PRESS BRIEFING BY SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT

PRESS BRIEFING BY SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT

The Security Council fully respected the responsibilities of the General Assembly and would do nothing to interfere with that body’s right to act according to those responsibilities, President of the Security Council for the month of May, Kishore Mahbubani of Singapore, told correspondents at a Headquarters press briefing today held to outline the Council's programme for the month.

Mr. Mahbubani was reacting to a correspondent’s question on whether the Secretary-General had the mandate or the Council’s authority to disband the fact-finding mission to Jenin, and what the Security Council’s reaction would be should the General Assembly recommend another investigation into the Jenin incident. 

In response to a question on whether the Council considered the Jenin fact-finding mission issue now “closed", Mr. Mahbubani said, “The Security Council fully respects the responsibilities the General Assembly has.  If the General Assembly wants to adopt a resolution, the Security Council is not going to say 'don’t'”.  They were two independent bodies.  If the General Assembly wished to do so, it had every right to do so.  Technically, he added, the Jenin matter was still open, because a draft resolution on the matter was still on the table and, therefore, it was merely “postponed.”

Mr. Mahbubani explained the fact-finding mission was not established by resolution 1405 (2002).  The decision to establish the mission was the Secretary-General’s and, as such, the decision to disband it was similarly his.  The Council merely welcomed his decision to set up the mission, but that did not imply that he also needed the Council to “mandate” his establishing or disbanding it.

In response to another question, he informed correspondents that the Security Council had just adopted a resolution renewing the sanctions against Liberia for a further year.  Asked by another correspondent why the Council decided to keep the sanctions in light of the recommendations, reportedly through a letter to the Council from the Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity, to lift them, Mr. Mahbubani said that the purpose of sanctions on Liberia was to achieve peace in Sierra Leone.  While significant progress has been made, the feeling was that the job had not been done completely.  Therefore, they decided renewing.

“Elections will be held in Sierra Leone in a few weeks’ time", he said.  "Then you’ll know how secure and stable the peace is in Sierra Leone.  And then, I suppose, the matter will be renewed again, subsequently.  But as of now, the decision’s been made to renew it for a year.”

Asked why sanctions were not extended to the shipping industry or to the timber industry, where reports indicated that money may have been diverted, he replied:  “I think the simple answer is that, to use a wonderful euphemism created by the Security Council, there was no consensus on the additional sanctions.”

But there was one new paragraph, he went on, that called upon the Government of Liberia to take urgent steps, including through the establishment of

transparent and internationally verifiable audit regimes, to ensure the revenue derived by the Government from the Liberian shipping industry and the Liberian timber industry was used for legitimate social, humanitarian and development purposes.  “So there’s, in a sense, some reference to it now”.

How were negotiations proceeding with respect to the reforms of the Security Council and, in particular, with respect to the issue of the veto? a correspondent asked.

Mr. Mahbubani replied that the Security Council did not discuss the reform of itself, as that matter was discussed in the General Assembly, especially in the open-ended working group on Security Council reform.  But, he added, on the afternoon of 14 May, for the second time, all 15 members of the Security Council would go to the open-ended working group on Security Council reform and have a discussion on Security Council reforms that were known as cluster one and cluster two issues. 

Cluster one issues have to do with the reform or the composition, size, and structure of the Security Council, including the veto.  Cluster two has to do with the working methods.  That’s all that would take place.  The Security Council did not discuss how to reform the veto.  "It’s not on the agenda,” he stated.

According to Mr. Mahbubani, the Council would during his tenure, focus on  several issues both by public meetings and in consultation, among them the situations in the Middle East, Africa and the imminent independence of East Timor.  Because of the importance the Council attached to the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children, it had drawn up its programme of work in such a way that it did not detract from the Special Session.

He said the programme of work would be built around punctuality, and “active agenda management.”

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