26 February 2002

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 Stéphane Dujarric, Associate Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

**Today’s Guest

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.  Our guest here at my right is someone you know very well, Ambassador Herbert Okun of the United States, who will launch for you here the 2002 Report of the International Narcotics Control Board.  Yesterday, we made available advance copies of the report.  You should all have them or pick them up right now if you didn’t pick them up yesterday.  Also, we have upstairs a press release from the briefing that took place earlier today in Vienna, in which the President of the Narcotics Control Board, Hamid Ghodse, outlined the main themes of the annual report.  I’ll go through the briefing and then Ambassador Okun will be happy to take questions from you.

**Secretary-General

The Secretary-General remains in London today, where most of his day was spent on United Nations business.  As we speak, he is meeting with the British Special Envoy on the Middle East, Lord Levy, and later this afternoon he’ll be meeting with Baroness Emma Nicholson, the World Health Organization’s envoy for Afghanistan.  Tomorrow morning, as scheduled, the Secretary-General will depart the United Kingdom and he’ll be travelling to Berlin to begin his official visit to Germany.

**Security Council

This morning, the Security Council began what will be a rather busy day with consultations on Cyprus, during which they heard a briefing by the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto.  Mr. de Soto briefed the Council on the direct talks that had been taking place between the Greek Cypriot leader, Glafcos Clerides, and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktash, which began in Nicosia on 16 January and continued through 19 February, just before the Eid holiday.  The Council President, Ambassador Adolfo Aguilar Zinser of Mexico, may give a statement to the press at the stakeout following this morning’s consultations.

Following the item on Cyprus, the Council went on to discuss Western Sahara.  They’re currently being briefed by Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hédi Annabi, who’s briefing them on the Secretary-General’s latest report on the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).  That report, as you’ll recall, presents the Council with four options to deal with the Western Sahara dispute: the Settlement Plan, the Framework Agreement, the division of the territory, or the end of MINURSO.  Tomorrow afternoon, the Council expects to meet with the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy on Western Sahara, James Baker, to discuss the matter further.

Then at 3 p.m. today, the Council will resume closed consultations, this time on the “oil-for-food” programme for Iraq.  Benon Sevan, the Executive Director of the Iraq Programme, will talk to the Council both concerning the latest 90-day report on that programme, and on his recent visit to Iraq. 

Mr. Sevan has indicated to us that he will be willing to take questions from you at the stakeout as soon as he’s done with the Council.

Then about 4:30 this afternoon, the Council will begin an open debate on the situation in the Middle East, including the question of Palestine.  So far, 15 speakers, in addition to the 15 Council members, are inscribed on the speaker’s list.

And in addition to the items I’ve just mentioned, there are two other issues that could come up under other matters this afternoon.  The Council may also receive a briefing on the latest developments in Madagascar, as well as the developments in Angola.

**Angola

Remaining on Angola, late yesterday, as most of you’ve seen, we put out a statement after the Secretary-General received formal notification from the Angolan Government of the death of the leader of the National Union for Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), Jonas Savimbi.  That notification took place last Friday.

Later this afternoon, in addition to Under-Secretary-General Ibrahim Gambari briefing the Council on Angola, I did want to mention that Mr. Gambari will travel to Washington, D.C., where he’s expected to meet with Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who is on an official visit to Washington.

**Liberia

We received a note from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), telling us that the Government of Liberia has agreed to the establishment of four camps for internally displaced persons in Monrovia.  This will afford humanitarian workers both better access to needy populations and will also allow them to ascertain the number of newly displaced persons, who have until this point been mixed in with other displaced populations in the capital.  Of the more than 34,000 internally displaced people registered with humanitarian workers in Monrovia, some 19,000 of them are children.

To get a more accurate idea of how many Liberians are fleeing to Côte d'Ivoire and to look into reports of newly displaced persons arriving in the Kakata area, United Nations humanitarian workers are planning to visit the Liberian town of Gbarnga tomorrow.  Hopefully we’ll have more for you on that tomorrow.

**East Timor

Just three months ahead of East Timor’s planned independence, representatives from Dili held their first-ever tripartite talks with officials from Australia and Indonesia.  The three-hour meeting, which took place in Denpasar, was described as “historic” by ministers from all three countries.  Their discussions focused on independence preparations, development cooperation and common security concerns.  For more information, you can pick up the regular briefing notes from the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) upstairs in our office.

**Oil-for-Food in Iraq

Today being Tuesday, we have the weekly oil update from the Iraq Programme.  For the week ending 22 February, with no liftings at the loading terminal of Ceyhan, there was a further fall in the total volume of exported oil, amounting to 10.3 million barrels.  The week’s exports netted an estimated $195 million in revenue, bringing the total estimated revenue accrued under the current phase, phase eleven, which ends on 29 May, to almost $2 billion.  And for those of you who want more information on that, we have the oil-for-food programme notes upstairs.

**UNHCR in Colombia

I have a couple of items here from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).  Responding to the escalation of conflict in Colombia, the United Nations refugee agency is preparing for a possible exodus of civilians from that country.  While so far there have been no reports of large-scale cross-border movements into Ecuador, Venezuela or Panama, UNHCR is working with partners on the ground to ensure a prompt humanitarian response in case of a mass influx of Colombian refugees.

**UNHCR on Afghan Refugees

On Afghanistan, the Office of the UNHCR today spoke out against the forced repatriation of some 750 Afghans, which took place from Dubai over the weekend.  Already this year, about a thousand Afghans have been deported from both Iran and Pakistan.  A spokesman for the agency said the practice should be suspended because there are virtually no reception facilities for deportees in their shattered homeland.  At the same time, he said UNHCR is ready to help any Afghans who decide to go back of their own free will.

      **Human Rights

Just a few more items.  Tomorrow the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, will begin an official visit to Egypt, Bahrain and Lebanon before going on to Afghanistan and Pakistan.  The main theme of the trip is to build the capacity of those countries to protect and promote human rights.

Also from the Human Rights Commission, Jean Ziegler, the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, will visit Brazil from 1 to 21 March at the invitation of the Government.  The fact-finding mission will investigate the access to food, land and drinking water by vulnerable groups.

Also, the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Dato Param Cumaraswamy, today welcomed the judgement of the Court of Justice of the European Community on the independent character of the legal profession.  Two Dutch lawyers brought the case to the Court after being refused by the Dutch Bar Council from entering into a partnership with an international accounting firm.  Mr. Cumaraswamy said that the Court had found that partnerships between practicing legal and accounting professions are incompatible and could interfere with the legal obligations of lawyers to advise and represent their clients independently.  We have more information on that upstairs.

**Kosovo

On Kosovo, today’s briefing notes from Pristina, from the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), include some information on a brutal murder that took place last Friday in the Kosovo town of Lipljan, in which a 58-year-old Kosovo Serbian woman was shot dead while walking home with her husband, who was unharmed.

United Nations police have recovered a weapon from the scene but no suspect has been identified.  UNMIK notes that this is the second time in three months that an elderly Serb woman has been killed in an attack, and the Mission asks for all Kosovars who have any information on this to assist the police for “the sake of Kosovo’s future and of a sane society”.

**Landmine-Action Launch

On landmines, this Thursday the United Nations system will launch this year’s portfolio of mine-related projects, which will detail 89 different mine-action projects in 35 countries, costing a total of $197 million.  Deputy United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Mary Ann Wyrsch will open the launch in Geneva on Thursday by underlining the safety needs of refugees and internally displaced people.

**Report on Older Persons

For those of you who missed it, at 11 o’clock here there was a briefing on the launch of the Secretary-General’s new report calling for global action to combat human rights violations against older persons.  Copies of that report, as well as backgrounders, are available upstairs.  This report is being considered as part of the preparations for the Second World Assembly on Ageing, which will be held in Spain during this coming April.

**WHO Health Conference

One press release for you today.  The World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the International Conference on Environmental Threats to the Health of Children will be held in Bangkok beginning 3 March.  The Conference is set to address means of assessing and reducing chemical, physical and biological hazards to children in air, water and soil.

**Budget

Almost lastly, today the United States made a payment of $179 million to the United Nations peacekeeping budget.

**Press Conference

Lastly, at 2 p.m. here in this room, a press conference.  The United States Mission is sponsoring a conference by the International Federation for East Timor and the East Timor Action Network, who will brief on the role of the United Nations in East Timor.

**Questions and Answers

Question: What are our chances of talking to Mr. de Soto for a few minutes?

Associate Spokesman: None to nil, but we can always try.

Question: Anything on the status of the Sierra Leone court?

Associate Spokesman: I’ll have to check upstairs to see where the draft is in the system.  (It was later announced that the report on the Special Court for Sierra Leone was being finalized, and would be presented to the Council either this week or next.)

Question: Why are our chances with Mr. de Soto nil?  Is it because he doesn’t want to talk?

Associate Spokesman: It was agreed at the start of the talks in Cyprus that there would be basically a media blackout until the end of the talks, so I imagine that would be his reason.  But I’ll be happy to put in an official request.

Question: When does the Secretary-General return from his journey?

Associate Spokesman: He lands back in this country on Friday and will be back in the office on Monday.

Question: Will we be briefed this afternoon on the situation in Madagascar?  The situation is getting more and more tense.  Is the Secretary-General using his good offices to defuse the situation?

Associate Spokesman: Yes, the Council may be briefed on Madagascar, and very likely will be, by Assistant Secretary-General Ibrahima Fall of the Department of Political Affairs.  The Secretary-General remains very concerned at the situation in the country and has reiterated his call for all to respect the constitution, and he continues to follow the situation closely.

Question: I’ll attempt this.  Does the Secretary-General or his office have any comment on the proposed Palestinian resolution?

Associate Spokesman: No, because it has not yet been circulated and I haven’t seen it.

Thank you.  Senator Okun?   

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