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.

**Statement on Middle East

I will start by putting on the record the statement that we released yesterday on the Middle East: 

“Following the seizure by the Israeli authorities of the Orient House and other properties related to Palestinian institutions in East Jerusalem, the Secretary-General received a letter from the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat, and has also been in touch with him on the telephone.

“The Secretary-General considers this action to be an unwise step, which is leading to even greater friction and further violence.  He urges that the occupation of Orient House and the other properties be ended without delay.”

**Security Council

In New York, the Security Council has scheduled consultations to begin at noon -- should be beginning as we speak -- to discuss the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.   For tomorrow, the Council is scheduled to meet in consultations to receive a briefing from the Department of Political Affairs on Bougainville.

**Afghanistan

On Afghanistan, the United Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan informed us this morning that the Taliban authorities have agreed today to grant visas to German, Australian and United States diplomats so that they can visit Kabul to discuss the case of eight foreign nationals who have been detained by the Taliban.

The visas will allow the officials to hold talks with Taliban officials in Kabul, but the Taliban still say they will not allow consular access to the eight foreign nationals -- eight Germans, two Australians and two United States nationals -- all of whom work for the non-governmental organization, Shelter Now International.  Those eight, and 16 Afghan staff, were arrested by the Taliban early last week. 

Over the weekend, the Secretary-General's Personal Representative for Afghanistan, Francesc Vendrell, was in Afghanistan for meetings he had scheduled prior to the arrests.  However, Vendrell did discuss the matter in his talks with the Taliban Deputy Justice Minister on Saturday and the Taliban Deputy Foreign Minister and the Governor of Kandahar on Sunday.

Vendrell stressed the need for consular access to the eight international staff, but was told that such access was not possible until an investigation into allegations that the staff was proselytizing was completed.  He was told the non-governmental staff was all in good health.

**Statement on Floods in Iran

I now have a statement attributable to the Spokesman on Iran: 

“The Secretary-General is deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and devastation caused by flash floods in northeastern Iran.  He extends his deepest condolences to the people and Government of Iran, and assures them that the United Nations stands ready to assist in the relief and rehabilitation of the affected areas.”

Just to offer you some background, as I was coming down we got more details on this.  Flash floods triggered by torrential rains impacted several urban and rural places in Golestan, Khorasan and Semnan provinces late on Friday evening, 10 August.  There are reports so far of 122 deaths in Golestan, eight in Khorasan and three deaths in another area, location unknown.  There is a disaster task force of the Ministry of Interior of Iran dealing with it.

**East Timor

The Secretary-General has appointed Lieutenant General Winai Phattiyakul as Force Commander of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), to succeed Lieutenant General Boonsrang Niumpradit who will relinquish the command on 31 August.

Lieutenant-General Phattiyakul, who was born in 1948, has served in the Royal Thai Armed Forces since 1969.  He has held several command and staff appointments at the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters.  And currently, he is the Director of the Directorate of Joint Intelligence, Supreme Command Headquarters of the Royal Thai Armed Forces.

The proper spellings and more details on his curriculum vitae are available in the Spokesman's Office.

Still on East Timor, more than 8,000 East Timorese turned out at a five-hour “Sing for Peace, Sing for Democracy, Sing for Timor” event which took place yesterday evening at the stadium in Dili, the capital city of East Timor.

Twelve East Timorese bands performed songs focusing on nation-building, democracy and peace.  Between numbers, the performers elaborated on these themes, many connecting East Timor's journey towards independence and construction of democracy to their history. 

More details in the briefing notes from Dili.  These briefing notes will also tell you about the latest preparations for the 30 August election, including the announcement made in Dili today that so far, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has accredited 252 international electoral observers from 40 countries, as well as 719 Timorese electoral observers from

18 organizations covering all East Timor’s districts.  The briefing note is available upstairs.

**Kosovo

Moving to Kosovo, the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) has concluded an internal investigation into allegations that some UN police officers were involved in the movement of women for the purposes of prostitution, and has found that two officers contravened the United Nations Police Code of Conduct.  They were repatriated.  Two other officers have received letters of reprimand.  More information in the briefing notes from the Kosovo Mission.

**Sierra Leone

On Sierra Leone, late last Friday, the Government of Sierra Leone and the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) signed a communiqué, which I think we squawked for those of you who were here Friday afternoon.  The communiqué, which we have available upstairs, pledges to begin disarmament of combatants in the provinces of Moyamba and Koinadugu over the coming week.

The parties, following a meeting on Friday chaired by the Secretary-General's Special Representative, Oluyemi Adeniji, in the town of Kenema, decided to begin disarmament in Moyamba this Wednesday and in Koinadugu on Monday, August 20.

They also expressed satisfaction at the disarmament process in the districts of Kambia and Port Loko, but noted that pockets of combatants remain in the districts of Kono and Bonthe.  The Government and RUF called on RUF and Civilian Defence Force leaders in those two districts to ensure that disarmament there can be completed by this Friday, August 17.

**Secretary-General's Visit to Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda

      Some good news for those of you who have asked us about accompanying the Secretary-General on his visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda.  That visit, you will recall, to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is from 1 to 3 September.  On 3 September, the Secretary-General will go from Kisangani to Rwanda.  So, the trip will be from 1 September to 3 September, Kinshasa and Kisangani, and on 3 September, from Kisangani to Kigali in Rwanda.

The United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo will be able to transport a limited number of journalists from Kinshasa to Kisangani to Kigali.  Those of you who are interested do let us know -- some of you already did -- and we will send the list to Kinshasa, to the mission there.

Of course, arrangements for visas to both the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, as well as hotel accommodations, will have to be made by you.

**‘Peace Boat’ Arrives in Mongalu

Still on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, there's a brief note here that the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is pleased to report that on Sunday, yesterday, the first "Peace Boat" arrived in Mongalu,

northern Equateur Province, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, after a

12-day voyage from Kinshasa.

The "Peace Boat" carried 650 tons of medical, educational and other relief supplies.  It will now load 1,000 tons of maize destined for distribution to vulnerable groups in Kinshasa.  The "Peace Boat" is a new United Nations initiative aimed at connecting communities separated by the frontlines, re-invigorating economic life and providing much needed humanitarian assistance.  Of course, as you know, this was in cooperation with the peacekeeping mission in that country.

**WFP Press Release

The World Food Programme (WFP) has begun delivery of food aid to

40,000 people in previously inaccessible areas in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.  The WFP estimates that more than 300,000 are displaced in Government-held areas of Katanga province and that half are in need of food aid.  More information in the press release available upstairs.

**Budget

Today, two more Member States paid their 2001 regular budget contribution in full.  Nepal made a payment of more than $41,000 and Saint Lucia made a payment of more than $20,000, bringing the total of fully paid-up Member States to 103.

Switzerland, a non-Member State, also made its full contribution to the United Nations budget today with a payment of $3.9 million.

**New Book on United Nations

I don’t know how many of you noticed an interesting book that was just launched in Geneva last week.  It's entitled "Reforming the United Nations: the quiet revolution".  Itwas prepared by Joachim Mueller, a staff member of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), who has also worked with the United Nations Secretariat.  The book covers the United Nation's efforts to reform, concentrating on the last five years, and includes the Secretary-General’s programme for renewing the Organization, Security Council reform, the Brahimi report and other proposals for reform from the late 1990s. 

The book is published by Kluwer Law International and is available as a United Nations sales publication.  You can get it downstairs, I believe, in the United Nations Bookshop.  You can find more information on the Kluwer Web site, www.kluwerlaw.com.

**Press Conferences

There are no press conferences scheduled for today or tomorrow.

**Questions and Answers

Question:  On the trip, cannot the United Nations make hotel reservations wherever the Secretary-General is going when you finally have a list?  It doesn't help reporters to just land in the same city.

Deputy Spokesman:  It's not always easy to get rooms in those hotels.  For us to take responsibility for the number of you going is not always possible. 

Correspondent:  On other trips reservations were made.

Deputy Spokesman:  Whenever we could, we did.  When I spoke with the Mission this morning, they asked that hotel accommodations be made by you.  I will follow-up with them to see if that's possible.

Question:  That is a round trip?

Deputy Spokesman:  No, it is not a round trip.  Kinshasa, Kinsangani, Kigali.  So, the international flights -- into Kinshasa and out of Kigali -- you organize.

Question:  What communication are you aware of, if any, from the Palestinian Authority to the Security Council and plans for further Security Council consideration of the situation over there or a proposal to reconsider observers or monitors?

Deputy Spokesman:  I'm not aware of any.

Question:  Is the Secretary-General concerned that the Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on Racism failed to agree on key issues, and is he planning to take any action between now and the start of the conference at the end of the month?

Deputy Spokesman:  The Secretary-General, as you may know, was in contact with Mrs. Robinson.  He has followed this very closely.  We understand that the working groups will resume on 31 August when the conference opens in Durban.  As I said to you last Friday, this is not the first time that we have an international conference where the outcome document is not totally agreed upon before the conference.  That's the aim, but it doesn't always happen like that. 

It is true that there are very important aspects in this document that are not agreed upon yet.  But you heard what Mrs. Robinson said, that they will continue to work and she hopes that they will get something.

Thank you very much.  Have a pleasant afternoon.

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