DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
| Press Briefing |
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, and Jan Fischer, Spokesman for the President of the General Assembly.
**Spokesman for the Secretary-General
**Secretary-General Visits Firehouse
The Secretary-General and his wife Nane this morning visited the firehouse closest to the United Nations to offer condolences and support. The Captain of Engine 21, which is located at 40th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, is among the missing following the collapse of the World Trade Center last week.
One fire fighter said, "Just a hug makes a difference." And Nane responded by hugging him. Nane and the Secretary-General then stood in respectful silence before a shrine of flowers and candles at the front of the building.
On Friday, the Secretary-General attended Friday Prayers at the Islamic Cultural Center of New York. He told reporters afterwards, "We should look for culprits, and punish them, but we should not make anyone guilty by association --by religion or by the region that he or she comes from."
He condemned Islamophobia, which he said is beginning to pick up. "How would one kill in the name of a religion that professes peace, that professes God as God the Merciful?" he asked.
Over the weekend, he attended a service at the Park East Synagogue on Saturday, and then he went to the memorial service at St. Patrick's Cathedral on Sunday.
**UN Staff Response
As you know, last Friday the Staff of the United Nations established a fund for the victims of the terrorist attack on New York.
The Staff Committee asked us to tell all those who wish to make donations that a bank account has now been established. It is account number 550380 at the Federal Credit Union here at Headquarters. And cheques should be made payable to the UN Staff Relief Committee/NYC. They’ll be sending around an Information Circular with all of these details. Even before this bank account was set up, cash donations made on Friday throughout the day amounted to over $50,000, so the collection is off to a strong start.
**Spokesman’s Statement on Afghanistan
We have the following statement attributable to the Spokesman on the subject of Afghanistan:
“The Secretary-General is saddened at the assassination of Commander Ahmad
Shah Massoud, Vice President and Defence Minister of the Islamic State of Afghanistan. Commander Massoud had established himself as an outstanding military strategist who made a crucial contribution to the preservation of the sovereignty of his country.
“This act of terrorism has eliminated a key Afghan leader who had repeatedly expressed his readiness to take part in negotiations towards a political solution to the conflict in Afghanistan. Both the method and the apparent involvement of non-Afghan elements in this crime further complicate the efforts of the international community to end the conflict.”
**Afghanistan
Reports from the Afghan cities of Kandahar, Kabul and Jalalabad indicate that many people are leaving and heading towards villages, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. UNHCR also reports that many others are headed towards the Pakistani border and some towards the Iranian border.
The refugee agency also reports that all borders neighboring Afghanistan are closed, although some Afghans have managed to slip across the border into Pakistan. The UN humanitarian coordinator’s office has said that there are currently believed to be almost six million vulnerable people inside Afghanistan, and that’s approximately 25 per cent of the population. Before any of last week’s events took place, there were already near one million internally displaced persons inside Afghanistan and more than 3.6 million refugees outside the country –- 2 million of those in Pakistan and 1.5 million in Iran.
The High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers is in New York today and he would be available to talk to you. If you want to get in touch with us, we’ll let you know how to reach him.
**Security Council
This afternoon at 3:30 p.m., the Security Council will hold a private meeting on Kosovo. Addressing that meeting will be the Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia, Nebojsa Covic, and the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Kosovo, Hans Haekkerup.
**Sierra Leone
The United Nations mission in Sierra Leone says that the Revolutionary United Front has agreed to resume its participation in the tripartite meeting tomorrow with the Sierra Leone government and the United Nations mission, known as UNAMSIL. The meeting, which is aimed at furthering the peace process in the country, is scheduled to take place in the town of Makeni.
As you’ll recall, the RUF had boycotted the previously scheduled tripartite meeting earlier this month following the government’s announcement to hold elections in May 2002. Meanwhile, the mission also reports that, as part of its ongoing strategy to establish a military presence throughout the country, UNAMSIL began deploying peacekeepers to the diamond-rich town of Tongo in the eastern district of Kenema.
**East Timor
The East Timor Constituent Assembly met for the first time today. The 88-member body elected Francisco Guterres, President of the FRETILIN party, as its Speaker. The members of the Constituent Assembly were sworn-in on Saturday. They now have 90 days to write and adopt a constitution that will determine the political system East Timor will adopt. Starting today, Assembly members are participating in a three-day orientation seminar on constitutional issues organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the world organization of parliaments of sovereign nations.
On a separate development, eight East Timorese children separated from their parents during the violence which followed the 1999 Popular Consultation today returned to their hometowns in East Timor from orphanages in Indonesia. We have more details in the briefing notes from Dili.
**International Atomic Energy Agency
The 45th general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) began today in Vienna and is to last throughout this week.
In a message to the conference, the Secretary-General says that it is more important than ever to make progress in nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament in the wake of last week’s appalling terrorist attack on the United States. Looking toward the future, he says that broad international cooperation is essential to upgrade the physical protection of nuclear material, to improve capabilities for intercepting and responding to illicit trafficking in nuclear materials, and to enhance the protection of facilities against terrorism and sabotage.
We have copies of his statement, which was delivered by the Deputy Director General of the United Nations Office in Vienna, Steinar Bjornsson, and those are in my office.
**Myanmar
A high-level team of the International Labour Organization (ILO), headed by the former Australian Governor-General Ninian Stephen, departed today for Myanmar, where it will spend three weeks assessing how the Government of that country has acted against forced labor.
The team will spend the first few days in the capital, Yangon, before travelling to various parts of Myanmar to assess the situation there. This is the first time an ILO team has traveled to a country to make its own direct assessment of the forced labor issue.
Under the terms of an understanding reached with the Myanmar authorities, the team will have full discretion to make such contacts and visits that it considers appropriate for its work. The team will then issue a report that will be considered by the ILO Governing Body at its meeting in Geneva this November.
**World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF)
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today announced that they are postponing their annual meetings, which had been scheduled to take place in Washington, D.C., on the 29th and 30th of September. The two agencies took that decision following security concerns in the wake of the terrorist attack last week on the United States, out of a desire not to draw police in Washington away from their other business. No date for the rescheduled meetings was announced.
**Budget
Today, Sri Lanka became the 116th Member State to pay its 2001 regular budget contribution in full, and that was with payment of just over $165,000.
**Press Releases
We have one press release to flag for you today. The Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Jacques Diouf, says that undernourishment and starvation are a violation of human rights. He called on the international community to assist those states “that do not have the means to ensure minimum access to food for all their people”. Diouf’s statement was delivered by the Assistant Director General Hartwig de Haen at a seminar on the right to food, which began in Rome today.
That’s all I have. Questions before we go to Jan? Yes?
**Questions and Answers
Question: I heard that the United States demanded that the United Nations reschedule the opening of the General Assembly.
Spokesman: No, I cannot confirm that. I do know that the regional groups here at the United Nations are meeting today to discuss whether they would recommend the postponing of the general debate. That’s the high-level segment of the General Assembly session. So, to my knowledge, no decision has yet been made and, to my knowledge, no formal request from the United States has been made. You can always check with the United States authorities, but to my knowledge that has not happened.
Question: Is there a particular postponement period that they’re considering or just the question of whether to postpone it?
Spokesman: I think it's premature to say what they’re thinking about. Let’s wait for them to make a final decision and announce it.
Question: How will that be announced?
Spokesman for the President of the General Assembly: Well, as Fred mentioned, the regional groups are meeting today and they will then get in contact with the General Assembly President tomorrow and let him know what their recommendation is, and then we expect the General Assembly to decide on Wednesday morning in the meeting plenary.
Question: President Chirac is coming to New York. He’s coming to meet with the Secretary-General. Do you know if a press conference is scheduled for after the meeting?
Spokesman for the Secretary-General: Yes, the French Government did ask us to schedule a press conference. I don’t have the specific time in my head. It’s either the 19th or the 20th and I believe that the President is planning a luncheon meeting with the Secretary-General on the 19th, but anyway if you check with me after the briefing I’ll confirm those two things.
Question: Is the Secretary-General speaking with world leaders, trying to get a common response to the terrorist act?
Spokesman: He would not get involved in forming a coalition for the United States. I think the United States is actively involved in that itself. But, if you look at the statements over the past week you can see he’s set down markers. He started by calling for cool heads to prevail right through to today’s statement about not scapegoating or targeting religious groups. So, I think he’s trying to point people in the right direction as far as not overreacting and not attacking innocent civilians. These attacks are getting very close to home. I don’t you if you know the journalist Mian Zahid Ghani. His brother-in-law was killed in Texas, presumably just on the basis of his appearance, his physical appearance, so we really have to keep this reaction from getting out of hand and stop these attacks on innocent people. Sikhs in this country have also been targeted, merely mistaking their turbans for somehow being related to Osama-bin-Laden, who also wears a turban. Because people wear turbans isn’t a reason to attack them. So, the Secretary-General’s comments have been more of a moral nature.
Question: Is it possible to invite the Ambassador of Afghanistan for a press briefing with us?
Spokesman: If you like, we’ll relay that request to him, yes.
Question: Was any member of the United Nations in the World Trade Center during that time?
Spokesman: To my knowledge there were no United Nations staff in that building. I have not heard that there are any United Nations staff among the missing or confirmed dead.
We have in a way taken care of my first item here, namely the discussion whether the general debate will be postponed or not. We expect the General Assembly, as I mentioned, to reach a decision on that Wednesday morning.
Regarding the high-level dialogue on strengthening international economic cooperation, it was initially scheduled to start today, but it looks as if it will go ahead on Thursday and Friday. That, at least, was the situation this morning when I last checked.
On Friday, 14 September, the General Committee of the General Assembly met until relatively late on the organization of its work and on the allocation of agenda items. As I mentioned during the briefing on Friday, the General Committee had to decide, among other things, if four supplementary items should be included in the provisional agenda or not. It was decided to include the items on: observer status for the Community of Sahelo-Saharan States; the international convention against reproductive cloning of human beings; and peace, security and reunification on the Korean peninsula.
The item on the international situation pertaining to the Republic of China on Taiwan was not included in the provisional agenda. That’s all I have today.
**Questions and Answers
Question: On the Taiwan item, that means it was rejected?
Spokesman for the President: Yes. There was no vote as such. I think there were some 90-odd speakers, of which 26 were in favour, but there was not a vote.
Question: So, how was the decision made?
I think the way it works is that the General Assembly President, of course, listens to the speakers and sort of keeps a tally of what the situation is like and after everybody has spoken he can ask if the Committee decides not to include the item, and if he doesn’t hear any objections, that is then decided. I mean, in this case it was decided not to include an item.
Question: Did they proceed that way, that there was no objection?
Spokesman for the President: That’s my knowledge. I was not there towards the end, but I think the press release is coming out as we are speaking, basically -– the bulk of it is out there.
Question: So it was really about there being no objection?
Spokesman for the President: Exactly.
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