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 General Assembly President.

Briefing by Deputy Spokesman for Secretary-General

Good afternoon.

**Security Council

The Security Council met this morning on Afghanistan in an open meeting followed by closed consultations.

In his briefing to the Council, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, reviewed the first year of the Bonn peace process, noting that major political milestones were reached on time, including the holding of the Emergency Loya Jirga and also the establishment of the Transitional Administration.

However, Brahimi underscored that the peace process in Afghanistan would need to progress much further before one could safely say that it was irreversible.  He went on to highlight security problems that the country was still facing, which were illustrated by the explosion in a bus today which has caused the death of 16 passengers.

Brahimi also updated the Council on the situation in the judicial sector, whose reform, he said, was one of the greatest challenges that the Administration was facing.

He concluded that Afghans are watching closely developments elsewhere with some sense of fear that they may again be forgotten, saying that they do understand too well how vulnerable they still are to forces that, if unchecked, may consume them again and undo the significant progress that has been made in the last year.

Today is the last day of the French presidency of the Security Council.

Starting tomorrow, Germany assumes the Council presidency for the month of February.

Ambassador Gunter Pleuger of Germany has scheduled a press conference with you on Tuesday on the programme of work for the month.

**UNMOVIC

According to our regular briefing from Baghdad, a team from the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) performed aerial inspections over a number of sites for the first time, including a number of biological and agricultural research facilities.

Other UNMOVIC teams also conducted inspections by car.  Sites visited include a factory which produces a wide range of shell bodies and fuses for rockets. 

For more info, please see the full update in my Office.

**Côte d’Ivoire

The Secretary-General’s Humanitarian Envoy for the crisis in Côte d’Ivoire, Carolyn McAskie, continued her mission to West Africa with a stop in Burkina Faso today.

In Ouagadougou, in her meeting with President Blaise Compaore, McAskie was told that the economic impacts of the crisis include losses in revenue for Burkina Faso's private sector and increases in the prices of consumer goods.  The UN estimates that some 60,000 migrant workers have returned to Burkina Faso from Côte d’Ivoire since violence erupted in September.

Over the weekend, McAskie will go to Liberia, where she plans to visit Ivorian refugees staying in camps there.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has now resumed most of its operations in Côte d'Ivoire after a three-day suspension, following unrest in Abidjan and general insecurity in the rest of the country last weekend.

Many refugees, increasingly worried following recent developments in the country, have asked to be transported as quickly as possible to Liberia.

Refugees are still being targeted in various parts of the country, and UNCHR says it remains very concerned about the general security situation there.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA) today reiterated an urgent appeal, voiced a week ago by Carolyn McAskie, to ensure the security and protection of human rights of the civilian population in Côte d'Ivoire.

In her meeting with Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo on 23 January, McAskie raised her concern about the destruction of shanty towns in Abidjan, despite the President’s declaration last October that such destruction would be halted.  In the days that followed, however, attacks on several shanty towns have taken place.

We have a press release upstairs, in French only, with more details.

**Angola

Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos met yesterday the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to Angola, Ibrahim Gambari, who afterwards called for a “spirit of new partnership” in order to overcome the new challenges.

Among the challenges he pointed out were the reintegration of war- demobilized persons into the society, demining, technical assistance for preparation of the next elections, as well as the holding of an international donors conference.

Also in Angola, the Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), James T. Morris, said today that Angola needs immediate and strong participation from many players to respond to mounting humanitarian needs in the country as it emerges from years of devastation caused by war.

Morris’ trip comes at a time when humanitarian agencies face significant challenges in Angola, such as the ongoing effort to ensure that food aid is delivered to a growing number of fragile communities.

**Democratic Republic of Congo

The World Food Programme (WFP) announced today the start of an airlift operation to bring food to more than 100,000 people in the town of Bunia, in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

These people have been stranded by the recent fighting in the area.  The food, which will include maize, flours and beans, will be sufficient to feed this population, which consists mostly of women and children, for about a month.

For more information, you can pick up the WFP press release upstairs.

**Timor-Leste

The UN peacekeeping mission in Timor-Leste informed us that today, at around 3:30 p.m. local time, a civilian aircraft crashed into the mountains near Baucau whilst attempting to land at Baucau airfield in conditions of poor visibility.  Six Russian crew members were on board, and it is feared that all may have lost their lives.  Five bodies have been recovered so far.

Shortly after the news was received, a Civil Aviation Disaster Committee was formed at the direction of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Timor-Leste, Kamalesh Sharma, and medical evacuation teams were dispatched to the area.  Sharma assured all parties that the UN mission would assist in every way possible at this difficult time.

**Drugs -- Afghanistan

Next Monday, the guests at the noon briefing will be Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, and Sandeep Chawla, Chief of the Office’s Research Section, who will present a new study, “The Opium Economy in Afghanistan:  An International Problem”.

That report analyses developments that have made Afghanistan the world’s top producer of illicit opium and suggests ways to deal with that problem in the long run.  The Office on Drugs and Crime has conducted annual opium poppy surveys in Afghanistan since 1994, and has estimated, during that period, a 15-fold increase in Afghan opium production since the Soviet invasion in 1979.

Upstairs, we have a press release on the report that will be launched Monday, as well as an executive summary, both of which are embargoed until Monday, at 1 p.m. New York time.  The full report will also be available at the UN bookstore.

**Drugs

The International Narcotics Control Board will begin a five-day meeting in Vienna next Monday, in which it will focus on the impact of drugs, crime and violence on individuals, families and neighbourhoods.

Among other things, the Board will also review the findings of a study looking at the various existing penalties around the world for drug trafficking, and discuss a recent meeting on daily doses of narcotic drugs for medical treatment.

We have a press release upstairs with more information.

**Afghanistan

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today announced a week-long campaign to immunize thousands of Afghan women against tetanus as part of a global campaign.  Running from 2 to 8 February, health workers and volunteers aim to reach some 740,000 Afghan women aged 15 to 45.

We have a press release available upstairs.

**Sierra Leone

The UN Mission in Sierra Leone reports on a so-called “Diamonds for Development” initiative designed to help finance community welfare projects in diamond producing areas.  The initiative is also seen as an incentive for legal mining, through the issuance of licenses as the local communities would derive benefits from those fees.

The proposal has been conveyed by the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General Alan Doss to the Minister of Mineral Resources who strongly welcomed it.

Again, we have more details upstairs.

**AIDS

US Secretary of Health Tommy Thompson was today elected Chairman of the Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.  He succeeds Chrispus Kiyonga of Uganda, the Board’s first Chairman. 

Also at the meeting of the Board in Switzerland, grants worth $866 million were awarded to projects in 60 countries.  Sixty per cent of the money awarded will go to projects to fight AIDS, with 70 per cent of the projects including a mother-to-child transmission component. 

We have a press release with more details.

**Kosovo

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says it has just published a new position paper on the continued need for international protection for some people from Kosovo, in particular members of Serb, Roma, and some other minorities.

The UNHCR believes the general situation in Kosovo has improved over the past year. But the security situation of minorities continues to be a major cause for concern.  The level of risk varies according to the particular group and their location.

**UNICEF Assists Kenyan Schools

Two weeks after pledging $2.5 million to assist the Government of Kenya with its free primary education programme, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) today handed over the first consignment of supplies.

We have a press release with more information.

**Press Releases

And two more press releases to flag from the World Health Organization (WHO):

The first announces the publication of guidelines to help governments minimize the threat of acts of terrorism against food supplies.  The document looks at means of establishing basic prevention, surveillance and response capacities and integrating terrorism prevention into existing national food safety and disease surveillance programmes.  The document is available on the WHO Web site.

In the second press release, the WHO announces a meeting on the impact of alcohol on global health.

**Budget

So far today, one more Member State has paid its 2003 regular budget in full.  Slovenia made a payment of over $1 million to become the 35th fully paid-up Member State.

And today is the last day of the 30-day period during which Member States can pay their dues on time.  After today, unpaid dues will be considered as arrears.

On Monday, we will be able to give you a complete list of any other payments made today and which will be considered as on-time payments.

**United Nations News Centre Web Site in Arabic

An announcement to make:  the Department of Public Information today launched the Arabic-language version of the UN News Centre -- the Web site, which many of you know as a valuable source of continuously updated news and links to related materials.

The Internet address of the Arabic-language News Centre is www.un.org/arabic/news.  It can be also reached from the Arabic-language home page of the United Nations Web site, as well as from the front pages of UN News Centres in English and French.

**Press Conference

And at 12:45 p.m. today, Ambassador Revaz Adamia of Georgia will be in this room to brief you on the situation in his country and the developments related to the peace process in Abkhazia.

**The Week Ahead at United Nations

And, of course, we have the Week Ahead for you to pick up in the Office upstairs.

Any questions?  Yes, please?

Questions and Answers

Question:  The part about Tommy Thompson, is that the US Tommy Thompson the former governor?

Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  Yes.

Question:  But he’s heading a UN board?

Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  It’s a global fund to fight AIDS and malaria.

Question:  Is it related to the announcement which was made about $1 billion for AIDS or is this a separate thing?

Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  It’s a separate thing.  It’s not related.  Okay, Richard?

**Briefing by Spokesman for General Assembly President

Good afternoon.

At the resumed 80^th plenary meeting of the General Assembly this morning on election of judges for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the President made an opening statement.  As you’re probably aware, last Wednesday elections were suspended related to necessary payments to reduce the arrears of certain countries under Article 19 of the Charter.

The President made a statement in which he said that he’d received information that one of the States that had previously been certified as paying their dues had become in arrears.  They received this information during the third round of balloting.  And after consultations with the Legal Counsel, the President decided to suspend the meeting.  In this morning’s statement, he said, “For the first time in the history of the United Nations, elections took place but the rules embodied in the United Nations basic document, the Charter of the United Nations, were violated.  We don’t have a precedent that could help us to move on.  Let me stress that since we’re now establishing a precedent for future elections,

we must proceed in the most responsible and sensitive way, being aware of all possible consequences.”

The President then went on to say that he had received communications from some delegations in which representatives expressed their deep concern about the situation.  The President has requested a full and objective investigation that would be reported to Member States on why the situation occurred.  He also said that he has requested suggestions to prevent such a situation from happening in the future.  He found the situation regrettable, and after a number of interventions by Member States during this morning’s session, New Zealand, in noting the unequivocal legal advice by the Legal Counsel, proposed a meeting of the bureau.

Following this proposal, the President decided to suspend the meeting this morning until 3 p.m. for a meeting of the bureau with the chairs of the regional groups, if they wish to attend, and requests the Legal Counsel to attend.  The President has assured the Assembly and is working very hard and hopes to find a solution that is both pragmatic and legal.

Any questions?

Question:  Without any precedent?  That’s what the President said?

Spokesman for the Assembly President:  That is right.  Those are his words.

Question:  I recall that in the case of the Security Council, the Mali delegation voted without ... did the two organs operate under the same procedure?

Spokesman for the Assembly President:  I think that that’s a separate issue.  I believe that the rulesof the General Assembly in this case were ...

Question:  (inaudible) had nothing to do with it?

Spokesman for the Assembly President:  I am not a legal counsel -- I can’t get into that in great detail.  There’s one response I would like to make to a question that was raised yesterday, that voting in this case is completely different from the voting process in the International Criminal Court in that for the ICC voting, Article 19 of the Charter does not apply to those elections.  In this case, we’re talking specifically about Article 19 of the Charter applying to these elections that are taking place.  But I think all concerned are working very hard, as the President said, to find a solution that is both pragmatic and legal.

Question:  What is a pragmatic solution?

Spokesman for the Assembly President:  I think we have to wait for the bureau to come back, and we should know more at 3 p.m.

Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  Okay.  I forgot to mention one thing.  As you can see, the UN Post has issued new sets of stamps.  So, hopefully you will go out and buy them.

Thank you, have a very nice weekend.