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.

**Secretary-General’s trip to the Middle East

Good afternoon.  I am going to start with the Secretary-General’s mission.

This morning, the Secretary-General met in Cairo with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, with whom he discussed the prospects for a ceasefire in the Middle East in the wake of the security agreement concluded on Tuesday night in the presence of United States Central Intelligence Agency Director George Tenet.  The Secretary-General in his meeting with the President agreed that, for any security agreement to endure, it must be embedded in a political process.  They reviewed the efforts currently under way to encourage the Israelis and Palestinians to implement the recommendations of the Mitchell Commission.

The Secretary-General and President Mubarak also discussed the Lebanon-Israel border, Syria and Iraq.

Following that meeting, the Secretary-General talked to reporters and said, in response to a question about the restrictions in the Palestinian territories, "I think the purpose of the efforts we are making is in the end to ensure that the siege would also be lifted."  The Secretary-General added about the Palestinians, "I know they are suffering, I know the pain, and I think this is why we are all here."

The Secretary-General then met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher el Sayed, who had been present at the meeting with the President, and with whom he discussed the Israeli-Palestinian security agreement, the Iraq sanctions review exercise and the situation in the Sudan.

The two then held another press encounter in which the Secretary-General said that he is working closely with regional leaders, the United States, the European Union and Russia, and asserted, "I think there is emerging a real international alliance for peace.  And I think that is a very useful thing."

The transcripts of both press encounters are available on the Web as well as in the Spokesman's Office.

The Foreign Minister then hosted a luncheon in honour of the Secretary-General, where discussions continued.

In the afternoon, the Secretary-General departed from Cairo for Damascus. This evening, he is to meet with Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara, and to attend a dinner hosted by the Foreign Minister.

The Secretary-General is expected to meet with the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad tomorrow, before he leaves Syria for Jordan.

**Security Council

Here in New York, the Security Council is holding a public meeting on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in which Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Marie Guehenno, briefed on the Secretary-General’s latest report on the United Nations mission in that country.

Those remarks were followed by a briefing by the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children in Armed Conflict Olara Otunnu on his recent visit to the DRC to assess the impact of the war on children in a country where half of the population of 49 million are children.

The DRC Foreign Minister Leonard She Okitundu was also on the list of

23 speakers to address the session.

The Council started with a formal meeting to adopt a resolution on cooperation with troop contributors.

For those of you who may have missed them, two reports on United Nations missions by the Secretary-General -– in Kosovo and Bosnia were released after our briefing yesterday afternoon.  I will have brief remarks on both of them, as I continue now with my note on Kosovo.

**Kosovo

The United Nations mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) arrived two years ago today.  At the time, Kosovo was on the brink of civil war.  Since then, Kosovo has undergone dramatic changes.

Hans Haekkerup, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Kosovo, outlined the accomplishments and mapped out the way ahead in a press conference in Pristina earlier today.

We have his talking points, as well as those from the heads of the four pillars making up the United Nations mission –- police and justice, civil administration, institution-building and reconstruction -- and are expecting the full transcript to arrive very soon.

The Secretary-General, in his most recent report made available to you yesterday, as I just mentioned, says the way ahead for the United Nations mission in Kosovo in the coming months is clear.

He says, “In the short term, the political and security challenges to achieving the mission’s goals may loom large, but they will not dissuade UNMIK from remaining on track to achieve the long-term objectives of holding Kosovo-wide elections, implementing the Constitutional Framework and setting the stage for self-government and economic viability.”

**Bosnia and Herzegovina

On the report on Bosnia and Herzegovina (as I said, it was released yesterday afternoon) and in it, the Secretary-General says that the belief by some parties that state borders and democratic institutions can be changed by obstruction and violence is "a fundamental source of instability" in the country.

The Secretary-General urged all parties to cooperate, and said, "The people of Bosnia and Herzegovina should engage fully in constructing their society together and not repeat the tragedy of the past by again following ultra-nationalist leaders into a historical cul-de-sac."

He also noted signs of progress in Bosnia, including the establishment of the State Border Service and the development of domestic and external police cooperation.

The Secretary-General recommended that the Mission's mandate be extended by the Security Council for a further 12-month period; the current mandate expires this June 21.  The Council is expected to discuss the mission in Bosnia on Thursday, tomorrow.

**Central African Republic

Moving now to Africa:  The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to the Central African Republic, General Amadou Toumani Touré, met with President Ange-Félix Patassé last night in Bangui.  During the meeting, the Special Envoy reiterated the Secretary-General’s call for peace and dialogue among all Central Africans and his condemnation of the attempted coup.

Now that calm had returned to the capital, Touré also appealed to President Patassé to ensure humanitarian access to all parts of the capital in order to assist the civilian population.

On the humanitarian side, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which is the lead United Nations agency dealing with this crisis, has two plane loads of supplies which were expected within the last two hours in Bangui.

The 36 tons of cargo arriving today, which was taken from United Nations houses in Brazzaville and Kinshasa, contains high-protein biscuits, water purification tablets, oral rehydration kits, blankets and tents

**East Timor

A security operation by United Nations peacekeepers in East Timor resulted in the surrender yesterday of 34 suspected militia members just south of Maliana, in the district of Bobonaro.

Australian troops had established a security cordon following information provided by a former militia leader that other former militia had returned from West Timor to East Timor in recent days.  The 34 ex-militia surrendered to the peacekeepers after they were asked to submit to security and registration processes.

Of the 34, six have volunteered to cooperate further with the United Nations Mission and civilian police in investigations, while the rest were released to proceed with the reconciliation process with the people of their villages.

Further details are available in the briefing notes from Dili that we have in our office.

**HIV/AIDS

The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on HIV/AIDS in Africa, Stephen Lewis, today concluded a four-day visit to Botswana.  On his last day, he visited a project supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), on the outskirts of Gabarone for young women formerly engaged in the commercial sex trade.  He also yesterday met with the Health Minister, Joy Phumaphi.

Lewis said he was particularly impressed with the level of awareness of women in Botswana about the epidemic and the involvement at all levels from caregivers to policy makers.

**Tribunals

As you are aware, the General Assembly yesterday afternoon elected 27 judges who are to serve on an "ad litem," or short-term, basis on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.  The judges are to serve for four years, effective as of yesterday.  We have a press release from the Tribunal with a list of the ad litem judges.

We also have a press release from the Rwanda Tribunal, which notes the start yesterday of the joint trial of six people who have been charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and serious violations of the Geneva Conventions in Butare.  At the proceedings yesterday in Arusha, Tanzania, all of the six accused pleaded "not guilty" to the charges against them.

**Mrs. Annan

Here in New York, as we mentioned to you yesterday, at 1:45 this afternoon in conference room 1, Nane Annan is delivering a speech on behalf of the Secretary-General to honour the legacy of Raphael Lemkin, the man who was the driving force in the drafting of the Genocide convention.

In the remarks, the Secretary-General calls Lemkin’s success in creating the convention a “milestone” in the history of the United Nations, which also created a momentum for a wide range of other work aimed at protecting Human Rights.

We have embargoed copies of the speech available in our office upstairs.

**Press Releases

We have a press release from the United Nations mission in Sierra Leone on the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process that got under way in Lunsar yesterday.

We have upstairs a press release on the symposium the United Nations Department of Public Information is organizing on the question of Palestine.  This is the ninth such conference which is organized for prominent journalists and Middle East experts.  This year’s meeting, entitled “The search for peace in the Middle East”, will take place in Paris 18-19 June –- this coming Monday and Tuesday.  A message from the Secretary-General will be delivered by Shashi Tharoor, Interim head of DPI.  Also present will be Koichiro Matsura, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and Terje Roed Larsen, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.

Another press release is from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), that have just completed a $3 million project to rehabilitate health facilities in the west of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  The project included renovating and re-equipping parts of district hospitals, supplying significant amounts of essential drugs and starting cost recovery programmes.  The press release is available upstairs.

**Signings and Ratifications

This afternoon, Switzerland will become the 43rd signatory to the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.

**Contributions

Greece today became the 87th Member State to pay its 2001 regular budget contribution in full with a payment of $5.6 million.

**Press Conferences

And finally, press conferences:  There are none scheduled for today, but tomorrow, to remind you, at 12:30 p.m. we will be having a briefing by Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury of Bangladesh.  He, as you know, is the President of the Security Council this month and he will be leading a three-day mission to Kosovo and Belgrade which leaves on Friday evening.

Are there any questions?

**Questions and Answers

Question:  There seems to be a major confusion among Security.  We were barred from the Queen of Jordan’s speech this morning, even though the event was listed as open to the press.  The same thing was brought up yesterday.  You should be taking this up at a higher level, and not ad hoc as it happens.

Deputy Spokesman:  Thank you very much.  Yesterday it was raised and we sorted it out right after the briefing.  I am surprised it happened again this morning and as soon as I am done here, I will talk to Chief McCann about it and ensure that open meetings are indeed open meetings.

Question:  The OIOS report on the Drug Control Office mentions a separate report to the Secretary-General about the boat project.  Is that report ever going to be made public?

Deputy Spokesman:  It is possible.  When Mr. Nair was here briefing on this report, he said that once all actions that need to be taken following the investigation, which is in that report on the boat project, are taken, he would consider making the report public.

Question:  Now that the main report has been published, is there likely to be any response, also in public, from Mr. Arlacchi?  Surely he is in a position, if he wishes, to defend himself from rather wide-sweeping charges of mismanagement, lack of transparency, et cetera.  Is he not to be allowed to respond in public to public charges?

Deputy Spokesman:  He is definitely allowed to, and he is giving interviews on it.  If you call his office, I am sure . . .

Question:  I mean in a document.

Deputy Spokesman:  No, I don’t think that is appropriate.  Because the very report that was made public already indicated that he [Mr. Arlacchi] had initiated action on the recommendations of the report of the inspectors.  But if you want talk with him, he is totally available to talk with the press.

Question:  Can you give us any more details on the Secretary-General’s trip once he goes from Syria to Jordan and Lebanon?

Deputy Spokesman:  He goes from Syria to Jordan tomorrow.  Then on Friday he is in Lebanon, and then Saturday he flies to Israel.  Between Saturday and Sunday he will be seeing Israeli and Palestinian senior authorities, during the weekend.

Question:  Will he meet with Arafat and Sharon?

Deputy Spokesman:  I have that in the programme, but the schedule is not confirmed yet.

Question:  Is he going to London for his Oxford degree?

Deputy Spokesman:  We did not announce that yet.  You are very well informed, as usual, but yes, he will be going to London at the end of his Middle East trip.

Question:  Then he is not expected back until the following weekend?

Deputy Spokesman:  Exactly.  I’ll hope that we will be able to announce his next trip tomorrow.

Question:  [A question regarding a personnel case, which involves a member of United Nations Security was asked.  The correspondent also asked about permit to carry arms among United Nations Security.]

Deputy Spokesman:  You are raising personnel matters.  As you know, as a matter of procedure here, we will not discuss individual cases of staff members. You gave me all these details about a complex series of events that went on over a long period of time.  I did ask security this morning about security officers that are carrying side arms, and I was told that all of them, including the person you are referring to, comply with the requirements of United Nations security to hold weapons.  If at any one point any one officer’s right to carry a side arm was suspended and then it is reinstated, it is because the requirement has been met at a later time.

I will not go into the intimate details of one individual’s case.  That is a matter to be dealt with between the individual, his supervisor and those involved in the case.  Whatever the requirements are, they were met, and that suffices for us.  Staff members have the right to their own individual protection.  I’ll not go beyond what I told you –- the policies and procedures are being met.

Question:  Yesterday I was prevented by a security guard from going into the Indonesian lounge to meet an ambassador.  The guard also refused to notify the Ambassador that I was there and made it into a big issue.  He called the Media Accreditation Office and was not helpful.

Deputy Spokesman:  The issue raised yesterday was followed up, and I will follow up, as soon as this meeting is over on the matter just raised.  However, I should add that indeed it is up to the Media Accreditation Office to escort journalists or to facilitate entering areas that are temporarily out of circulation.  I will discuss it with them.

Question:  There is a broader matter, and that is, is it indeed a fact that guys who have side arms in the Security Service are obliged to have New York Police Department pistol permits?

Deputy Spokesman: There is a law requiring this and the Security Office is following up on that after having had the advice of the Office of Legal Affairs. And indeed, there is a law requiring that and we are following that.  If other institutions don’t do that, it is not my business.

Question:  According to some people this is voluntary compliance, not a law.

Deputy Spokesman: It is not voluntary.  There is a law.

Question:  Is the United Nations waiving, to some extend, its international status?

Deputy Spokesman:  I don’t believe so.

Question:  It is a complicated question.  Anyone who travels with the Secretary-General and carries side arms is covered by diplomatic immunity.  The City of New York, the State of New York, the Host County cannot abridge that.

Deputy Spokesman:  There is a requirement which the United Nations Security Office is following.  If you look at the vacancy announcements for security officers, it is clearly stated that all security officers will be recruited after obtaining the appropriate firearm licences.  That is what is considered that we have to follow and that is what is being done.  If you have a question, we can relate it directly to Legal Counsel.

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