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.

**Security Council

I will start with the Security Council, here in New York, which, as you know, is meeting this morning in closed consultations.  First on their agenda, Council members took up the Secretary-General’s latest report on the Central African Republic (CAR).  The Secretary-General's Special Envoy to that country, General Amadou Toumani Touré, briefed Council members on his recent visit to Bangui following the attempted coup d’état.

Afterwards the Council had a briefing by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) on the latest developments on the United Nations operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

Yesterday afternoon, after our noon briefing here, the Council met in consultations for its periodic review of the sanctions regime imposed on Sierra Leone.  Afterwards, the Council President, Ambassador Wang Yingfan of China, issued a statement to the press saying that Council members underlined the importance of the rigorous implementation of the sanctions measures by all States.

The full text of that statement is available on the racks as a press release.

**Statements on Middle East

Still on statements:  yesterday, after our briefing, we issued two statements, both of them on the Middle East.

In the first one, the Secretary-General said he was deeply disturbed by the reported decision of the Government of Israel to continue the practice of what has become known as “targeted assassinations”.

The second statement regards a request from the Israeli Minister of Defence on the subject of a videotape in connection with the abduction of three Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah, in October 2000. 

Both statements are available in the Spokesman's Office and, on our Web site. 

**Statement on Sudan

I now have two new statements attributable to the Spokesman.  The first one is on the Sudan:

"The Secretary-General today reiterated his deep concern about the effects on the civilian population of recent military offensives in the southern province of Bahr El Ghazal in the Sudan.  The fighting has caused massive disruption, and

comes at a time when farming communities should have been fully engaged in

planting for the next harvest season.

"Instead, many thousands have fled into government-controlled areas.  The area from which they have fled has traditionally been a "bread basket" area, and there are real fears now of coming food shortages in a locality where there was once a surplus.

"Operation Lifeline Sudan, together with the humanitarian community, is providing immediate relief assistance to cope with the crisis.

"The Secretary-General much regrets that, once again in the Sudan, it is the civilian population which bears the brunt of armed conflict and reiterates the need for the parties to the conflict to resolve their differences by peaceful means."

**Statement on Immunization

The second statement, also attributable to the Spokesman, is also on a humanitarian programme.  It's on central Africa:

"On 5 July 2001, an extraordinary effort was launched to immunize over

15 million children in Angola, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Gabon, during synchronized National Immunization Days for Polio Eradication.   With polio now present in fewer than 20 countries worldwide, it is essential that all children be reached with the polio vaccine today, if we are to deliver the promise of a polio-free world tomorrow. 

"I urge all leaders in these countries, and all warring parties, to respect the National Immunization Days as 'days of tranquillity' and to ensure the safe passage of health workers and volunteers in their efforts to reach all children with polio vaccine over the coming week, and again in August and September of this year."

**Central African Republic

I have sad news to report to you.  Last night in Bangui, Central African Republic (CAR), the United Nations Field Security Officer was shot and killed by an unknown assailant, when he responded to an emergency call at the house of a staff member.

The officer was identified as Jean-Pierre Lhommée of France.  He was born in 1944.

**Kosovo

The United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the Kosovo Force (KFOR) announced today that it had suspended five Kosovo Protection Corps members.

The suspension comes after United States President George W. Bush issued an executive order on 27 June which listed persons who threaten stabilization efforts in the western Balkans.

The UNMIK/KFOR press release has more information on it.

**East Timor

Leaders of the political parties registered in the upcoming 30 August Constituent Assembly elections in East Timor are scheduled to sign a Pact of National Unity this Sunday at a ceremony called the “Peace, Tolerance and Democracy Celebration”.

The 14-point Pact of National Unity will guide the electoral campaign activities for the 30 August elections, and the inter-party relations for the months ahead.

The pact calls for the support, respect and dissemination of the principle of non-violence; the unconditional acceptance of the 30 August 1999 popular consultation results; and respect for the results of the upcoming elections.

More details are available in the Briefing Note from Dili, which will also give you information on the detention of two United Nations civilian police officers in connection with the alleged rape of an East Timorese woman.

Special Representative of the Secretary-General Sergio Vieira de Mello, on this incident, said that, "as the suspects were off duty, I have confirmed that they enjoyed no immunity".  He added that "the Police Commissioner ordered an immediate investigation into these grave allegations".

**Food Code

In Geneva today, the Codex Alimentarius, or "Food Code" Commission, agreed on the first global principles for the safety assessment of genetically modified foods, on maximum levels of certain food toxins, and on guidelines for organic livestock production.  A detailed press release is available in our office. 

The 24th session of the Codex Commission, which closes tomorrow, is a subsidiary of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), and has 165 member states.

**Budget

Yesterday afternoon, Romania and the Syrian Arab Republic were added to the list of Member States which have paid their full contributions to the 2001 regular budget.  Romania made a payment of more than $600 thousand and Syria's payment was just over $800 thousand.  We now have 94 Member States paid in full for this year.

**Reminders

We are approaching the end of this briefing, with two reminders:

The Secretary-General is leaving this afternoon to begin a two-week trip that begins with an address to the Summit of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) on Monday, July 9.  This will be in Lusaka, Zambia.

We hope to have embargoed copies of his speech as well as the programme -- which, in fact, you asked for yesterday -- of his four-nation visit this afternoon.

Another reminder of something for Monday is the beginning of the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in all its Aspects.  It will open in the General Assembly Hall at 10:00 Monday morning.  Following the election of the Conference President, who will be Ambassador Camillo Reyes of Colombia, the Conference will be addressed by Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette on behalf of the Secretary-General. 

After other procedural steps are taken, the Conference will move right into general exchange of views in the ministerial segment, which will continue into the afternoon and the following mornings in the first week.  Afternoon sessions starting Tuesday, July 10, will be open consultations.  These consultations are expected to be closed in the second week.

The speakers' list is not yet available, but we hope to have it for you shortly.  There is a note to correspondents issued by the Department of Public Information (DPI).  It will also be available shortly.  It will be posted on the disarmament page of the United Nations Web site.

Currently there are copies of the side events which, I understand, are available on the table here, but are also available in the Spokesman's Office.  Among the side events, the Netherlands Mission is sponsoring a film screening on small arms destruction on Monday, July 9, from 1:15 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. in the Visitors’ Plaza.  The Secretary-General's remarks on small arms are expected to feature in the video presentation.  Zlata Filipovic, a Bosnian girl who wrote a Sarajevo diary during the war, is also expected to attend and make brief remarks on small arms.

Finally, we have available in the Spokesman's Office our weekly feature "The Week Ahead", with what's happening here and around the world.

Any questions?

**Questions and Answers

Question:  Is the tape that Israel has requested in New York?  If so, how long has it been here?  Will you be making copies available?

Deputy Spokesman:  I understand it's in New York but I will not have any further details for you now, beyond what we had in yesterday's statement.  I am sorry.  I'm sure it will be frustrating for you, but we'll have to wait a little longer to have clearer guidance.  [Correspondents were later informed that a briefing, by Under-Secretary-General Jean-Marie Guéhenno, would be held on the issue at 4:30 p.m. in room S-226.]

Yes, Ronnie?

Question:  You said the tape was not in New York?

Deputy Spokesman:  No, I said I think it's in New York but I will not be able to go beyond anything that we already said in the statement of yesterday afternoon.  Ronnie?

Question:  Just to clarify the statement, which I found left a lot of ambiguity:  the tape exists; the head of the United Nations Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) did not know about it.  Who did know that this tape existed?

Deputy Spokesman:  No, let's go easy on this.  The tape exists. Who, we say in the statement, did not know about this were not UNIFIL people.  They were the

two representatives of the Secretary-General, in the Middle East, Terje Roed Larsen and Staffan de Mistura.  They are not UNIFIL personnel.  They did not know about the tape until a few days ago. 

Question:  What about the Secretary-General?

Deputy Spokesman:  I believe senior officials knew only recently.  But, as I said, I don't want to go into details now.  I don't have specific guidance on the specifics of your questions.  Erwin, you had a question?  Or did I discourage you from asking any questions?

Question:  I have some others while I'm thinking about this issue.  Hans Blix of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) is going to see the Secretary-General around 12:50 today, according to the schedule; do we know what that is about?

Deputy Spokesman:  I'll have to look into it for you; I'll make no speculation right now.

Question:  The issue of the tape seems very puzzling.  Some Jewish organizations in the United States say that the United Nations has been covering up, that Secretary-General Annan and officials at all levels have denied the existence of the tape and now they're saying that it does exist.  Is there any response to that?

Deputy Spokesman:  I think we'll be able to say something in the near future, but not right now.  Yes, Daphne?

Question:  Is there an investigation going on in the United Nations right now regarding the tape?

Deputy Spokesman:  I have no information on that.  Yes, Ronnie?

Question:  What is going on with Iraq and the Memorandum of Understanding?

Deputy Spokesman:  They're still talking.  They indicated they want to begin a new phase and they are discussing with the Office of Legal Affairs (OLA) some language.  This is not the first time it's happened so we're waiting for it.  It started yesterday; we don't have any new developments today.  Yes, Irwin?

Question:  Do you have the age, or month he was born, of the field security officer who was shot in the Central African Republic?

Deputy Spokesman:  Yes, if you want the exact date, I suppose we can look into it.  All I have is the year, but I suppose we can find out for you.

Question:  You can't tell how old he is unless you have the month.

Deputy Spokesman:  Yes, okay, I will look into that for you.

All right.  Thank you very much.  I hope you have a very good weekend.  See you on Monday.  Thank you.

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