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.

      Good afternoon.

**Secretary-General's Travels

Let me start by telling you the Secretary-General's travel plans.  As you know, he leaves this afternoon, as we announced on Friday, for Philadelphia, where tomorrow morning he will be the recipient of the Philadelphia Liberty medal.  The Secretary-General is then scheduled to travel to Lusaka, Zambia, where he will address this year’s summit of the Organization of African Unity on Monday, July 9.

He is expected to leave New York this Friday, July 6.

From Zambia, the Secretary-General is travelling to Munich and Berlin, Germany, for a two-day official visit on July 12 and 13, which will include an address at the Freie Universität Berlin, where he will receive an honorary doctorate.  Also in Berlin, he has a number of meetings scheduled, including those with Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer.

The Secretary-General is expected to proceed to Geneva, where on Monday, July 16, he will address the high-level segment of the Economic and Social Council.  This year, the main theme is on sustainable development for African countries.  In the afternoon, he has scheduled a meeting with International Labour Organization (ILO) Director Juan Somavia and World Bank President James Wolfensohn to launch a youth employment initiative called for in the Millennium Summit.

On July 20, the Secretary-General is then scheduled to attend the G-8 summit in Genoa, Italy, where he also plans to participate in a poverty outreach initiative that brings together the leaders of the G-8 and developing countries from Africa, Asia and Latin America.

More details of the Secretary-General's programme will be available in the course of this week.

**Security Council

Meeting in closed consultations this morning, the Security Council is discussing the roll-over of the "oil-for-food" programme into its next phase.

This afternoon, the Council will again meet in closed consultations to discuss its programme of work for the month of July.  I don't have any details on this morning's consultations, as Council Members are still meeting.  I'm sure they themselves will be talking to you once that session is over.

**Milosevic

As you know this morning, former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic made his first appearance before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, appearing before Judge Richard May.

Milosevic refused legal counsel.  A plea of not guilty was entered for him by the presiding judge.  The proceedings were adjourned until August 27.

We have a press release from the Tribunal announcing that the Appeals Chambers will issue its ruling in the case of Goran Jelisic, a former Serb militia member, who had been sentenced to 40 years for crimes committed in Brcko in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

**Iraq Programme Update

The weekly update from the Office of the Iraq Programme is out.  Here are some of its figures.

As of June 29, approximately $2 billion and €1.7 billion in uncommitted funds were available in the United Nations escrow account for the Iraqi Government's purchase of humanitarian supplies, oil, spare parts and equipment for the 15 central and southern governorates.  This includes food and medicines for the three northern governorates, under the bulk purchase arrangements.

Also, $10.6 billion worth of supplies, including $1 billion worth of oil, spare parts and equipment, under already approved contracts, were in the production and delivery pipeline. 

As of 30 June, over $13.3 billion worth of supplies and equipment had been delivered to Iraq since the start of the implementation of the oil-for-food programme in December 1996.

There have been no Iraqi oil exports since 4 June.  Phase IX expires today at midnight.

The full text of the weekly update is available in the Spokesman's Office.

**East Timor

Moving now to some United Nations operations.  The second day of the Deputy Secretary-General’s visit to East Timor coincided with important developments in the island.

The East Timor Transitional Cabinet approved today an arrangement between the East Timor Transitional Administration and the Australian Government, giving East Timor 90 per cent of the revenues from the oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea.

Before coming into force, the Arrangement must be approved by the elected Government of East Timor in accordance with its Constitutional processes.

Today also marked the beginning of the first crimes-against-humanity trial in East Timor.  The trial of the accused in the Lospalos massacre started with a closed session at the newly renovated Court of Appeals, in Dili. 

Eleven persons, most of whom were members of a pro-autonomy militia, are accused of committing crimes against humanity, including murder, torture, deportation and forcible transfer of civilians, in 1999.  The prosecution’s statements are due to take place on this coming Monday, 9 July.

Meanwhile, Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette was in the towns of Baucau and Aileu today.  In Baucau, along with Special Representative Sergio Vieira de Mello, she participated in an open dialogue on Civic Education.  Some 500 Timorese were in attendance.

While in Aileu, the Deputy Secretary-General met with district officials to assess the progress of the electoral process to date.

For more details, pick up the briefing note from Dili, which will also give you more information on the public constitution hearings.  So far more than

15,000 people have attended these public hearings, aimed at soliciting the views of East Timorese on what should be considered by the future Constituent Assembly when drafting a constitution.

**Security Council Adjournment

I have just been given a note that Security Council consultations have just adjourned.  They will resume discussions on Iraq at 3:30 this afternoon.  The discussion will also be on the programme of work, and I understand there will be a briefing by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) on the situation in Lebanon.

**Sierra Leone

The United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) has announced the start of the disarmament operation near Koidu in the diamond-rich district of Kono.

As you recall, the Secretary-General, in his latest report on Sierra Leone issued last week, highlighted the importance of the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration programmes to the Sierra Leone peace process.  He cautioned that the programme could be stalled as a result of insufficient funding.

**AIDS

I have two items here on AIDS.  Last Friday, we announced that the United Nations Foundation had set up an account to accept contributions to the Global AIDS and Health Fund.  The Foundation has now set up two additional mechanisms for contributions.  Credit card contributions can now be made through the Foundation’s Web site or by phone to a toll-free number.  We have an updated fact sheet in the Spokesman’s Office.  The toll-free number is 866-AIDSFUND.

In London, the United Nations Information Centre today launched a campaign to increase awareness of HIV/AIDS, with British TV star, Cat Deely.  Called “Break the Silence”, the campaign will begin in a London school where children will be able to pledge their support for a number of different projects on the Internet through the NetAid Web site.

**UNHCR

On refugee news, I have three bits to share with you.  Today’s briefing notes from the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) include an update on the situation along the border between the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and Kosovo.  The rate of arrivals from FYROM has slowed to a trickle:  on Monday only 56 people crossed the border into Kosovo.

UNHCR also reports that the first group of Afghan refugees to return home from Pakistan this year, with assistance from UNHCR, left today bound for the Kandahar region in southwestern Afghanistan.

The agency is also preparing to send urgently needed supplies to an estimated 25,000 refugees who recently arrived in the northwestern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from the Central African Republic.

As I said, this is all available in the briefing notes from UNHCR.

**Drug Trends Report

I'm approaching the end of this briefing with news from Vienna.  The Global Illicit Drug Trends 2001 report was launched today in Vienna by the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (ODCCP).  The report presents supply and demand statistics and an analysis of illicit drug trends worldwide. 

Opium production has been drastically reduced by the ban on poppy cultivation in Afghanistan.  Global cocaine production remained stable, but the use of clandestine synthetic drugs has been spreading among young people.  The Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention estimates that 180 million people use illicit drugs annually, with cannabis having the highest number of users at

144 million.

The report is available on the ODCCP Web site and there is a press release from Vienna with details on this report.

Finally, tomorrow, as you know, is a holiday at the United Nations.  We will not be having this briefing.  However, the Spokesman's Office, as usual, will have a duty officer, as we have for weekend duty.

Jayantha Dhanapala, Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, will be joining us here at noon on Thursday to brief you on the issues before the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects.  This conference, as you know, will be taking place here at Headquarters between 9 and 20 of July. 

Are there any questions?

**Questions and Answers

Yes, Betsy.

Question:  Did Geneva come out with a report or a survey today on small arms and light weapons?  Do we have that here?

Deputy Spokesman:  I would have to look into that for you.  It didn't reach us this morning.  I'll check on it.  Yes, Edie.

Question:  When is the Secretary-General returning to New York from Europe?

Deputy Spokesman:  It should be around 20 or 21 July.  We don't have the final date yet.

Thank you very much.  Have a pleasant afternoon.