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.

Good afternoon.

** Guest at Noon Briefing

Our guest at the briefing today is Peter Hansen, the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, better known to you as UNRWA.

He has been the head of UNRWA since 1996.  He’s in New York for a prescheduled visit for discussions of UNRWA budgetary matters.

And we’ll get to him in just a minute.

** Attack on United States

The UN flag is at half mast today to mark yesterday's horrific attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The Secretary-General delivered a statement yesterday in which he said, "We are all traumatized by this terrible tragedy".  He expressed his profound condolences to the victims and their families, and to the people and Government of the United States.

He continued, "There can be no doubt that these attacks are deliberate acts of terrorism, carefully planned and coordinated -- and as such I condemn them utterly.  Terrorism must be fought resolutely wherever it appears.  In such moments, cool and reasoned judgment is more essential than ever.  We do not know yet who is behind these acts”, he said, “or what objective they hope to achieve.  What we do know is that no just cause can be advanced by terror."

The President of the Security Council, Ambassador Jean-David Levitte of France, added in a statement to the press yesterday that Council members condemned the attacks in the strongest terms, and called on all States to work together urgently to bring to justice the perpetrators, organizers and sponsors of those attacks.

Council members also called on the international community to redouble their efforts to prevent and suppress terrorist acts by increased cooperation and full implementation of the relevant international anti-terrorist conventions and Security Council resolutions.

We have all those statements, as well as one from the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, available in my office.

Just before this briefing, the Security Council went into closed consultations to discuss yesterday's attack and to consider the draft text of a resolution condemning the attacks that took place in New York, Washington, D.C.,

and Pennsylvania.  The Council is expected to vote on that resolution in a public meeting which is just getting under way now.

The Secretary-General will attend that meeting, and, in a speech to the Council, he intends to underscore the need to express solidarity with the United States Government and people, and to emphasize that all nations must work together to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

We have copies of the Secretary-General’s comments available in my office.

Earlier today, shortly before 9 a.m., the Chief of Security received information from United States and New York City authorities of a threat specifically made against the UN complex.  This threat was assessed in cooperation with those authorities, and precautionary measures are in effect.

As part of those precautionary measures, the UN staff was asked earlier this morning to leave their offices.  Essential staff have now been allowed to return, and the UN hotline has been in effect since yesterday to inform staff of recent developments. That hotline, for your information, is (212) 963-9800.

** Secretary-General Returns to Normal Programme

The Secretary-General returned to the building this morning to meet with the incoming and outgoing Presidents of the General Assembly concerning the scheduling of the Children's Summit, which was to begin a week from today.

Harri Holkeri, the President of the just-concluded fifty-fifth session and Han Seung-soo, who is expected to be elected this afternoon as President of the fifty-sixth session, were joined by Carol Bellamy, the head of UNICEF, to discuss rescheduling the Summit in light of yesterday's tragic events in New York and Washington.  The Assembly is expected to take a decision on the matter this afternoon.

After addressing the Security Council's open meeting this morning, the Secretary-General will receive the credentials of eight new permanent representatives to the United Nations.

He will then join members of the Security Council for their monthly working lunch.

This afternoon he will address the opening of the fifty-sixth session of the General Assembly, which was postponed 24 hours due to yesterday's events.

** General Assembly

The General Assembly is set to open its fifty-sixth session this afternoon at 3 p.m.

The session will be opened by the chairman of the delegation of Finland, Harri Holkeri, who is the outgoing President.

Following the official opening of the meeting, delegates will observe a minute of silence, as they always do at the start of a new session.

Immediately following, delegates will decide on the appointment of the members of the Credentials Committee which will be followed by the election of a new President. 

Please note that Han Seung-soo will speak to the press in this room at 4:30 p.m.

** Middle East

The UN’s Special Coordinator for the Middle East, Terje Roed-Larsen, arrived in Cairo this morning.

His visits to Egypt and Lebanon, earlier this week, were made at the request of the Secretary-General to hear the views of the region’s leaders ahead of the General Assembly’s general debate.

Upon arrival, he met with the Secretary-General of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, and he is scheduled to see Egypt’s Foreign Minister, Ahmed Maher, in the next hour.

Yesterday in Beirut, Larsen discussed with senior Lebanese officials, including President Emile Lahoud and Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, all the political and economic issues related to the grave situation in the Middle East.  In Beirut, Larsen was accompanied by the Secretary-General’s Personal Representative for Southern Lebanon, Staffan de Mistura.

He’s scheduled to head back to Gaza tomorrow.

** UN Staff Being Relocated from Afghanistan

The United Nations in Afghanistan is temporarily relocating international UN staff working in that country due to “circumstances prevailing internationally”.

UN staff are presently in six locations:  Kabul, Jalalabad, Mazar-i-Sharif, Kandahar, Herat and Faizabad.

The relocation of up to 80 staff began today and is expected to be completed tomorrow.

** East Timor

The East Timorese leadership met today with Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri for the first time since she took office.  The meeting was in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital.

Special Representative Sergio Vieira de Mello, Cabinet Member for Foreign Affairs Jose Ramos Horta, independence leader Xanana Gusmao and Chief Minister designate Mari Alkatiri described the meeting as “extremely cordial”.  The 40-minute talks focused on the desire to establish a long-term relationship based on cooperation and friendship; the need to resolve rapidly the question of refugees; and economic issues such as the possible creation of a free trade zone between East and West Timor.

More details are in the briefing notes from Dili.

** Inter-Congolese Dialogue

The Office of the Facilitator for the Inter-Congolese Dialogue, which as you know is scheduled for 15 October in Addis Ababa, has launched an official Web site updating the Congolese both at home and abroad on the progress in the process.

The address is www.drcpeace.org.

That’s all I have for you.  Any questions, before we go to Peter?

** Questions and Answers

Question:  At the meeting that the Secretary-General had with the incoming and  outgoing Presidents (of the General Assembly) to discuss the rescheduling of the Children’s Summit, was there any agreement -- I realize that the decision has to be taken by the General Assembly itself -- but was there any agreement among the three and Carol Bellamy on a recommendation?

Spokesman:  Yes, there was.  There was a consensus, and I assume that the Presidents will be consulting with the regional groups before the Assembly meets this afternoon.  And if the same consensus prevails among the regional groups, then we will have a decision this afternoon.

Question:  And I assume that consensus was that it should be rescheduled?  

Spokesman:  I shouldn’t really tell you about it, sorry.

Peter, welcome to the briefing.

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