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 Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.

We expect to have a statement on the Middle East.  And if it comes through before this briefing is over, I’ll read it out.

**Iraq Inspections

On inspections on Iraq, UN helicopters were back in the air over Iraq during this weekend after having been grounded due to inclement weather.  The heavy payload MI-8 helicopter was used for the first time.  This enables the UN inspectors to bring a vehicle with them.

Over the weekend, teams from both the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) visited many different sites, including a missile propellant centre, a dairy plant, an explosives factory and the department of microbiology at Baghdad University.

Today, an UNMOVIC team inspected a former SCUD Missile plant, which now produces artillery equipment.

And if you want more details, pick up the inspectors’ daily activity report for Saturday, Sunday and today, which is available in my office.

**Cyprus

On Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, the Secretary-General’s Special Advisor, returned to the island today following a stop in Turkey where he met with Government officials, including the leader of the ruling party, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

On arrival in Nicosia, he told reporters “we are now on a pretty tight timeframe”.

As foreseen in the Secretary-General’s plan, de Soto said, the agreement of a comprehensive settlement, with all political issues resolved between the two leaders, all security issues resolved between Greece and Turkey, and all technical work completed, by 28 February, would allow just enough time for separate referenda to be prepared and conducted so as to enable the people to take an educated decision on 30 March.

If those results were positive, de Soto said, a new state of affairs in Cyprus would come into being on 31 March, just two weeks before a reunited Cyprus could sign the treaty of accession with the European Union on 16 April.

“The plan as it stands,” he said, “reflects nearly a year of intensive consultations and negotiations, and stands on the shoulders of decades of talks before that”.

He added that this meant “that the choice before the leaders and the people on each side is not between this plan and a substantially different one; the choice is between this plan, perhaps with balanced refinements here and there as needed, and no agreement at all”.

We have the full text of his opening remarks available upstairs and we expect a complete transcript later today.

After the press conference, de Soto went on to meet with the Greek Cypriot Leader, Glafcos Clerides, and he’s also set to meet with the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktash, later today.

**Cambodia

The exploratory talks between the United Nations and Cambodia on establishing Extraordinary Chambers to deal with trials of Khmer Rouge leaders continued on Saturday afternoon, with UN Legal Counsel Hans Corell and Cambodian Senior Minister Sok An heading the respective delegations.  Saturday’s talks comprised the fifth meeting between the two sides since the exploratory meetings began last Monday.

This afternoon, at 4, the Secretary-General will meet briefly with Sok An.

**Statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

I think I now have this statement on the Middle East, which I will read.  This is attributable to the Spokesman:

“The Secretary-General is extremely concerned by the level of violence and growing number of casualties in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  He deplores that during the last weekend at least nine Palestinians and two Israelis were killed in various incidents. 

“The Secretary-General believes that the most recent upsurge in violence and retaliation only feeds the cycle of mutual anger and hatred that leads to further civilian victims on both sides.  He calls on all Palestinians to stop attacks on Israelis and to pursue non-violent policies.  Equally, the Secretary-General urges the Government of Israel to exercise maximum restraint, in particular refraining from the disproportionate use of force and such actions as extra-judicial killings and demolition of houses.  All parties must understand that there is no military solution to this conflict and that there is no alternative to a political settlement.

“The Secretary-General remains convinced that the only way forward toward reviving a sustainable peace process is a firm commitment of the parties to end all violence and to work closely with the Quartet on the basis of its road map to a two-State solution.  In this connection, he welcomes the initiative of Prime Minister Blair to convene a meeting tomorrow on the important issue of

Palestinian reform.  The Secretary-General very much regrets that senior Palestinian officials were not allowed to travel to London for this meeting”.

**Security Council

There are no meetings or consultations of the Security Council as a whole scheduled for today.

Looking ahead, the Council will hold an open meeting tomorrow on Children and Armed Conflict at which the Secretary-General is expected to deliver a statement.

The Security Council Presidency has announced a ministerial-level open meeting Monday next.  The subject is “Combating Terrorism”.

According to the announcement, the debate will provide an opportunity for the Council to examine the results of the activities of the Counter-Terrorism Committee that was established in the wake of the attacks of 11 September.  It will also allow Council Members to make a political assessment of the actions that have been taken and consider formulating new guidelines to improve the effectiveness of the fight against terrorism.  The purpose is to give new impetus to international action to combat the scourge of terrorism.

**Afghanistan

The UN mission in Afghanistan has reported that the preliminary draft of the country’s new constitution is expected to be ready in March.

Wide consultations with civil society and experts in all 32 provinces as well as among Afghans in other countries will follow, and a final draft is expected to be ready by October.  It will then be submitted to the Constitutional Loya Jirga for adoption, as stipulated in the Bonn Agreement of December 2001.

According to the latest press briefing notes from Kabul, the future constitution would be based on Islamic principles and Afghan legal traditions as well as international norms and standards.

**Human Rights

In Geneva today, the Committee on the Rights of the Child began its three-week winter session with a briefing by Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Bertrand Ramcharan, who said the committee was expected to discuss AIDS, adolescent health and the minimum age for criminal responsibility during the current session.

He also told the Committee that Sergio Paulo Pinheiro of Brazil had recently been informed that he would be nominated by the Secretary-General as an independent expert for a UN study on violence against children.

We have more details in a press release.

**Global Compact

Six Egyptian companies have joined the Secretary-General’s Global Compact initiative, pledging their commitment to implement the Global Compact’s nine principles in the areas of human rights, labour rights and the environment.  The companies are Sonac Societe Nationale du Commerce; Talaat Mostafa Group; Madico; Mobica; Orascom Construction; and the Americana Group.

The engagement of Egyptian business leaders is an important step forward in terms of building roots for the Compact and its principles around the world and realizing the vision of the Secretary-General of a more stable and inclusive global economy.  The Compact is now firmly rooted in about 50 countries.

The Advisory Council of the Global Compact will hold a dinner here in New York on Wednesday night, just before an all-day meeting on Thursday that will be chaired by Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette.

**Press Releases

One press release today:  The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reports that the Round Table on Physical Education and Sport, which ended on Friday in Paris, concluded with a commitment to an International Convention against doping in sport.  Ministers and senior officials from 103 countries asked UNESCO to collaborate with United Nations and other relevant agencies in drafting a convention to fight doping at the international level in time for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games.  We have a press release with more information.

**Budget

In budget news, Australia became the 17th Member State to pay its 2003 regular budget contribution in full, and that was with payment of more than $21 million.

Conferences

The Secretary-General returned to work today after a long break, and he will hold his first press conference of the year with you tomorrow at 11 a.m. in this room.  In his opening statement, he is expected to offer his views on the challenges that the international community faces in the year ahead.

As usually happens when he gives a press conference, we will not do a noon briefing tomorrow, but we will provide on the Internet the highlights of the Secretary-General’s press conference, as well as highlights of events in the UN system that take place tomorrow.

And the other press conference scheduled for tomorrow is at 2 p.m. sponsored by the mission of Mexico and that will be on children and armed conflict.  The Speakers will include Neil Boothby of Save the Children, US; and Kathleen Hunt of CARE International’s Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict.

So, that’s all I have for you.

Questions and Answers

Question:   Fred, are the talks with the Cambodians completed now, and did they make enough progress for the Secretary-General to ask to send an envoy to Phnom Penh?

Spokesman:  I am not sure we can say they’re completed.  They were unable to meet this morning for technical reasons.  They have allowed for the possibility of a meeting after the Senior Minister, Sok An, meets with the Secretary-General.  So, my sense is that they have not yet concluded their discussions and I have nothing to say about what the outcome might be.  I think we have to wait for them to definitively wrap up.

Question:   At 4 p.m., is this a substantive meeting then or courtesy call?

Spokesman:  We have to wait and see what comes out of it.

Question:   Can we have a photo op at the top of that meeting?

Spokesman:  I believe we should have asked for one.  But double-check with my office afterwards.  Yes?

Question:   The ministerial meeting of the Council on Monday, is there some schedule of how many ministers or are all the 15 members of the Council going to be represented?  Do you have that yet?

Spokesman:  I don’t have that information yet.  We probably have to stay in touch with the Council through the week as they get their final head count of how many ministers will be coming.  But I think the goal is to get 15 out of

15 if possible.

Question:   Weeks ago the Venezuelan press spoke about the UN nomination of the former Ambassador Diego Arria.  What is the role of Mr. Arria in the UN?

Spokesman:  He was appointed as special advisor, and the Secretary-General will call on him from time to time as needed on specific matters not necessarily limited to Latin America.  There has been a question of whether he would in any way be involved in the Secretary-General’s efforts concerning Venezuela, and the answer to that question is ‘No’.  Muhammad?

Question:   Why have UN inspectors requested for one year for completing the inspection?

Spokesman:  They’ve said that from the beginning, and I think you’ve heard both Hans Blix and Muhammad ElBaradei say that if all went well with this inspection process, they could conclude their work within a year.  So, I don’t think that’s the first time we’ve heard that.

Question:   What’s the point of the meeting with Felipe Gonzalez today?

Spokesman:  I don’t have anything specific on that.  We’ll try to get a read out for you afterwards.  Let me see what I have here.  I just have

something very general:  “The Secretary-General maintains a regular dialogue with a wide range of leaders.  He has met Mr. Gonzalez on several previous occasions.  We have no further details on today’s meeting”.  We will try to get you a read out for you afterwards.  Yes?

Question:   The President of the Security Council said yesterday that the Security Council is going to meet on the North Korean letter early this week.  Do you have any plan for that?

Spokesman:  We don’t have any specific time yet.  He did say on Friday that he had received a letter from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and that the Council would take it up some time this week.  But I don’t think we have a specific time yet.  When we get one, we’ll let you know.

Okay.  Thanks very much.

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