:  referring to the refugee registration exercise conducted by the Indonesian authorities in West Timor, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Sergio Vieira de Mello, said today that the United Nations Mission is interested in knowing the number of refugees still in West Timor.  He added:  “given the coercive circumstances the refugees have been living under for almost 20 months, the Transitional Administration will not take the results of the choices made by the refugees as necessarily reflecting their true and definite desires”.

** Sierra Leone

From Sierra Leone, the World Bank will convene a donor's meeting next week from 11 to 12 June in Paris for the funding of the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process in Sierra Leone.  The United Nations will be represented by the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sierra Leone, Oluyemi Adeniji, and other senior officials.

The Mission today announced that an advance party of 265 Pakistani troops has arrived in the country, the first group of more than 4,000 Pakistani peacekeepers expected to join the Mission.  The troops are scheduled to arrive in stages, beginning on 12 July and continuing until 22 August.

** Afghanistan

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says it is very concerned about the renewed fighting in northern Afghanistan, warning that it could send thousands fleeing towards the country’s borders.

Meanwhile, UNCHR reports that despite intensified efforts to ease the suffering of Afghans at the makeshift Jalozai refugee camp in Pakistan, a total of 43 people, mostly children, have died since 1 May.  More than 57,000 people are at this site.

Also on Afghanistan, the World Food Programme and Food and Agriculture Organization say 5 million people need food aid in that country, including at least 1 million threatened by famine.

** Western Sahara

UNHCR and the World Food Programme are appealing for $1.2 million per month for more than 150,000 Western Saharan refugees living in remote camps in southwest Algeria.

In a joint press release, the agencies said the refugees are in dire need of regular and sufficient aid deliveries.  The Western Saharan refugees have spent the last 26 years in windswept exile awaiting a political solution.

** Signings

This afternoon, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia will sign the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty, bringing the number of signatories to 161.

Also this afternoon, Bulgaria will sign both Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.  Bulgaria will become the 80th country to sign the Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict and the 73rd to sign the Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography.

** Press Releases

Press releases today:  the United Nations Children's Fund today announced that about 2.5 million pledges have been registered in the last six weeks in the “Say Yes for Children” campaign that was launched in April.  The pledges, collected by both traditional methods and online, will be presented at the Special Session on Children in September.

** Press Conference

Press conference: 1:00 p.m. in this room, Anna Tibaijuka, the head of Habitat, will update you on the General Assembly Special Session.

** Week Ahead

And we have the Week Ahead for you.  It mentions that on Monday, the guest at the noon briefing will be Dileep Nair, the Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services, who will speak to you about the OIOS report on the United Nations Office in Vienna.

** Statement on the Middle East Attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Now, I have received here a statement.  Let me just see what it is.

Okay.  This is the statement on the Middle East that I told you might be available after the meeting at 12:30.  It’s now available.  I will read it -– it’s attributable to the Spokesman.

“The Secretary-General has been following closely the situation in the Middle East including, in particular, the current crisis between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

“He has maintained close contact with the parties and is in regular touch with other leaders in the region and of the international community.

“He fully endorses the current efforts by the United States, the European Union and the Russian Federation, among others, to help bring about an end to the current cycle of violence between Israel and the Palestinians and the resumption of a meaningful political process on the basis of the Mitchell Commission report which both parties have accepted.

“The Secretary-General has decided that it will be timely for him to visit the region next week as part of his ongoing efforts to find a political solution to the crisis and to promote a just, lasting and comprehensive peace settlement in the Middle East based on relevant United Nations resolutions.

“Details of the Secretary-General’s itinerary will be released later after further consultations.”

That’s all I have for you.  Any questions?

** Questions and Answers

Question:  Any details at all about where in the Middle East he might be going?

Spokesman:  I think those are the details that will come out later this afternoon.

Question:  And also on the timing.  I mean, when?

Spokesman:  Early next week.  Other questions?

Question:  What about the length of the trip?

Spokesman:  Approximately a week.  But we’ll have all of those details for you later this afternoon.

Question:  Do you know who are the owners of this 727 shot at in Angola?

Spokesman:  No.  I assume that it is an aircraft chartered by the World Food Programme, but I’ll check on that and get back to you.  [It was.]

Question:  Do you have the nationalities of the crew?

Spokesman:  No.

Question:  You said earlier in the week, I think, that James Baker is planning to come to brief the Security Council on Western Sahara.  What happened about that?

Spokesman:  I have nothing new on that.  After the briefing, I’ll check to see if he still plans to come.  [No confirmation at this time.]

Question:  How many people were on board that airplane, and what type of supplies, food or whatever were on board?

Spokesman:  Okay, these are all details we’ll try to get to you from the WFP.  Marie Okabe of my office will get information for you, if it’s available, right after the briefing.  [Three crew; 17 tonnes of sugar and beans.]

Correspondent:  I assumed because you said no one was injured.

Spokesman:  There were no reports of injuries in what I was handed.  I assume that is the case.  [There were no injuries.]

Question:  You said they are conducting an investigation.  Are there any likely suspects?

Spokesman:  I don’t think we’ll have any likely suspects so soon, but again, check with Marie after the briefing.

Question:  The Secretary-General’s Middle East visit.  Is it in response to an invitation by one or both of the major players?  Or is it being done on his own initiative? 

Spokesman:  He has been coordinating very closely with the United States, the European Union and the Russian Federation.  Terje Roed-Larsen, on the ground, has been in regular touch with both the Palestinians and the Israelis.  He feels that at this time when the ceasefire continues to hold, there’s a window of opportunity -– we don’t know how long it will last -– but that the two sides have to move from the security contacts they have had under the auspices of George Tenet of the United States Central Intelligence Agency to talks on the political front.  Otherwise, how to implement the Mitchell Commission recommendations and on what timetable.

Question:  Back to Western Sahara.  Have you been informed about the European Union visit to the area, meeting with Polisario and the Moroccan Government?  Is there any possibility of a push forward?

Spokesman:  I don’t have any information on that.  It’ll surprise me, though, if our people dealing with Western Sahara weren’t coordinating closely with the European Union.  But let me look into that, and get back to you after the briefing.  [We were aware of the EU visit but we did not coordinate it.]

Question:  On the Secretary-General’s role at the Sharm el-Sheikh summit: will he possibly be hoping to do something, play some kind of a similar role in trying to facilitate talks on getting the Mitchell Commission’s proposals rolling?

Spokesman:  I think what he’s trying to do is coordinate the international response to the crisis -- to get everyone, the collective political pressure of the international community put behind the implementation of the Mitchell Commission’s recommendations.  That, as long as the ceasefire is holding, there’s a chance for political movement.  The two parties can’t do it alone.  He feels the mistrust has grown very deep as a result of the violence of the last month and he feels it will take a major push on the part of the international community to get things going in the right direction.  And he’s trying to do his part in that.

Thank you very much.  Sue.

** Spokesperson for the President of the General Assembly

** Special Session

This morning the President of the General Assembly presided over the plenary of the Special Session of the Assembly on Human Settlements.  As you know, the Special Session is reviewing the progress made on implementing the Habitat Agenda, which was adopted by the Istanbul Conference five years ago.

This morning there were 32 speakers listed and for this afternoon there are some 23 listed, including quite a number of NGOs.

** Thematic Committee

The Thematic Committee this morning heard case studies on the issue of the eradication of poverty.  They will not meet this afternoon.  They concluded their discussion this morning.

** Committee of the Whole

The Committee of the Whole met briefly this morning to hear a progress report from the Chairman, Ambassador Duran, on the status of the negotiations on the draft Declaration on Cities and other Human Settlements.  Ambassador Duran said seven paragraphs have now been agreed; and the texts of these paragraphs, we can make available to you –- if you don’t have them –- in my office or from the media centre downstairs in Conference Room 1.

He said a few items remain to be decided in the draft Declaration, and these are currently being negotiated in the Committee of the Whole which has reconvened in informal negotiations.

** Accepted Texts

The seven paragraphs that had been accepted are:  paragraph 8 which concerns the report of the Executive Director of Habitat; paragraph 24 on institutional capacity building; paragraph 33 on durable solutions to the debt crisis and the 0.7 per cent target for ODA; paragraph 34 concerning the world solidarity fund for poverty eradication; paragraph 42 on gender equality; paragraph 43 on women’s right to inheritance among other issues; and paragraph 49 concerning good governance.

Paragraphs yet to be decided are:  there’s one paragraph -– paragraph

37 which concerns strengthening local self-government and four new paragraphs -– new texts, including a new chapeau.  So these are yet to be decided.As you’ll see in the Journal, the Committee of the Whole was scheduled to meet both in the morning and the afternoon, so we hope Ambassador Duran will come to the 1:00 briefing to give you an update and to tell you any more details, if you’re interested.

** Press Briefing

Also at the press briefing, as Fred said, Ms. Tibaijuka will come to give you a wrap-up of the Special Session that is scheduled to finish today.  That’s all I have.

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