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.

Briefing by the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

** Afghanistan

Good Afternoon.

As you know, after the noon briefing yesterday, the Security Council unanimously endorsed the Afghan agreement on power-sharing reached in Bonn the day before.

The Secretary-General, who had attended the formal meeting during which the resolution was adopted, afterwards welcomed the Council action but said “the difficult task is ahead”.  Asked about the multinational force for Afghanistan, he noted that the Afghan parties in Bonn had agreed on the need for one.  And he said, “The Council will be coming back to that later. I hope not much later because it is an essential part of the agreement.”

The Secretary-General also said his Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi would be going back to Kabul.

According to his spokesman, Mr. Brahimi is expected to travel to Rome on Sunday to meet with former King Zahir Shah of Afghanistan.  From Rome, he is expected to travel to Islamabad on Monday and then on to Kabul.

Also on Afghanistan, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) announced today that it will convene an international roundtable on women’s leadership role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan, which will take place from 10-11 December in Brussels.

** Afghanistan -- Humanitarian

With the changing events in Kandahar over the past 24 hours, the World Food Programme (WFP) says it hopes it will be able to start moving supplies into that city as soon as security conditions on the ground will permit.  The WFP says about 238,000 people living in that city and surrounding areas have been cut off since September.

Today’s briefing notes from Islamabad, Pakistan include the following updates:

A visit by Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees, Kamal Morjane, to Pakistan, during which he briefed officials on UNHCR’s voluntary refugee repatriation programme.

The opening of a second river crossing between Tajikistan and Afghanistan that would enable greater amounts of humanitarian aid to reach the northern part of the country.

The transport and distribution of emergency medical kits by the World Health Organization into remote regions by foot and donkey.

And finally an overview of the situation in Herat, including overcrowding at the largest camp in that western city housing people who fled their homes as far away as Mazar-i-Sharif.

Responding to questions at a press conference in Geneva, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, said there were many acute human rights concerns in Afghanistan, starting with the very serious humanitarian situation.  Unhindered access for humanitarian supplies is not just a need, it's a human right, she said.

She also added that it was important that circumstances surrounding the prison uprising in Mazar-i-Sharif be examined carefully so as to know what exactly happened.

**Security Council

This morning the Council had a meeting with the Troop Contributing Countries to the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus.

The Council will hold consultations on Burundi at 3:00 this afternoon.  Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast will brief on the latest developments in that country since the Secretariat’s briefing to the Council last month.

** UNRWA

Earlier this morning, Peter Hansen, the Commissioner-General of the UN Relief Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, known as the UNRWA, appealed for more than 330 million dollars to fund his agency’s operation in 2002.

Speaking at UNRWA’s annual pledging conference, taking place in the Trusteeship Council, he said that the international community has a humanitarian responsibility to assist the Palestine refugees.  Following the tragedy of 11 September as well the recent developments in Afghanistan, “There is ever greater need for the international community to provide the refugees with the sense of security that contributes to stability in the community”, added Hansen.

Mr. Hansen told delegates that while the 2002 budget shows an increase of $19 million over the previous year, it represents in fact a decline in real terms when inflation and the rapidly growing refugee population are taken into account. The UNRWA expects the total refugee population to cross the 4 million mark in the course of the next year.

We have the text of his speech upstairs.

** MONUC

In a press release issued today, the United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) announced that yesterday it screened and identified 56 soldiers from the Rwandan rebel group FDLR who were hospitalized in Lumumbashi.

The United Nations team established that the majority of the ex-combatants were young, between the ages of 22 and 30, and had gunshot wounds.

This operation, as well as others that will be conducted in Kinshasa and one that was recently completed in Kamina, is part of the preliminary phase of the disarmament, demobilization, repatriation, reinstallation and reintegration of armed groups process, conveniently called DDRRR, which is called for in the Lusaka Ceasefire accords and the United Nations Security Council resolutions.

We have the full text in my office.

** Ethiopia - Eritrea

The United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea reports that the situation in the Temporary Security Zone between those two countries is calm and stable.  It notes that Indian peacekeepers investigated charges made by the Eritrean authorities of an attack last Friday by as many as 250 Ethiopian troops, and says the United Nations forces did not observe any such Ethiopian attack.

They did see eight or nine unidentified soldiers near the village of Hambokale, who later withdrew, and heard about six shots that may have been warning shots.

We have more information in today’s briefing notes from the Mission.

** Human Rights

In his message for Human Rights Day 2001, which will be observed on Monday, the Secretary-General said this year’s observance had a special meaning since it falls on the very day the United Nations is being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.  “Peace and human rights belong together”, the Secretary-General says in the message.

“As we unite to take action against terrorism”, he goes on to say, “let us remember that the human rights we’re defending are universal.  Let us work harder than ever to defeat racism and discrimination.”

And as I mentioned earlier, Mary Robinson, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, held a press conference in Geneva today also pegged to Human Rights day.  “We are very focused on the situation in Afghanistan”, she said in her opening remarks, “but I am also concerned about measures being taken, very understandably and very rightly, to combat terrorism, but in doing so possibly eroding human rights and long standing liberties, and even aspects of the rule of law”.

The text of both messages are available upstairs.

** Compensation Commission

Next Tuesday in Geneva, the Governing Council of the United Nations Compensation Commission for Iraq will open its forty-second session.

During the session, the Council will consider a number of reports and recommendations of the panels of Commissioners concerning claims filed by individuals and corporations for compensation for direct losses and damages suffered as a result of Iraq’s invasion and occupation of Kuwait.

The Council will also discuss issues relating to the processing and payment of claims.  The session will end on 13 December.

We have both a press release and a background note upstairs.

** Ebola

The World Health Organization (WHO) has been notified of possible outbreaks of the Ebola virus in Gabon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In Gabon, where seven deaths have been reported, the WHO sub-Regional Epidemic Response Team, along with teams from the Gabon Ministry of Health and the Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville, are in the north-eastern province of Ogooué Ivindo.  Samples have been sent to a lab in Gabon for testing and those results are expected early next week.

In the DRC, teams from the WHO, the Ministry of Health and Medicins Sans Frontieres are also investigating reports of an outbreak of Ebola.

** Brindisi

The Italian government today signed an agreement with the United Nations to improve the United Nations logistics base at Brindisi, by, among other things, building three new hangars at Brindisi airport by the year 2003.  The cost of expanding the UN base -– approximately 7.5 million dollars –- will be covered by the Italian Government.

The agreement was signed this morning by Italian Defence Undersecretary Filippo Berselli and United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Michael Sheehan.

** Budget

Today, the Sudan became the 131st Member State to pay its 2001 regular budget contribution in full with payment of more than $62,000.  We are getting closer to last year's rate when we had 139 countries that had paid in full, although the dollar amount is about the same:  last year $746 million and this year, $748 million on this date.

** Peter Blake

Following the news of the brutal death of Sir Peter Blake, Klaus Toepfer, the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), said he was "a remarkable person, sportsman and environmentalist."

Blake, who had been named a UNEP Special Envoy last year, had brought “determination, leadership, creativity and care to his activities with respect to the environment and we are all diminished by his loss", Toepfer added.

We have the full text of the press release upstairs.

** UNCA Elections

The Correspondents Association’s had elections yesterday for officers and committee members for 2002.  We would like to start by congratulating Azim Mian who was elected as UNCA President for next year. Ted Morello, Behzat Baris and Norberto Svarzman were elected respectively the first, second and third Vice Presidents; Walter Pfaeffle will be the Secretary; and Akram Zadeh will be the new Treasurer.

And I’d like to congratulate all the 15 members of the Executive Committee and say that I look forward to working with you next year.  I also want to thank Norberto, for the close cooperation we had from him as President of the committee this year.

** Press Conference

Nitin Desai will give a press conference on Monday.  He is the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, and he will brief on the

resumed first session of the Preparatory Committee for the Second World Assembly on Ageing.

** Secretary-General Press Conference

We got a surprise from the Secretary-General's office yesterday.  He said that he would do an end-of-year press conference, and we have scheduled it for noon on 19 December.  Thank you for asking for it.

We also have the schedule for the week ahead, which you can pick up in my Office.

That is all I have for you.

** Question and Answers

Question:  Has the Secretary-General or the United Nations decided how they are going to spend their halves of the Nobel Peace Prize?

Spokesman:  I leave the United Nations half to Jan to reply; the Secretary-General has not yet decided, but his staff is giving careful thought to it, we would like a prompt decision.  Whether it will be announced on 19 December or not, I can't predict.

Question:  What would be the composition of the multinational force in Afghanistan, is it from NATO countries or Islamic countries?

Spokesman:  That is something I cannot answer, as it is being considered by the Security Council now.  And because it is a multinational force and not a United Nations peacekeeping force, it will be recruited by Member States outside the context of the United Nations.  We do expect the Security Council to authorize its formation.  Who will lead it is still not clear, and I think Governments are still discussing that among themselves.

Question:  Would the peacekeeping department have any input with regards to this coalition?

Spokesman:  I am not aware apart from the usual exchanges that we have with Member States, but I am not aware that any specific advice is being given by the peacekeeping department to whoever will end up leading this coalition.

Question:  You mentioned the distribution of food in Kandahar, what is the situation there?

Spokesman:  As you know from reading the news, the Taliban surrendered Kandahar in the last 24 hours.  Reports say that the fighters are leaving the city, however, with their weapons.  This is contrary to an agreement that apparently was negotiated.  It is reported that the situation in the city is unstable, and we expect that the fleeing Taliban that are armed could destabilize areas through which they would be passing.  We are concerned about Herat, where we have an overfilled refugee camp, which we would not like to see infiltrated by armed Taliban.

Question:  Is there any plan for Mr. Brahimi to move his offices to the area?

Spokesman:  The plan had been for him to be based here in New York.  He would have both a humanitarian coordinator and a political representative, Mr. Vendrell, in the region.  That is the concept of how it would be structured, and I have not heard about any change.

Question:  Who will be the humanitarian coordinator?

Spokesman:  It is Michael Sackett.  So it is Michael Sackett and Francesc Vendrell who make up the team.  They have been operating out of Islamabad, but once it is safe to re-establish that mission, they will be moving back to United Nations Headquarters in Kabul.  I believe that Michael Sackett works under Mr. Kenzo Oshima.  There is a United Nations coordination unit in Islamabad that has combined under a broad umbrella all United Nations agencies working in Afghanistan.

Question:  What are Mark Malloch Brown’s responsibilities?

Spokesman:  He is the head of the Development Programme and more recently, as a special envoy of the Secretary-General, is looking to make a smooth transition between the relief and recovery period in Afghanistan, and reconstruction.  That will require close coordination, not only of the operational agencies of the United Nations, but also the World Bank.  It will be complex, and that is why Mark Malloch Brown has been asked to undertake this.  He has been travelling in the region recently.

Question:  Is the Secretary-General concerned about reports that some of the Afghan leaders have rejected the agreements signed in Bonn?

Spokesman:  At this point he has not been advised by Mr. Brahimi of any serious concern.  The differences emerged from firstly the Northern Alliance or United Front, but the United Front presented its names to Mr. Brahimi, so the names that were appointed to the Interim Authority came from the Northern Alliance itself.  We hope that the Northern Alliance can sort out their differences.  I saw in the press today a comment by the Interior Minister, saying that these differences were minor and could be sorted out.

Question:  Do you have any plan of investigating the killing of prisoners in Mazar-i-Sharif?

Spokesman:  No, we were not there at the time, we have no witnesses.  The latest thing we have on that is the statement I read today by Mary Robinson when she said that investigations should be conducted so that we know exactly what happened.

Question:  Who would this investigation be conducted by?

Spokesman:  I did not hear Mary Robinson herself say that she would take that initiative.  We would have to ask her Office whether she can take such an initiative.  I honestly don't know enough about her mandate to tell you that here.

Question:  Is there an official position by the Secretary-General or Mary Robinson on the question of amnesty for people like Mullah Omar?

Spokesman:  No, this is something that is being sorted out by the Afghan factions.  The United Nations has endorsed amnesty in other post-conflict situations where we've thought it would be helpful to reconcile differences and get the country back together again.  But so far there is not an official position on Afghanistan.

Ok, Jan?

Briefing by the Spokesman for the President of the General Assembly

This morning the General Assembly continued its discussion on cooperation between the United Nations and regional and other organizations.  There are 14 Member States and seven organizations on the speakers' list.  The Assembly is expected to adopt nine resolutions without a vote, whereas there will probably be a vote on the draft resolution on the cooperation between the United Nations and the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

On Monday, most likely in the afternoon, the Assembly will take up the reports of the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization).  The reports deal with issues such as granting independence to colonial countries, non-self governing territories, UNRUCA, The Special Committee on Israeli Practices and peacekeeping operations, just to mention a few.

This morning in the Assembly, the Acting President outlined some changes to the work programme.  On Thursday, 13 December, the Assembly will take up the report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and also item 20 on the coordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance. 

Item 37 on the role of diamonds in fuelling conflicts which was scheduled for 14 December, has been postponed.  I don't have a date for that.

We still need to take up reports of the main committees.  We have dates for the Fourth Committee as I told you earlier, and also the Sixth Committee which will be 12 December.  I don't have dates yet for the Second, Third and Fifth Committee.

There was a question about how the other half of the Nobel Peace Prize would be spent.  There is no decision so far, but lots of ideas.

** Questions and Answers

Question:  Do you have an estimated closing date for the General Assembly this year.

Spokesman for the President of the General Assembly:  The recess date is 21 December.  The original date was 11 December.

Question:  Has the schedule been upset by 11 September?

Spokesman:  Not necessarily, if you go back over the years, you will see that the General Assembly practically never makes it on time.  According to the rules, the General Assembly must meet for a set amount of weeks, they never do the work within that set period.  But to change this rule would be complicated.

Question:  Has the Fifth Committee finished its work?

Spokesman: No, the Fifth Committee is usually the last to finish its work since it has to take up any kind of resolutions passed in other Committees that have programme budget implications.  So the Fifth Committee has to wait for other Committees.

Question:  What is outstanding now on the question of terrorism?

Spokesman:  If you are thinking about the Sixth Committee its report will be taken up on Wednesday, 12 December.  Whatever is in the Sixth Committee reports, including the report of the working group on international terrorism, will be taken up on Wednesday.

Question:  Yesterday there was a question on whether there will be a document or summary of the Forum on News and Propaganda?

Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  I sent Shashi an e-mail right after the briefing yesterday, but I have not heard from him.  But I have asked if a summary can be prepared for you.

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