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.  I have a fairly long briefing here today, because of the long weekend we just had, and the number of activities that have gone on, in particular with the Secretary-General, who, as you know, is travelling in Africa.  And I'll start with his activities.

**Secretary-General in Africa

The Secretary-General arrived in Nairobi, Kenya, just a few hours ago.  There he had a meeting, a one-on-one meeting with President Daniel arap Moi. 

From Nairobi, which he's expected to leave in about a couple of hours, he will fly to Sweden, where on Thursday he will deliver a speech at Upsala University.

The Secretary-General arrived in the Kenyan capital from Kigali, Rwanda, where he was on an official visit on Monday and Tuesday.  Today, while in Rwanda, he flew by helicopter from Kigali to Ruhengeri to visit the Nkumba camp, where he was greeted by over 1,200 ex-Interahamwe militia, who welcomed him singing and dancing.

The fighters, formerly of the Rwandan Army and militia, who were driven into the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1994 following the genocide in Rwanda, are being prepared for reintegration into Rwandan society.

A lieutenant in the former Rwandan Army addressed the Secretary-General on behalf of the ex-fighters.  He acknowledged their military defeat and said they were surprised by how well they had been treated by the new Government and by the local community, which no longer supports the conflict and is urging the soldiers to surrender and demobilize.  He asked for international support as they reintegrate into Rwandan society, and encouraged his fellow combatants still in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to return home.

Prime Minister Bernard Makuza, who accompanied the Secretary-General, thanked him for his support for the integration process, which is an essential step in the rebuilding of the nation.

The Secretary-General then stood before the assembled ex-combatants.  He said, "In war, all are losers.  As you now reintegrate yourself in society, you must work together with your fellow citizens to see that the genocide is never repeated". 

Returning to Kigali, the Secretary-General visited the Gisozi genocide memorial.  The wreath he and his wife Nane laid there bore the simple inscription: "Souvenons-Nous" –- "Never Forget". 

Following this visit, the Secretary-General held a meeting with civil

society organizations, and he also -- and that's where he ended his visit to that

country -- went to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), where, together with his wife, he met national and international United Nations staff in that country.

As I mentioned, the Secretary-General arrived in Kigali yesterday.  He reached the country in the early evening and was met at the airport by the Prime Minister. 

Later that same evening, he met with President Paul Kagame, who, following the meeting, hosted a banquet in honour of the Secretary-General.

The two leaders held a press encounter after the meeting, the transcript of which is available in the Spokesman’s Office.

The Secretary-General was asked about an announcement by Kinshasa the day before that Democratic Republic of the Congo authorities “had rounded up

3,000 Rwandan rebels”.  The Secretary-General said that "United Nations observers will be given access to the three thousand men -- and of course with them working with our other United Nations colleagues –- will make a determination as to who they are, which ones want to come back, and coordinate with the Government for their return".

The Secretary-General added, "The mood is much more hopeful but there are still lots and lots of difficult tasks ahead so we should not relax and we need to persevere".

Before going to Rwanda, the Secretary-General visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  And that happened between 1 and 3 September, exactly the dates that we had our long weekend here in New York. 

During his stay in that country, he had a series of meetings with senior government officials, starting with President Joseph Kabila.  He also met with parties involved in the inter-Congolese dialogue, as well as Sir Ketumile Masire, the Facilitator of that dialogue.

While in Kinshasa, of course, the Secretary-General also met with senior United Nations officials.

The Secretary-General also visited Kisangani in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he was greeted by thousands of people carrying signs, with many chanting “Demilitarization now”.

He was briefed by United Nations personnel on the ground, who reported the steady expansion of the United Nations presence in the region to monitor disarmament, demobilization and demilitarization.

The Secretary-General also had a working luncheon with Adolphe Onusumba and other leaders of the Rally for Congolese Democracy.  He said that the demilitarization of Kisangani was a priority for him.

The Secretary-General also addressed a meeting of civic leaders.

He arrived, as I said, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Saturday, and that was Saturday afternoon or rather, early evening.  That was after he had been in Durban, South Africa, where he opened the World Conference Against Racism on Friday.

I will not right now -- this note is already very long -- go over all the activities of the day of Saturday 1 September in Durban before he left for Kinshasa.  However, we have prepared a note, which will be available shortly -- this afternoon -- with all these activities.  He had a very full day with a number of meetings and very important meetings with different leaders of different delegations who are attending that conference.

That same Saturday, as you know, there were several issues in addition to what was happening in Durban.  One of them was the boat people off the coast of Australia.  That same Saturday, the Secretary-General issued a statement out of Durban on that issue, which is available in our office. 

And on that same day -- Saturday -- he held a press conference in Durban where he was asked about a number of issues related to the conference and on other matters as well.  That transcript is available in the Spokesman's office.  If I'm not mistaken, it's also available on the Web site of the Conference.

**World Conference Against Racism

Since I am talking about the World Conference Against Racism, we have received information this morning from the Secretariat of that Conference. 

Following the announcement by the United States and Israeli Governments that they were withdrawing their delegations from the World Conference Against Racism, the President of the Conference, South Africa’s Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, and High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, who, as you know, is the Secretary-General of the Conference, in speeches to the plenary urged delegates to continue their work in a spirit of give-and-take to ensure a successful conclusion to the conference.

In her statement to the plenary this morning, Mary Robinson said, if the conference fails “we will have failed those who need this Conference most -- the marginalized, the excluded, the hated.  We will have let down those who are looking to this Conference to be a breakthrough in how we relate to each other as one human family in the twenty-first century”.

On the same issue, yesterday, from Kigali, the Secretary-General issued a statement where he said he expected progress could be made as delegates strived to harmonize the divergent positions in the search for a consensus text to come out of the Conference.

The Secretary-General added that he was disappointed at the decision to withdraw by the United States and Israel.

Despite the tough going, he urged all countries to stay the course and remain at the Conference.

The full text of the Secretary-General's statement is available in our office.

Negotiations on language of the final declaration and on the plan of action continue.

**Security Council

Moving here to New York, there are no Security Council meetings scheduled for today as the President for the month of September, Ambassador Jean-David Levitte of France, is engaged in bilateral consultations.

Tomorrow morning, Council members will meet in closed consultations to discuss the programme of work for this month.  In the afternoon, they will hold a private meeting with the Facilitator of the inter-Congolese dialogue, Sir Ketumile Masire.  After briefing the Council, Sir Ketumile will hold a press conference, I am told, in this room.  But depending on the time -- how late the meeting goes -- we might need a change.  But in any case, we will confirm that to you tomorrow.  The important thing is that he will, indeed, speak to you after that meeting.

Also tomorrow, immediately after the noon briefing, Ambassador Levitte will hold a press conference here -- in this room -- to present the Council’s programme of work for the month of September.

**Iraq

Out on the racks is the latest quarterly report from the United Nations Monitoring Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) to the Security Council.

In it, the Executive Chairman, Hans Blix, reports on UNMOVIC’s ongoing activities and on the latest meeting of its College of Commissioners which took place in New York late last month.

In his conclusion, Blix says that, “UNMOVIC has reached a level of preparedness which would allow it to implement the mandate given to it in an independent, effective and non-provocative manner.”

Still on Iraq, just a short note here from the Iraq Programme to bring to your attention that given the holiday yesterday, the weekly update will come out tomorrow and not today as it normally does.

**Sierra Leone

More news on Africa.  The United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), in its press briefing in Freetown earlier today, reported on a visit it hosted to the diamond-producing Koidu district, made by the Presidents of Nigeria, Mali and Sierra Leone.

Also present during the visit yesterday of Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, Alpha Oumar Konaré of Mali, who is the current chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and Ahmed Tejan Kabbah of Sierra Leone, was the interim leader of the Revolutionary United Front, Issa Sesay.

The Mission described the visit as one that will further encourage the people of Sierra Leone to embrace the peace process and project the correct signals to the international community that Sierra Leone is gradually moving towards lasting peace.

The Sierra Leone briefing notes are available upstairs.

**East Timor

Still talking about briefing notes, we also have available the briefing notes from the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), which will give you details on the election results -- the interim results – and on how they are proceeding as they go along with the counting of the votes. 

**Afghan Refugees

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said today that it had resumed the joint screening of thousands of Afghans in Jalozai and Nasir Bagh camps in northwest Pakistan, following a meeting with senior Pakistan officials during which the question of deportations was discussed and resolved.

UNHCR, as you may recall, had suspended the screening exercise on Friday after 28 Afghan families from Jalozai were deported to Afghanistan by the provincial authorities earlier in the week.

Today’s briefing notes from UNHCR also include an update on refugee returns from Kosovo to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Saturday. More than

800 refugees had been returning daily to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia since Saturday, maintaining an increased rate of arrivals from Kosovo over the past week, according to the refugee agency.

**International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

I have news from the Tribunals now.  Yesterday in Arusha, Tanzania, the trial of former Rwandan Minister of Higher Education, Research and Culture, Jean de Dieu Kamuhanda, resumed at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).  Kamuhanda is facing nine counts of genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide and incitement to commit genocide, and also faces charges of rape, murder and extermination.

For more details of his case, there's a press release upstairs from the Tribunal.

**International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

Meanwhile, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) reports that two Bosnian Serbs who had been granted provisional release by the Tribunal in April 2000 -- Simo Zaric and Miroslav Tadic -- have returned to The Hague to face trial.  They have come back to the Tribunal's detention unit as they had agreed to do prior to their trial, which is to begin on 10 September.

**Press Releases

I'm reaching the end of this briefing.  I have a couple of press releases I want to highlight for you.

The first one is from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which says that an estimated 1.6 million people are in need of emergency food aid in Central America.  A combination of Hurricane Mitch, dry spells and earthquakes has caused a precarious food situation in the region, with El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala being the most affected.

The FAO says the estimates for cereal output in the region will be eight per cent lower than the average for the last five years and the situation will worsen if the drought continues and hurricanes destroy crops.

In another release, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said that over the last 10 years about one third of the world’s population has been affected by natural disaster, with floods and droughts accounting for 86 per cent.  Although earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and landslides are more dramatic and take a higher toll in human lives, floods and droughts have a longer lasting and more far-reaching effect.

Both press releases are available in the Spokesman's Office.

**Signing

On signings, this morning Rwanda became the eleventh country to sign the 2001 International Coffee Agreement.

**Budget

On budget, today we have five more Member States making full payments to the 2001 regular budget.  Payments were made by China, more than $15 million; Ghana, more than $51,000; Guinea, over $31,000; and Japan, over $203 million.  I should also mention the fifth country, Kiribati, with more than $10,000.  We now have

111 fully paid up Member States this year.

**Press Conferences

Finally, press conferences.  None are scheduled for today.  For tomorrow, we have two, which I already mentioned in my notes.  Immediately following the briefing tomorrow, we'll have the Ambassador of France, Jean-David Levitte, who will talk to you about the Security Council's activities for the month of September. 

And in the afternoon, following the Security Council private meeting, Sir Ketumile Masire, the facilitator of the inter-Congolese dialogue, will be talking to you.

Sorry this was a very long briefing, but this gets you back into shape after a long weekend.

Are there any questions?  If there are none, I thank you.  I wish a pleasant afternoon.  Thank you very much.

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