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.

Thank you, good afternoon.

Guests at Noon Briefing

Our guest today will be Anna Lindh, the Foreign Minister of Sweden, accompanied by Lt. General Satish Nambiar, who is the Head of the Centre for United Nations Peace-keeping at the United Service Institution of India. 

They have completed nine seminars on the theme “Challenges for Peace Operations into the Twenty-first Century”, and they have issued a report.  We have some limited copies of the report behind there and we’ll be getting to them shortly.

Fact-Finding Team

This morning the Secretary-General and members of his staff who will be meeting this afternoon with a visiting Israeli delegation, met via teleconference with Martti Ahtisaari and members of his fact-finding team on the Jenin refugee camp who are in Geneva.

Mr. Ahtisaari had with him Sadako Ogata and Cornelio Sommaruga, as well as his military adviser Gen. William Nash and his police adviser Commissioner Peter Fitzgerald.  Yesterday we mentioned the addition of the new legal adviser Tyge Lehmann.  He was also with Mr. Artisaari this morning.

The Israeli experts who are coming here will meet at 4 p.m. this afternoon with a UN team headed by Kieran Prendergast, the Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs.  Others on the UN side will be Legal Counsel Hans Corell, Assistant-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hedi Annabi and Military Adviser Gen. Timothy Ford.  We have arranged for a photo op at the beginning of that meeting, which will be on the thirty-seventh floor.

Meanwhile in Geneva this afternoon, Mr. Ahtisaari and his team continued their internal organizational meetings, which will continue through tomorrow.  It was decided that Gen. Nash will be assisted by two military staff officers.  More experts will be brought on board as needed.

The team expects to be in the Middle East on Saturday.

Security Council -- Wednesday

Yesterday afternoon, the Security Council held brief consultations on the Middle East, in which Syria circulated a resolution on behalf of the Arab Group.  By the end of consultations, the Syrian draft was put in blue.

The members of the Council agreed to put off a vote on the draft, preferring to wait until the Secretariat meets with the Israeli delegation this afternoon.  Once those talks end, they can then move into consultations on the Middle East and

receive information from the Secretariat on the result of the talks, and then take up the Syrian draft again.

Council President Sergey Lavrov, who earlier had relayed to Israeli Ambassador Yehuda Lancry the Council’s concerns about Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat’s confinement in Ramallah and on the fact-finding team, was to talk to Lancry again to underscore the urgency of the Council's concerns on those two matters.

On behalf of the Council, Ambassador Lavrov was also to inform the Secretary-General that he can count on the Council's full support in his efforts to implement resolution 1405.

UNDP

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) has drawn up an emergency relief and recovery plan for the Palestinian population, using some $400,000 from the Islamic Development Bank to purchase and distribute food, baby milk, bedding, medical kits and essential household items for those who have been affected the most by the recent operations, especially in Nablus and Jenin.

UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Brown said, “It is crucial for the international community to make available the seed capital that would help the Palestinian Authority rebuild its governing institutions”.

To that end, UNDP has received approximately $40 million in new contributions for immediate infrastructure repairs, including those to roads, water supply systems and damaged buildings.

UNDP will have a press release out shortly with more details.

Security Council

The Security Council this morning held a public meeting on Afghanistan, which began with a briefing by Sima Samar, Afghanistan’s Minister for Women’s Affairs, who is one of the vice chairs of the Interim Administration.

Her statement was followed by a regular briefing by Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast.

He outlined the obstacles ahead, including the resources still required, and the pressures that the Interim Administration continues to face, but Prendergast said that the political and humanitarian progress of the past several months was very encouraging.

He noted for example that the Emergency Loya Jirga process was on track.  On relief and reconstruction, he said that in the past few months there are signs that the economy has begun to recover and that this recovery is reaching many Afghans.  While donors may, understandably, wish to wait for more stability before disbursing funds, he pointed to the need to recognize that implementing rehabilitation and reconstruction projects will greatly help bring about that stability.  “It’s a chicken and egg situation”, he added.

Security, he said, remains a major challenge in many parts of the country, and substantial financial assistance is still required.  Prendergast concluded with an appeal to the international community to speed up the delivery of its assistance, and to broaden its scope to include unmet needs related to security.

Copies of his statement are upstairs.  We also have briefing notes from Kabul, which contain an update on the floods we reported on yesterday.

After that meeting, the Council went into closed-door consultations to consider the Secretary-General’s latest report on Western Sahara.

Kosovo

In Kosovo today, the international prosecutor for Prizren has filed an indictment charging three people –- Martin Almer, Feriz Thaqi and Isa Ulluri -– with grave bodily injury, light bodily injury, extraction of a statement under duress, maltreatment in the course of duty, abuse of office and giving a false statement.

All those charges arise from the mistreatment of a detainee last 25 February, allegedly by Almer, an Austrian police officer who was serving with UNMIK police, and by Thaqi and Ulluri, who were Kosovo Police Service officers, all working in Orahovac.

The prosecutor, in the course of this indictment, has requested Almer’s detention, although he is believed to have returned to Austria.  Accordingly, the prosecutor has sought issuance of an international arrest warrant.

We have a press release on this.  Also, today’s briefing notes from Pristina note the UN Mission’s efforts to assist the population of Gnjilane, following yesterday’s earthquake, which killed one person.  Twenty-three people remain hospitalized.  Today a command centre has been set up and better shelter has been arranged for those who cannot return home.

Georgia Report

The report of the Secretary-General on the situation in Abkhazia, Georgia, is out as a document today.

In the report, the Secretary-General says that the human rights situation in Abkhazia showed few signs of improvement, and no progress was made on the safe, secure and dignified return of internally displaced persons to their places of origin.  In the absence of a negotiating process, tension has remained high in the area.

The Secretary-General appeals for an early launching of an active negotiating process to address “the core issue of the future status of Abkhazia within the State of Georgia”.

The Security Council is scheduled to have closed consultations on Georgia on 29 April.

Global Fund

The new Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria today announced its first round of grants.  The Fund awarded a total of $378 million over two years to 40 programmes in 31 countries.  This represents a significant increase in international spending to combat the diseases.

The Board also agreed on a fast-track process to approve an additional $238 million for 21 proposals, provided certain conditions are met.  This would bring the total funding over two years to $616 million.

The announcement came at the conclusion of the second meeting of the Fund’s Board, held from 22-24 April at Columbia University in New York.  The Board has also announced the appointment of Professor Richard Feachem, a British national, as Executive Director of the Global Fund.

There is a Global Fund Web site with more information.

East Timor/UNICEF report

A study funded by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says child abuse and commercial sexual exploitation of children in East Timor is an emerging problem.

The study documented 103 cases of child abuse during a one-month period of investigation in five of East Timor’s 13 districts.

“This case study, while not yet a representative picture of the country as a whole, is an important first step to highlight the scope of the problem in East Timor”, said Yoshiteru Uramoto, UNICEF’s representative in the territory.

In 60 per cent of the cases reported in the study, children were victims of sexual assault, physical violence or commercial sexual exploitation.  Eighty-five per cent of the sexual assaults were against girls.  The majority of offenders are young males who are often a member of the family or someone known to the victim.

The study calls for an integrated response from a wide variety of agencies, including police, health and welfare professionals, and local communities.

Sudan

We have a statement issued by UN humanitarian agencies on Sudan.

In it, the Executive Committee of Humanitarian Affairs says that the humanitarian operations in southern Sudan continue to be seriously affected by flight bans and intensive fighting.

It called on the Government of Sudan and the Sudanese Peoples’ Liberation Movement for full access to all locations.

At 12:45 p.m., Tom Vraalsen, the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs for the Sudan, will brief you on that situation in person.

Central Africa

We have a message from the Secretary-General to the seventeenth Ministerial Meeting of the Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa on the occasion of its tenth anniversary.

While international assistance is needed, it is imperative for the Economic Community of Central African States to assume leadership on issues affecting their region, the message says.  It also notes some encouraging developments in some of the member States of the Committee:  in Angola, in Burundi, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The message was delivered by Lamine Cisse, Representative of the Secretary-General in the Central African Republic, this morning on the first day of the two-day meeting in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Yugoslavia Tribunal

Earlier today, the former commander of the Yugoslav Army, Gen. Dragoljub Ojdanic, was transferred from Serbia to the Detention Unit of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague.

General Ojdanic’s lawyers had indicated last week that he would hand himself in voluntarily to the Tribunal to stand trial on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

He is charged, along with three other senior officials, of executing a campaign of terror and violence in Kosovo in 1999 directed against Kosovo’s Albanian population.

Ojdanic will make his initial appearance before a Tribunal judge tomorrow.

WHO

In an effort to control malaria and save the lives of half of the 800,000 children who die of the disease each year, the World Health Organization (WHO) today urged countries to switch to a new type of treatment whenever there was strong evidence that existing conventional medicines were no longer working.  We have a press release with more details.

Budget

Portugal has become the seventieth country to pay its regular-budget dues in full for this year, with a payment of more than $5 million.

Signings Today

Lithuania is signing two protocols today – the first, the protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children; and the second is against the smuggling of migrants by land, sea and air.  Both protocols supplement the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.

Press Conferences

Finally, some press conferences to mention for tomorrow.

Tomorrow at 11:15 a.m., Ambassador Hussain Shibab of the Maldives, will launch the Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2002.

And then at 12:30, Ambassador Jean-David Levitte of France will brief you on the Security Council’s up-coming mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Questions and Answers

Question:   So the Security Council will be briefed today?

Spokesman:  That’s my impression that the Security Council intends to be briefed immediately after this meeting.  So you’re probably going to have a long night.

Question:   Regarding the rebuilding of Palestinian institutions.  What are the donor countries that will participate in the funding and when will it start?

Spokesman:  Why don’t you look at the press release.  I don’t have that information with me.  I don’t think the press release gives the donors.  You’ll have to talk to UNDP to see if they can tell you who the donors are for this money that they are about to spend and when they are going to spend it.  [He later said that the donors so far were Canada, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg and the United States.]

Question:   Has there been any indication from Israel softening their position somewhat?  Some of the news reports today have indicated that.  Have you heard anything from them today that might indicate that?

Spokesman:  No.  I don’t want to characterize the Israeli position.  The Secretary-General did have a telephone call this morning from the Foreign Minister, Shimon Perez.  They discussed the upcoming talks this afternoon.  But I wouldn’t want to predict the posture of the Israeli delegation.  Let’s just see what happens when the talks start at 4 o’clock.

Question:   Is it a one-off meeting or is there a possibility that this could be the beginning of a series of meetings?

Spokesman:  We really don’t know.  We really don’t know.  We hope we can get this done with quickly so that the team can get on its way to the Middle East.

Question:   Also about the issue about the Red Cross involvement with Mr. Sommaruga.  There were some concerns about him.  Are there still concerns about him, as far as you know and is there going to be any change regarding him or his position is still the same?

Spokesman:  I think you’re referring to some media reports.  But these are unfounded allegations that went back two years and I think most fair-minded people are convinced that Mr. Sommaruga is a towering humanitarian figure of impeccable reputation.  The Secretary-General has full confidence in him.  There’s no question about any changes.  Let’s put that to rest right now.

Question:   Did the Foreign Minister indicate his name by any chance?

Spokesman:  I don’t think they discussed any of the individual members of the team.

Question:   Who are the two military staff officers that General Nash has asked to assist him?

Spokesman:  We don’t have names yet.

Question:   What’s the latest on the possible press availability of Mr. Prendergast or any of his United Nations team or any of the Israeli team?

Spokesman:  You’ll have to ask the Israelis.  If that’s a request, I can relay it to Mr. Prendergast.  I’m not sure he would feel comfortable speaking at the stakeout, but we can always try.

Question:   Also, the intention of the team is to go to the Middle East on Saturday.  Is it their intention to further, actually go to Jenin with or without any agreement by the negotiating team this afternoon, without Israeli expression of cooperation with the team?

Spokesman:  No. I think we’re expecting the team to be able to resolve whatever outstanding issues there might be.  We see this effort this afternoon as one essentially to clarify questions that the Israeli side might have about the mandate and the team.  And we think we can clarify those things to their satisfaction and that the team can get on its way on Saturday.

Question:   Just to follow-up on the last question.  Is the team right now on a green light, a yellow light, a red light?  Are you waiting for somebody to say, “okay, you can go” or are you intending as of now to go even without express permission to do so?

Spokesman:  We are basing ourselves on what the Foreign Minister and the Defence Minister of Israel told the Secretary-General in phone conversations last Friday that Israel expects to fully cooperate with the team.  So we assume we have a green light.  What’s happening today is just some clarifications.  At least that is our understanding.  Did you have a question?

Question:   Yes, you said you don’t have the names of the new military staff officers.  Do you have their nationalities established?

Spokesman:  No.  We have nothing to give out at this time.  They’ll probably announce it in the next day or so, once it’s firmed up.  Yes?

Question:   If you said they’re indicating that there may be several rounds of talks, is that your understanding?

Spokesman:  We have no understanding other than that they’re coming here at 4 o’clock.  Our hope is that we can wrap this up quickly.

Question:   Can we get the identities of Ahtisaari’s military advisers this afternoon, perhaps from Stephane?

Spokesman:  I don’t think they are ready to identify them.  I don’t know that the individuals have been approached or even identified.  The General has said he needs two staff officers.  Ahtisaari said, “fine”.  They agree today to give them to him.  And as soon as they’re identified and they’re ready to announce them, they will.  But I doubt it will be done this afternoon.

Question:   If the team goes to Israel on Saturday will it immediately go to the country, or do you see it first staying and getting itself organized for a few days before starting the mission proper?

Spokesman:  Let’s let Mr. Ahtisaari answer that question.  I don’t think he wants us here to talk about his programme of work or the sequence of his meetings.  He will do that at an appropriate time, most likely on his arrival in the region.

Question:   Are all the Israelis coming from Israel on this team, or could some of them already be here in the States?

Spokesman:  My understanding is that the three individuals are traveling from Israel to New York, and you can ask the Israeli Mission for their names.

Okay? Are we ready?

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