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

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 Marie Okabe, Associate Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.

**Secretary-General's Statement

The first item is a statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General on the Middle East:

“The Secretary-General is appalled by the attack on a bus near the settlement in Emanuel in the West Bank earlier today in which seven Israelis were killed and some 25 injured.  He reiterates his utter condemnation of indiscriminate attacks against civilians which cannot be justified by any political or other objective.

“This terrorist attack was clearly designed to disrupt the search for a peaceful solution to the conflict.  The perpetrators cannot be allowed to succeed in their sinister purpose.”

We have copies of this statement available in the Spokesman’s office.

**Quartet Meeting

In New York today, starting at 11:30, the Secretary-General began to meet at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel with the senior members of the other parties comprising the so-called “Quartet” on the Middle East, in a session chaired by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.  Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and the European Union Commissioner dealing with foreign policy, Javier Solana, are the other Quartet members in attendance.

We expect that the session will end a little over an hour from now, and a brief press conference is to take place in the Waldorf Astoria’s Empire Room at about 1:30 p.m.  We expect a communiqué to be read out at that time, and we hope to have copies of that at the earliest availability.

The Secretary-General will then meet later this afternoon at his residence with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher.  Yesterday afternoon, he met with Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher, and they discussed in particular some ideas that the Arab side may bring up when the Jordanian and Egyptian Foreign Ministers, as well as Saudi Arabia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, meet with the Quartet members later today at the Secretary-General’s residence.

The meeting is to begin at 5:30 p.m. today, and is to be followed by a dinner. We expect to hold a press encounter, involving the Secretary-General and the Jordanian and Egyptian Foreign Ministers, at 7 p.m. at the residence, prior to the dinner.

**Security Council

Here at Headquarters, the Security Council held closed consultations on Burundi this morning and heard a briefing by Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast on the political, security and humanitarian situation in that country.

The Council President, British Ambassador Sir Jeremy Greenstock, is expected to read a press statement on Burundi following the morning’s consultations.

Council members heard a briefing from Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guéhenno on recent political and military developments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

They also were to hear a briefing by Mary Robinson, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, on the human rights situation in Kisangani in the northeastern part of that country.  Robinson was expected to brief on the preliminary report by the Special Rapporteur on extrajudical, summary or arbitrary executions, who had recently visited the area.

Robinson’s spokesmen in Geneva said in their briefing that this was the first time the High Commissioner had addressed the Security Council on a specific country.

**ECOSOC

Also here at Headquarters today, the Substantive Session of the Economic and Social Council continued with a meeting focusing on special economic, humanitarian and disaster relief assistance.  The session includes a panel discussion on reaching the vulnerable in complex humanitarian emergencies and natural disasters, with panel members Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund, Jean-Jacques Graisse, Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme, Ross Mountain, Assistant Emergency Relief Coordinator, and George Charpentier, UN Humanitarian Coordinator and Resident Coordinator in Burundi.

In her opening statement, Carol Bellamy said there were “no redeeming features to the reality of a child living in a war zone”.  She said it was essential to look at how effectively assistance was being provided to the vulnerable and explore ways to do better.

Ross Mountain added that there were three key elements to effective coordination of humanitarian assistance:  a clear plan, rapid mobilization of resources and timely and effective information services.

We have copies of the speeches available upstairs.

**Economic Commission for Africa

The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), in this year’s edition of its Economic Report on Africa, says that the continent grew faster than any other developing region last year, reflecting better microeconomic management, strong agricultural production and the end of conflicts in several countries.

However, the report argues, the average growth rate in Africa’s gross domestic product -– which was 4.3 per cent last year, up from 3.5 per cent in 2000 -– masks wide disparities.  Equatorial Guinea’s economy, for example, grew 65 per cent in 2001, while Zimbabwe’s contracted by 7.5 per cent.

The outlook for African economies over the current year is affected by the global slowdown, but there are some favourable signs, including the positive outlook for South Africa, the continent’s largest economy, and signs of favourable macroeconomic conditions in the three large North African economies of Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia.

We have an overview of the Economic Report on Africa available for you upstairs, and the entire report is now available on the Web site of the ECA.

**Iraq Note

The Executive Director of the Iraq Programme, Benon Sevan, wrote the Chairman of the 661 Sanctions Committee, Ambassador Ole Peter Kolby of Norway, on Monday, informing him that the Office of the Iraq Programme has made all the necessary arrangements to implement the revised procedures adopted by resolution 1409 (2002).  Those arrangements are effective as of yesterday.

Figures released by the Office of the Iraq Programme (OIP) in its weekly update show that Iraqi oil exports decreased slightly from the previous week’s total, standing at 5.1 million barrels in the week ending 12 June.  The week’s exports netted an estimated $120 million in revenue.

Owing to a revenue shortfall, 1,001 humanitarian supply contracts, worth about $2 billion, although approved by the United Nations, are currently lacking in funds and cannot be further processed.  Almost all the sectors of the programme continue to be affected by this shortfall in funds to some degree.

The full text of the OIP weekly update is available upstairs in the Spokesman’s office.

**UNHCR

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports today that the first group of Iranian refugees to repatriate from Iraq under UNHCR auspices returned home last Saturday, with 125 refugees crossing the border between those two countries, as part of an agreement signed between the Iranian Government and UNHCR last year.

So far, about 8,000 individuals have applied to repatriate under the auspices of the UNHCR programme, which is voluntary, and to date, Iran has approved the applications of 480 families to return.

We have more information in today’s UNHCR briefing notes, which also includes a note welcoming the recent agreement announced by the British and French Governments that would establish a process to close the Sangatte centre near Calais.  In that process, UNHCR would register the centre’s residents and assist in organizing the voluntary repatriation of Afghans at that centre who wish to return home.

**Advisory Board on Disarmament

The Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters will meet for a three-day closed session in Geneva, starting tomorrow.  The Board advises the Secretary-General on a wide range of disarmament issues, and it expects, at this session, to discuss the preparedness of public health systems to deal with bio-terrorism; nuclear safety; the weaponization of outer space; rising military expenditures; and disarmament and development.

The meeting will be chaired by Arundhati Ghose of India, and is the second meeting of the Advisory Board this year, following a session held in New York this winter.

**Press Releases

Some press releases to flag to you.  UNAIDS announced that the First Ladies of 18 African countries will gather in Geneva beginning tomorrow for three days to establish the African First Ladies Organization Against HIV/AIDS.  Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS, said it was a great step forward to see the First Ladies so committed to fighting the epidemic on the worst-hit continent.  “Through their leadership,” he said, “I am certain the First Ladies will inspire communities, families and individuals to play a more active role in turning back the epidemic.”

The World Health Organization meanwhile announced today the release of the draft text of a treaty that will be the basis for the final stage on negotiations on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.  This new text provides details of key issues such as advertising, promotion and sponsorship, illicit trade in tobacco products, taxes and areas for international cooperation.  The press release has more details and that’s available upstairs.

**Press Conferences

And finally, press conferences.  Well, I just mentioned to you the press conferences today regarding the Quartet, and that’s at 1:25-1:30 p.m. at the Waldorf and then at 7 p.m. at the Secretary-General’s residence.  Tomorrow at 2:30 p.m., that’s here in Room 226, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of South Africa, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma will be here in Room 226 to talk to you about the meeting of the Friends of the Chair of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, which as you know, will be taking place in Johannesburg later this summer.

And that’s what I have for you today.  Any questions?  Yes, E.D.

Questions and Answers

Question:  Marie, is there any chance that the Economic and Social Council session this afternoon is going to be televised, and if not, is there any chance of getting all of the speeches, particularly Mr. Brahimi’s?

Associate Spokesman:  I understand that Economic and Social Council meetings are not routinely covered by United Nations Television, and if there’s coverage requested there’s usually a request from the Council to do so.  I also understand that today, with the coverage going on of the Quartet at the Waldorf and with the residence, we’re a little bit stretched in terms of personnel working in United Nations Television.  But we will look into trying to get you the statements.  That I can try.

There’re no other questions?  Have a good afternoon.  It’s going to be a busy evening.

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