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

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

**Kenya Attack

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

“The Secretary-General is appalled by the suicide bomb attack yesterday on a hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, in which at least 13 people were killed and many injured, and by the apparent attempt, also yesterday in Mombasa, to shoot down an Israeli civilian aircraft.  The Secretary-General is relieved that a greater catastrophe was avoided.  He condemns these terrorist attacks in the strongest possible terms and extends his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and to the Governments of Kenya and Israel.

“The Secretary-General is utterly opposed to all acts of terrorism, from whatever quarter.  He is strongly convinced that yesterday’s attacks in Kenya once again underscore the need for a broad and sustained strategy to fight the scourge of terrorism.”

**Israel Attack

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

“The Secretary-General is dismayed by the attack yesterday in the Israeli town of Beit She’an, in which Palestinian gunmen killed six Israelis and wounded many others.  He reiterates his utter condemnation of such terrorist acts against civilians, which are extremely harmful to the Palestinian cause.

**More Statements on Kenya

We also have a statement upstairs from the Director of the United Nations Office in Nairobi, Klaus Toepfer, in which he condemned yesterday’s attack in Mombasa and reaffirmed that the United Nations will work closely with the Kenyan authorities to ensure security for all, including United Nations staff.

Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UN-HABITAT, wrote to Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi to express her heartfelt sympathy to the Kenyan people for the human and material losses caused by the vicious and cowardly terrorist attack.

**Additional Statement on Israel

In addition to the statement I just read, we put out a statement yesterday by the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Terje Roed Larsen, in which he condemned in the strongest possible terms the attack on an Israeli polling station in the town of Beit She'an, in which Palestinian gunmen killed six Israelis and wounded more than 20.

He sent his profound condolences to the families of the murdered and injured victims and reiterated his urgent call to Palestinians to renounce all forms of violence, which continue not only to harm the prospects of a political solution to the conflict, but also legitimate Palestinian national ambitions.

**Venezuela

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

“The Secretary-General has been following closely the political crisis in Venezuela and is concerned to see that the situation is becoming more and more sharply polarized.

“The Secretary-General calls urgently on the Government of Venezuela and the opposition groups to make every effort to reach a peaceful solution to this crisis, on the basis of respect for the Constitution, democratic values and human rights.  He expresses his full support for the Secretary-General of the Organization of American States, César Gaviria, in his mediation mission.

“The Secretary-General urges all sectors of Venezuelan society to refrain from actions that could cause the situation to deteriorate even further.”

**Palestinian Solidarity

Available on the racks today is the Secretary-General’s report to the General Assembly and Security Council on the peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine, which notes that, over the past year, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has deteriorated further, eroding many of the achievements of the peace process.

The report says that, since the outbreak of the intifada in September 2000, more than 1,800 Palestinians and more than 600 Israelis have been killed, with some 25,000 Palestinians and 4,000 Israelis injured.  The Secretary-General writes, “It is a matter of particular regret to me that so little remains of the mutual trust that had been so painstakingly built by the parties”, and he called for regular and consistent third-party involvement to help the parties break out of the vicious cycle of destruction.  He says, “Illegitimate or illegal means cannot be justified by reference to legitimate objectives -– whether they be an end to occupation and statehood for Palestinians or security for Israelis.”  That report will be presented to the General Assembly this afternoon.

Meanwhile, this morning in the Trusteeship Council Chamber, United Nations Chef de Cabinet Iqbal Riza read out a statement on behalf of the Secretary-General to mark the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, noting that the human and material losses suffered by the Palestinians over the past two years have been “nothing short of catastrophic”.

However, the Secretary-General’s message goes on, “despite the descent into a seemingly endless cycle of killing and destruction, a parallel process of diplomatic and political progress has taken place.  The Secretary-General emphasizes that sustainable progress can only be achieved if simultaneous steps are taken on the security, economic, humanitarian and political aspects of the conflict”.  We have copies of that statement upstairs.

**Disarmament in Afghanistan

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said that starting next week, the disarmament process in Kunduz will be entering its third stage, when local subcommissions of the Disarmament Commission will disarm individuals and lower ranked commanders.  According to local authorities, more than 6,000 small arms, 30 tanks and 20 vehicles have been collected in Kunduz province.  Disarmament will also continue in northern Afghanistan.  Since

21 November, when this drive began, some 663 light and heavy weapons have been collected, and UNAMA has been supervising the return of the weapons.

You can find more details on the disarmament in the Press Briefing Note from Kabul.

**Refugee News

The Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees is asking the Russian authorities to postpone their announced closures of refugee camps for Chechens in Ingushetia, including one that was to be closed this weekend.  The Aki Yurt camp, which houses 1,500 people, is due to be closed on Sunday, and the UNHCR says a real alternative has to be found for its inhabitants as the temperatures are expected to fall to minus 5 degrees Celsius.  The Russian authorities have said that any return to Chechnya will be voluntary and some Chechens have already returned home, but others have expressed fears about returning because of the security situation.

In other refugee news, the UNHCR and the Government of Angola have signed separate agreements with Namibia and Zambia for a programme of voluntary return of Angolan refugees.  Commissions have been set up for the repatriation of 211,000 Angolan refugees in Zambia and 24,000 in Namibia.  Similar agreements are expected to be signed shortly for the return of 193,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 16,000 from the Republic of Congo and 10,000 from South Africa.

**Special Rapporteurs

The Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, Rodolfo Stavenhagen, will begin a visit to the Philippines on 2 December in order to assess the

situation concerning the country's indigenous peoples.  During this visit, which will last until 11 December, the Special Rapporteur will meet with senior Government officials, indigenous peoples and non-governmental organizations.  This is the second official country mission of the Special Rapporteur since his mandate was established by the Commission on Human Rights in 2001.

The Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, Ambeyi Ligabo, will visit Equatorial Guinea from 1 to 7 December at the invitation of the Government.  He will meet with Equatorial Guinea authorities, and representatives from civil society and the United Nations system.  You can find more details of both visits in the Spokesman’s Office.

**World Food Programme in Zimbabwe

The World Food Programme (WFP) said yesterday that the situation in Zimbabwe is deteriorating rapidly.  There have been reports of children dropping out of school and families resorting to desperate measures to survive.  Levels of malnutrition are worsening along with an increase in cases of hunger-related diseases.

The WFP faces a shortfall of 200,000 tonnes of food aid between now and March next year, which threatens the agency’s ability to reach its intended beneficiaries.  The agency intends to increase the number of people it reaches with food aid from 3 million in 35 districts in November to 5.8 million in

57 districts by January 2003.  The WFP's capacity to deal with the crisis has been boosted by the Government’s agreement to allow it to distribute genetically modified maize which has been milled.

** International Criminal Tribunal

Today in The Hague, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia sentenced Mitar Vasiljevic, a Bosnian Serb, to 20 years in prison, for atrocities committed against Bosnian Muslims in the town of Visegrad in 1992.  We have a summary of the judgement that was rendered in a press release upstairs.

**Press Releases

We also have a few other press releases to highlight to you.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) will launch its State of the World Population 2002 report on Tuesday, 3 December.  The report, called “People, Poverty, and Possibilities:  Making Development Work for the Poor”, argues that to meet the Millennium Development Goals urgent action is needed to combat poor reproductive health, infertility, illiteracy and discrimination against women.  We have embargoed copies of the report in English, French, Spanish, Arabic and Russian available in the Spokesman’s Office.

Yesterday the United Nations Environment Programme launched a new book on its role in protecting the Earth’s fragile ozone layer.  “Protecting the Ozone Layer” is the story of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone

Layer, one of the most successful environmental treaties, and the thousands of individuals from international organizations, governments and a variety of other organizations who support it through commitment and leadership.

**Signing

A short while ago, Malta became the eighty-fifth country to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

And also available upstairs, we have the Week Ahead.  It’s the expanded version.

Any questions?

**Questions and Answers

Question:  Are there any developments on Cyprus today?

Deputy Spokesman:  The Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus,

Mr. de Soto, has met with the Greek Foreign Minister today.  I checked with the mission in Cyprus a while ago, and I was told he is scheduled to go back to Cyprus today.

Question:  In light of the information that has come out about one of the United Nations weapons inspectors, Jack McGeorge, has he offered his resignation to UNMOVIC? Or has that been asked of him by the United Nations?

Deputy Spokesman:  He did say that if he were asked to resign, he would do so, but the Executive Chairman of UNMOVIC, Dr. Blix, had no intention to fire McGeorge.  Dr. Blix considered him to be a highly qualified and competent technical expert.  Dr. Blix is not aware of any misconduct that would require his resignation.

Question:  Is there any concern from the United Nations, though, of going into a Muslim country?  There have been a lot of issues training these inspectors to be culturally sensitive.  Would this type of a background compromise that a little bit?

Deputy Spokesman:  That’s part of the training.  When I say part of the training, I mean the awareness of the local culture and religion.  As you know, Dr. Blix has been saying that all the inspectors sent to the area have gone through at least one month of training.  That’s part of it.

Question:  Can you address at all, just in general, the process of checking the background of all United Nations hirees?  If this kind of thing had not turned up in any kind of a background check, are there other problems, criminal backgrounds, that are not being discovered because of a lack of just monitoring and checking into the background of United Nations hirees?

Deputy Spokesman:  These inspectors are either recommended by Member States, or they themselves just put in their résumé.  And as far as their expertise is

concerned, there is a check on that.  Other than that, their personal lives -- since there are so many inspectors coming from so many different countries, I don’t think that UNMOVIC is available to do that.  But for further details as to how these inspectors are checked and what kind of procedures they have to go through, I think you’ll have to talk to UNMOVIC directly.

Question:  But it was my understanding that UNOMOVIC gets all the information and forwards it to Human Resources at the United Nations.  Does that information then just sit there?  Is there no further checking at Human Resources then?

Deputy Spokesman:  For more details, you’ll have to ask UNMOVIC.

Question:  President Clerides said yesterday from Cyprus that there is no time for negotiation.  How do you comment on this statement?

Deputy Spokesman:  The Secretary-General issued a statement on Wednesday asking both leaders to come up with more detailed comments on the proposals.  We are still waiting for that deadline -– well, I wouldn’t use the word “deadline” here -- the date on the calendar is tomorrow.  So before that, we are not going to have further comments.

Question:  I want to know about the decision in The Hague.

Deputy Spokesman:  Mitar Vasiljevic is a Bosnian Serb and was sentenced to 20 years in prison for atrocities committed against Bosnian Muslims in 1992.  You can get more details upstairs.

Question:  Is this Srebrenica?

Deputy Spokesman:  No, it says in Visegrad.

Question:  Is Mr. Denktash still in New York?  And an aide to Mr. Denktash said on Wednesday that he didn’t expect the Turkish Cypriot side to meet the Saturday deadline.  I was wondering if you could comment on that.

Deputy Spokesman:  We have no information on where he is at the moment.  I think the last I heard, he had checked out of the hospital, but even that, I cannot confirm.  And on your second part of the question, again, we don’t have any information.

Briefing by the Spokesman for the General Assembly President

Good afternoon.

In his statement this morning to the meeting of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, President Kavan said that the question of Palestine remains the oldest unresolved issue on the United Nations agenda.  “It was on this day in 1947 that the General Assembly

adopted resolution 181 (II), partitioning Palestine into two States, one Arab and one Jewish, with an economic union between them.  This plan has never been implemented in its entirety, but it is encouraging to note that a two-State arrangement has now become a broadly accepted basis for any viable solution to the question of Palestine, as affirmed in Security Council resolution 1397 (2002).

“It has been unequivocally acknowledged today, he said, “that there is no alternative to the prompt resumption of the Israeli-Palestinian political negotiations based on international legality and readiness to take full account of each other’s needs and interests.  The international community has come out strongly against the extrajudicial assassinations of suspected Palestinian militants which are known to have led to large-scale civilian casualties … as well as against terrorist acts of Palestinian extremists which resulted in the deaths of Israeli civilians.  The anguish, frustration and anger of the Palestinians is understandable, but tactics of terror and suicide bombing are counterproductive.  For example, the recent terrorist attack against Israeli civilians in a hotel in Mombasa in which also a number of Kenyan civilians died will be justifiably condemned the world over, but the Palestinian cause will not be advanced a single inch forward, just the contrary.”

But he goes on to say, ”as President of the General Assembly, I would like to reaffirm the Assembly’s position that the United Nations should continue to maintain a permanent responsibility towards the question of Palestine until it is effectively resolved, in conformity with relevant United Nations resolutions,until two independent States, Israel and Palestine, will live in peace side by side within secure, recognized and respected borders.  It is incumbent on all of us to see to it that this objective is brought to fruition.”

The full text of President Kavan’s statement is available at the third floor documents counter, and is published on the Web site.

This afternoon, the General Assembly plenary starts debate on the question of Palestine.  Draft resolutions will be introduced by the Chairman of the Committee, Papa Louis Fall of Senegal, and the Committee Rapporteur will introduce the Committee’s report.  Some 32 speakers are inscribed so far.  Debate on this item will continue on Monday.

The Fifth Committee is meeting today in closed informal consultations.

And looking ahead to Monday, the plenary will continue debate on the question of Palestine in the morning, followed, in the afternoon with the debate on the situation in the Middle East.

Any questions?

Question:  Considering this statement which says that the United Nations is still responsible for the Palestinians…  So far, throughout the years you have mentioned, the United Nations has not done anything effectively to stop that bloodshed.  So, are there any new ways and means that the General Assembly is trying to implement in the future?

Spokesman:  I would draw your attention to the numerous resolutions of the Security Council.  In terms of the General Assembly, I think, in speaking for the President, he is fully supportive of the efforts of the Quartet in this regard and feels that there is a good opportunity for progress to be made on the basis of the deliberations of the Quartet.

Question:  All of this is falling on deaf ears on both sides.  There is no new way or new ideas to enforce actually what has been said in the report?

Spokesman:  I would draw your attention again to the work going on between the United Nations through the Quartet.

Thank you.

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