DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
| Press Briefing |
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.
**Guest at Noon
Our guest today is Ambassador Luis Gallegos Chiriboga of Ecuador. He is the Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on Persons with Disabilities and he will talk to you about the work of that Committee which wraps up today.
**Middle East
There has been some comment in the Middle Eastern media prompted by an interview that the Secretary-General gave to Israeli TV earlier this week concerning the status of Chairman Yasser Arafat. And I would just like to say for the record that the Secretary-General has repeatedly and consistently stated, as he did after the recent meeting with the Quartet here in New York, that it is up to the Palestinian people to elect their leaders. President Arafat has been elected by the Palestinian people and the United Nations will continue to deal with him in this capacity. On the same basis, the UN will deal with the leaders elected in the Palestinian elections announced for early next year. And I think if you look at the text of the interview, and if anyone would like to see it, it’s available in my Office, you will see that the Secretary-General’s comments in that interview reflect that same position.
**Secretary-General’s Travel
From tomorrow, the Secretary-General will take two weeks’ vacation -– I know I said three weeks earlier this week. But I don’t want you to think he’s a slacker. It’s only two weeks. And then on his way to the Johannesburg summit he will make a series of official visits to four southern African countries -- starting with Angola from the 25th to the 27th of August, then Botswana from the 27th to the 28th. Lesotho from the 28th to 29th, and Mozambique from the 29th through 1 September. And then he will be in Johannesburg for the Summit, from the 1st of September through the 4th.
And then on his way back to New York, he will stop in Paris on the 5th and 6th, where he will hold talks on Cyprus with H.E. Mr. Glafcos Clerides, the Greek Cypriot leader, and H.E. Mr. Rauf Denktash, the Turkish Cypriot leader.
He will be arriving back in New York on 7 September.
**Afghanistan
The United Nations Assistant Mission in Afghanistan informed us that at around noon today local time there was an explosion at the warehouse of the non-governmental organization Afghan Construction and Logistics Unit, known as ACLU.
The warehouse is located some eight kilometres outside of Jalalabad City, near the university.
The building was surrounded by some 200 private houses, 80 per cent of which are estimated to have been destroyed. The hospital in Jalalabad has now put casualty figures at nine dead and 53 injured. The facts behind the explosion are not yet definitively known.
Officers of the United Nations Mission in Jalalabad visited the site of the explosion and the Mission also convened a meeting of all UN agencies and international NGOs in the area to review needs and provide assistance to victims. The United Nations Mission personnel are on the site of the explosion for further damage assessment and to determine additional assistance needs.
**Security Council
After wrapping up its private meeting on the Democratic Republic of the Congo yesterday afternoon, the Security Council has nothing on its agenda today, and has no consultations scheduled for either today or Monday.
The Council’s next scheduled session is for Tuesday, when it expects to hold a private meeting to discuss the UN Mission of Support in East Timor.
**Refugee News
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, reports that 17,000 Sudanese refugees who fled from Monday’s attack on the Acholi-Pii refugee camp in Uganda south to Lira, have once again been moved. The refugees are now being accommodated at a transit site at Kiryondongo after fears of another attack by the Lord’s Resistance Army. Another 3,000 refugees who made it to Lira on their own were also moved to Kiryondongo. Plans are being made to upgrade the facility quickly to accommodate the new arrivals.
In other news, UNHCR reports that the last group of 269 refugees who had earlier returned from Guinea left their temporary accommodation in Sierra Leone on Wednesday to return to their home in Kono and Kailahun. UNHCR has facilitated the return of more than 80,000 Sierra Leoneans from Guinea and Liberia since September 2000. Repatriation by sea is continuing from Liberia, with a fourth boat arriving in Freetown this week. A total of 1,222 people have been repatriated from Liberia since the beginning of the sea operation on
20 July.
In Iran, UNHCR reports that the Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants has granted them access to detention centres throughout the country where Afghan nationals threatened with deportation are being held. This will allow UNHCR to establish a screening system to review claims for asylum.
We have more details in my Office.
**Staff Safety
The UN Office in Nairobi issued a press release today strongly condemning the abduction earlier this week of a Somali national staff member of the Food and Agriculture Organization. He was abducted while travelling to his office in Mogadishu on Monday, and the United Nations is demanding his immediate and unconditional release.
**Human Rights
Yesterday in Geneva, the Chairman of the Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, said that the Subcommission urged the authorities in the United States to do everything possible to stay the execution of Javier Suárez Medina, a Mexican national who is on death row in Texas. His execution is scheduled to take place on
14 August. The Subcommission said that the US authorities did not comply with their obligations under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, which guarantees consular access for foreign detainees.
In another human rights issue, the Special Rapporteur dealing with the independence of judges and lawyers, Dato Param Cumaraswamy, has expressed concern about proposed changes to Italy’s judicial system, notably an amendment that would allow for trials to be transferred to different courts if there were legitimate suspicions that trials could be compromised by local circumstances.
If you need the details on that, you can pick up the press release.
**Indigenous People’s Day
Today is the International Day of Indigenous People and in his message the Secretary-General says that thanks to the newly created Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, indigenous people now have a home at the United Nations. He said we have much to learn from indigenous peoples -- their traditions of consensus can assist in conflict resolution and good governance and their medical knowledge and management techniques with complex ecosystems are of great value.
The full text of the message is available in my Office. There will be a programme this afternoon to open an exhibit in the Visitors’ Lobby, and you’re all welcome.
**Press Releases
Press releases today: The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs today launched “Living with Risk”, a 400-page study of disaster reduction initiatives in Tokyo. The study builds on the experience of planners around the world in dealing with natural and man-made disasters. An embargoed press release was issued yesterday and has details of the Web site where the document itself can be found.
**Football
Last night, the Secretary-General attended the football match between Real Madrid and Roma at Giants Stadium in New Jersey that raised $375,000 for the United Nations fight against HIV/AIDS.
The Secretary-General told the fans in remarks before the start of the match that, although they were gathered to watch great athletes in action in the game most of the world considers real football, they were also supporting action against an epidemic. “I want you to enjoy the match”, he said, “and remember, whether you support Roma or Real Madrid, they support the fight against AIDS. So should you.”
The Secretary-General told the promoters of the event, Championsworld, that he would love to see this type of event all over the world. Tonight in Manchester, England, the Manchester United football team will play Boca Juniors of Argentina in a benefit match for the United Nations Children's Fund. Charlie Stillitano, the head of Championsworld, said they would be interested in having an annual United Nations Cup. “We would name it for you,” he said to the Secretary-General, “except it would then have to be called the Kofi Cup.”
The match, attended by more than 70,000 fans, ended in a 0-0 draw.
We have the text of the Secretary-General’s remarks in my office as well as the Week Ahead for you.
Any questions before we go to Ambassador Gallegos? Yes, Mohammed.
Questions and AnswersQuestion: What was the result of the football match?
Spokesman: 0-0. Ambassador, welcome to the briefing.
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