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

Briefing by the Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General

Good afternoon.  I’ve just learned that we have a group of journalists from India and another group from Albania.  Welcome to the United Nations.

**Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

The following is a statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary General:

"The Secretary-General is extremely concerned by the reported existence in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) of a programme to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons, as announced by the United States State Department, following the recent DPRK-United States discussions in Pyongyang.  If confirmed, the alleged programme would not be in conformity with the DPRK’s international obligations, including under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation Treaty of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).  It would also be contrary to international efforts to reduce and eliminate weapons of mass destruction.

“The Secretary-General welcomes the consultations that have already begun among interested countries.  Issues related to weapons of mass destruction must be accorded highest priority."

**International Atomic Energy Agency

Following the request of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) yesterday to the DPRK for information about the reports of an undeclared uranium enrichment facility, IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei today wrote a message to the DPRK confirming the Agency's readiness to dispatch a senior team to that country, or to receive a DPRK team in Vienna, to discuss this matter and the general question of the implementation of IAEA safeguards in the DPRK.

The Director-General expressed the hope that the DPRK will, without delay, come back into full compliance with its nuclear non-proliferation obligations.

**Sudan

This is another statement attributable to the Spokesman of the Secretary-General.

"The Secretary-General welcomes the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding to cease hostilities by the Government of the Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement on 15 October 2002 in Machakos, Kenya, and the resumption of peace talks under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

“The Secretary-General commends the parties for committing themselves to allow unimpeded humanitarian access to all areas and for people in need, in accordance with the Operation Lifeline Sudan Agreement, and calls upon them urgently to agree on modalities for such unimpeded access.  The Resident/ Humanitarian Coordinator and Country Team are at an advanced stage of preparing a humanitarian action plan that will expand operations to all areas of the Sudan that have been affected by the conflict.  The success of the plan will depend on immediate and unimpeded access to all civilians in need.

“The Secretary-General is concerned about reports that hostilities may be continuing in some parts of the country and that such activities could once again jeopardize the important talks under way at Machakos.  The progress that has been made so far has raised the hope of the people of the Sudan and of the international community that a milestone may have been reached in the IGAD-led effort to restore peace to the country.

“The Secretary-General appeals to the Sudanese parties to pursue the negotiations in earnest and to ensure that agreement on a comprehensive settlement of the devastating conflict in the country is reached without further delay.  He reiterates the support of the United Nations to the peace process and its readiness to contribute to efforts to implement a peace agreement."

**Middle East

In a statement released late yesterday afternoon, the Secretary-General deplored the attacks in Gaza yesterday by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) in which at least six Palestinians were killed.

He was especially disturbed that the IDF fired tank rounds and heavy machine gun fire at two schools, one of which belonged to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

In the statement, the Secretary-General once again called on the Government of Israel to halt such military actions in heavily populated areas and live up to its obligations under international humanitarian law to take special care to protect civilians, as well as to ensure the security of United Nations installations.

He also reiterated his appeal to both sides to stop all acts of violence and provocation, as called for by the Security Council.

The statement is available upstairs.

Today, UNRWA sent an assessment team to Rafah to look at the damage caused by the fighting.  Initial reports suggest that 20 refugee shelters, which are home to 39 families, were damaged to such an extent that they are now uninhabitable.

**Iraq

The following is another statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General:

“Tomorrow, Saturday, 19 October, Iraq will commence returning to Kuwait the Kuwaiti archives which were taken by Iraq following its occupation of Kuwait in 1990.  The modalities for the transfer were arranged with Iraq and Kuwait by the United Nations in August 2002.

“The return will take place at Camp Abdaly, the headquarters of the northern sector of the United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM), which is located in the Kuwaiti sector of the demilitarized zone between Iraq and Kuwait.”

**Deputy Secretary-General

This morning in Beirut, the Deputy Secretary-General, Louise Fréchette, delivered a speech at a summit meeting of the Francophonie Organization.

The theme of the summit is dialogue of cultures.  That dialogue, the Deputy Secretary-General said, must be based on the respect and dignity of cultures and all civilizations.  “Culture diversity”, she went on to say, “is a source of vitality and a wealth we have a duty to preserve.”

Turning to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Ms. Fréchette said it was clear that it would never be resolved by military force or violence, in whatever shape.  It would have to be a political solution negotiated on equal footing.

But how many hundreds of thousands of people must die and how much hardship must people endure, before leaders on both sides had the foresight and courage to accept the inevitable? she asked.

The full text of her speech is available upstairs, in French, of course.

**Security Council

The Security Council began this morning with consultations on presidential statements relating to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic.

The Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Kieran Prendergast, then gave a monthly review on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.

The last item on the agenda is Angola during which members are expected to discuss the extension of the monitoring mechanism on sanctions against the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA).

Once its consultations adjourn, the Council expects to hold formal meetings on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola and the Central African Republic.

**Secretary-General Travels

The Secretary-General is in Uzbekistan, having arrived at midday at Tashkent, where he spoke briefly at the airport with Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Komilov before meeting with the United Nations country team.

The Secretary-General visited the Uzbek Parliament, where he met privately with committee chairs and other parliamentary leaders, to discuss democratic and economic reforms, environmental issues and the protection of women, and ways that the United Nations could assist in those areas.

After the talks in the Parliament, the Secretary-General met with Uzbek President Islam Karimov and with Foreign Minister Komilov.  At a press encounter afterwards, the Secretary-General said he and the President had discussed the international fight against terrorism, water management, regional environmental issues, good governance, and cooperation between the Government and the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

He said of United Nations-Uzbek relations, “They’re good, and we would want to strengthen them further.”

In the evening, the President hosted a dinner in honour of the Secretary-General and his wife, Nane.

Earlier today, the Secretary-General concluded his visit to Kazakhstan, meeting with the United Nations country team there to discuss the Kazakh Government’s progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

After that, he addressed the upper and lower houses of the Kazakh Parliament, noting the challenges of globalization, which, in some areas, had led to a reaction where communities turned inward -– increasing the dangers of intolerance and xenophobia.  By contrast, he said, the people and Parliament of Kazakhstan “are living examples of the dialogue among civilizations”.

**Kosovo

The Secretary-General, in his latest report on the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, which is on the racks today, says that the municipal elections that will be held there at the end of this month mark another milestone in the development of Kosovo’s democratic institutions.  He said it was important that the campaign and the ballot take place without incident, and that all communities participate.

The Secretary-General also stresses that elections are only the first step, highlighting the importance of meaningful participation in all elected bodies by all Kosovo’s communities, and the need to create conditions conducive to the sustainable return of all individuals to their homes.

The report notes that the security situation has remained calm in recent months, despite isolated incidents of unrest.  The report also provides details on recent efforts to enforce the rule of law in Kosovo, with the Secretary-General asserting that no one is above the law.

**International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia yesterday sentenced Milan Simic, who had pleaded guilty to two counts of torture as crimes against humanity, to five years in prison.

We have a press release upstairs with more information.

**Côte d'Ivoire

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today welcomed news of the ceasefire agreement in Côte d'Ivoire.  The UNHCR said it hopes for a return to normalcy as soon as possible so that hundreds of thousands of displaced people can go home.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that the humanitarian situation inside the country was getting more and more critical day by day, and a humanitarian crisis would unfold if it continued like this.  Many of the 600,000 inhabitants of Bouake had fled the city, some taking refuge in the town of Brobo which had no water, electricity or health infrastructure to speak of.  The challenges were enormous.

**Colombia

From the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia, we have a press release condemning the forced displacement of 800 indigenous people, including some 250 children, in Tierralta, Cordoba, after they received threats by the guerrilla group known as the FARC.  The release says the displacement is a grave infraction of international human rights law and calls on the Government to fulfil its duty to protect the indigenous population.

**Nobel Message

As the Nobel Peace Prize laureates hold a meeting in Rome today, their fellow laureate, the Secretary-General, issued a message to them conveying his greetings and his congratulations to the newest Nobel Peace Prize winner, former United States President Jimmy Carter.  The Secretary-General said that Carter has earned the Prize by “his tireless efforts to promote peace, even in the most difficult circumstances”.

We have copies of his message upstairs.

**Status of Women in United Nations System

On the racks today is the Secretary-General’s report on improvements in the status of women in the United Nations system.

The Secretary-General reports a slight overall increase of 0.4 per cent in the number of women occupying Professional posts in the Secretariat in the reporting period, 30 June 2001 to 30 June 2002.  Of the 24 departments and offices of the Secretariat, only four have reached the gender balance goal of 50 per cent, and four have women at less than 30 per cent at the Professional level.  The report concludes that with the addition of new systems and management tools, as well as the appointment of the Ombudsman, the Secretariat is expected to perform better in the future.

**New Web Site on Acrylamide in Food

The Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization announced today the launch of a new Internet-based network for sharing information on acrylamide in food.  You will remember the two organizations held joint consultations on acrylamide in foods in June, and the network was one of the recommendations coming out of the meeting.  Acrylamide causes cancer in animals and can be toxic to the human nervous system.  It is found in some foods, especially French fries, cooked at high temperatures.

We have a press release with more details, including the Web site of the network.

**Tour Guide Containment System

This is just to inform journalists that commencing at 9 a.m. tomorrow,

19 October, the Tour Guide Containment System will be activated.  Press, media, interpreters, United Nations staff and staff of the French and British Missions who require access to the booths and offices in the restricted area have been issued encoded ID.

So please remember, as the Security Chief Michael McCann told you, to get your ID’s encoded.

And we have available upstairs the Week Ahead.  That’s all I have for you.  Any questions before we move on to Richard?

**Question and Answers

Question:  [inaudible] What efforts on the diplomatic front has the Secretary-General made on Iraq in the last day or two?  Has he made any calls, spoken to any foreign ministers, is he is touch with ambassadors here?

Spokesman:  Well, he has been monitoring and paid a great attention to the debates in the Security Council.  As for whether he has made any phone calls, I have to check and then come back to you on that.

Question:  Can he make any phone calls?  We just got a note from our correspondent in Uzbekistan that the authorities have banned all press conferences, sealed off cities where he’s going, kept reporters away from him,  and I wonder if there’s any explanation or reaction to that?

Spokesman:  I've had an e-mail from a journalist complaining about that, but as far as I know, the Secretary-General did talk to journalists while in Uzbekistan, so I'll have to come back to you after the briefing, to give you who he’s talked to and what were the subjects.  But I'm sure that he had a press encounter after meeting the President today.

Question:  Since early this morning?

Spokesman:  Yes.

Question:  Because it’s an enormous waste of money to fly someone in and then encounter that, which was the case until maybe he finally broke through.  Did he have a press conference?

Spokesman:  It was a press encounter, but I have to find out the details after the press briefing.

[Later:  The transcription of the press encounter was issued to journalists afterwards.]

Question:  Hans Blix met with United States Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday.  Do you have any information about their meeting?  Do you have any contact with Hans Blix so far?

Spokesman:  I don't have any information on that particular meeting, but I know that the College of the Commissioners of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) is meeting today in special session.  And this has been done so that its Executive Chairman, Hans Blix, can brief the commissioners on developments of the last few weeks.  But regarding that particular meeting, I have no information.

Richard?

Briefing by the Spokesman for the General Assembly President

Good afternoon.

The plenary is not meeting today.

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

The Special Political and Decolonization Committee this afternoon takes up a comprehensive review of the whole question of peacekeeping operations in all their aspects.

The Second Committee discusses industrial development cooperation and preventing and combating corrupt practices, and transfer of funds of illicit origin and returning such funds to the countries of origin.  It then goes on to discuss introduction of draft resolutions on both those items and then continues with the conclusion of the general discussion on sustainable development and international economic cooperation.

The Fifth Committee discusses financial reports and reports of the Board of Auditors.

This morning, the Sixth Committee continued and, I think, concluded its hearing statements on item 162, the report of the working group on an international convention against the reproductive cloning of human beings.

A ceremony in connection with World Food Day is taking place in the Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium at this hour.  The Permanent Representative of Barbados, Ambassador June Clarke, will deliver a statement on behalf of General Assembly President Kavan.  That statement is available on the Assembly President’s Web site.

And just looking forward to Monday, the General Assembly plenary will elect five members of the International Court of Justice.

Any questions?  Thank you.

* *** *