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

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, and Richard Sydenham, Spokesman for the General Assembly President.

**Guest at Noon Briefing

Our guest at the briefing today will be Carolyn McAskie, the United Nations Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, and she'll be here to talk about her recent mission to southern Africa.

**Iraq

The Executive Chairman of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Mission for Iraq, Hans Blix, will brief members of the Security Council in a closed meeting this afternoon beginning at 4 p.m.

Blix joined the Secretary-General in his meeting yesterday afternoon with the Iraqi Foreign Minister, Naji Sabri, at which the Secretary-General stressed the need for Iraq to provide full and unconditional cooperation to the United Nations inspectors and reaffirmed his confidence in Blix's professionalism and impartiality.

Blix told the Foreign Minister that he wished to get off to a "flying start" and looked forward to finalizing the practical arrangements for inspections when they next meet in Vienna starting 30 September.

**Statement on the Middle East

The following statement is attributable to the Spokesman concerning events in the Middle East.

“The Secretary-General is appalled by the recent acts of violence in the Middle East that have pierced a period of relative calm.  He strongly reiterates the statement of the Quartet on 17 September calling for an end to violence and terror and deploring and condemning such acts as morally repugnant.  He hopes that in the period after the two suicide attacks on Israelis and the bomb planted at a Palestinian school over the past three days the parties will act with restraint.

“The Secretary-General believes that only a comprehensive solution developed through a process that addresses political, security, humanitarian and economic issues in parallel can ensure real security for the parties.  The commitment of the parties to the roadmap agreed at the recent meeting of the Quartet coupled with an effective Quartet monitoring mechanism remains the best path to that solution.”

**Security Council

Lakhdar Brahimi, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, briefed the Security Council in an open meeting this morning before Council members went into consultations on the same agenda item.

He highlighted the two most pressing challenges that the Afghan people are facing:  security and recovery.  He warned that if we fail to address these, “fragmentation will become more entrenched, extremism will rise, and then foreign countries, groups or individuals may be drawn once again into the fray”.

He appealed to the international community to provide “committed, sustained and generous support”.  He then outlined areas where international funding was mostly needed, including employment-generation, introduction of a new currency and development of the capacity of governing.

On security, Brahimi reminded the members of the proliferation of local conflicts and violence, adding that:  “in the past few days there have been positive developments in these troublesome areas”.

In concluding his speech, he underscored that time was of the essence and he appealed to the international community to “turn its undoubted commitment to Afghanistan into more forceful action”. 

At 3:30 this afternoon, the Security Council has scheduled a meeting with troop-contributing countries to the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

And then, also today before that at 3 p.m., there is a meeting of the Security Council Committee overseeing sanctions against Usama bin Laden, the Al Qaeda organization, the Taliban and their associates to discuss further the report by the expert group monitoring the implementation of those sanctions.  That meeting will take place in Conference Room 7.

**Secretary-General's address to the Group of 77

The Secretary-General this morning addressed the ministers of the Group of 77, which is now a 133-nation coalition of developing countries, and said the last year has been a challenging one for them, with the world economy recovering very slowly following its setback last year.  He said that any return by the developing countries to the growth rates they had achieved prior to the Asian crisis would likely not take place until 2005.

Yet, he also underscored the achievement of the main economic meetings of the past year, from the World Trade Organization meeting in Doha, Qatar, to the International Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey, Mexico and the World Summit on Sustainable Development that just took place in Johannesburg, South Africa.

He warned that his recent report on progress achieved towards implementing the goals of the Millennium Declaration presents a mixed picture, with progress so far toward reducing child and maternal mortality being “inadequate”.

He told the Group of 77 that next week he will submit to the Member States an agenda of measures to strengthen the United Nations further.  The Secretary-General emphasized:  “We must focus our energies not on activities that are of marginal utility or programs that are no longer serving their intended purposes, but on the major challenges of our era and the things that really matter to the peoples of the world”.  We have copies of his remarks available upstairs.

**Secretary-General Report on Reform

Concerning that report, the Secretary-General will come here to present it on Monday at 10:30 a.m., at which he will give a press conference.

And then tomorrow, immediately following the noon briefing, we'll bring two members of the United Nations reform team to speak to you off-the-record, mainly to walk you through the contents of the report, and we'll also give you embargoed copies of the report at that time.  Because it's an off-the-record briefing, United Nations Television will not cover it, but delegations may view it from studio 4 in the basement.

**Burundi

Concerning Burundi -- and we had a question from Mr. Abbadi yesterday -— and the reports of a massacre of close to 200 civilians, local representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights have been sent to the Gitega province to look into the situation.

Meanwhile, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reported earlier this week that more than 1,000 Burundian refugees have fled for Tanzania over the last two weeks, sparking fears that the intensifying conflict between Burundian military and rebel forces could drive out larger numbers.   And we may have a statement on Burundi later today.

**Democratic Republic of the Congo

The United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo received a letter this morning from Rwandan military officials informing the Mission of their withdrawal from Kabalo, Kongolo, Nyunzu and Kalemie in the North Katanga region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The operation is scheduled to start this Saturday.  Withdrawal orders were sent accordingly to operational commanders on the ground.  Further details are not available concerning the number of troops or the next withdrawal plan.  So far 1,380 soldiers have pulled out of Kindu/Kalima area and have arrived home in Kigali.

**Kosovo

The United Nations Mission in Kosovo said today that, following a thorough investigation by a United Nations team including three forensic experts, it has concluded that media reports that a cemetery in Orahovac may contain a mass grave for Kosovo Serbs are “completely unfounded”.  A Serbian pathologist also visited the site earlier this week and confirmed the findings of the United Nations Mission that the cemetery contained no fresh graves.  We have a press release from the Mission with more details.

**Haiti

The independent expert on human rights in Haiti, Louis Joinet, will visit that country, starting this Saturday, at the Government’s invitation.  During his visit, which is to last through 29 September, he will meet with Government officials, as well as those from the United Nations system and the Organization of American States.  Joinet, who was appointed by the Secretary-General last March, is to report to the Commission on Human Rights about the situation in Haiti next April.

**International Day of Peace

As the International Day of Peace, 21 September, falls on a Saturday this year, it will be observed tomorrow at Headquarters with the ringing of the Peace Bell.  The Secretary-General will ring the Peace Bell following a brief ceremony, which begins at 10 a.m. in the Japanese Garden in front of the Secretariat building.  The Secretary-General’s message on the day is out as a press release in English and French.

A Peace Vigil will also take place in the Meditation Room in the General Assembly Public Lobby from tomorrow at 7:15 a.m. through midnight on Saturday.  The Secretary-General and Mrs. Annan will participate in the Vigil at 2:45 tomorrow afternoon.

**International Disability Award

This morning, the Secretary-General’s Chief of Staff, Iqbal Riza, delivered a message on behalf of the Secretary-General to the ceremony at which the President of Ecuador, Gustavo Noboa Bejarano, was presented with the Franklin Delano Roosevelt International Disability Award. 

The Secretary-General said that Ecuador was one of the first countries in the world to include the rights of people with disabilities in its Constitution and to provide legal instruments to uphold those rights.  “Ecuador”, he said, "has been at the forefront of the movement for equal opportunities for disabled people, and for their full participation in society".

Since 1995, the award has been presented to the country that makes noteworthy progress toward the goal of the United Nations World Programme of Action Concerning Disabled Persons.  Later today, the Secretary-General’s wife, Nane, will speak at a luncheon honoring the recipients of the award.

Mrs. Annan will pay tribute to some of the people with disabilities she has met and who have inspired her.  She will say, “In Mozambique just recently, I met a man who had suffered from polio, and he was the one the community had selected as leader of their efforts to bring safe water and sanitation to the community”. 

She'll go on, "I have also met survivors of landmines.  In Angola, I visited children whose young lives had been torn apart by these devilishly small devices".  "I met a boy", she'll say "perhaps he was 12.  He would have to live his life without a leg because he went out to play.  I met mothers on crutches or in wheelchairs, caring for their children".

**United Nations Yearbook on CD-ROM

The Department of Public Information has announced that for the first time, the United Nations Yearbook has been published in CD-ROM format.

Users will now be able to access the more than 59,000 pages of text and indices in the popular Portable Document Format, using the widely available Adobe Acrobat software.  Searching the index will enable users to follow an issue across volumes, tracking the changes in the Organization over the years.

The United Nations Yearbook Collection, a two CD-ROM set, I have one here, includes all 53 volumes published to date from 1946 -- this is the Spokesman's copy from 1946.  [Shows book]  And it goes through to 1999.  53 of these little volumes on these two little disks.  So that's modern technology for you. 

The set will be updated annually and the collection is now available by subscription from the United Nations Publications Unit.  We also have a press release on it upstairs.

**Press Releases

Other press releases today.  A statistical report of the Chief Executives Board on the budgetary and financial situation of the organizations of the United Nations system.  And Catherine O'Neill of our Washington Office, you will love this because when I was doing the Washington beat ten or fifteen years ago, what I wanted was budgetary statistics across the system, and I'm glad it's finally out.  The report includes tables reflecting the approved budgets and assessed contributions of the United Nations and the specialized agencies from 1994 to 2003.

A second press release.  The World Health Organization and its partners will meet in Burkino Faso next week to try to reach agreement on a strategy to combat meningitis in Africa. 

**Signing

Signings.  This morning, Malawi became the 81st country to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.  And this afternoon, Senegal will become the second country to ratify the Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the International Criminal Court.

**Press Conference

Press conference, tomorrow at 11 a.m. in this room, Ioannis Kasoulides of Cyprus -- that's the Foreign Minister of Cyprus -- will be here to brief you. 

Scholarship Fund Launch

And the Correspondents Association asked me to announce that the Dag Hammarskjold Memorial Scholarship Fund luncheon with the Secretary-General will be held on Wednesday, 25 September, in the Delegates Dining Room.  And correspondents wishing to attend can purchase tickets from Judy Aita in room C-310.  But you must do so by Monday.  And we have details in the third floor bullpen.

That's all I have for you. 

**Questions and Answers

Question:  If Iraq has no conditions about inspectors, why is it so difficult to send the first team right away?  Who gives the authorization?  The Security Council?  The Secretary-General?  Blix?

Spokesman:  First of all, I don't speak for Hans Blix, but I will try to, as accurately as I can, represent his views. 

He feels that unless the basic understandings on the practical arrangements for the inspections are reached before he goes there, it's inviting trouble.  So he wants to work out with Iraq all the practical details for these inspections.  And as we've already told you, his team and the Iraqi team will meet in Vienna starting on 30 September and at that session -- I don't know how long it will last -- Mr. Blix has said that he wants to get off to a flying start.  As quickly as possible, they will finalize those arrangements, after which, they will send people to Iraq.  Before they can send inspectors, they really just have to send people to reopen their offices, their laboratories, replace computers if they need replacing.  Basically get the infrastructure in place before the inspectors can go. 

All of that can be done reasonably quickly.  I can't tell you exactly how quickly.  As for the relationship between those inspections and the Security Council, Mr. Blix reports to the Security Council.  So, we'll have to see what additional marching orders -- if any -- the Council gives him. 

Question:  I know you weren't at the meeting.  According to one paper, United States officials are saying that in the technical talks Tuesday there was already some obstructionism.  Is there any way that you are able to comment on that or confirm that?

Spokesman:  That's the first time I heard it, but I think you should put that question to Dr. Blix. 

Question: Today President Bush said very clearly that there were no negotiations with Iraq -- no negotiations at all.  These talks between the United Nations and the Iraqis sound like negotiations about practical arrangements.  It's still not clear.

Spokesman:  I don't think you would negotiate practical arrangements.  These are discussions about practical arrangements on the understanding that there are no conditions.  But the procedures for carrying out inspections have to be laid out very clearly at the beginning, so that problems that could be anticipated now are not encountered later on the ground to cause some kind of conflict that could trigger a more serious situation.  So we're trying to eliminate all these practical obstacles to a smooth inspection process.  It's not a negotiation.

Question:  What is the United Nations response to President Bush saying again today, more out in the open, that in effect no matter what the United Nations does, the United States is justified and will stage its own action.  Whatever it wants.  Besides accusing the United Nations of having no backbone, is the United Nations feeling that that's a justified position?

Spokesman:  Well, I've already said before in this room I think when these comments are addressed to the United Nations, it's not to us the Secretariat.  I think he's talking about his fellow members of the Security Council.  And that is being discussed among members of the Council at the highest level.  The Secretariat is not going to enter into that debate.  So, let's just see what emerges from the Council when eventually they sit down to discuss Iraq, maybe even starting this afternoon when Dr. Blix briefs them on his preliminary discussions with the Iraqis on practical arrangements.

Question: Isn't he, in effect, by those comments that he heard moments before his own, putting the Secretary-General's speech in the garbage can? 

Spokesman: I'm not going to comment on a speech by the President of the United States that I don't think was aimed at the Secretary-General. 

**Briefing by Spokesman for the General Assembly President

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's briefing by Richard Sydenham, the Spokesman for the General Assembly President.

Good afternoon.  Today the General Assembly is scheduled to hear 23 speakers in general debate this morning and this afternoon.  As you know, Iraq is scheduled to address the General Assembly round about now and copies of the speech are available on the third floor.

Tomorrow the bell-ringing ceremony will take place at 10 a.m.  As background, I'd like to remind you that General Assembly resolution 55/282 of 28 September decided that the peace bell ringing ceremony would be held to commemorate the International Day of Peace, which is designated by the General Assembly to fall on 21 September every year.  It will no longer be scheduled on the opening day of the regular session of the General Assembly, as was the practice in previous years.

As the 21 September -- as Fred mentioned -- falls on a Saturday this year, the ceremony will take place tomorrow at 10 a.m.  The President of the General Assembly will make a statement, following the Secretary-General, which will be issued as a press release.

Because of the peace bell ringing ceremony tomorrow, the General Assembly is scheduled to start tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. with 22 speakers scheduled morning and afternoon, with the general debate scheduled to end tomorrow. 

Are there any questions?  Thank you.

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