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.

**Secretary-General visits Sweden

I'm going to start with the Secretary-General's visit to Sweden, where, as I mentioned to you, he arrived yesterday afternoon.

The Secretary-General began an official visit to Sweden this morning with a call on the speaker of Parliament, Birgitta Dahl, at the Parliament building in Stockholm.  The Secretary-General asked the Speaker for her support in the effort to bring into force the Rome Statute on the International Criminal Court, and she assured him of Sweden’s support.  They also discussed the anti-globalization protests, as well as upcoming United Nations conferences on sustainable development in South Africa and on financing for development in Mexico.

The Secretary-General then walked to the Foreign Ministry to meet with Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh.  The Minister said that the outlook for the Durban Conference Against Racism was a bit more hopeful today.  They discussed the issues that have divided the Conference, and their consequences for the success or failure of the Conference.

They also talked of the European Union-United Nations relationship, the role of the United States in contemporary international relations and the efforts to get the Palestinians and the Israelis back to the negotiating table and to restart the Cyprus talks.

Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson then hosted a working luncheon for the Secretary-General, at which they reviewed the status of the Durban negotiations.  They also discussed in depth the situation in the Middle East as a whole, the situation in the Balkans, and current global economic trends and their impact on international security.

Outside the Prime Minister's residence, a journalist asked the Secretary-General if he thought it was a mistake to hold the Racism Conference now.  The Secretary-General said it was not and added, "If it were a mistake, then by implication we are saying that racism and intolerance do not exist.  Look around you.  It's very much an issue.  It is unfortunate that the Member States could not organize themselves to discuss it in a calmer and more constructive manner without all the divisions."

The Secretary-General added that the declaration to come out of the conference is only a beginning.  The important thing, he added, is that governments and the people attending the Conference go home and act on these issues. 

The transcript of the Secretary-General's remarks is available in the Spokesman's office as well as on our Web site.

The Secretary-General was then driven to Uppsala, where former Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld grew up and where he is buried.  He placed a wreath on Hammarsjköld's grave.  Later, he delivered the Dag Hammarskjöld Lecture. 

He said at the outset, "It will not surprise you to hear that Dag Hammarskjöld is a figure of great importance for me.  His life and his death, his words and his actions, have done more to shape public expectations of the office, and indeed of the Organization than those of any other man or woman in its history."

The Secretary-General noted that Dag Hammarskjöld showed that the Charter clearly implies the existence of “an international community, for which the Organization is an instrument and an expansion”.  Its overriding purpose was to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.  To do that it had to follow four key principles:  equal political rights; equal economic opportunities; justice; and finally the prohibition of the use of armed force, save in the common interest.

He added that, although Hammarskjöld might disagree with some of the specific positions Mr. Annan has taken, he had no doubt that his predecessor would strongly endorse the principle that the Secretary-General must strive to make himself an authentic and independent voice of the international community.

The full text of the Secretary-General's speech is also available in our office and on the Web site.

After the speech, the Secretary-General was to meet with the press -- and that is happening about now -- and then he will be the guest at a dinner in his honour hosted by the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation. 

Of course we will have the transcript of his encounter with the press available to you as soon as it's available to us here in New York.

**Cyprus

I now have a note on Cyprus. 

Yesterday, the Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, announced that an invitation had been conveyed to the two Cypriot leaders to initiate a new and reinvigorated phase of the Secretary-General's good offices effort next week in New York.

A number of questions have been raised concerning the state of play, and the situation is as follows:

His Excellency Mr. Glafcos Clerides, the Greek Cypriot leader, has accepted the Secretary-General's invitation.  We have seen statements to the press by His Excellency Mr. Rauf Denktash, the Turkish Cypriot leader, expressing some concerns, but we have not received a direct reply.  We remain hopeful that Mr. Denktash will find it possible to come to New York next week.

For your information, Mr. de Soto is now in Paris for scheduled meetings and consultations, and will return to New York on Monday.

There is one further matter, which I would like to mention, and it relates to the question of whether further preparation of the ground is necessary for this new phase of the Secretary-General's good offices to begin.  As Mr. de Soto made clear in response to a question at his press conference in Nicosia yesterday, this matter was dealt with by the Secretary-General's statement to the parties, subsequently made public on 12 September 2000.  That statement made clear the Secretary-General's belief, stated twelve months ago, that "the time had come to move ahead".  His declaration of last September was made "with the purpose of expediting negotiations in good faith and without preconditions on all issues".  As far as the Secretary-General is concerned, the ground is prepared.

**East Timor

Moving to East Timor.  The Chief Electoral Officer, Carlos Valenzuela, today presented the final results of the 30 August elections to the Constituent Assembly, in which the Fretilin party won 55 out of 88 seats. Eleven other parties also won seats to the Assembly, with the Democratic Party running in second place with seven seats.

In addition, 24 of the Assembly members that were elected -- or 27 per cent of that body -- are women.

In a statement, which we have available upstairs, the Secretary-General's Special Representative, Sergio Vieira de Mello, congratulated the Timorese people for an electoral process of which, he added, many democratic countries can be jealous.

He said, "East Timor has once again defied and proven wrong those skeptics who doubted its political maturity and the eloquence of its democratic feelings."

Vieira de Mello also announced that yesterday, Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda extended Indonesia's congratulations for the elections and extended an invitation to meet with President Megawati Sukarnoputri and other senior officials in Jakarta.  Vieira de Mello said that he, along with Xanana Gusmão and José Ramos Horta, would travel to Jakarta on Thursday, 13 September, to meet with President Megawati on the following day, 14 September.

Additional details, including a breakdown of seats in the Constituent Assembly, can be found in today's briefing notes from Dili.

And I should also want to bring to your attention that a video of the announcement of the results will be shown on in-house television here at Headquarters immediately after this briefing.

**Security Council

Here in New York, the Security Council met in closed consultations this morning to hear a briefing from the Executive Director of the Iraq Programme on the recent events surrounding the departure of United Nations staff members from Baghdad.

Also in consultations, a resolution to lift the arms embargo on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was introduced.

Mr. Sevan just spoke at the stakeout and his speaking notes to the Council are available upstairs.

Late yesterday afternoon, the Council held a private meeting during which they were briefed by Sir Ketumile Masire, the Facilitator of the Inter-Congolese Dialogue.

In a subsequent meeting -- still yesterday -- Council members adopted a Presidential Statement in which they reiterated their support for the dialogue and called on the parties to further cooperate with each other and the Facilitator.

**Middle East

Moving to the Middle East.  This morning in Jerusalem, Terje Roed-Larsen, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East, issued the fourth report examining the impact of border closures, confrontation and mobility restrictions on the Palestinian economy.

The report paints a very bleak picture of the Palestinian economy for the period of 1 October 2000 to 30 June 2001.  The current crisis has had a disastrous effect on the economy, the Palestinian Authority’s fiscal situation and the population’s living standards.

Current unemployment figures are 26.9 per cent, up from 10 per cent in the middle of last year, and the current budget deficit for the Palestinian Authority is estimated at $371 million, up from $100 million last year.

The closures and mobility restrictions have also had a direct effect on education and health care.  Some 1300 students in Gaza are unable to attend university on the West Bank.  Since the beginning of the current crisis, the Palestinian health care system has been under tremendous stress from the increased burden of caring of thousands of wounded, especially those with debilitating injuries.

Overall the report finds that four years of economic progress have been completely offset by the crisis of the past nine months.  Recovery will take longer than recovery after the previous recession, even if the conflict ends soon and mobility restrictions are lifted completely.

The summary of the report is available in the Spokesman's Office.

**United Nations Relief Works Agency

Still on the Middle East.  We have a note here from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) that today, the Commissioner General of UNRWA, Peter Hansen, signed an agreement with the Dutch representative to the Palestinian Authority for an additional ten million Dutch guilders, about $4.1 million, to UNRWA’s general fund for the year 2001.

**Afghanistan

This morning, we had some questions on the trials underway in Afghanistan.  Francesc Vendrell, on a regular visit to Kabul in his capacity as the Secretary-General’s Personal Representative to Afghanistan, today discussed with a senior Taliban official the current situation and pressed two points on the current trial of aid workers.

Vendrell met with the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Taliban and asked the Taliban to grant the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access to the 16 national staff of Shelter Now International and allow more frequent access by consular staff and others to the eight international detained staff.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan, in its weekly update, reminded readers that “human suffering in Afghanistan has largely outstripped the capacity and resources of the aid community due to both the magnitude and the depth of the crisis". 

"The catastrophe is a gradually cumulative humanitarian disaster of enormous proportions.  Conflict, drought, displacement, grinding poverty and human rights abuses adds up to a deadly combination”, he said.

**Sierra Leone

On Sierra Leone, a tripartite meeting among the Sierra Leone Government, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) was scheduled to take place in Makeni today.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sierra Leone, Oluyemi Adeniji, traveled to Makeni for the meeting.  We have just heard from the Mission, which said the meeting failed to take place because the RUF boycotted it.

The RUF submitted a letter to the United Nations Mission explaining the reasons, including the alleged ceasefire violations by the Government militia (CDF) and a demand that no meeting with the Government can take place without participation by civil society representatives.

We hope to have more information on this situation later in the day.

**Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

And now on the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.  The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today appealed to the international community to put in place urgently a security arrangement to stabilize the situation in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and allow the return of refugees and displaced persons.

Eric Morris, UNHCR’s special envoy to the region, said in a statement, “UNHCR cannot suggest in what form or size the security arrangement should look like, but this has to happen now -- before NATO ends its mission -- to ensure not only safety for civilians but also to help create conditions for the safe return of refugees and displaced people”.

**International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia

Today in The Hague, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia dismissed several charges against two Bosnian Serbs, Dusko Sikirica and Damir Dosen. 

The Tribunal threw out charges of genocide and complicity to commit genocide against Sikirica and dismissed four counts of torture, inhuman acts and cruel treatment against Dosen.

A press release on the Tribunal is available with more details.

**Budget

Two more Member States made full payments for their 2001 regular budget contributions.  First, Algeria made a payment of more than $700,000 and Uzbekistan, more than $100,000.  We now have 113 Member States fully paid.

I'm approaching the end of the briefing.

**Racism Conference

Durban -- discussions in Durban continue on the language to be included in the final two documents of the World Conference Against Racism.

Later today the regional groups will report to the Conference President, South African President Foreign Minister Zuma, on their reaction to the proposed language on the Middle East and the legacy of the past.

Agreement on language on the identifying the victims of racism was reached.  Details on that language are available in a press release out on the racks.

**Footballers Against Racism

The United Nations Information Service in Vienna, along with the maxBundesliga and the Austrian Football Association, has planned a “Footballers Against Racism” campaign, which is coinciding with the World Conference Against Racism.  They, the United Nations Office in Vienna, have designed a T-shirt, which will be worn by players in League and First Division matches tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday -- so these players will be wearing this T-shirt as they come onto the field. 

After a short announcement about the campaign, the players will remove the T-shirts and give them to the crowd.

There's a press release with more details, and this is the T-shirt.  It has the name of the campaign, the United Nations logo and the logo of the Conference.

That's all I have for you this morning.  Any questions?

**Questions and Answers

Question:  At the stakeout -- excuse me if this was covered before I came in -- Ambassador Aldouri said that earlier this month, three United Nations workers had been expelled from Iraq and that the United Nations had apologized for their behaviour there, and that Iraq had presented evidence that they were spying for the United States.  Has the United Nations apologized and if so, what did it apologize for?  What do you think of that charge generally? 

Deputy Spokesman:  No.  I haven't seen what the Ambassador said.  What I know, of the five that we talked about here, the five that the Government declared as persona non grata.  There is a sixth that left Iraq on 30 August.  The Government requested us to withdraw a contract of a staff member from Iraq.  And Benon Sevan, the head of the Iraq Programme, agreed to the request, made in view of the fact that the staff member concerned, contrary to instructions of the Iraq Programme, meaning Sevan's Office, had taken some photographs in an area which the Government considered to be sensitive.  So I can only confirm five plus one.

Question:  What country did he come from?

Deputy Spokesman:  The sixth one?  I believe he is Dutch.  Five were expelled -- the four Nigerians plus one Bosnian -- and plus the sixth.

Question:  Aldouri was talking of a total of eight.

Deputy Spokesman:  That I'm not aware of.  I only know of these six.

Question:  Did you already say the nationality of those five?

Deputy Spokesman:  Yes, I did.  I said it yesterday but I can tell you now.  There were four Nigerians and one Bosnian. 

Question:  So there was an explanation given to the Secretary-General about the Dutch national?

Deputy Spokesman:  The Dutch national was different.  The Office agreed that the guy should leave because he was also not conforming with instructions from the Office of the Iraq Programme.  So we look at it as a different situation.  We still need to receive from the Iraq Government all the details and evidence to support the charges made against those other five staff members that they declared as persona non grata.

Question:  On Cyprus, people in the region are wondering now if Mr. de Soto might have extended the invitation without knowing what the response would be.  I'm wondering if this was a major screw-up.

Deputy Spokesman:  No.  There was no major screw-up.

Correspondent:  The Turkish Cypriot leader rejected the invitation. 

Deputy Spokesman:  I think you were late, or perhaps I was too fast.  I had, at the beginning of the briefing, a note on Cyprus.  In that note, we made it very clear that we consider that the ground is prepared for these talks to go ahead next week.

Question:  Will the Secretary-General be in on Monday morning?

Deputy Spokesman:  I'll have to confirm that.  I would imagine so, given the number of activities happening next week.  But, I'll come back to you on that one.

Question:  What does it mean that the "ground is prepared"?

Deputy Spokesman:  I think I'd better read to you, because that's one of the questions raised.

A question has been raised in the press whether further preparation of the ground is necessary for this new phase of the Secretary-General's good offices to begin.  Mr. de Soto made clear in response to a question at his press conference in Nicosia yesterday that this matter was dealt with by the Secretary-General's statement to the parties, subsequently made public on

12 September 2000.  That statement made clear the Secretary-General's belief stated 12 months ago that "the time had come to move ahead". 

His declaration of last September was made "with a purpose of expediting negotiations in good faith and without preconditions on all issues".  As far as the Secretary-General is concerned, the ground is prepared. 

I should also add, since you were not here, that we did hear back from His Excellency Mr. Glafcos Clerides, that he had accepted the Secretary-General's invitation.  We have seen statements in the press by His Excellency Mr. Rauf Denktash expressing some concerns, but we have not received a direct reply.  We remain hopeful, as I told you yesterday, that Mr. Denktash will find it possible to come to New York next week.

Thank you very much.  Have a very good afternoon.

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