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.

Phones off please.  Thank you very much.

**Secretary-General in Italy

Before leaving Rome for Genoa today, the Secretary-General met with Jacques Diouf, the Director-General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and then with Catherine Bertini, the Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP).

On arrival in Genoa this afternoon, he took a stroll around the city, chatting with shopkeepers and commenting on their bravery, for staying open for business.

He then went to the Summit venue, where he met for about 15 minutes with a number of heads of State of the eight advanced countries meeting there.

In front of all eight leaders, he then said, in a brief address, that "the commitment and resources of the G-8 countries are indispensable if we are to win this battle" against AIDS.

Such leadership and commitment, he said, will signify to the millions suffering from this disease that "the world is finally summoning the will -- and committing the resources -- to win this war for all humanity."

The newly established Global AIDS and Health Fund, he added, must become operational by the end of this year.  Noting that the Fund had already received more than a billion dollars, he said, "This is a very good beginning, but much, much more is needed."

The audio of the speech was broadcast live here at Headquarters and the text is available in my office.

As of yesterday, pledges to the Global Fund totalled $1.173 billion.  You can follow the pledging record for the Fund on the Spokesman's Page of the UN Web site.

Last night our Office in Copenhagen shared with us a letter sent to the Secretary-General from a Danish pensioner, which we would like to share in the hope it will inspire others.

"Dear Mr. Annan," he wrote.  "Thank you for your warm and strong words against AIDS.  I think I understood on the radio news that a bank account has been opened in New York.  I can't wait, so I'm sending today a Danish bank note to your office here."  He sent a check for 100 Danish Crowns, which is about $11.50.  The Secretary-General hopes there will be many such contributions from average citizens for the global fight against AIDS.

This evening the Secretary-General will attend the outreach session of the Summit, which will be attended by a number of heads of State from developing countries, including Nigeria, South Africa, Algeria, Mali, Senegal, Bangladesh and El Salvador.  That will be for a discussion of poverty reduction strategies.  Those talks will continue over dinner, hosted by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

The Secretary-General returns to Rome tonight after dinner, and then flies back to New York tomorrow.

**Colombia

The Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Colombia, Jan Egeland, issued a statement yesterday evening in Bogotá, concerning a statement issued earlier by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on the abduction of the former Governor of the Department of Meta, Alan Jara.

Egeland said that the former Governor was invited by the local authorities to inaugurate an important local development project.  He and United Nations invited guests were riding together as officials involved in the project.

He added that the abduction of Mr. Jara, a civilian, was a breach of international humanitarian law and the inviolability of the UN vehicle. 

He also said that the FARC should immediately release Mr. Jara, take urgent measures to protect civilians, and ensure that the UN and diplomatic missions can carry out their work unhindered. 

The Special Adviser again expressed his desire to reach a speedy resolution to this grave incident, and his commitment to continuing discussions with the FARC Secretariat to resolve this matter.

The full text of the statement, which also deplores the recent kidnapping of three German aid workers as well as attacks against personnel working on European Union development projects, is available in my office in both English and Spanish.

**Ivory Coast

The report of the International Commission of Inquiry on the Ivory Coast is out today.

The independent Commission was established in February 2001 by the Secretary-General, following discussions with the Ivory Coast authorities.

The three-member Commission was led by Ambassador Colin Granderson and did their work during their stay in the Ivory Coast for two months.  The report was sent to the Government for their comments, which note they will pay attention to the Commission’s recommendations.  Those comments are also available.

Among its findings, the Commission said that members of the Gendarmerie bear responsibility with regards to the October 2000 massacre at Yopougon.  The Commission also found that members of the military bear responsibility in the deaths of civilians, which occurred during the demonstrations that followed General Robert Guei’s declaration that he had won the Presidential election in October 2000.

The Commission also concluded that members of the security forces, in particular the gendarmes, used excessive force and were responsible for serious human rights violations during demonstrations that took place before the legislative elections in December.

Among the recommendations in the report, the Commission calls on the Government to strengthen the fight against impunity in the Ivory Coast, including the conclusion of their own investigation to bring to justice those responsible for serious human rights violations.

The Commission also recommended to improve the training of the Military, Police and Gendarmes with respect to human rights.  The Commission highlighted the responsibility of the authorities to protect persons who gave testimony to the international commission of inquiry.  The Commission also stressed the importance of national reconciliation in order to create a positive environment to bring to an end the tensions in the country.

We understand that Colin Granderson himself is ready to take questions, from you, concerning this report.  We have his phone number in my office, if you're interested.

**Small Arms Conference

The United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects has entered the last scheduled day -- that makes you nervous doesn't it, scheduled day -- with still some outstanding issues unresolved.  It's taking a short break now and will resume at about 12:15.

The Conference is meeting in closed session this morning in an effort to resolve these issues and come to consensus on the Programme of Action.  Only about eight out of the roughly 86 paragraphs in the draft Programme of Action remain unresolved.  These relate, among other things, to ownership of weapons, export controls and conference review meetings.

The Conference President, Ambassador Camilo Reyes of Colombia, has cancelled his press conference, which was scheduled for 12:45 today.  However, he will probably talk to you later today.  We will let you know the time when he decides.

**Climate Change

Yesterday evening in Bonn, the Dutch Environment Minister Jan Pronk, who is President of the current round of talks under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, said, in a press conference, that he was pleased with the work done by negotiation groups on climate change this week.

On three issues, he said, agreement had been reached, dealing with capacity-building and a guidance for the Global Environment Facility, while an agreement on technology transfer, he said, was close.  He also said that a statement made yesterday by the United States reflected a constructive approach, and he called the statement by the Group of 77 encouraging and the one by the European Union heartening. 

High-level talks on climate change are to continue in Bonn over the weekend.

**Security Council

The Security Council has nothing scheduled for today.  The Council's next scheduled meeting is Tuesday, of next week, when it intends to hold a formal meeting on the Great Lakes region of Africa.

**FYROM/UNHCR

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today expressed concern about the stalemate in the negotiations in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), and urged the Government and the Albanian community of that country to make every effort to avoid further confrontation.

The agency said that the confusion surrounding the current negotiations has prompted some of FYROM's ethnic Albanians to continue to flee to Kosovo and other locations, fearing a resumption of fighting.  The UNHCR reported, this week, that some 62,000 FYROM Albanians remain in Kosovo, although about 12,000 have returned home.

The UNHCR's statement on FYROM is included in today's briefing notes, which also notes the suspension of its efforts to repatriate more than 174,000 Eritrean refugees in Sudan after heavy rains cut off some key roads.  Since May, the UNHCR has helped nearly 21,000 Eritreans return to their homes, and, once the rainy season ends, it intends to aid the return of another 40,000 refugees before the end of the year.

**Sierra Leone

The United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) reported that a total of 67 combatants from the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and 16 from the Government-allied Civil Defence Force (CDF) handed in their weapons to UN peacekeepers near Koidu yesterday, as the disarmament process resumed in earnest.

The disarmament began after the UN Deputy Force Commander, Major General Martin Agwai, visited the area along with RUF interim leader Issa Sesay and several other RUF and CDF officials.  General Agwai criticized the recent slow pace of disarmament in the mineral-rich Kono District, and exhorted the two parties to match their words of commitment to peace with action on the ground.

General Agwai returned today to Kono, where the disarmament exercise is continuing.

      **Iraq Programme

Benon Sevan, the Executive Director of the Iraq Programme, yesterday sent a letter to the Ambassador of Iraq concerning allegations by Iraq that the United Nations had delayed a mission to Iraq by the World Health Organization (WHO) to investigate the possible effects of depleted uranium.  He vigorously denied those allegations.

Copies of the letter are available in my office.

**UNICEF

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) today called on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to stop recruiting children into its ranks.  The UNICEF also urged the Government of Sri Lanka to ease restrictions on humanitarian activity and address the shortage of teachers in conflict-affected areas.

In 1998, Olara Otunnu, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children in Armed Conflict, obtained assurances from the Liberation Tigers group to end the practice of recruiting children, but the UN has observed increasing recruitment activity in and near schools.  Another problem lies in the increasing number of children dropping out of school, largely due to an acute shortage of trained teachers and the need for children to supplement family income.

Carol Bellamy, UNICEF Executive Director said, “Despite one or two encouraging signs, there has been little demonstrable progress on any of these problems, and UNICEF calls for a much more vigorous and transparent response than has been shown thus far.”

We have her full text in my office.

**Kosovo

The United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK) said today that, contrary to recent reports in the Belgrade media, no new mass graves have been found anywhere in Kosovo.

Some media had reported that some 900 people had been found buried in a mass grave in Suva Reka.  This was not the case.  What is correct is that, of more than 1,200 bodies in Kosovo that have yet been unidentified, between 800 and 900 have been reburied in Suva Reka.  The UN Mission is in the process of negotiating a memorandum of understanding with the International Commission on Missing Persons so that it can begin DNA testing on those unidentified bodies.

We have more information from the Kosovo Mission.

**The Week Ahead

We have "The Week Ahead" for you, nothing too dramatic.  I won't bother reading any elements of it.  But pick it up in my office.

      **Press Conferences

Three press conferences to announce for this afternoon:

At 2:00 -- Ernie Regehr and others from the International Network on Small Arms (IANSA).  That's sponsored by UNICEF.

2:45 -- Michel Rocard will give a press conference, also on small arms. That's sponsored by the French Mission.

And 4:00 -- Ambassador Jean Lint, Permanent Representative of Belgium and President of the European Union (that is, Belgium is in the Presidency of the Union) will give a press conference on the outcome of the conference.  Assuming it's over, I guess.

[**Press Release Addendum

After the briefing, it was announced that a press release on poppy cultivation in Laos, from the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP), was available in room 378.  It reports the lowest level of such cultivation since 1992.]

Any questions before we go off for the weekend?

**Questions and Answers

Question: Do you have any sense of whether the Small Arms Conference will be going late tonight, or whether they'll acknowledge that it's going into overtime and just start up tomorrow?

Spokesman:  I don't know.  I've given Hiro Ueki the key to my office in case he needs to stay here until the wee hours to continue servicing you.  But at this time I don't think we can predict how they're going to deal with it.

Question:  When is Joseph Connor, Under-Secretary-General for Management, going to the Middle East?

Spokesman:  We're not going to announce that, at least not specifically.  But in the next couple of days, we should see him in Lebanon.

Question:  Is there any update on his investigation of the handling of the videotape?

Spokesman:  No.  As far as I know, it's on track.  We're still hoping to have it completed by the end of the month.

Question:  Will Mr. Connor be speaking with Governments on his trip?

Spokesman:  I don't think I can say.  He'll be in Lebanon.  Will he be talking to Lebanese Government officials?

Question:  Or any other officials?

Spokesman:  Well, he'll be in Lebanon.  I honestly don't know.

Thank you very much.

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