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.

**Middle East

Good afternoon.

This morning, the Secretary-General briefed the Security Council on the Middle East during a closed private meeting.  The meeting is being presided over by Farouk al-Shara, the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Syria, which holds the Council presidency.

The Secretary-General told Council members that the situation in the Middle East continues to be dangerously unstable and that, in the absence of a sustained political process to bring peace to the region, events will continue to be driven by those who are opposed to peace.

A lasting solution to this conflict, he went on to say, rests on the Council's own resolutions, land for peace as established in resolution 242, and two States, Israel and Palestine, living in peace side-by-side, as envisioned in resolution 1397.

It is clear, the Secretary-General said, that there will be no settlement in the absence of real security guarantees for Israel and, to that end, the Palestinian Authority must live up to its obligations.

The social and economic plight of the Palestinian people is also an obstacle to achieving lasting peace and security, he added.

He concluded his remarks by noting that, as the situation on the ground continues to deteriorate, there is no time to waste on finding a permanent settlement.

The Secretary-General’s briefing was followed by a statement by the Syrian Foreign Minister.  All 15 members of the Council are expected to speak.

The Secretary-General is expected to speak to journalists at the stake-out afterwards.  If he comes out while this briefing is under way, we'll suspend the briefing so that you can go to the stake-out.  The members of the Security Council and the Secretary-General are scheduled to hold their monthly working lunch today.

**Security Council

At 4 p.m. today, Mexico is scheduled to preside over an Arria formula meeting on the situation between India and Pakistan.

As you know, meetings held under the Arria formula are meetings of members of the Council, rather than a meeting of the Council itself.  They allow Council members to hear the views of non-Council members, such as representatives of non-State parties and non-governmental organizations in an informal and confidential setting.

**Security Council

The Secretary-General will leave for Chicago tomorrow afternoon.  In the early evening, he will deliver the keynote address at the 144th commencement exercises at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.  At the ceremony he will receive an honorary doctorate of laws.

On Saturday morning, before returning to New York, the Secretary-General will visit the national headquarters of Reverend Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Push Coalition.  The Secretary-General will make brief remarks and then take a few questions from members of Reverend Jackson’s organization.

The Secretary-General, who will be accompanied by his wife Nane, will be back in New York early Saturday afternoon.

**Afghanistan

From Afghanistan, Britain handed control of the International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, for Afghanistan to Turkey today.  At a ceremony attended by Afghan Transitional President Hamid Karzai and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, it was noted that both commanders spoke of the security that was markedly much better than a few months ago.  Nonetheless, he added, there was no room for complacency.  He also noted several achievements made by ISAF and pledged to give General Zobru of Turkey, the new commander, the same cooperation that he had extended to General McColl.  We will have a statement from Brahimi later.

With the conclusion of the Loya Jirga, the United Nations has started to airlift delegates home today.  The United Nations flew 1,100 delegates in

54 sorties to Kabul in the two days before the convening of the tribal council, and it is expected more people will be taking the United Nations flights home in the next couple of days.

Yesterday at a special session of the Loya Jirga, 40 women delegates agreed to create a Network of Afghan Women, which will become operational upon their return to their regions.  The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan will help to hold a training workshop in September for them.

**Iraq

From the Office of the Iraq Programme, we have this announcement.

Following the consent of the Government of Iraq, the Office of the Iraq Programme will now proceed with the necessary arrangements to deploy United Nations independent inspection agents at Ar'ar border crossing point between Iraq and Saudi Arabia for the purpose of confirming and authenticating the delivery of supplies to Iraq under the oil-for-food programme.

This is based on a request from Saudi Arabia for the opening of the border crossing point at Ar'ar dating back to October 2000.  The Government of Iraq indicated its agreement to the United Nations earlier this month.

Ar'ar border crossing point would be the fifth under the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Iraq and the United Nations on the implementation of the oil-for-food programme.  The existing four border crossing points are:  Trebil between Iraq and Jordan; Al-Walid between Iraq and Syria; Zakho between Iraq and Turkey; and the port of Umm Qasr in the Gulf.  It will take several weeks for the border crossing point to be operational.

**World Refugee Day

In his annual World Refugee Day statement, the High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, paid tribute to the courage and determination of refugee women worldwide.  "We must ensure that their voice is heard, that their potential is developed, and that their role is fully recognized," he said.

As an expression of solidarity with Africa, which traditionally has shown great generosity to refugees, a special United Nations General Assembly resolution was unanimously adopted in 2000, which designated 20 June every year as World Refugee Day.

In Dili, East Timor, a plaque was to have been unveiled at Jesus Christ statue, a seaside landmark, in memory of the three Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) staff members who were killed in September 2000 while working with East Timorese refugees in the Indonesian province of West Timor.

In Washington, D.C., UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie is scheduled to participate in an event at Union Station with other celebrities and dignitaries, including United States Secretary of State Colin Powell.

And we have copies of a message by the Secretary-General delivered by Lubbers at UNHCR’s Nansen Refugee Award ceremony in Oslo, Norway.  This year’s award goes to the owners, captain and crew of the Norwegian container vessel “Tampa,” which rescued more than 400 asylum-seekers in the Indian Ocean last August.

I understand that the Secretary-General is about ready to come out at the stake-out, so with your indulgence, we'll suspend this briefing and I'll resume it after the Secretary-General has finished talking at the stake-out.  Thank you.

[A few minutes later]

We'll now continue with the briefing and I'll repeat the announcement I just made from the stake-out.  The Secretary-General left the Council abruptly.  He's taking a few phone calls upstairs now.  He'll be coming back down for the monthly lunch with the members of the Security Council, so he said he would stop by the stake-out at 1 p.m. on his way to that lunch and talk to you then.

**Switzerland

From Switzerland, we have word that Switzerland has formally signed its application to join the United Nations today.  The President of the Swiss Confederation, Kaspar Villiger, and the Federal Chancellor, Annemarie Huber-Hotz attended the ceremony at the Ministry of Finance.

The application will then be submitted personally to the Secretary-General early in July by the head of Switzerland's Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations in New York.  Based on the recommendation of the Security Council, the General Assembly is expected to take a decision on the matter on 10 September 2002 at the opening ceremony of the 57th session of the General Assembly.

**International Labour Organization (ILO) Annual Conference

The International Labour Organization (ILO) concluded its 90th annual conference today.  A series of measures aiming to tackle the challenges of globalization were adopted, including a new programme of work that would focus on the issues of employment generation, social protection and poverty reduction for those in the informal economy.

ILO Director-General Juan Somavia called the discussions "exceptionally rich", and said that, "Until we see a globalization that prioritizes the creation of employment and the reduction of poverty, the whole concept is going to remain dogged by controversy".

The Organization also launched the World Day Against Child Labour, which saw events in countries around the world aimed at reinforcing the global movement to abolish child labour.

**Sierra Leone

On Sierra Leone, an Argentinean non-governmental organization dedicated to applying forensic anthropology to the investigation of human rights violations is visiting Sierra Leone to carry out preliminary investigations into mass graves of people killed during the country’s 10-year civil conflict, according to the United Nations mission there.

The three-member team, which arrived this week, is expected to complete its work within four weeks.  Its report will propose guidelines for carrying out future investigations in support of the activities of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.  We have a press release on this, if you're interested.

**International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

The Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, dealing with the case against Slobodan Milosevic, issued an Order on Wednesday, to prevent violations of protective measures for witnesses.  This comes after the publication on 25 May of an article in the Belgrade newspaper “Nacional” disclosing the identity of the protected witness known as K5.

The Order also requests the authorities of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Prosecutor to provide the Trial Chamber with any information regarding those responsible for the disclosure.

In other news, the hearing on the contempt proceedings against the witness in the Milosevic case known as K12 will take place next Monday.  This hearing is being held to clarify the position on contempt and to hear any submissions.  There will be no hearing in the Milosevic case today or tomorrow, as Milosevic’s health situation is under daily review.  We have briefing notes from the Tribunal upstairs.

**Guinea-Bissau

Out on the racks today is the Secretary-General's latest report to the Security Council on Guinea Bissau and the activities of the United Nations Peace-building Support Office in that country.  In it, the Secretary-General notes that Guinea Bissau continues to face major political, economic and financial challenges, but the country remains peaceful.  He goes on to say that he is encouraged by the fact that, despite serious economic difficulties, political leaders have pursued the path of agreement through debate.

The constitution, he says, should be the cornerstone of peaceful order, but confusion persists about the current impasse over constitutional issues.  It is not even clear where responsibility for taking the constitutional process forward lies.  He urges the executive and legislative branches of Government to come together to reach a compromise soon.

**United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

Yesterday afternoon, representatives of Cathay Pacific Airlines handed over a cheque for more than $673,000 to UNICEF as part of the “Change for Good” programme.  Cathay Pacific has been participating since 1991 in the programme, in which passengers deposit their unused foreign currency in envelopes at the end of a flight.  Since that time, the airline has raised more then $5 million for the programme.

In other news, the UNICEF office in Sri Lanka today got verbal agreement from the Tamil Tigers rebel group that they would stop their recruitment of children as soldiers, and would stop using anyone under 17 years of age already conscripted.  You can get more information on both these issues from Spokesman Alfred Ironside at the UNICEF press office.

**AIDS Fund

Yesterday, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, which is known as UNAIDS, welcomed the announcement by United States President George W. Bush to provide an additional $500 million over several years to the fight against AIDS.  The additional funds will be used in programmes to prevent mother-to-child transmission of the disease.  We have a press release from UNAIDS on that.

**Signings

This afternoon, Brazil will become the 69th country to ratify the Statute of the International Criminal Court.

**Press Releases

From the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), it's reported that India is set to replace Viet Nam as the world's second largest exporter of rice.  The news comes with the release today of a new global rice market report.  India is expected to double its previous year's total by exporting some 3.6 million metric tonnes this year.  Thailand is the world's largest exporter, shipping about 7.6 million metric tonnes, with Viet Nam in third place at 3.5 million metric tonnes.

We also have a media advisory on the launch of "The Global Illicit Drug Trends Report 2002".  That will take place in Vienna next Wednesday.

**Press Conferences

I mentioned to you yesterday one at 11 a.m. tomorrow with the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Syria, Farouk Al-Shara.

That's all I have for you.

**Questions and Answers

Question:  I would like to ask about the latest situation in India and Pakistan.  Is there anything from the United Nations?

Spokesman:  The only thing I had on that today was the announcement that the Security Council will hold a Arria formula meeting on India and Pakistan this afternoon, presided over by Mexico.

Question:  Is India supposed to take part in that?

Spokesman:  I think anyone can take part.  I'll have to double check for you.  These are, of course, informal meetings, allowing Council members to hear the views of non-Council members.  I think it's a kind of a wide-open thing.  As for who will attend, you'd better check with Mexico.

[The Spokesman's Office later announced that only Council members meet in an Arria formula meeting, but they may meet with others they call to the meeting, such as non-governmental organizations, private citizens or others.]

Thank you very much.

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