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 Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

**Middle East

This morning, a group of UN personnel from the Office of the Special Coordinator for the Middle East, or UNSCO, and from the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA, were -– after days of trying -– given permission by the Israeli military authorities to enter the Jenin refugee camp.  With those officials were two UNRWA trucks with food and water supplies.

After approximately 30 minutes in the camp, UNRWA was told by Israeli Defence Force officials that it would not be permitted to unload the much-needed supplies.  It then became impossible for the team to continue its mission and they left the camp.

In their short time inside, UN officials witnessed a population in need of food, and especially of water.   

According to UNRWA figures, out of a total population of 14,000 refugees in the camp, some 4,000 have left or been forced out of the camp into the neighbouring town and villages.  A majority of those remaining in the camp, according to UNRWA, would be women, children and the elderly.  They have been without any water, food and medical attention for 14 consecutive days.

In an emergency bulletin issued today, the Food and Agriculture Organization warned of rising food shortages and malnutrition among Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

Meanwhile in the Kalandia refugee camp in the West Bank, the IDF entered UNRWA’s local training centre and arrested all 24 boarding students there. 

**East Timor

United Nations electoral officials in East Timor have begun counting ballots in the historic presidential election, which took place yesterday.  The final result is expected to be announced on Wednesday, followed by certified results on 21 April.

An estimated 86.3 per cent of East Timor’s 439,000 eligible voters went to the polls.  The UN said that the process had so far been trouble-free.  “At this point, the electoral process is continuing as scheduled without any problems,” said Carlos Valenzuela, the Chief Electoral Officer of the Independent Electoral Commission of East Timor.  “Parties were to file any complaints regarding polling by noon today.  We so far," he said, "have no word of any party complaints having been filed by the deadline.”

Two candidates -– Legislative Assembly Vice-President Francisco Xavier do Amaral and independence leader Xanana Gusmão -– contested the election.

The president is the last fundamental piece of the East Timor government to be put in place before UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan declares the territory independent during a ceremony in the capital Dili on 20 May.

**Afghanistan

Afghanistan today began the election process for the emergency Loya Jirga, which the Secretary-General’s Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi described as a “great day” for the country.

The Special Representative received a warm welcome upon arrival in Mordian in northwestern Jowzjan province.  A crowd that had gathered by car, truck, horse and foot, clapped hands and children sang and danced.

In an address to the people in Mordian, Brahimi said that he hoped by the end of the day that the people in the district would choose freely the people who they feel are able to represent them in the Loya Jirga.  He said he hoped that people throughout Afghanistan “will get together peacefully in a fraternal spirit, and together will make the choice without interference, without pressure, without any intimidation from any side.”

“This is the first step for the organization of the Loya Jirga in June in Kabul," he said.  In the first stage of the process, Afghans in about

300 districts are expected to select potential candidates to form a pool from which 1,500 members will be selected in a second stage of elections after 20 May.

Also on Afghanistan today, we have an update on the humanitarian response to the latest earthquake last week.  The World Food Programme says families living in two villages hit in Friday’s earthquake started receiving their rations over the weekend.

We have Lakhdar Brahimi’s statement, as well as a WFP update available upstairs.

**Security Council

Today, the Security Council is holding a public meeting on the work of the Counter-Terrorism Committee.  The Chair of that Committee, Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock of the United Kingdom, briefed the Council on the Committee’s work.  All Council members and eight non-members are expected to speak.

A Presidential statement is expected to be adopted.  The statement will, among other things, confirm the Committee’s bureau for a further six months.

**Eritrea-Ethiopia

On Saturday morning in The Hague, the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission delivered its 135-page decision on the delimitation of the border shared by those two countries, and the Secretary-General issued a statement saying, “this is an important milestone in the peace process.”

He noted that, with the assistance of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea, the two countries had maintained a ceasefire since June 2000, and added, “this accomplishment, which deserves to be commended, must now be built upon by working expeditiously to implement the Boundary Commission’s decision.”

The President of the Security Council, Russian Ambassador Sergey Lavrov, also put out a statement on Saturday welcoming the Boundary Commission’s decision and calling on all parties to cooperate with the UN Mission in implementing it “without unilateral actions.”  We have both those statements available upstairs.

The decision of the Boundary Commission, which is an independent body, was transmitted electronically to the United Nations soon after it was reached, and has been posted on the UN Web site -- http://www.un.org/NewLinks/eebcarbitration/.

The Security Council is set to hold consultations on Ethiopia and Eritrea tomorrow.  The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for those two countries, Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, was on hand in The Hague when the Commission delivered its decision, and he is expected to be at tomorrow’s Council briefing.

**NEPAD Meeting in Senegal

Leaders of some 30 African countries, as well as representatives of non-governmental organizations, corporations and development agencies, began a three-day meeting in Dakar, Senegal today to discuss how the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, a new initiative put forward by African leaders, will be financed.

The Secretary-General sent a message to the Dakar summit, which was delivered by K.Y. Amoako, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, in which he said the goal of the New Partnership –- to halve the proportion of Africans living in poverty by 2015 –- is ambitious, but not impossible.  It will need substantial financial resources, he said, most of which must be generated locally.

He added, “Africa’s leaders recognize the need to learn from mistakes of the past, determine their own destiny and develop a homegrown strategy for achieving their objectives.”  He hoped that foreign businesses would respond to the new spirit and resist the simplistic view of Africa as a continent in endless turmoil.  We have copies of his message upstairs.

**Human Rights

Today at the Commission on Human Rights, High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson addressed a special Panel on Migrants, urging countries to ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.  That Convention, she said, needs only one more ratification to enter into force, with the race to become the crucial 20th State to ratify still open.

She told the Panel, “as migration flows increase around the world, the need for a new human rights protection regime for migrants becomes ever more urgent.” We have copies of her statement upstairs.

**New Messenger of Peace

Tomorrow, the Secretary-General will appoint renowned primatologist and environmentalist Jane Goodall as a Messenger of Peace.  Dr. Goodall is best known for her work with chimpanzees in one of the longest running uninterrupted wildlife studies.

The ceremony will take place in the Secretary-General’s conference room at noon.  And you can contact Yvonne Acosta on extension 7214 if you are interested in interviewing Dr. Goodall.  A press release with more information will be out on the racks shortly.

**UN Chronicle TV

There will be an airing of a United Nations Chronicle TV programme today, this one featuring Ian Johnson, Vice-President of the World Bank.  And, you can see that at 3:30 p.m. on in-house television, channels 3 or 31.

**Venezuela Briefing

As we squawked a few minutes ago, immediately after this briefing, you'll be hearing from Ambassador Milos Alcalay of Venezuela, the Chairman of the Group of 77, who will brief you on recent developments in Venezuela.  And we have arranged for Spanish/English interpretation of that press briefing. 

That's all I have for you.  Yes, questions?

**Questions and Answers

Question:  Why did the Israelis allow UNWRA into the refugee camp and then not allow them to distribute the supplies?

Spokesman:  We have no explanation.  We spoke to two different UN sources that are familiar with what happened in that camp, and it was not clear.  All they did was say that these goods could not be unloaded, and as a result of that, the convoy turned around and left.  To my knowledge, no reason was given, but we'll see if we can get any more details for you.  Yes, Bill?

Question:  Was there more to the mission other than distributing supplies?

Spokesman:  I think they had been eager to get into the camp just to assess the humanitarian situation there.  The UNWRA is responsible for the inhabitants of the camp.  So, there had been talk of a large number of deaths, although the International Committee of the Red Cross, I think, was going in to look at that situation.  And, for UNWRA, it's the humanitarian situation; they wanted to see how many houses had been destroyed, how many people had been displaced, and to provide food and water.

Question:  I guess what I'm asking is if they were not allowed to unload the supplies that they brought, why couldn't they go ahead with the rest of the mission you described?

Spokesman:  I think the primary goal was to deliver these supplies.

Question:  Did the Secretary-General have any comments over the weekend about the coup in Venezuela?

Spokesman:  No.  I believe he's trying to place a call to President Chavez.  He's hopeful that life in Venezuela will return to normal.  If I get any read-out on that phone call, I'll try to give it to you.  Steve?

Question:  Will the Secretary-General have any comments on the Human Rights Commission's item 8 being discussed today, which includes a reference to a General Assembly resolution with a reference to a Palestinian State and the allowance of an armed struggle to justify terrorism . . . .

Spokesman:  You're going on a little bit too long.  The short answer is, no. 

Question:  Do you see any potential role for the United Nations in the de-escalation between India and Pakistan because there is a feeling that South Asia is not getting the UN's due attention?

Spokesman:  Any role for the United Nations would have to be welcomed by both India and Pakistan.  Should both countries ask for the Secretary-General's good offices, I'm sure he'd be happy to provide them.

Question:  Did you say the Secretary-General would brief the Council tomorrow on the Mideast?

Spokesman:  I did not say anything about that.  It could be tomorrow or Wednesday.  The exact time hasn't been fixed yet.

Question:  Has there been any response to his idea of the multinational force?

Spokesman:  Nothing formal.  I think you've seen that since he made something of a surprise announcement on, in his view, the need for something more than an observer mission, but rather a military force, there's been a lot of discussion over the weekend, editorial reaction, and so on.  So the debate has begun, and I think he considers that positive.  Irwin?

Question:  Has the Secretary-General, himself, taken any follow-up?  Has he made phone calls to people to talk about the possibility of this, to Mr. Powell?

Spokesman:  He has not spoken to the Secretary of State.  He's had a number of phone calls; I can't tell you which ones specifically might have touched on this issue.  I think the next step is for him to brief the Council and then see where the Council goes.  [He later said that in fact the Secretary-General had spoken to Mr. Powell by phone from Geneva Friday evening but he did not know what was discussed.]

Question:  Is it still possible there could be an observer mission as distinct from a multilateral force?

Spokesman:  This is really a decision now for governments to make because what he's proposed is a multinational force, not a United Nations force.  So, if governments are going to respond, they're going to have to put together this force and a lead nation is going to have to emerge, and all the rest.  Should those same governments decide that a force is not necessary and observers will do, well then that's the direction we'll go.  But we're waiting now to see the reaction from governments.  Richard?

Question:  Does the Secretary-General consider that Iraq is stalling regarding the cancellation of the talks, considering the gravity of the dispute between Iraq and the international community? 

Spokesman:  They gave their reason that I think I shared with you last week.  We don’t expect that the postponement is going to be a long one.  We're not ready to announce the new dates, but dates are being discussed.  But I don't think he sees it as stalling. 

Question:  I'm not trying to ambush any historical answer here.  Who does the UN consider is legally in control of the Sheba'a Farms?

Spokesman:  We have said very clearly that the Sheba'a Farms fall within the area of operations of the UN force on the Golan Heights. 

Question:  Which means that, whose property is it?

Spokesman:  It's Israeli-occupied Syria.  Yes?

Question:  Does he foresee interference by warlords in the process under way in Afghanistan?

Spokesman:  We tried to give you a little bit of the flavour of this first meeting today, where Brahimi was present, where he was joyfully welcomed by the local people.  He said he hopes that they will select their representatives without any interference or intimidation.  I think this is a positive beginning of a process that we hope would be completed without any undue interference from warlords or anyone else. 

So it's off to a good start. But your concern about warlords is the major security concern of the country.  I don't want to dismiss it as not important.  But the message we're giving today is that the process in selecting the participants for the Loya Jirga got off to a good start.  Bill?

Question:  A couple of things.  Is the Secretary-General going to be asking the Security Council to adopt a resolution similar to what they had to adopt to authorize ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) in Afghanistan?

Spokesman:  He is just presenting a concept to them and we'll have to see how they respond to it.

Question:  On Iraq, the Secretary-General has offered two different dates.   What is the dynamic on that and where does it stand?

Spokesman:  When they asked for a postponement, they indicated when they would like to move the new dates for the next meeting.  So, he is now looking at his calendar.  We've given them a reaction to those dates, which was essentially positive, but we're not ready yet to announce what they are. 

Question:  By saying "dates", you're saying it will still be two days?

Spokesman:  I'm assuming, since he proposed two days before, that that is what he's proposing now.

Question:  Did you see the article in the Washington Post this morning stating that the CIA had investigated Hans Blix to see if he had covered over evidence of Iraqi weapons destruction, and that the UN Secretary-General remained confident that Blix could do the job he's preparing for?

Spokesman:  We saw the article.  We don't know if it's accurate.  If it happened the way the article described, I think it would be an attempt at intimidating an international civil servant, and that, of course, would be unacceptable.  But, again, we don't know if you can believe everything you read in the newspapers, but the Secretary-General was concerned by the report.

Question:  Does the UN remain confident in Mr. Blix’s ability to do that job?

Spokesman:  Oh, absolutely.  Absolutely. 

Thank you very much.

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