DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF THE OFFICE FOR 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

I told you that the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict would be here to talk about Sierra Leone, accompanied by Hadji Sawanah, a 14-year-old former child soldier from Sierra Leone.  He is the child soldier who testified at yesterday’s Security Council meeting.  That’s still on as soon as we finish.

**Afghanistan -- Political

Starting again with Afghanistan, the Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan, Francesc Vendrell, today completed his mission to Kabul, meeting this morning with Berhanuddin Rabbani, the President of the United Front (the political side of the Northern Alliance), before returning to Islamabad.

Vendrell will leave over the weekend for Germany, where he is to take part in the meeting convened by Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi of the Afghan factions on the formation of a broad-based government.  That meeting, you’ll recall, is to begin on Monday.

For those of you who have booked tickets to Berlin, tear them up.  It looks now like it’s going to be Bonn.  I got a note just two minutes ago that it’s now firm.  It will be Bonn, and not Berlin.

Brahimi, meanwhile, remains in New York for talks with other United Nations officials prior to the Bonn meeting.  He is meeting right now with Norway’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Vidar Helgesen.  Also, at 6:15 this afternoon, he will meet with Sadako Ogata, the Representative of the Japanese Prime Minister dealing with Afghanistan and, of course, the former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.  With her will be Japan’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Yukio Satoh.

**Afghanistan -- Humanitarian

On the humanitarian front, the United Nations Regional Humanitarian Coordinator, Michael Sackett, today briefed in Islamabad on his meetings with Northern Alliance officials in Kabul, who assured him yesterday that they would work closely with the United Nations to ensure the security of its personnel and non-governmental aid workers in Kabul and other centres.  Agreement was reached on providing security escorts, at least for the time being, for United Nations missions outside of Kabul.

Dr. Abdullah, the senior foreign affairs official for the Alliance, said that women would not face restrictions on employment by United Nations agencies in the areas it controls.  He added that they would not have to wear the full-body cover known as the “burqa,” since headscarves would be sufficient.

As United Nations international staff examine offices throughout Afghanistan, they have reported widespread looting in some areas.  The United Nations offices in Jalalabad, as well as those of other aid agencies, have all been either wholly or partially looted, as were UN vehicles and communications equipment in Mazar-i-Sharif.

The World Food Programme (WFP) reported today that on Monday five trucks carrying a total of 210 tons of food from Spinboldak to the western city of Herat were stopped by unidentified people and brought to the village of Shindand, where 185 tons of food were taken.  The trucks were then reported to go to Kandahar.

Today, 58 trucks carrying about 1,800 tons of food left the WFP warehouse in Peshawar, Pakistan, travelling to Kabul and Jalalabad, and a WFP aircraft is also leaving today from Islamabad for Kabul, carrying equipment for aid agencies, as well as 10 tons of high-energy biscuits.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that there is a critical shortage of health staff in Kabul right now, with many staff appearing to have left the city over the past two months.  The WHO has provided some 50 tons of essential medicines to Afghanistan over the past six weeks, but more basic drugs are required.

**Spokesman for Lakhdar Brahimi

I don’t know if you saw the gentleman who passed me this note five minutes ago, but if you went into the office of Marie Okabe this morning you saw a familiar face from the Spokesman’s Office of five years ago.  He’s Ahmad Fawzi, the former Deputy Spokesman, now the London Information Centre Director.  As of today, he is spokesman for Lakhdar Brahimi and will be going to Bonn with

Mr. Brahimi later this week.  I invite you to harass him with your many questions on Afghanistan and, in particular, on the Bonn talks.

**Security Council

The Security Council is holding an open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict.  There is no speakers’ list.  This meeting is intended to be a free exchange through questions and answers.

Kenzo Oshima, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, briefed Council members.  He noted that despite the growing attention paid in the media recently to the fate of civilians caught in armed conflict, the reality faced by millions of civilians around the world is glum.

Oshima reported to Council members on the implementation by the Secretariat of initiatives on the protection of civilians in armed conflict suggested by the Security Council last June.  The text of Oshima’s remarks is available in the Spokesman’s Office.

This afternoon, the Security Council will hold two meetings with troop-contributing countries.  The first one, at 3 p.m., will be with those nations that contribute troops to the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force.  That’s in the Golan Heights.

The second meeting, for 4 o’clock, is with troop contributors to the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara.

Both meetings will take place in the Economic and Social Council Chamber due to lack of space in the Security Council.

**Ethiopia/Eritrea

The United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea has responded to recent allegations by Ethiopia that Eritrea has deployed thousands of troops into the Temporary Security Zone between the two countries, by using ground and air reconnaissance patrols in all three sectors of that Zone.

The Mission reported today that it has found no indication of an Eritrean military build-up, and the Zone remains stable and calm.

The Mission urges restraint by both sides, including avoiding the escalation of rhetoric.  It also stresses that Eritrea must grant United Nations peacekeepers the freedom of movement they require in the area adjacent to the northern border of the Temporary Security Zone, so that they can monitor Eritrea’s redeployed forces.

It is also crucial for Eritrea to disclose the number and strength of its militia and police inside the Zone, and refrain from deploying police and militia units close to the Zone’s southern boundary, the Mission added.

**Democratic Republic of the Congo

A quick note from the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  The screening of former Rwandan combatants is proceeding at Kamina.  So far, more than 1,600 have gone through the process.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Amos Ngongi, and a European Union delegation led by Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel, will be in Kamina tomorrow to witness the last day of the operation.

**Sierra Leone

The Force Commander of the UN Mission in Sierra Leone, Lt. Gen. Daniel Opande, yesterday visited four towns in southern and eastern Sierra Leone -– Zimmi, Pujehun, Tongo and Kenema -- to assess the progress of disarmament there.

He advised the pro-Government Civil Defence Force leadership in those towns to encourage their combatants to disarm, and, later in the day, he also received assurances from Revolutionary United Front leaders in Pendembu that their fighters would disarm, contrary to earlier reports that they were suspending their disarmament efforts.

We have more information upstairs.

**Iraq

Out on the racks is the Secretary-General’s 150-day report on Phase X of the “oil-for-food” programme for Iraq, which ends on 30 November.

The report highlights the Secretary-General’s concern at the major shortfall in funds available for this phase, due mainly to the dip in oil prices and the lower rate of export of Iraqi crude during the current phase.

The budget for this phase was $5.5 billion, but only $2.2 billion is available.

**International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia

From the Tribunals, Pasko Ljubicic, a former commander of a Bosnian Croat military police battalion, surrendered voluntarily to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia today and was transferred to its detention unit at The Hague.

Ljubicic is charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes in connection with the April 1993 murder of roughly 100 Bosnian Muslim civilians in the village of Ahmici, as well as attacks on Bosnian Muslims within the municipalities of Vitez and Busovaca.

We have a press release with more information, as well as another one on the start of the third term of office for the Tribunal judges, with a ceremony for six new judges to take place tomorrow.

**Death of WHO Representative

We have learned of the death of Dr. Kassi Manlan, the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in Burundi.  He was reported missing from his home in Bujumbura yesterday morning, and the circumstances of his death are being investigated.

Dr. Manlan, a native of Côte d’Ivoire, joined the WHO in 1995, and from 1998 he was head of the Development of Human Resources for the Health Unit in the Regional Office for Africa.  He assumed his post in Bujumbura earlier this year.  He was married with four children.

Gro Harlem Brundtland, the Director-General of the WHO, said his death would leave a void in many lives.  She went on to say, “we will forever remember his personal and professional achievements and his contribution to Africa’s development”.

The statement is available upstairs.

**Budget

Last thing for today is a budget announcement.  Cyprus became the 129th Member State to pay its 2001 dues in full.  That was with a payment of just over $393,000.

That’s all I have for you.

**Questions and Answers

Question:  Whose decision was it to change the venue (for the meeting on Afghanistan) from Berlin to Bonn, and what was the reason?

Spokesman:  I don’t know.  I think it was the German Government that initially favoured Bonn, but the facility in Bonn had been already committed.  They then talked about possibly a Foreign Ministry building in Berlin.

Mr. Brahimi preferred getting out of the hubbub of the city to a slightly more private place, and I think in the end the facility in Bonn that had originally been considered was made available.  So they’ll be just outside Bonn, I think, at a nice secure location.

Question:  Can you give any details on what they are talking about?  A hotel?  A conference centre?

Spokesman:  I think it’s a chateau turned into a conference centre, that kind of thing.

Question:  It’s outside Bonn?

Spokesman:  It’s just outside Bonn, which itself is a small, livable city.

Question:  Does it have a name?

Spokesman:  It does, but I haven’t been authorized to give it to you at this time.  [He later announced that the name of the conference centre in Petersburg.]

Question:  You mentioned protecting civilians in time of conflict.  Is that a law?  Has one been passed throughout the world, or what?

Spokesman:  Just watch what the Security Council does.  I don’t know whether they’re planning anything further than what they’ve already done, but there’s been a major emphasis on that subject over the last few years -- emphasis on the safety of United Nations staff and safety of civilians in armed conflict.  But we’re not yet in the position of adopting laws.

Question:  No mention of journalists?

Spokesman:  You know how we feel about journalists.  First of all, they’re civilians too.

Question:  Concerning the Bonn meeting, how are the costs going to be paid? Partially by the United Nations, by the Germans?

Spokesman:  We don’t have money for this, so we’d have to ask.  [He later announced that the German Government has offered to host and finance the conference.]

Okay, we’ll go to Jan, and then we’ll get to Olara.

Briefing by the Spokesman for the President of the General Assembly

Good afternoon.

**General Assembly Plenary

This morning, the General Assembly met in plenary to discuss assistance in mine action, the zone of peace in the South Atlantic and the Year of Cultural Heritage.  The Assembly was also expected to re-elect Klaus Töpfer as Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme.  His new four-year term would begin on 1 February 2002.

**Committees

The Sixth Committee met this morning to take up the report of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, the item on cooperation with the Inter-Parliamentary Union, and measures to eliminate international terrorism.

Thanks to the optical disc system, we were able to make the Sixth Committee’s draft resolution on terrorism available to you late yesterday.  I just want to flag a corrigendum and an oral revision, neither of which changes the substance of that resolution.

The four-page resolution “Strongly condemns all acts, methods and practices of terrorism as criminal and unjustifiable, wherever and by whomsoever committed”.  The draft, which was adopted by consensus at noon, also says that “the Ad Hoc Committee ... shall continue to elaborate a comprehensive convention on international terrorism as a matter of urgency” and calls for the Committee to meet from 28 January to 1 February 2002.

Just a very quick update on the work of the other Committees:  the First Committee has concluded its work, and the Fourth and Sixth are expected to finish this week, and the Third next week.

**Upcoming Meetings

No plenary meeting is scheduled for Friday and so far it looks as if only the Second and Third Committees will meet Friday.

Questions and Answers

Question:  The Sixth Committee resolution was adopted by the General Assembly today?

Spokesman:  By the Committee itself.

Question:  Does it now have to go to the General Assembly?

Spokesman:  Yes, to the General Assembly. We don’t have a date for that yet.

Question:  But that was today, by consensus?

Spokesman:  At noon today, yes.

Question  (directed to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General):  Do you have any comment on the Cypriot leader’s letter to the Secretary-General yesterday?  He outlined objectives and what he called the basic parameters of the Cyprus settlement.

Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  Yes, the Secretary-General has received a letter, but we have no comment on it.

* *** *