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.

Good afternoon.

**Iraq

As he came into the building this morning, the Secretary-General was asked by CNN for his reaction to the speech that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein gave in Baghdad today.  He replied, "at this stage, it seems as if they are not giving in an inch".  But he added, "we are at the early stages yet".

Asked about the Iraqi President's call for the UN to honour its obligations concerning UN sanctions against Iraq, the Secretary-General commented, "That is not new.  In effect", he said, "this was part of the 19 questions they gave to the UN earlier this year".

He said he still did not have a response to his letter to the Iraqi Foreign Minister inviting chief weapons inspector Hans Blix to Baghdad for technical discussions.

As he came out of the Security Council a few minutes ago, he was again stopped by the press and asked about the speech.  "I don't see any change in attitude", he commented.  "The President's statement, insisting on answers to the 19 questions, doesn't show any flexibility from their previous position."

"So this doesn't make you too optimistic that we are any further along?" a reporter asked.

"Not at this stage," the Secretary-General replied. "Unless there are unseen developments."

**Statement Attributable to Spokesman for Secretary-General

The following statement is attributable to the Spokesman concerning the events in Bogotá yesterday.  “The Secretary-General strongly condemns the attacks yesterday, in Bogotá, Colombia, during the inauguration ceremony of President Alvaro Uribe Velez, killing 14 people while wounding dozens of others.  The violence that, sadly, has become a part of daily life in Colombia, demonstrates a complete disregard for human life.  Initial reports indicate that most of those killed were civilians from a poor neighbourhood near the presidential palace.

“The Secretary-General emphatically condemns any attack against civilians and reiterates his longstanding appeal to all armed elements in Colombia to respect the civilian population.  He extends his heartfelt condolences to the victims and their families, and expresses his hope that in the coming period Colombia will seek political solutions to resolve the country’s decades-long conflict.”

**Middle East

Yesterday afternoon, the Secretary-General issued a statement, saying that all parties in the Middle East agree that the civilian population of the West Bank and Gaza is facing a severe and mounting humanitarian crisis.  Three weeks ago the Quartet -- which comprises the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and the Russian Federation -- met in New York, expressed their deep concern about this crisis, and agreed that the United Nations should lead a concerted international effort to alleviate the plight of the Palestinian people.

The Secretary-General, in his statement, says, “I have therefore appointed Ms. Catherine Bertini, the former head of the World Food Programme, as my Personal Humanitarian Envoy.  She will be travelling to the region this weekend to assess the nature and the scale of the humanitarian crisis, and to review humanitarian needs in the light of recent developments.”

He adds that she will consult with UN officials in the area, as well as those of the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement and the donor and non-governmental community, to review assistance activities already under way, or planned, and identify any new measures that are needed.  She will also meet the Israeli and Palestinian authorities to discuss with them what needs to be done. 

She will report to the Secretary-General, and through him to the Quartet, on what needs to be done to respond to the humanitarian situation and to prevent it from deteriorating further.

Also today on the Middle East, Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), yesterday issued a statement deploring the recent surge of violence, and condemning last week’s terrorist attack on the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, an institution of higher learning with which UNESCO has maintained strong cooperation.

**Security Council

This morning the Security Council held an open meeting on the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  The Secretary-General, the Foreign Minister of South Africa Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the DRC Foreign Minister Leonard She Okitundu and Rwanda Special Envoy for the DRC Patrick Mazimhaka spoke at the meeting.

In his speech, the Secretary-General hailed the signing of the peace agreement between the DRC and Rwandan Government in Pretoria on 30 July as “an important political milestone, which could help pave the way towards a lasting resolution of one of Africa’s most complex conflicts”.  He then urged the parties to “take the steps required to operationalize the agreement as soon as possible”.

The Secretary-General underscored that the international community must provide all necessary support and said that he had instructed the United Nations Mission in the DRC to determine which actions it could take within its current mandate and resources to assist the parties.

He welcomed the presence in the Council of the visiting speakers, saying:  “I look forward to a very serious dialogue, not only here in the Council, but also with various UN departments.  I think this reflects the value of the new partnership between the African Union and the United Nations”, he said.

The Council then went into a private meeting on the DRC.

**Kosovo

The UN Mission in Kosovo today said that, following the issuance of an arrest warrant against him, Milan Ivanovic, a doctor in northern Mitrovica, should surrender himself to the appropriate authorities.

An international judge issued the arrest warrant last week, for Dr. Ivanovic to be tried on charges of attempted murder in connection with a violent demonstration that took place in Mitrovica last April 8.  During that demonstration, 22 UN police officers were wounded after being attacked by people who fired guns and used hand grenades against them.

We have a press release from Pristina with more information.

**Kosovo -- Mental Health

Also on Kosovo, the UN Mission in Kosovo has received copies of a report, which was launched yesterday in New York by the group Mental Disability Rights International, detailing the poor treatment of mental inmates in Kosovo.

The Mission has been aware of the abuses and failings in the mental health field cited in the report, and it agrees that there are serious problems related to the treatment of mentally ill and disabled persons in Kosovo.

The Mission does not actually run mental institutions in Kosovo, which are the responsibility of Kosovo’s Ministry of Health, but it is working with local staff to try and improve the situation.

The main problem in rectifying the problem in those institutions, however, has been lack of resources.  We need resources to improve staffing, training and facilities.  So far, however, donor response in dealing with mental health priorities has been poor.

**Statement Attributable to Spokesman for Secretary-General

We have the following statement on the situation between Belize and Guatemala   “The Secretary-General has been following with interest the Belize-Guatemala Facilitation Process designed to assist the Governments of Belize and Guatemala achieve a peaceful resolution of the longstanding territorial controversy between the two countries.

“The Secretary-General notes with satisfaction that significant progress has been made since the process began in August 2000 under the auspices of the Organization of American States.  He now wishes to urge the parties to persevere in concluding outstanding issues.  In so doing, he emphasizes that a permanent, just and equitable solution will benefit the peoples of Belize and Guatemala, and signal a new relationship between these Central American neighbours”. 

**Afghanistan Refugees

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced today that it hopes to begin the voluntary move of refugees from Chaman and Spin Boldak on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border to a new relocation site which is being set up west of Kandahar in the coming weeks. 

There are over 30,000 displaced people in Spin Boldak and another 25,000 in Chaman and the conditions in both camps are described as difficult and the humanitarian situation as appalling.  Many aid agencies have retreated from the area and access had been limited in the past months to those agencies that remained.

The relocation of these families from the border areas was requested by both the Governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan. 

**Northern Uganda

The World Food Programme (WFP) warns that it has become unable to distribute food to camps in northern Uganda without heavily armed escorts.  Even with the escort, distribution is possible only on days when the authorities believe that security conditions permit.  This is why there have been no deliveries in Gulu district for the past four days.

The situation has created a problem for internally displaced persons who are entirely dependent upon WFP for food.  Access to gardens near camps for the internally displaced is cut off by insecurity, and the harvest from those gardens is likely to be lost.

Over the past three days, WFP has rushed 45 tons of food, in a heavily escorted convoy, to assist refugees who fled from the Acholi Pii refugee camp following the attack earlier this week by Lord’s Resistance Army rebels, in which 50 people were killed.

**Global Environment Facility

The United Nations Environment Programme announced that a multi-billion dollar agreement was signed by donor countries yesterday to boost the Global Environment Facility.

The Executive Director of UNEP, Klaus Toepfer, welcomed the news that 32 countries have agreed to replenish the fund with $2.92 billion for its operations over the next four years.  He said this was the largest amount ever for the fund and would be an invaluable weapon in the fight against poverty and environmental degradation.

"The World Summit on Sustainable Development”, he said, “will be a crucial test of the world's ability and its enthusiasm for tackling the very pressing problems facing people and the planet today".  "The pledges for the GEF replenishment”, he said, “show that in one critical area we are starting to move from words to implementation”.

**UNFPA

The United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, today welcomed the expression of support from 53 African countries which jointly wrote to the United States Administration urging it to restore its contributions to the Fund.

African countries are the major beneficiaries of UNFPA programmes and the recent decision on funding by the US government will have a negative impact on the population programmes in African countries.

**Virus in Madagascar

The World Health Organization has been collaborating with the Government of Madagascar on the recent outbreak of a flu-like virus in the south of the country.  WHO staff from the country office have been assisting in the verification and collection of samples which have been sent to the French Pasteur Institute where two of the 39 samples taken have tested positive for Influenza A viruses.

WHO, at the request of the Government, is putting together a small team to advise and assist with primary care and case management of the affected.  The team is expected to arrive in Madagascar early next week.

**Signings

The last item for today is a signing.  In a few minutes, Chile will sign the Protocol on trafficking in persons and the Protocol against smuggling, both supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.

That’s the report for today.  Yes.

Questions and Answers

Questions:  Do you know, do we know what the subject matter is of the meeting between the Libyan ambassador and the Secretary-General later today?

Spokesman:  No.  I think you heard him say at the stakeout that we should wait until after the meeting to find out what it’s about.

Question:   Did Libya request the meeting?

Spokesman:  To my knowledge, yes, the request came from Libya.

Questions:  Also, in upcoming events, there’s going to be an inter-faith service with the General Assembly.  Is that going to be moved up to 11 September to coincide with the memorial that’s going on in New York?

Spokesman:  We haven’t heard from the General Assembly President what they are thinking is about an event for the 11 September.  To my knowledge there is nothing planned yet.  But I can’t rule out that there will be one.  Similarly with the Security Council.  You might have seen in the newspapers the first public account by the City of New York of what they plan and I believe that the Secretary-General and some heads of delegations will be invited to the evening event being organized by the City downtown.  So, I think with the publication yesterday of the City’s plans, you’ll now see the various United Nations bodies begin concrete planning of their own.

Okay, thanks very much.

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