DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

Following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.

The slide show here to my left will be part of Shashi Tharoor's presentation.  He's the Interim Head of the Department of Public Information (DPI) and he wants to launch here today a new e-mail news service of the United Nations News Centre Web site.  You'll be hearing from him in just a bit.

**Security Council

This morning the Security Council is holding an open debate on the question of the Middle East.  This comes following two requests for such a meeting, one from the Arab Group and one from the Non-Aligned Movement Caucus.

We have approximately 20 speakers left on the list.

Last night, the Council held two back-to-back formal private meetings on the Middle East.  The first was with the Permanent Representative of Israel, Ambassador Yehuda Lancry, and the second was with the Permanent Observer of Palestine, Ambassador Nasser al-Kidwa.

During each of those sessions, the representative of Israel and the representative of Palestine were able to make opening statements, which were followed by an interactive question-and-answer session with members of the Council.

This afternoon, the Council will hold a private meeting with countries contributing troops to the United Nations Iraq/Kuwait Observer Mission.  That report, which was distributed to the Council last week, is now out on the racks.  In it the Secretary-General says the Mission contributes to calm and stability and should be maintained. 

According to the report, several recent incidents in the demilitarized zone “have been a source of tension and concern”.  These include the detention –- and subsequent release –- of a Kuwaiti official held by Iraq late last month after he inadvertently crossed the border.

The Mission also continued to carry out its monitoring duties, reporting 437 air violations of the demilitarized zone over the past six months.

**Lebanon

In Lebanon, the Secretary-General’s Personal Representative for southern Lebanon, Staffan di Mistura, met this morning with the Lebanese Foreign Minister, Mahmoud Hammoud, to convey the Secretary-General’s concern about the volatile situation along the Blue Line.

He then met with the Ambassadors of the Security Council members present in Beirut to reiterate the Secretary-General’s message as earlier conveyed to the Council during its luncheon with him yesterday. 

These diplomatic initiatives are continuing, with Mr. di Mistura scheduled to meet Prime Minister Rafic Hariri as we speak.  

Also today, General Lalit Tewari, the Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in Lebanon, met with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud to brief him on the situation in the south.  They discussed what can be done to keep calm and stability along the Blue Line.

The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East, Terje Roed Larsen, has been in constant contact with Israeli, Palestinian and regional counterparts as well as with members of the Quartet -- that is the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russian Federation -- working to ease the most serious points of tension on three issues:  the military situation in the West Bank and Gaza; the humanitarian situation in those areas; and ongoing tensions along the Blue Line.

**UNRWA

In a press release issued by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Peter Hansen, the Agency’s Commissioner-General, expressed his deep concern at the growing deterioration in the security and humanitarian situation and for the well-being of the detained and besieged United Nations staff members.

He called on the Israeli authorities to immediately release UNRWA staff members, and to allow other United Nations staff in besieged areas to regain their freedom of movement.

Today and for the next few days, UNRWA teams will be attempting to enter several areas of the West Bank to deliver emergency food and medical supplies.

Reports from UNRWA staff members living in Ramallah and eyewitness reports from the Agency’s emergency teams indicate that there has been considerable destruction in greater Ramallah.

Also, the accumulation of garbage and the damage to sewage lines in Ramallah and the adjacent refugee camp threaten the public health of the population and add to the mounting fear that cross-contamination of the fresh water supply is a real risk.

UNRWA also says that the Amari, Jalazone, Jenin, Dheisheh and Aida refugee camps in the West Bank are reporting a serious shortage of basic food items, including baby milk, and they are also short of medicine. 

Earlier this morning, Israeli army units went into an UNRWA boys’ school in the Jalazone camp, tore down the surrounding wall and, as in previous incursions into refugee camps, turned the school into a staging area and observation point.

We have more in an UNRWA press release upstairs.

**Afghanistan

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, described as successful a meeting held in Geneva on the reform of the security sector in Afghanistan and in particular of the army.

We have available a summary of remarks made at a joint press conference by Lakhdar Brahimi, James Dobbins, the United States Special Envoy for Afghanistan, and Abdullah Abdullah, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Interim Administration for Afghanistan.

In response to questions about the size of a future Afghan armed force and police force, Brahimi responded by saying he estimated that an armed force of 60,000, an air force of 8,000 and border guards of 12,000 would be necessary.  He estimated a police force of about 70,000 people. 

Needs were estimated at about $235 million for the army for the current year.  Some of this was not recurrent because, for example, there is a lot of money for refurbishing of barracks and other items, he said.  He also noted that demobilization requires projects and development activities.

Meanwhile in Geneva, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees announced today that it had signed a key refugee repatriation agreement with the Governments of Iran and Afghanistan.

The Tripartite Agreement, which lays down the main legal and operational framework for the voluntary return of Afghan refugees in Iran, was signed at a ceremony at the United Nations Geneva headquarters.

A joint repatriation programme with the Government of Pakistan that began on 1 March has already assisted more than 150,000 to return in just over a month, a rate which UNHCR officials described as phenomenal so early in the year.

**International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

In a closed session today in Arusha, the judges in the trial of Colonel Théoneste Bagosora, who is accused if being the mastermind behind the 1994 Rwanda genocide, and three other high-ranking military officers, decided to postpone the trial until September.  The judges felt that more time was needed by both the prosecution and the defence to ensure the trial would proceed smoothly.

The accused were not present in court when the trial began yesterday, but were represented by their attorneys.

**Democratic Republic of the Congo

The United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) reports that military observers did not find any military presence in the south-eastern town of Moliro during their latest mission.  All the team saw were huts and a dog, according to the Mission spokesman.

The observation was made by a team sent in on Tuesday to monitor whether troops had withdrawn from that area.  The United Nations Mission is closely monitoring movements in Moliro and is sending a team of military observers into the town every other day to do so.

**East Timor

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for East Timor, Sergio Vieira de Mello, and that country’s Vice Minister for Health, João Martins, today launched a national public awareness campaign on HIV/AIDS.  The Ministry estimates that the rate of infection in the country is 0.64 per cent of the population of reproductive age, lower than most countries in the region.

Both Mr. de Mello and Mr. Martins warned that social factors, including low awareness about HIV, could increase the spread of the disease.  Mr. de Mello said that East Timor had a unique opportunity to prevent an epidemic if all the key stakeholders acted in a coordinated manner.

There are more details in the report from Dili.

**Press Releases

Press releases to highlight today.  The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is launching a new report on global trends that are reshaping business strategies.  Tomorrow’s Markets: Global Trends and Their Implications for Business outlines 19 trends that are changing the roles and strategies of corporations. 

And a second press release, this one from the World Health Organization (WHO).  There is a revised fact sheet on dengue fever and its more lethal complication, dengue haemorrhagic fever.  Dengue is a mosquito-borne infection affecting people in tropical and sub-tropical regions.  Dengue haemorrhagic fever can be fatal if not carefully managed by medical personnel.

You can pick up press releases in my office.

**Signings

One signing today of a treaty.  This morning, São Tome and Principe became the 124^th country to sign the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

**Budget

One payment today.  Qatar became the sixty-seventh Member State to pay its 2002 regular budget contribution in full.  That was with a payment of about $377,000.

**Launch

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is inviting the press to an official launch of the United Nations Year of Cultural Heritage.  That's at the Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium today from 1 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.

The Assistant Director-General for Culture, Mounir Bouchenaki, will make a presentation of related programmes and activities.  The cultural programme includes music and recitations by the Children's Theatre Company and the Soul Sources Umbigada, a cross-cultural ensemble.

**Press Conferences

Press conferences for today.  At 1:15 p.m. in this room, the Department of Economic and Social Affairs is sponsoring a press conference by the NGO Advocacy Group, who will discuss the impact of the Monterrey Conference on the Johannesburg Summit.

Our guest at tomorrow's noon briefing will be Stephen Lewis, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for HIV/AIDS in Africa.  He will brief you on his recent trip to Ethiopia.

**Questions and Answers

Question: On the Council, we've got the speakers' list and there's no Council members on it.  Is that correct, and if so why?  Secondly, will the Council act today on the draft resolution put forward by the Arab Group?

Spokesman: I don't know the answer to either of those questions.  Maybe someone will run down from my Office with that information.  I don't know whether the list we put out merely supplemented the list of Council members or whether for some reason the members decided not to speak.  We'll get an answer for you shortly.  [He later said that the Council members would speak after the non-members.  A resolution had not been officially introduced.]

Question: On yesterday's letter from Israel to the Secretary-General to pass on the message to Syria and Lebanon.  Can you update us on that, who he contacted and what was said?

Spokesman: First of all he shared the letter with members of the Security Council at their luncheon yesterday.  His concern over the situation on the Blue Line predates receipt of this letter.  He raised it with the Council, you’ll recall, in a closed session, but we subsequently made the notes of his remarks available to you.

If you check those remarks you will see that he expressed his concern about how the increased tensions along the Blue Line could greatly complicate the threat to international peace and security for the region as a whole.  I believe it is his intention to contact personally the Presidents of Lebanon and Syria to relay his concerns directly to them as well.

[The Secretary-General later telephoned President Emile Lahoud of Lebanon and President Bashar Al-Assad of Syria.]

Question: On Cyprus, yesterday, the Secretary-General met with his Special Envoy and today, I guess in a while, he meets with the representatives of the United Kingdom and the United States.  Do you have anything on that?

Spokesman: We'll talk to his Envoy, Alvaro de Soto, to see what, if anything, he can say.  I think you'll probably want to know whether they are still optimistic that they can meet the June deadline for the current round of talks.  We'll try to get an assessment from Mr. de Soto after today's meeting.

Question: Were there some difficulties in distributing humanitarian relief items [in the Palestinian refugee camps]?

Spokesman: I think you might have come in a bit late.  I did report a bit on UNRWA's humanitarian activities, but of course their mandate is limited to helping

refugees.  But within their mandate they're doing whatever they can and today the emphasis was on the call on the Israeli forces to release from detention UNRWA staff members who are being held and also to allow freedom of movement.

But you can look at the text of what I've already read and if you have further questions you can ask Stéphane in my Office.

Question: There seems to have been some serious violence in Burundi yesterday.  Do you have any further information?

Spokesman: I don't have anything on that.  I'll have to check what we might have received in the cable traffic overnight.

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