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 Marie Okabe, Associate-Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.

**Iraq talks

As you know, the Secretary-General is currently meeting with an Iraqi delegation headed by Iraqi Foreign Minister, Naji Sabri.

Heading into UN Headquarters this morning, he said -- that is, the Secretary-General -- that he was looking forward to the discussions with the Foreign Minister.  He said he hoped that they were coming in a constructive spirit and that "we will be discussing the Council’s resolutions and their implementation”.

The talks started at 10 a.m. and are expected to adjourn at 12:30 p.m.  A concluding session is expected to take place this afternoon from 3 till 4 p.m.

The Secretary-General will brief the Security Council on these talks at the Council's monthly luncheon tomorrow.  He will not talk to the press before then. [Spokesman Fred Eckhard later told reporters that the Secretary-General had decided to brief the Security Council along with Hans Blix, during closed consultations tomorrow morning.]

We may be issuing a statement afterwards, depending on how the talks go. Chief Spokesman Fred Eckhard will take your questions.

The Secretary-General's delegation includes Hans Blix, the head of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, Deputy Legal Counsel Ralph Zacklin, and two senior members of his staff, Michael Moller and Vladimir Grachev.

On the Iraqi side, along with the Minister, are Permanent Representative Mohammed Aldouri, Ambassador Saeed Hassan from the Foreign Ministry, Hussan Amin, a government official, Minister Counsellor from the Mission Abdul Munim Al-Kadhe and the First Secretary from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Salim Khalaf.

You can pick up that list in the Spokesman’s Office upstairs if you want the spellings.

**Appointment

I have an appointment by the Secretary-General to announce:

“The Secretary-General announces the appointment of Antonio Maria Costa of Italy, as the new director of the United Nations Office at Vienna and Executive Director of the UN Office for Drug Control and Prevention.  Mr. Costa is currently serving as the Secretary-General of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London.

“Mr. Costa served as an economist at the United Nations in the Department of International Economic and Social Affairs between 1969 and 1983, and eventually became head of Unit.  Also between 1987 and 1992, he served in various capacities at the Commission of the European Union, rising to the post of Director-General for Economics and Finance.”

You can pick up the appointment note and his CV upstairs in the Spokesman’s Office.

**Middle East

Turning to the Middle East, this morning in Gaza City, an Israeli F-16 dropped a large bomb on the Palestinian Police headquarters compound in Gaza City, which exploded within 200 metres of 3,100 refugee children, between the ages of six and 15, who were attending three schools run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, known as UNRWA.

The sound of the explosion and the blast wave that followed caused widespread panic and terror, but fortunately, none of the children was injured. The schools have now been closed and the children sent home for the day.

Peter Hansen, the Commissioner General for the Relief and Works Agency, said today that the bombing of a crowded city centre at 9 a.m. on a weekday morning led to severe trauma among the children at the UN-run schools.  He added, “It is horrifying to think what would have happened if the bomb had gone astray, as indeed one did on February 20th when it landed on the roof of one of the schools, but thankfully did not explode.”

He called on the Israeli Government to cease bombing buildings adjacent to UNRWA installations.  The raid came one day after the United Nations protested the extensive damage by an Israeli attack on an UNRWA-run school for the blind, which was also adjacent to a Palestinian police compound.

We have a press release with more details in the Spokesman’s Office.

**Security Council

This morning, the Security Council is in consultations on Somalia, and Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahima Fall is briefing the Council on the Secretary-General’s recent report on Somalia, which was issued last week.

In that report, the Secretary-General said that Somalia “remains one of the most dangerous environments in which the United Nations operates,” and concluded that the security situation in Mogadishu does not allow for a long-term UN presence.  Therefore, he told the Council, a comprehensive peace-building programme cannot yet be launched in Somalia.

Also attending the consultations today was Winston Tubman, who has been appointed the new Representative of the Secretary-General for Somalia and who will take up his duties at the end of the month.

Tomorrow, the Council has scheduled consultations on the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission for Iraq, known as UNMOVIC.

**Zimbabwe

The UN Special Rapporteur dealing with the independence of judges and lawyers, Dato Param Cumaraswamy, today expressed his grave concern over recent developments in Zimbabwe, including the reported defiance by President Robert Mugabe of a Supreme Court order, delivered on February 27, that had struck down electoral legislation that the Court deemed had been improperly enacted by Parliament.  That legislation was reinstated by the President on 5 March.

The Special Rapporteur said that such an action was a “blatant violation” of UN basic principles of the independence of the judiciary, which provide that decisions of the courts should not be subject to revision, save by lawfully constituted appellate courts.  He added, “Defiance of court orders in effect is defiance of the rule of law.  When it is the Government and its agents who defy, then governmental lawlessness becomes the order of the day.”

We have a press release with more information upstairs.

**UNTAET News

Turning to East Timor, Sergio Vieira de Mello, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for East Timor, today expressed his disappointment at the light sentence given by an Indonesian court to a militiaman found guilty of murdering a UN peacekeeper, Pvt. Leonard Manning. 

De Mello said “The killing of a United Nations peacekeeper in cold blood should be considered a crime of severe gravity, and the sentence should reflect that.  We hope there will be an appeal which would result in the full sentence sought by the prosecution.”

Jacobus Bere was one of four suspects charged in the killing of Manning, a New Zealand peacekeeper, in July 2000.  He was sentenced to six years in prison, half of what was asked by the prosecution in the case.

**Afghanistan

We have the briefing notes from Kabul today.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Lakhdar Brahimi, expresses his sadness at the deaths of five German and Danish peacekeepers in a munitions explosion yesterday.

The notes also contain items on the visit starting today by High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson; and a UNICEF polio immunization drive that by the end of today hopes to have reached 2 million children, and an up-to-date refugee return figure to Afghanistan.

**UNHCR

We were asked at the noon briefing yesterday about whether talks had been scheduled among Cambodian and Vietnamese officials regarding an issue involving the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The UNHCR contacted me this morning to say that talks between Cambodian and Vietnamese officials, as well as UNHCR's representative for the region, will  begin in Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday next week, in a bid to put back on track the agreement on the return from Cambodia to Vietnam's central highlands of some

1,000 "Montagnards" who had fled to Cambodia a year ago.

**International Women’s Day

I’m coming to the end of the briefing.  Tomorrow, International Women’s Day will be observed here at United Nations Headquarters and around the world. But here, with an event beginning at 10 in Conference Room 2, the Secretary-General will deliver remarks at the opening ceremony and the First Lady of the United States, Laura Bush, will be among those addressing the gathering.

A panel discussion on the theme “Afghan Women Today:  Realities and Opportunities” will follow the opening ceremony.  Panellists will include Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan and Thoraya Obaid, Executive Director of the UN Population Fund.  The discussion will be chaired by Shashi Tharoor, Interim Head of the Department of Public Information.

There will be two photo opportunities, it is planned, with Mrs. Bush before her breakfast with Mrs. Annan.  The first will be at the Delegates’ Entrance at about 9 a.m. and the second in the Delegates’ Dining Room, Number 6, shortly afterwards.

For further information you can contact two individuals in the Department of Public Information and their names and numbers are upstairs at the Spokesman’s office.

**Signings

On signings, this morning, Cyprus became the 53rd country to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.  The Statute is now seven ratifications short of the 60 needed for entry into force.

**Press Conferences

There are no press conferences scheduled for today.  Tomorrow at 11 a.m., the Permanent Mission of the United Republic of Tanzania is sponsoring a press conference on Zanzibar’s political crisis and the quest for a solution.

**Questions and Answers

Question: (Inaudible)

Spokesman:  I read the list of participants on both sides.  I mentioned that they started at 10 a.m. and were expected to adjourn at 12:30; that the Secretary-General will brief the Council on these talks at its monthly luncheon tomorrow; and that he will not talk to the press before that; and that we may be issuing a statement afterwards depending on how the talks go; and that Fred Eckhard would be in a position to take your questions.  I have learned subsequently that the first 20 minutes or so of the talks were tête-á-tête, a one-on-one, between the Secretary-General and the Foreign Minister.  That’s all I have.

Question:  Any comments on the weapons inspectors’ return?

Spokesman:  All I know is the first 20 minutes was a tête-á-tête.  Only the two of them were in the room, and the rest of the delegations went in afterwards.

Question:  Any indication that the Iraqi delegation or the lead Minister will stop at the Delegates’ entrance after the morning break or will he make comments later?

Spokesman:  We don’t have indications, but we’ll be following the movements of the delegation and we’ll squawk to you if, and where, they will be speaking.  We have an update.  The Iraqi Foreign Minister left the building a short while ago, saying only that the discussion with the Secretary-General will continue this afternoon.  I guess that answers your question for now.

Question:  On Madagascar, the OAU is apparently sending a delegation there as well as Francophonie.  What role is the UN playing?  Is it active, could you tell us?

Spokesman:  As you know, Ibrahima Fall has been directly involved.  Last month he was there; and he has briefed the Security Council, subsequently, on his mission to Madagascar.  But as of now, right now, the OAU is in the lead.  The Secretary-General is watching the situation very closely, as you know.  I don’t have anything new on that.

Question:  Do you know the hours of the afternoon session?

Spokesman:  Three to four; it’s what I understand; that’s what is being planned.

Question:  Will Fred be available to brief today or tomorrow when the Secretary-General addresses the Council?

Spokesman:  Why don’t we ask him when he comes down?

Question:  How many candidates did you have for Mr. Costa’s position?

Spokesman: I don’t think it’s the kind of information we’ll be releasing.  We just had the announcement, and he was the final candidate.  And that is the announcement.

Question:  In the light of the sentencing in the East Timor case, do you have an agreement with the Indonesian Government and also what recourse do you have in the event of an appeal?

Spokesman:  Sergio did mention the appeal in his statement this morning.  But we can look into that, the legal aspects.

Question:  The UN is part (of the case).  We have something called “amicus curiae”, friend of the court, in other words one could be part of the proceedings in a situation like this.

Spokesman:  We’ll ask the legal experts in East Timor that question and get back to you.  [The reporter was later informed that the prosecutor would be the one to make any appeal, and that the United Nations could make diplomatic representations to the Government.]

Any other questions?  If not, have a good afternoon.

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