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.

**UNMOVIC

Good afternoon.  As you know, the College of Commissioners of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) is meeting downstairs as we speak.  This is a special meeting during which UNMOVIC’s Executive Chairman Hans Blix and the Commissioners will review the inspectors’ work on the ground in Iraq.  They will also discuss how Mr. Blix will formulate his update to the Security Council, which is due for this Monday. 

As usual, as soon as we get the daily Baghdad update, we'll make it available to you.

**Secretary-General to Paris Summit

The Secretary-General is leaving New York tonight, to travel to Paris for a summit this weekend of heads of State to deal with the crisis in Côte d’Ivoire.

On Saturday, he will attend this summit and speak at the meeting of Côte d’Ivoire’s political forces, as well as at another meeting on the follow-up mechanism to the Paris Conference.

On Sunday, as the summit continues, he plans to participate in a joint press conference with French President Jacques Chirac and South African President Thabo Mbeki, before heading back to New York later in the day.

As you are already aware, he will attend the Security Council open meeting on Iraq next Monday, although he is not expected to speak at that meeting.

We have a programme of the Secretary-General’s travels this weekend, available upstairs.

**Côte d’Ivoire

Meanwhile, in Abidjan, Carolyn McAskie, the Secretary-General’s Humanitarian Envoy for the crisis in Côte d’Ivoire, met yesterday with President Laurent Gbagbo and voiced her concern over the humanitarian situation in that country.

In particular, she expressed concern about the lack of public services –- particularly those dealing with health and education –- in rebel-held areas, and underlined the need to protect civilians caught in armed conflict, including nearly 1 million Ivoirians who have been displaced from their homes since last September.

Ms. McAskie asked the President to ensure that his declaration made last

8 October that no more shanty towns would be destroyed would be respected, and she also asked the President to ensure respect for the safety of humanitarian personnel bringing aid to vulnerable people in the country.

We have a press release with more details upstairs.

**Security Council

The Security Council is meeting in closed consultations this morning to discuss the Secretary-General’s latest report on Western Sahara, which we flagged earlier this week.

Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hédi Annabi briefed the Council on the report and on the travel to the region last week by the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy James Baker.

In that report, the Secretary-General asked the Security Council for a two-month extension of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara while the parties consider Baker’s proposals.  Council members today discussed a draft resolution for a technical rollover of the Mission.

There may be a statement to the press by the Security Council President after consultations end.

**Cyprus

During yesterday’s meeting, which covered a variety of subjects, His Excellency Mr. Glafcos Clerides, the Greek Cypriot leader, and His Excellency Mr. Rauf Denktash, the Turkish Cypriot leader, authorized the United Nations to seek submissions on a flag and anthem for Cyprus through open public competition, as foreseen in the proposal for a comprehensive settlement put to them by the Secretary-General on 10 December.

The parties agreed that this procedure needed to be set in motion if a flag and anthem were to be ready to be included in a completed agreement by 28 February 2003, so as to enable the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots to decide on the settlement in separate referenda on 30 March 2003.

It is understood that the flag and anthem would only be adopted as part of a comprehensive settlement if the entire plan is approved in the separate referenda, and a new state of affairs comes into being.

This decision reflects a shared commitment to ensure that all preparations are made for a completed agreement in accordance with the time frame proposed by the Secretary-General.  It should not be taken as an indication of the state of play in the ongoing negotiations.

For more information, please pick-up the press release upstairs.

**Lebanon

Late yesterday, The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Terje Roed-Larsen, issued a statement on the violations of the Blue Line, which occurred earlier this week.

Roed-Larsen expressed great concern for Hezbollah’s totally unacceptable attack on an Israeli position across the Blue Line.  This attack is part of an unacceptable pattern of serious Blue Line violations, he said.

Roed-Larsen said that Israel’s response to the unprovoked attack also constitutes a violation of the Blue Line, with the tragic consequence of one Lebanese civilian fatality and injury to another civilian.

He also called on the Lebanese Government to make every effort to take more steps for the return of effective authority throughout southern Lebanon, as called for in Security Council resolutions.

He urged all parties to exercise maximum restraint in order to avoid a dangerous cycle of attacks and counter-attacks, particularly at this difficult and unpredictable time in the region.

The full statement is available upstairs.

**Middle East

The United Nations Environment Programme announced that its report “Desk Study on the Environment in the occupied Palestinian territories” has been published on its Web site. 

The report says that conflict-related environmental problems are adding to the pressure already on the environment, including pollution and the scarcity of land, weak environmental infrastructure and inadequate resources.

The report will be presented to the Governing Council when it meets in February.

**Summit in Gabon

 In the Gabonese capital Libreville, in a message addressed to the Summit meeting of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central African States, the Secretary-General said the partnership between the United Nations and Africa rests on a vision, which takes into account both the preoccupations and the aspirations of Africans.

He called on Central African States to use their vast wealth of natural resources in ways that promote economic diversity as well as ensure an equitable distribution of this wealth within their countries to ensure sound economic growth and sustainable development.

In the message, delivered by his Representative in the Central African Republic, General Lamine Cisse, the Secretary-General called on regional leaders to create an environment of peace and stability.

In these areas, and others, the New Economic Partnership for Africa’s Development –- NEPAD —- serves as a framework for effective cooperation between Africa and the international community, including the United Nations.

The full text of the message is available in French upstairs.

**Sudan

The United Nations team working in Sudan today welcomed the resumption of peace talks brokered by the regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development, which re-started after a nine-week break.

The Secretary-General’s Humanitarian Envoy to Sudan, Tom Eric Vraalsen, said he hoped the talks would continue in a spirit of goodwill.  He noted positive developments, including deliveries of food to some 188,500 people who had previously been unable to gain access to it and a record number of polio immunizations of children, which demonstrate the commitment by both parties to humanitarian goals.

“United Nations agencies and its partners have already been able to reach a much larger number of people in need”, Vraalsen said.  “We hope that this climate continues to allow suffering to be relieved effectively while creating the right conditions for meaningful talks.”

We have copies of a press release with more details upstairs.

**Democratic Republic of the Congo

The United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) issued a statement today saying that it was shocked by a press statement, put out two days ago by the RCD-N faction (Congolese Rally for Democracy-National), which accused the United Nations peacekeeping mission of partiality.

Amos Namanga Ngongi, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in the DRC, denied the charges as unfounded, and the Mission said its report on the events at Mambasa was transmitted exclusively to the United Nations and, at its request, to one of the accused parties.  It also denied reports that the Mission airlifted militia members and filmed events that took place before it was deployed to Ituri.

The Mission, in its statement, made clear that “during the discharge of its mandate, it will never set traps for anyone”, but will work under the mandate given by the Security Council.

We have copies of the Mission’s statement, in English and French, available upstairs.

**Afghanistan

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) was informed that the disarmament in Farybad has unfortunately been stalled due to differences between the Jamiat faction and the Jumbesh faction.  Negotiations are ongoing to settle these issues.  The disarmament exercise began (in the) Faryab province on 18 January, and 500 light and heavy weapons had been collected. 

UNAMA said that a national disarmament programme has not yet been started, but relevant commissions are being formed, and hopefully they will be in a position very soon to finalize how demobilization and disarmament will take place.

You can find more details regarding the United Nations activities in Afghanistan in the briefing note available upstairs.

**Deputy Secretary-General

The Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette is in Montreal, Canada today, attending the 13th annual McGill Model United Nations Assembly.  She will be the keynote speaker at the opening ceremonies.

In her speech, she will offer the audience an inside look at what is on the United Nations mind and agenda.  We have embargoed copies of her speech available in the Office.  She will be back to the office tomorrow.

**Guatemala

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative dealing with human rights defenders, Hina Jilani, says in a report she will submit to the Commission on Human Rights that the human rights situation in Guatemala is deteriorating, despite some positive Government initiatives.

Jilani says that the number of violations against people involved in defending human rights has increased over the past two years, including a rise in killings, death threats and acts of intimidation that are rarely investigated properly.

She warns, “The involvement of clandestine structures and groups and attacks against defenders and allegations of their links with state security forces is a matter of serious concern that must be addressed by the Government on an urgent basis.”

We have a press release with more information upstairs.

**Digital Divide

On Friday, starting at 9 a.m. in the Economic and Social Council Chamber, the United Nations Information and Communication Task Force is sponsoring a meeting on “Bridging the Digital Divide for the Caribbean”, at which several officials from Caribbean governments and the private sector will be present.

The event is in preparation for the launch of the Digital Diaspora Network for the Caribbean, through which Caribbean expatriates working in North America will seek to mentor and underwrite information and communication technology initiatives in their home region.

That's all I have for you.  Any questions?

Asked for confirmation about the involvement of Liberian “elements” fighting on the side of the rebels in Burundi, the spokesman said she could not confirm that particular point, adding that the United Nations is involved in the Burundi peace negotiations and has been trying very hard to bring all the conflict parties to agreement.  “We are monitoring the situation in that country very closely”, she said. 

Thank you. Have a very nice afternoon.

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