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

The following is a near-verbatim record of today's noon briefing by Marie Okabe, Associate Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

**Afghanistan

A belated Happy New Year to all of you I haven't said that to.

We'll start with Afghanistan.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, continued consultations with the Interim Administration and members of Afghan society.  Mr. Brahimi met, for example, with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Abdullah Abdullah.  Again, the formation of the Loya Jirga was the focus of discussions.

Among professional groups, Mr. Brahimi met with a group of women and a group of judges.  He also met with former UN High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata, who is now the Special Adviser on Afghanistan to the Japanese Government. They discussed the upcoming Afghanistan Reconstruction Conference in Tokyo, which is expected to take place on 21-22 January.

On the war against drugs, Brahimi’s Spokesman Ahmad Fawzi reported that a senior official of the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) -- Bernard Frahi -- was arriving in Kabul next week.

On the humanitarian front, the World Food Programme (WFP) said it was distributing food to schoolchildren in several districts of Badakhshan, in north-eastern Afghanistan.  It is a programme designed to help increase school attendance, reduce dropout rates and encourage families to send girls to school. Under this program, girls receive 5 liters of vegetable oil every month as an incentive for regular school attendance.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that the current measles vaccination campaign in Kabul is being extended until 12 January.  Early results are encouraging, and the WHO says it expects at least half a million children to receive the vaccination.  Measles is a major killer of children in Afghanistan, with 35,000 deaths estimated each year.

**Security Council

Here at United Nations Headquarters, the Security Council is meeting today in closed consultations to discuss the Secretary-General’s latest reporton the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone.

The head of that Mission, Oluyemi Adeniji, presented the report and updated Council members on the latest developments since the report was issued in mid-December.  This included the accidental death last weekend of six Zambian peacekeepers, as well as the disarmament process.  As of today, 46,346 combatants had been disarmed by the United Nations, Adeniji said.

He also discussed plans for the upcoming elections, as well on the ongoing United Nations mission on the establishment of a Special Court.

Today, the Council will also hold its monthly luncheon with the Secretary-General.

We've asked Mr. Adeniji to come to the stake-out microphone outside the Security Council after the portion on Sierra Leone is over.  We'll squawk when he's coming out.

**Sierra Leone

Also on Sierra Leone, we have a press release upstairs today that provides some details of a press conference that Assistant Secretary-General for Legal Affairs Ralph Zacklin gave yesterday in Freetown on arrangements for a Special Court in that country.  We put out that transcript late yesterday afternoon.

Mr. Zacklin called the mission, which began on Monday, a “nuts-and-bolts visit” that would deal with issues ranging from the premises of the Special Court to prosecutions and investigations, as well as the relationship between the Court and Sierra Leone’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Asked about the voluntary funding of the Court, he told reporters that the United Nations had funding in hand that was sufficient for the first year of operations and was sure that pledges would come through for its second and third years.  “I can assure you that the Secretary-General would not have authorized the arrival of this planning mission if he was not certain there is sufficient funding for a viable court”, Zacklin told reporters.

The mission is expected to be in Freetown through 18 January.

**Somalia

On Somalia, The United Nations will send a seven-member team to that country from 15 to 24 January, to review security conditions there following the recommendation made by the Security Council last October for a comprehensive security assessment.

The team is to visit as many parts of the country as are accessible to get a broad picture of security conditions, and assess how United Nations staff can continue or increase their level of commitment to Somalia.  Their findings will be included in the Secretary-General’s next report on Somalia to the Security Council.

We have a press release from the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator’s Office for Somalia upstairs with more information.

**Middle East

Today in Cairo, Terje-Roed Larsen, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, is continuing his regional tour.  He met earlier today with senior Egyptian officials, including Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher and Presidential Adviser Osama el-Baz.

Mr. Larsen is now on his way to Damascus and then on to Beirut, where he will continue to review the current situation in the Middle East.  

Also on the Middle East, we have a press release issued today on the handing over of a United Nations base to the Mine Action Coordination Centre (MACC) for the demining of south Lebanon through Operation Emirates Solidarity.

**Prevlaka

The Secretary-General, in his latest report on the United Nations Mission of Observers in Prevlaka, says the situation in that peninsula, which is bounded by Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, has remained calm.  However, he adds, violations of the agreed security regime have continued, and he calls for the removal of the small numbers of Croatian police and Montenegrin Border Police that remain in the United Nations-controlled zone.

He welcomes the start of demining activities by Croatia in the northern part of the demilitarized zone, and says such activities should be extended to other areas, as resources permit.

The Secretary-General also recommends a six-month extension of the Mission, until 15 July.  Troop contributors to the Mission will have a private meeting with the Security Council tomorrow, and the Council will hold consultations on Prevlaka next Monday.

**Kosovo

Tomorrow in Kosovo, the Kosovo Assembly will hold a session to decide on electing the President of Kosovo, following last month’s unsuccessful vote by the Assembly.  The next vote, like the first one that took place last month, will require a two-thirds majority in the 120-member Assembly, but if no President is determined in that round, a candidate would only need a simple majority –- or

61 seats -– to be elected in a third round.

Charles Brayshaw, the acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General, who has been holding internal meetings here in New York this week, issued a statement saying in part that the United Nations Mission continues to urge all political forces in Kosovo to develop efforts to build a coalition government.   He noted, “This is traditionally a time-consuming process, including in well-established parliamentary democracies.”

**World Health Organization

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that the international team which had been located in Mekambo, near Gabon's border with the Congo, has been temporarily relocated further inside Gabon to Makokou because of security concerns.  The team will return to Mekambo as soon as the situation improves.

The WHO reports that 34 cases of Ebola have been confirmed in the latest outbreak, 18 in Gabon and seven in the neighbouring Republic of the Congo.  Of the confirmed cases, 25 have resulted in death, 18 in Gabon and seven in the Republic of the Congo.

In other news from the WHO, the 109th session of the Executive Board will take place in Geneva next week.  Among the topics for discussion will be the retention or destruction of smallpox virus stocks, the deliberate use of biological and chemical agents to cause harm, infant and child feeding and WHO's medicine strategy.

**Budget

Today, Denmark became the fifteenth Member State to pay its 2002 regular budget contribution in full, with a payment of more than $8.3 million.

**Press Conferences

Press conferences scheduled for today.  At 4:40 p.m., we have Mr. Costas Simitis, Prime Minister of Greece, who will discuss his official trip to the United States, and will be accompanied by George Papandreou, Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Press conferences scheduled for tomorrow.  At 10 a.m., Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock of the United Kingdom, Chairman of the Counter-Terrorism Committee of the Security Council, will brief on the latest developments of that Committee's work.

At 11 a.m. tomorrow, Mr. Ian Kinniburgh, Director of the Policy Analysis Division, DESA, that's the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, will brief on the report "World Economic Situation and Prospects 2002".

I just got word that Mr. Adeniji will speak at the stakeout microphone in front of the Security Council following consultations, and we will squawk when he is ready to come out.

That's what I have for you today.

**Questions and Answers

Question:  How many refugees in Pakistan have returned to Afghanistan, and are a number of them still missing?

Spokesperson:  Well, as you know, the refugees from Afghanistan constitute the largest refugee population in the world.  There are close to 4 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan and Iran and neighbouring countries.  Many of them, as you know, have been there since 1979, which was the beginning of that flow.

The majority of those refugees are still in those countries.  The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), as part of its repatriation programme, has a plan for a gradual return so that Afghanistan will be able to cope with the flow of the returning refugees.

As for the numbers of refugees that have returned since the United Nations has returned to Afghanistan, I'll have to look that up for you for the precise numbers.  But the vast majority of Afghan refugees are outside the country.  [She said afterward that, despite security problems, the UNHCR said an estimated 80,000 Afghans have returned to Afghanistan since November 2001.]

Question:  So the new administration didn't try to call upon the people in refugee camps to return home?

Spokesperson:  The refugee repatriation plan is part of a long-term reconstruction of Afghanistan, and those issues have been addressed by the UNHCR both as an immediate 90-day plan, as well as a more long-term plan.  The last thing Afghanistan needs right now is a huge flow of refugees to go back into places where there is not enough capacity to take them, and there are many areas, as you know, that are heavily mined.  Many of these issues will have to be taken into account before a programmed and steady flow that can be readily absorbed and take place.

Question:  Did you say anything about the Secretary-General's meeting last night with the new Mayor?  Did they discuss the Capital Master Plan?

Spokesperson:  The readout I have from the meeting between the Secretary-General and the new Mayor of New York City, Mayor [Michael] Bloomberg, is that they had dinner in a very cordial atmosphere.  Bloomberg expressed strong support for the United Nations.  He said the presence of the United Nations and the diplomatic corps in New York City was important to the economy of New York City. He said he was thrilled to have the United Nations in the City and he said he will do all he can to help the United Nations succeed.

In turn, the Secretary-General congratulated the Mayor on his election.  He said he looked forward to working with Mayor Bloomberg and that he hoped to establish a good, strong relationship with New York City.

I can confirm that, yes, they discussed the Capital Master Plan, as was mentioned yesterday, but I have no further details on that subject.

Question:  Did he reveal where this meeting took place?

Spokesperson:  I don't know where the meeting took place.

Question:  So you have no idea whether the City said it was not willing to offer any more money for expansion of United Nations properties or consolidation, or contribute funds as the city copes with its budget problems.

Spokesperson:  The readout I have is what I have from the dinner meeting last night.  The Mayor listened to the Secretary-General as he obviously explained the Capital Master Plan and briefed him on that subject.  He listened.

Question:  Does the programme of feeding students in schools expand to other areas?

Spokesperson:  You're talking about the programme that the WFP highlighted.

[The Spokesman's Office later announced that the WFP hopes to expand the programme throughout Afghanistan when security permits.  The school feeding programme was started on a pilot basis in Afghanistan two years ago in Badakhshan.]

Question:  The Deputy of the United Nations Transition Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) who resigned said in a memo that the mission had turned into a bunch of white faces trying to help.  What is the United Nations' response?

Spokesperson:  The Spokesman yesterday gave an elaborate response based on his conversation with the head of the mission, Sergio Vieira de Mello.

[The Spokesman's Office later announced that a response at the appropriate level has been sent.  The letter thanked the Deputy, Mr. Nagalingam Parameswaran, for the outstanding work he has done in Timor, in particular on reconciliation and refugee return.]

Question:  Was it Mr. Bloomberg who called off security on the roads here or was it the United Nations?

Spokesperson:  Security is a host country decision.  It took place after the start of the New Year, which was when the new Mayor took over.

Question:  Do you think that the 20 per cent cut in the budget ...?

Spokesperson:  I can't comment on the policies of New York City.

Question:  Does the removal of the garbage trucks mean that we're safe now?

Spokesperson:  I hope so.

Question:  What is the status of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) employee who was arrested for setting fire to his neighbour's apartment with anti-Semitic slogans and things like that -- a German man who worked at the UNDP?  This was last week.

Spokesperson:  I haven't heard anything more on that, but we'll get back to you immediately after the noon briefing.  [She said later that the person was a staff member of the United Nations -- not UNDP -- and was on leave.]

Question:  Have you received any news from the International Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia about the pre-trial hearing for former President Milosevic?

Spokesperson:  We reported yesterday that it was taking place.  I've seen the press reports.  I can confirm that the pre-trial hearing did take place, but I have no further details than that.  But you may want to check in our Office. Usually, they issue press releases from The Hague.

There are no more questions?  Have a good afternoon.

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