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

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.

Briefing by the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

**Middle East

Good afternoon

The Secretary-General's Special Coordinator for the Middle East, Terje Roed-Larsen, a short time ago issued a statement saying that the Middle East is at "the most dangerous moment in a decade".  He called for "courageous leadership" on the part of the Palestinians and the Israelis.

"There are those on both sides", he said, "who believe that blood must wash blood.  The leaders carry a heavy burden to break this dangerous logic."

Mr. Larsen has been keeping the Secretary-General constantly updated on the situation in the region, and the Secretary-General has been in touch by telephone with the key players.  His position on the Middle East is unchanged.

The Secretary-General feels that the United States yesterday gave very wise advice to the parties, and they should heed that advice.

Mr. Larsen continues to coordinate closely with envoys of the European Union, the Russian Federation and the United States, all of whom had meetings with Israeli officials today after jointly meeting with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat yesterday.

**Afghanistan

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, is involved in back-to-back meetings at UN Headquarters today.

Mr. Brahimi met with the Security Council this morning in its weekly consultations on the future of Afghanistan.  The Secretary-General was present at the meeting, and he and Mr. Brahimi both spoke to the Council.

He told reporters at the stakeout microphone afterwards that he was preparing to go to the region in the next few days.  He said he looked forward to talking to as many Afghan parties as possible.  What we need, he said, was a “homegrown” Afghan solution.  No one wants an arrangement imposed upon the Afghans, he said.

Among Mr. Brahimi’s meetings today is one with the Afghan representative to the United Nations, Ravan Farhadi.

On the humanitarian front, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) are bringing supplies to Afghans stranded in the no man’s land on the Afghan side of the border with Pakistan.

The WFP started distributing high-protein biscuits and reported that the people appeared to be tired and in pretty bad shape.  Only a third of them had shelter materials with them.

UNICEF staff are conducting spot-checks on the health conditions of children.  Drinking water and sweaters were also distributed.

Inside Afghanistan, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator’s Office said that reports from Kabul indicate that several bombs have hit residential areas close to health and feeding centres.  Residential areas are becoming more dangerous because Taliban troops have moved into those areas, spokeswoman Stephanie Bunker said.  In the west, more and more people are becoming displaced.

She also said that a hospital in Herat was hit and was reportedly destroyed.  It was a military hospital in a military compound on the eastern outskirts of the city.  The number of casualties is unknown.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and its partners are preparing a temporary staging site a little over a mile from the Chaman border in Pakistan, where they can provide for urgent humanitarian needs of the most vulnerable cases.  These would include women, mothers, children, the elderly and the disabled, as well as those requiring medical attention.  Meanwhile, the refugee agency says work continues on two longer-term sites.

The UNHCR also said that the borders between Afghanistan and Iran and Pakistan remain closed.  Both borders were reported quiet.

**Refugee Protection Concerns

The UNHCR also drew attention today to its concerns about the increasing public perception of refugees and asylum-seekers as “criminals” and over attempts to create unwarranted links between refugees and terrorism.

The refugee agency has published 10 specific concerns over possible actions that may directly affect asylum-seekers and refugees for governments to look at as they consider various safeguards in their efforts to combat terrorism.

**Security Council

The Security Council today met on Afghanistan, as I mentioned, and after those consultations they took up the Counter Terrorism Committee established by resolution 1373.  Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock of the United Kingdom, who is Chairman of the Committee, updated Council members on its work and also presented its work programme.  And he spoke to you a few minutes ago at the stakeout.  You can get the full work programme in document S/2001/986, which is out on the racks today.

The last item on this morning's agenda is the ninth report of the Secretary-General on the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  It is in preparation for the public meeting the Council is holding on the Democratic Republic of the Congo tomorrow.  And on that, let me confirm that Namanga Ngongi, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, will meet the press at the second floor stakeout following the Council meeting.

Under other matters, a draft resolution on Burundi is expected to be introduced.  Ambassador Richard Ryan of Ireland, the President of the Council, is also expected to draw the Council's attention to a letter he received from the representatives of Mali and Qatar requesting "a meeting of the Security Council in order to take the necessary action to ensure the full and immediate withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from Palestinian areas it has reoccupied recently".

Still on Council matters, an announcement on the sanctions meeting held yesterday.  As there was no time for all speakers to take the floor, the meeting will resume in the coming days.  As soon as we have a new date, we'll give it to you.

**Iraq

The Iraq Programme, in its weekly update, indicates that Iraq exported

15.9 million barrels of oil in the week 13 to 19 October, registering a slight increase from the previous week’s total of 14.7 million barrels.

The total estimated revenue earned in the current phase 10 from the sale of Iraqi oil under the “oil-for-food” programme has now reached just over $4 billion.  Phase 10 ends on 30 November.

At a briefing to the Security Council’s 661 Sanctions Committee on the implementation of the programme in the agricultural sector, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) expressed concern at the level of contracts placed on hold by the Committee, especially in view of the impact on this sector of two consecutive years of severe drought in Iraq.

The full text of the OIP weekly update is available upstairs.

**ICTY

Today in The Hague, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia reversed on appeal the convictions of three Bosnian Croats who had been convicted last year on one count of a crime against humanity, and ordered their immediate release.  In addition, two other Bosnian Croats convicted in the same case had their prison sentences reduced.

Today’s appeals judgement found that the evidence against two brothers, Zoran and Mirjan Kupreskic -– who had been sentenced, respectively, to 10 and eight years’ imprisonment -– was inadequate.  In addition, other evidence admitted on appeal against Vlatko Kupreskic, cousin of the Kupreskic brothers -– who had received a six-year sentence -– demonstrated that circumstantial evidence used against him could not support his conviction.  The convictions of all three of the Kupreskic family were reversed and their release was ordered.

In addition, the Tribunal reduced the sentences against two other Bosnian Croats, revising Drago Josipovic’s sentence from 15 to 12 years in prison, and reducing Vladimir Santic’s sentence from 25 to 18 years.

All five had been tried for crimes committed against Bosnian Muslims in the Lasva River Valley on 16 April 1993.  There's more detail in the press release.

**Somalia

Kenzo Oshima, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, is deeply concerned about the worsening food crisis in Somalia, where the failure of seasonal rains in the spring and autumn has led to severe food shortages.

At present, although the UN system is in a position to deliver food, stocks are depleted.  An estimated 40,000 metric tons of food are needed urgently to assist some 300,000 people at risk of immediate starvation.  An additional

450,000 people are also increasingly vulnerable.

Non-food assistance, in particular water and medical supplies, is also needed to secure the well-being of tens of thousands of children who are at growing risk of malnutrition and disease.

The United Nations and its partners are doing their utmost to reduce vulnerability and to stimulate livelihoods.  Mr. Oshima, in a statement issued late yesterday, urged the international community to provide the needed resources to forestall a serious humanitarian crisis.

**Johannesburg Summit

The Secretary-General has asked Jan Pronk to serve as his Special Envoy to work with political leaders at the highest levels to assess their views on the goals of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, which is to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in September 2002.  Pronk, currently Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment for the Netherlands, has agreed to take on that task while continuing his present duties.

The Secretary-General has also asked Nitin Desai, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, to act as Secretary-General of the Johannesburg Summit, and he also intends to establish a high-level advisory panel of distinguished experts to discuss new approaches for reaching the goals of sustainable development.

We have a press release with more information upstairs.

**Sudan Humanitarian Report

On the racks today is the Secretary-General’s report on humanitarian assistance to the Republic of the Sudan, covering the period from 15 July 1999 to 15 July 2001, in which he says that drought and security conditions in the Sudan continue to deteriorate, causing malnutrition and vulnerability in the population to increase.  He goes on to say that humanitarian assistance is slowing the overall deterioration of the situation, but only a lasting peace settlement can provide a solution.  He asks the parties to the conflict to work at reinstating humanitarian ceasefires.

**Central America

The Secretary-General’s report on the situation in Central America is out on the racks today.  It outlines the progress achieved by Central American countries relating to peace, freedom, democracy and economic development.  It also reviews United Nations operational activities in the region.

In the report’s conclusion, the Secretary-General notes that “while armed conflict and the consistent violation of human rights have ended, the region has a long way to go before poverty and structural inequalities which gave rise to conflict are overcome”.  He called on “renewed commitment to tackle the root causes of conflict” and reaffirmed that the UN is ready to contribute in that endeavour.

**Human Rights

The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, today condemned the killing last Friday of Mexican lawyer and human rights defender, Digna Ochoa.  Robinson said, “Her murder is all the more tragic in that it threatens to dash the hopes that had risen recently in the country that intimidation and harassment of human rights defenders were finally being addressed seriously."

We have a statement with more information in my Office.

**Budget

Today we received a payment of more than $138 million from the United States towards its regular budget arrears.  This payment means that the United States is paid up fully for the regular budget to the end of 2000 and has about $15 million towards its 2001 assessment of about $267 million.

**New Tour Guide Uniforms

Tomorrow, on United Nations Day, the United Nations Tour Guides will unveil their new uniforms from the Italian fashion house, Mondrian.  The new uniforms, which, for the first time, include a maternity uniform, will be worn by guides in both New York and Geneva.  The uniforms feature smart blue suits and shirts with a tie for the men and a scarf for the women.  In May, the Italian company Valleverde donated the shoes to complement the new uniforms for the guides.  And I think I told you about the shoes at the time.  And Richard, I think you had fun with that one.

**Protocol to Convention on Rights of Child

The United Nations Children's Fund today welcomed a major step forward in the protection of children from exploitation with the imminent entry into force of the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography.  Last week, Romania became the tenth country to ratify the Protocol, and the Protocol will come into force three months after that ratification, or on 18 January 2001.

We have a press release on that.

**Signings

Just a short while ago, Guatemala became the sixty-sixth country to sign the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.

**Press Conferences

We have no press conference scheduled for today, but we have three to tell you about tomorrow.  At 10:30 a.m. in this room, Ambassador Bagher Asadi of Iran, who is also the Chairman of the Group of 77, will brief you on the forthcoming World Trade Organization's Conference on Financing for Development and on Climate Change.

Then, Mr. Dileep Nair, the Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services, will be our guest at tomorrow's noon briefing, and will discuss the contents and highlights of OIOS' Annual Report, which will also be made public tomorrow.

And then at 1:15 p.m. in this room, Archbishop Renato Raffaele Martino of the Holy See Mission to the United Nations will brief you on the Optional Protocol on Child Soldiers, and this is being sponsored by the Office of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict.

**UNCA Briefing

One more thing for tomorrow, the Correspondents’ Association asked me to tell you about a briefing in the UNCA Club at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow by Carlos Andres Perez, former President of Venezuela, on the subject of oil and terrorism.

**UNCA Awards Dinner

And I'm told that tonight's UNCA Awards dinner is sold out, so if you didn't get your ticket by now, you're out of luck.  The maximum number of seats has been reached, and that’s over and done.  So we'll see you tonight.

Any questions before we go to Jan?

**Questions and Answers

**Question:  In the Secretary-General's report on Latin America, did he include the alarm and distress of his own representative about the situation in Colombia?

**Spokesman:  I don't know.  I'll have to ask you to check with Manoel in my Office for details.  We did bring Jan Egeland here to the briefing as you know, and that was very unusual -- he usually doesn't speak to the press when he comes here.  But it was for the purpose of expressing his anxiety over the deteriorating situation in Colombia.  Whether that is reflected in the report, I honestly can't tell you.  Manoel will.  [He later said that since the report was on Central America, and not Latin America, Colombia was not included.]

**Question:  Stephanie Bunker, the spokeswoman for Afghanistan, where is she reporting from?

**Spokesman:  I believe she is based in Islamabad.  [He later confirmed she is based in Islamabad.]

Ok, Jan?

Briefing by the Spokesman for the President of the General Assembly

Good afternoon.

**General Assembly Today

After a period of carrying out his responsibilities as Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea, Mr. Han Seung-soo is back in New York in his role as President of the General Assembly.

His most immediate task will be the work programme of the Assembly.  As you know, a provisional schedule was issued at the beginning of this month as document A/INF/56/3, but it would need some updating.  We need to find or confirm dates for items such as the “Road Map” report, HIV/AIDS, and, of course, the special session on children.  The “Road Map” report may be discussed on 19 November when the General Assembly takes up the item on the Millennium Summit, and there are still consultations regarding dates for the special session.

As I mentioned yesterday, the discussion of the Olympic Ideal was moved from 25 October to 2 November, and the Conference on the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty has been rescheduled for 11 to 13 November.  The Assembly President will meet with the Chairs of the Regional Groups early next week to discuss scheduling and other matters, and tomorrow he will also meet with the Chairs of the Main Committees to get an update on their work.  I'll see if I can listen in on those meetings and share whatever information I glean with you.  We are also expecting the presidential summary of the High-level Dialogue on International Economic Cooperation for Development any day now.  I will let you know once it’s out.

At 3 o’clock this afternoon, the President will meet with the Secretary-General.  And that’s what I have.

Any questions for Jan?

And then Serge, on your question, the report is on the situation in Central America, not Latin America, and, therefore, Colombia would not be covered.  Thank you very much.

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