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 Hua Jiang, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General, and Richard Sydenham, Spokesman for the General Assembly President.

Briefing by Deputy Spokesman for Secretary-General

Good afternoon.

**Security Council -- Procedure

The Security Council open debate on Iraq began this morning with 67 speakers, including Council members who are scheduled to speak after all the non-members do.

The debate is expected to last through tomorrow.

Also, today, the Security Council Sanctions Committee on Liberia is scheduled to meet at 3 p.m.

**Secretary-General Iraq Speech

In his message delivered to the Security Council this morning, the Secretary-General said the Iraq crisis is one of the gravest and most serious facing the international community.  He called on the Council to face up to its responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.

“But this situation also presents the UN with an opportunity”, the Secretary-General said in the message which was delivered by Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette, “If we handle this properly, we may actually strengthen international cooperation, the rule of law, and the United Nations -- enabling it to move forward in a purposeful way, not only in this immediate crisis but in the future as well”.

As for Iraq’s responsibilities, the Secretary-General said Iraq has to fully comply with the Security Council’s resolutions.  Its decision to re-admit weapons inspectors was only a first step, he declared.

He told Council members that the adoption of a new resolution which would strengthen the hand of the UN weapons inspectors would be appropriate.  “The new measures”, he said, “must be firm, effective, credible and reasonable”.

In conclusion, he appealed for the members of the Security Council to remain united in their decision-making.

“If you allow yourselves to be divided”, the Secretary-General told the Council, “the authority and credibility of this Organization will undoubtedly suffer.  But if you act in unison, you will have greater impact, and a better chance of achieving your objective, which must be a comprehensive solution that includes the suspension and eventual ending of the sanctions that are causing such hardship for the Iraqi people, as well as the timely implementation of other provisions of your resolutions”.

The full copy of the speech is available upstairs.

**Secretary-General on Iraq

At a press encounter in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, today, the Secretary-General was asked about Iraq and said that the Security Council was reviewing the possibility of approving a new resolution that will strengthen the hand of the UN weapons inspectors.

“If Iraq were to continue to defy”, he said, “the chief inspector will report back to the Council and the Council would decide what to do”.

Pressed further on Iraq, the Secretary-General said that the question of whether there would be one resolution or two resolutions is being “hotly debated” and voiced his firm belief that, “at the end of the day when those discussions are over, the Council will come up with an optimal decision that will allow the inspectors to go back with a strengthened hand and continue their work”.

We have the transcript of his press encounter upstairs.

**Secretary-General Visits Mongolia

To give you a few more details about the Secretary-General’s visit to Mongolia, which began today and is his first visit to that country, the Secretary-General this afternoon met with Prime Minister Nambar Enkhbayar.

The Prime Minister described the economic trials the country has faced since the democratic revolution of 1989 and expressed his hope that the Secretary-General would attend the Third International Conference of New and Restored Democracies, which Mongolia will host in June of next year.

The Secretary-General saluted the Prime Minister’s commitment to economic reform, development and human rights and said he would try and attend the conference.

After holding a joint press conference with the Prime Minister, which I have just mentioned, the Secretary-General went to the Ikh Hural, or Parliament, where he addressed the assembly, saying, in a speech that is available upstairs, that the contributions of small States to international cooperation are crucially important.

He called for a fundamental compact between small States and large, based on an acknowledgement of mutual interest and “adherence to the norms and standards of international law, without which we would be left with the raw politics of power”, he said.

After addressing the assembly, the Secretary-General met with Mongolia’s President, Natsagiyn Bagabandi.

The President stressed Mongolia’s commitment to meeting the Millennium Development Goals and pledged support for the Secretary-General’s efforts at UN reform.  He then offered a military base outside Ulaanbaatar for use as a regional peacekeeping training facility.  The Secretary-General thanked the President for the offer and said he would convey the message to the UN Peacekeeping Department.

That evening, the Prime Minister hosted a dinner for the Secretary-General and his wife, Nane.

**Nane Annan

Nane Annan, by the way, had a programme of her own in Mongolia today.  She met rural and urban-based women leaders to discuss the situation of women in the country, and visited the National AIDS Foundation, which supports local organizations in their efforts to fight AIDS among vulnerable groups, notably sex workers, street children, mobile traders, the military and homosexuals.

**Democratic Republic of the Congo

Carolyn McAskie, the UN’s Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, concluded her mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo today.

The mission spent the past three days in the eastern part of the country looking at the rapidly evolving humanitarian situation.

She reports that recent fighting since the withdrawal of Rwandan troops has resulted in significant reductions in humanitarian access, most notably around Bukavu, Kindu and Uvira, where humanitarian organizations have had to suspend some activities or evacuate completely. 

Ongoing tensions in the town of Kindu have increased the number of displaced people to 11,000.

In Ituri, fighting between the Hema and the Lendu ethnic groups has displaced roughly 60,000 people in the past two months, bringing the total number of displaced in the Bunia area to around 500,000 people.

Ms. McAskie will continue on to Burundi, where she will get a first-hand look at the humanitarian impact fighting in the DRC is having in that country.

**Kosovo

Today in Kosovo, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Michael Steiner, met with Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Pavle to discuss the importance of participation by Kosovo’s Serbs in the 26 October municipal elections.

Steiner said he was encouraged by the discussions, during which he received support for his recent seven-point plan to normalize the situation in Mitrovica.  Patriarch Pavle also encouraged Kosovo Serbs to participate in the elections, saying he wanted a better future for the new generation in Kosovo.

We have a press release from the UN Mission in Kosovo with more details.

**Deputy Secretary-General

Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette will leave Headquarters this evening, traveling to Beirut to attend the Ninth Summit of the Francophonie.

She will address the opening session of the Summit on Friday, 18 October.  From Beirut, she will continue to Kabul, where she will arrive on Sunday for a three-day visit.  Her programme in Afghanistan will focus on internal meetings with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, but she will also meet with Government officials.

The Deputy Secretary-General will be back in the office on 24 October.

**Arab League Report

Out on the racks is the Secretary-General’s latest report on the cooperation between the United Nations and the League of Arab States.

The report notes the Arab League’s constructive role in facilitating the agreement by Iraq to return missing Kuwaiti archives.

**World Food Day

World Food Day is being marked by a major ceremony at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome.  The theme of this year’s observances is “Water: source of food security”. 

Speaking during the ceremony, FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf said with the world’s population expected to grow to 8 billion in the next 30 years, careful water management will be crucial to growing the food needed to lead healthy and productive lives.  He continued, “The combined vicious impact of poverty, rising demand for food and insufficient availability of water poses a serious challenge for world food security and universal access to clean water”.

Diouf also announced the appointment of new FAO ambassadors, including singer Dionne Warwick and football (soccer) player Roberto Baggio of Italy.

The Deputy Secretary-General will open an exhibit marking World Food Day this afternoon at 1 p.m. in the First Basement outside the Vienna Cafe.  We have her remarks, embargoed until delivery and the Secretary-General’s message available upstairs.

**Global Environment Facility

The Assembly of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) is meeting in Beijing in its second session beginning today.  The Secretary-General, in his message to the Assembly delivered by Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, said that in the 10 years since its founding, the GEF has become one of the key institutions working to ensure that the fight against poverty stays in harmony with environmental protection.  He added that the recent replenishment of the fund with $2.9 billion over the next four years was both a vote of confidence and a statement of expectation to carry out the agreements reached at the Johannesburg Summit.

Yesterday, the Chief Executive Officer of the GEF, Mohamed El-Ashry, announced that he would be stepping down when his term ends in July 2003.  He has been head of the Facility since its inception.

We have a press release and the full text of the Secretary-General’s message available upstairs.

**Press Conference

At 11:15 a.m. tomorrow, Ambassador Jean-David Levitte of France will be holding a press conference in this room on the International Day for the

Eradication of Poverty.  He will be joined by the recipient of the UNDP Poverty Eradication Award, Benson Venegas of Costa Rica’s Iniciativa Talamanca, and others.

That’s all I have for you today. Any questions?  Okay, Richard? 

Briefing by Spokesman for General Assembly President

Spokesman for the General Assembly President:      Thank you.  Good afternoon.

In a message for World Food Day today, General Assembly President Kavan said:  “World FoodDay gives us the opportunity to recall the fact that in this twenty-first century there are still nearly a billion people suffering from hunger and malnutrition.  As human society considers fighting hunger, malnutrition and poverty as its most fundamental challenge, eradication of extreme poverty and hunger was recognized as one of the main Millennium Development Goals.  He goes on to say:  “We therefore have to implement the Millennium Development Goals and fight poverty not only for moral and humanitarian reasons but also as an integral part of the fight against terrorism and extreme intolerance of all kinds.  This must be part of our ongoing struggle for a stable, secure and more just world.  There is no option of doing less than our utmost.”

The General Assembly plenary this morning discussed the agenda item: Elimination of unilateral extraterritorial coercive economic measures as a means of political and economic compulsion, and took a decision on draft resolution A/57/L.4, which was adopted.

The Assembly also continued joint debate on the Report of the Security Council and the question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council.  Twenty-seven Member States are inscribed to speak and this debate is expected to conclude this afternoon.

The First Committee continues consideration of draft resolutions on disarmament and related international security items.

The Second Committee starts a general debate on macroeconomic policy questions and the Third Committee continues discussion on the rights of children.

The Fifth Committee discusses financial reports and audited financial statements, and reports of the Board of Auditors and the Sixth Committee meets in closed informal consultations on measures to eliminate international terrorism. 

Tomorrow, the plenary will begin a joint debate on item 33 -- causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa, and item 41 -- final review and appraisal of the implementation of the UN New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s (UN-NADAF).

And tomorrow afternoon the Sixth Committee will hear statements on the issue of human cloning in open session.

Any questions?

Thank you.

Deputy Spokesman:      All right.  Despite the weather, have a very good afternoon.

* *** *