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 everyone.

**Blix

The Executive Chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), Dr. Hans Blix, was in Brussels this morning where he met a number of European Union officials, including the High Representative for a Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, and External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten.

Afterwards, in remarks to the press, Dr. Blix said the message he wants to bring to Baghdad is “that the situation is very tense and very dangerous and that everybody wants to see a verified and credible disarmament of Iraq”.

He added that he feels that Iraq should do more than they have done so far in order to make the inspection process credible.

He also said that both he and the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, were trying their best to make the inspections effective so that we can have a peaceful solution to this crisis, he said.

We haven’t yet received the daily update from Baghdad on the inspectors’ activities for today.  As soon as we get it, we’ll let you know.

**Iraq

In Geneva today, the UN Compensation Commission announced it had made

 $597 million available to 17 governments and one international organization for payment to 327 claimants.

As you know, this Commission is mandated to pay compensation for losses and damage suffered as a direct result of Iraq's invasion and occupation of Kuwait.

The full text of that press release is available upstairs.

**Security Council

From the Security Council this morning, they heard a briefing from Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast on the Israeli-Palestinian situation in an open meeting on the Middle East, which was followed by consultations on that same subject.

In his briefing, the notes of which are available in my Office, Prendergast reported on the recent Quartet meeting in Washington, as well as on the ongoing violence, which, since the last update to the Council, has claimed the lives of  68 Palestinians and 24 Israelis.

“There is a legitimate concern”, he said, “that the negative trends so evident on the ground erode the prospect for achieving a two-State solution.  But there is a clear consensus in the international community to support the Quartet’s efforts to reach a permanent settlement on two sovereign States, living side by side in peace and security.”

Yesterday afternoon, the Security Council came out with a press statement condemning in the strongest terms the massacres and systematic violations of human rights in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

And in the afternoon, Council members received a draft resolution on the sanctions against Al Qaeda.  A vote is expected on that tomorrow.

Also, I have a brief update on Monday’s ministerial meeting on combating terrorism.  Only Council members will be allowed to take the floor on Monday.

Non-Council members who wish to participate in discussions on this issue have been invited to do so at an open meeting on 20 February under the German Council presidency.

**Venezuela/G-77

President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela is meeting right now with the Secretary-General, and should be coming down here shortly; I’ll try to wrap up this briefing quickly so we can hold the press conference in this room about 12:15 p.m., when he is expected here.

President Chavez is here to attend the ceremony marking the turnover of the chairmanship of the Group of 77 (G-77), which is now a coalition of 133 developing countries, from last year’s chairman, Venezuela, to this year’s, Morocco.

The Secretary-General will speak at that hand-over ceremony, which is to take place at 3:30 this afternoon in the Trusteeship Council Chamber.

In his remarks, the Secretary-General will highlight challenges the G-77 will face in the coming year, including the need to deal with trade-related intellectual property rights, while allowing developing countries to have access to life-saving medicines, an issue which has led to difficulties in multilateral trade negotiations following the 2001 Doha agreement.

Also, he is to urge the developing nations to pay greater attention to protecting the human rights of migrants and for both developing and developed countries to realize fully the potential of international migration.

We have embargoed copies of his comments upstairs.

**Cyprus

On Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus, is today in Athens, where he met George Papandreou, Greece’s Foreign Minister, and other foreign ministry officials.

Mr. Papandreou confirmed Greece’s support for achieving a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem by 28 February using the Secretary-General’s revised proposal of 10 December 2002 as a basis for negotiations.

Later today, Mr. de Soto is meeting Javier Solana, EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy.

Mr. de Soto returns to Cyprus tomorrow where he will attend a meeting at

4 p.m. in the UN Protected Area in Nicosia between H.E. Glafkos Clerides, the Greek Cypriot leader, and H.E. Rauf Denktash, the Turkish Cypriot leader.

I have just been told that President Chavez will be delayed.  The meeting with the Secretary-General has been extended.  So, I will finish my briefing and then you’re free to stay where you are and wait for him to come down.

**Abkhazia

On Abkhazia, the Secretary-General’s report on the situation in Abkhazia, Georgia, is out on the racks today.

The Secretary-General notes that after one year of strenuous efforts by his Special Representative and the Group of Friends, the parties to the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict have not moved much closer to the start of negotiations.  “The Abkhaz side, in particular, refuses to even enter into discussions on the principles on which negotiations should be based”, the report says.

In order for the conflict to be resolved rather than continued, the Secretary-General expresses his intention to invite senior representatives of the Group of Friends to an informal brainstorming session on the way forward.  He also recommends a further extension of the mandate of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia for six months, until 31 July 2003.

The Group of Friends, as you may know, is composed of the United States, Russia, United Kingdom, Germany, France and Bulgaria.

**Global Compact

The Advisory Council for the Global Compact is holding its third meeting at UN Headquarters today, which included discussions this morning on broadening corporate commitment to the nine human rights, labour rights and environmental principles enshrined in the Compact, among other topics.  This afternoon, the participants are expected to hold an informal exchange of views on where the Global Compact should be five years from now.  We’ve put out copies of the participants list, as well as the agenda for today’s meeting, which you can get in my Office, if you haven’t picked it up yet.

**Human Rights/Angola

On Angola, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Sergio Vieira de Mello, is in Angola, where today he is meeting with Foreign Minister João Bernardo de Miranda and other senior officials.

Yesterday, on his arrival in Luanda, he said there were two major problems that deserve special attention from the Angolan Government and the outside world: the plight of the people displaced by the country’s conflict and the humanitarian treatment of troops and former troops, especially the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, the rebel group UNITA.

He called the end of Angola’s war “the fundamental improvement” in the human rights situation, adding, “Now it is necessary to consolidate this great progress.”

We have copies of the transcript of his remarks available upstairs.

**Western Sahara

On Western Sahara, James Baker, the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, met yesterday with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and his Cabinet and explained to them a proposal for a political solution of the conflict over Western Sahara.  They listened to the proposal and said they would return with comments or questions later.

Today, he was expected to go to Tindouf, Algeria, where the POLISARIO Front is based.

Mr. Baker’s visit to the region this week has taken him to Morocco, and Mauritania is scheduled to be the last stop of his four-day mission.

**Côte d’Ivoire-Humanitarian

Carolyn McAskie, the Special Humanitarian Envoy for the crisis in Côte d’Ivoire, arrived in Abidjan today.

She told reporters that the message she will convey to all parties to this conflict is that the United Nations attaches great importance to the protection of civilians, the respect of human rights and their responsibilities with respect to the humanitarian situation.

**Malawi Floods

We have a notice that floods in Malawi have taken a large number of victims in often-inaccessible areas, and many of these victims are extremely poor women who are predominantly engaged in crop production.

**Afghanistan

From Afghanistan, our Mission tells us that they have their new Web site up and running.  It’s: www.unama-afg.org

The Web site provides, among many other things, access to transcripts of the daily press briefings and all relevant United Nations documents, including all General Assembly and Security Council resolutions on Afghanistan.

**UNDP

The UN Development Programme (UNDP), as you know, is involved in good governance projects all over the world.  And yesterday they pledged $1.3 million in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam, to help the city's progress in reforming its public administration.  The UNDP will put out a press release shortly with more details.

So, that’s all I have for you.  Any questions while we’re waiting for the President of Venezuela?  Jim?

Questions and Answers

Question:  What’s the Secretary-General’s position on the question of the validity of ... (inaudible) on Iraq ...  Does the Secretary-General believe that Blix is right to say that there should be a report for the Security Council ...?

Spokesman:  That matter, Jim, as you know, is on the Council’s agenda for this morning.  The Council is going to have to sort out its common position.  He’s not going to enter that debate while their deliberations are going on.

Question:  Is the Security Council going to finish the debate on the (inaudible) ... ?

Spokesman:  I have no idea.  We’ll have to wait and see.  Yes, sir?

Question:  What would be more working with the UN from Iraq from the view of Mr. Blix?  What would Iraq do to satisfy Mr. Blix?

Spokesman:  He has mentioned the gaps in the reporting that he’d like to see filled.  I think that is probably the first item on his agenda

Question:  Fred, does the meeting with President Chavez this morning mean that the Secretary-General is going to pay his attention, finally, to Latin America?

Spokesman:  The Secretary-General mentioned before this year began that he expected Latin America to be much higher on his priority list for the year 2003.  He has been on the phone almost daily with Latin American leaders.  Primarily on the situation in Venezuela, but not only on Venezuela.  He has a Special Envoy working in Colombia, as you know.  He was quite active throughout last year on the Colombia problem.  But yes, in fact, it will be higher on the priority list.

Question:  Will they have a read-out?

Spokesman:  There probably will be a read-out.  I think they were planning to produce one.  But our read-outs are spare.  Julia?

Question:  Yeah.  Even though your read-outs are spare, Fred, do you think that the result of today’s meeting will be that the Secretary-General will increase his participation in the Venezuelan conflict in some way?

Spokesman:   I don’t want to predict what’s going to happen.  As I have already indicated, he’s been following the issue closely.  He’s been in touch with Latin American leaders.  He’s expressed his concern -- it was one of the two issues he highlighted along with Zimbabwe in his opening comments at his press conference earlier this week on Tuesday.  And we’ll just have to see what happens next.  Let’s see if there is anything in the read-out, and you’ll also have access to the President here to ask him about what might have been discussed in that meeting.  Yes?

Question:  If I could just follow up on that question.  I presume that the Secretary-General is conveying to Mr. Chavez today what he said the other day, which is that he called on the parties in Venezuela to find a solution that is

consistent with democracy.  Has the Secretary-General made any effort to convey that message also to the opposition in Venezuela in the last few days?

Spokesman:  I am not aware that he’s had contact with the opposition.  So, I can’t say that he has.  But I am sure by making his appeal publicly as he did on Tuesday, I think he hoped the message would reach all parties in Venezuela.  Yes?

Question:  Mr. Denktash ...

Spokesman:  I am sorry, right there in the back.  We’ll be with you next.

Question:  Has the Secretary-General called the President of Brazil to discuss the Venezuelan issue?

Spokesman:  Yes, he has spoken with the President of Brazil.  Yes?

Question:  Mr. Denktash, the leader of northern Cypriot Turkish committee, claims that the time of 28 February is too short.  Does the United Nations consider this time the last chance?

Spokesman:  It’s the last good chance for a very long time.  And so our operating assumption is that the talks now taking place must conclude by the end of February in order for there to be time to have the referendum that we discussed on both sides by the end of March.  If that opportunity slips by, I think it would be a tragedy.

Okay.  So, sit tight and we’ll let you know as soon as the President comes down from the 38^th floor.

Thank you very much.

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