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

Following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Fred

Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.  I understand that we have two visiting groups today -– from the Middle East and the other from Bolivia.  Welcome.

** Secretary-General Urges Collective, Multilateral Approach on Iraq

The Secretary-General on Saturday asserted the unique legitimacy of the United Nations in dealing with the question of Iraq, and urged that UN unity on the issue be maintained.

In remarks to a 5,000-strong audience on the occasion of the 310^th anniversary of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, he said, “If we succeed in getting Iraq to comply fully and disarm, by effective and credible inspections, then the prize is great”.

The Secretary-General also reiterated his belief that all possibilities of a peaceful settlement should be exhausted before resorting to the use of force.

He said, “War is always a human catastrophe -– a course that should only be considered when all other possibilities have been exhausted, and when it's obvious that the alternative is worse”.

He went on to say, if Iraq fails to make use of this last chance, and continues its defiance, the Council will have to make another grim choice, and must face up to its responsibilities.

“Only a collective, multilateral approach can effectively curb the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and make the world a safer place”, he said.

He also said, “Nothing, of course, would undermine that goal more fatally than the actual use of weapons of mass destruction”.  He said, “I must therefore solemnly warn all parties to forswear any use of such weapons, in Iraq or anywhere else”.  “Any person who ordered or took part in their use”, he said, “would incur the gravest responsibility”.

He told the audience, “When there is strong leadership, exercised through patient diplomatic persuasion and coalition-building, the United Nations is successful -– and the United States is successful.  The United Nations is most useful to all its members”, he went on, “including the United States, when it is united, and works as a source of collective action rather than discord”.

The Secretary-General received an honourary degree from former U.S. Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, the college's chancellor.

Iraq

Meanwhile, in Iraq, the Executive-Chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), Hans Blix, and the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohamed ElBaradei, left Baghdad early this morning after two days of talks with Iraqi officials.

At a press briefing yesterday, ElBaradei said the talks had three main objectives -- “full inspection, full Iraqi cooperation, and movement on the remaining disarmament issues” -- and that “good progress” was made in all these issues. 

For his part, Blix noted that while Iraq has been helpful on process, “we distinguish between cooperation on process and cooperation on substance”, he said.  He added that cooperation on substance has been less good.

He said that in the two days of talks he’s seen the beginning of the Iraqis taking these remaining disarmament issues more seriously.

The UNMOVIC chief told reporters that he and ElBaradei had discussed their need for aerial surveillance.  He said the Iraqi side had not raised any difficulties concerning the use of German made unmanned drones.  Concerning the U2 planes, Blix said he expected a response from Iraq by Friday.

Both Blix and ElBaradei are expected to brief the Security Council this Friday.

Meanwhile, the inspectors’ work continued during the high-level visit.  UNMOVIC and IAEA teams inspected a wide variety of sites including a water plant, a grain handling facility and a technical training school.

UNMOVIC sought a private interview with a biological scientist on Saturday.  While he made the appointment alone, he did not agree to the mode of the interview, as proposed by UNMOVIC.  The interview, therefore, did not proceed.

The IAEA conducted a private interview with a chemical engineer.  No Iraqi witness was present during the interview, which lasted approximately two and a half hours.  A broad range of technical matters was covered during the interview.

Statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

We issued the following statement on Saturday following the explosion in Bogota, Friday night, and I will like to read it into the record.

“The Secretary-General of the United Nations is deeply shocked by the terrible terrorist attack on a crowded social club in Bogota Friday night.  The Secretary-General expresses his profound sympathy for the victims and their families.  He strongly condemns this cruel bombing and all other terrorist attacks by any actor in the conflict.  Their ends do not justify the means.  The heartless killing of innocent civilians will only deepen the conflict and further undermine hopes for peace that Colombia seeks and deserves.”

Palestine/UNRWA

In the Middle East this morning, Peter Hansen, the Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East -– better known as UNRWA -- issued an appeal to the international community not to let the West Bank and Gaza slide down its list of priorities as the world focuses on a potential conflict in Iraq.

Hansen also issued a stark warning that UNRWA’s emergency activities in the West Bank and Gaza will run out of resources and come to an end by late March -– including the feeding of 1.1 million people –- unless donations are received immediately from the international community.

“We are scraping the bottom of every barrel and stretching every dollar we have”, he said, “but without immediate donations our emergency operations are going to grind to a halt”.

He added:  “The international community must not allow the occupied territory to slip from its sight.  Tensions are too high and the need too great”.

In December, UNRWA asked the international community for US$94 million to support its emergency programmes in the territories for the first six months of this year.  So far, no funds have been received and only a small portion of the Agency’s needs have been promised.

The lack of donations means that already UNRWA has been forced to cut the size of the ration package it gives to 120,000 refugee families in Gaza, while in the West Bank, 1,600 emergency staff are to be laid off, and payment for refugee hospitalization has been stopped.

For more, pick up the press release upstairs.

Security Council

On the Security Council, they have scheduled no meetings and no consultations for today.

As tomorrow is a UN holiday, the Eid Al Adha, the next scheduled Council meeting is on Wednesday when consultations on Angola are planned.

Afghanistan

In Kabul today, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, attended the handover ceremony of the International Security Assistance Force(ISAF) from Turkey to Germany and the Netherlands.

The handover was presided by President Hamid Karzai.  In addition to the outgoing and incoming Force Commanders, the Defence Ministers of Turkey, Germany and the Netherlands were also present.

Brahimi said in his remarks, “I think on days like this, what one really feels is a sense of hope; the difficulties are enormous, it’s a huge mountain…”

He went on to say, “On days like this one feels that it is do-able.  It is do-able because the people of Afghanistan are tired of war, they are tired of conflict, they are tired of this destruction that has descended on them for so many years”.

“They would like to enjoy a little bit of peace”, he went on, “a little bit of stability and they are counting on the international community to help them do that”.

We have his remarks available upstairs.

Côte d’Ivoire

Carolyn McAskie, the Secretary-General’s Humanitarian Envoy for Côte d’Ivoire, continued her mission to the region with a stop in Mali today.

This is her last stop in the region as she makes her way back to New York, with an expected stop in Europe.

Ms. McAskie is schedule to brief you this Thursday, February 13th.

Democratic Republic of Congo

We mentioned to you last week a UN humanitarian mission which was making its way to a tornado-hit area in the western part of the DRC.  Today, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that it is in the process of delivering 23 tons of Emergency Kits, 33 tons of food and 40 tons of seeds and tools to the affected population in the town of Yumbi.

The tornado left some 1700 families without shelter.

G8 Action Plan on Africa

This afternoon at 3 p.m. in Conference Room 5, the Secretary-General will meet with the ambassadors of 18 African countries to discuss with them the follow-up to the Group of Eight’s Action Plan on Africa, agreed to at last year’s G8 summit in Kananaskis, Canada.

The Secretary-General intends to discuss with the ambassadors how to move forward the Action Plan, which is intended to support African countries as they implement the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, known as NEPAD.

ICC

The Assembly of States Parties to the International Criminal Court rather late on Friday night completed its work by electing the Court’s first 18 judges, who will be sworn in during a ceremony on March 11 at The Hague.

It took 33 rounds of voting by the 85 eligible States over four days before all 18 judges -– including 11 men and seven women –- were elected.  The Prosecutor for the Court is now expected to be elected at the Assembly’s next session, in April.

The winners included the Presidents of both UN Tribunals –- Judge Navenethem Pillay of South Africa, of the International Tribunal for Rwanda, and Judge Claude Jorda of France of the one for the former Yugoslavia.  A full list of the elected judges is available among today’s press releases.

Signings

We have just one treaty action today.  It’s scheduled for this afternoon, when Afghanistan is expected to become the 89^th country to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Budget

In budget news, we were notified today that the Lao People’s Democratic Republic paid its 2003 regular budget contribution in full before the end of the 30-day period.  The delay in reporting this is due to a late confirmation by the bank on the receipt of the contribution.  Their contribution is just over $13,000, and the number of fully paid up Member States is now 40.

Today we also have another large payment to the peacekeeping budget with Canada making a payment of more than $20 million.

Guests at noon briefing

After the holiday here tomorrow, we come to Wednesday.  There will be a guest here at the noon briefing.  Ercan Murat, UNDP Country Director for Afghanistan, and David Lockwood, the Deputy Director of UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, will brief you on developments in Afghanistan.

That’s all I have for you.

Questions and Answers

Question:  The Non-Aligned Movement has sent a letter to the Security Council on the session (Friday’s meeting).  What’s the reaction?

Spokesman:  I don’t have a reaction to give you.  In fact, I can’t even confirm that they have received that letter.  So, I’ll probably look into it and get back to you after the briefing.

Question:  Do you have any information concerning Mr. De Soto’s schedule, after his arrival in New York tomorrow?

Spokesman:  Yes, apparently, this morning he met with the two leaders and then left Cyprus for New York.  There’ll be no talks in Cyprus on Wednesday as he’ll be here to brief the Secretary-General.  I don’t have any details when exactly that might happen.  We’ll try to get back to you as soon as we know.  Then talks resume on Cyprus on Friday when de Soto would be back there.  So that, in general, is the schedule.  I don’t have the specifics for you yet.

Question:  The briefing by Hans Blix -- is that a public briefing?  And secondly, when does the mandate of UNMOVIC run out?

Spokesman:  The briefing on Friday -- I’m not sure the Council has finalized the decision on format.  I believe that the tentative plan, if it hasn’t been finalized yet as a formal decision, is to have this as a closed briefing as happened on a previous occasion.  But let me check with the Council Presidency to see if a final decision has been made.  Your technical question on UNMOVIC’s mandate I’d have to look at the documents and get back to you.  I don’t know whether it is renewed periodically by the Council or whether it has an indefinite mandate until they have accomplished their work.  If you stop by my office later, I’ll try to give it to you.

[Resolution 1284, which created UNMOVIC, did not specify a date for the end of its mandate.]

Question:  On Friday, the United States announced a security alert from yellow to orange.  I wonder what the security alert status is at the United Nations, and if any measures have been taken?

Spokesman:  No, we don’t discuss security.  Had there been a general alert in the United States, I’m sure that our Security here would have reacted in some way.  But they don’t want me to talk about it.

Question:  Also, a few weeks ago, we had some situation -- a mysterious white powder in Cyprus.  I understand the United Nations investigated the situation.  Do you have anything to report?

Spokesman:  We have already told you that the tests on that powder were negative and everything went back to normal.  I don’t think we have anything to add to that last report.

Question:  Can you confirm whether that envelope was in a diplomatic pouch the United Nations Headquarters in New York sent to Nicosia?  If “yes”, was there any investigation made as to who sent it?

Spokesman:  I can’t discuss those kinds of details, but this investigation was carried out by the book with the cooperation of the relevant authorities in Nicosia. And that’s really all that we have to say.

Question:  Is there any indication that the Secretary-General will submit a revised plan?

Spokesman:  I don’t think we want to comment on second or third plans, at this stage.

Question:  Can you get him back here in the building? (inaudible)

Spokesman:  So that you can catch him coming in the front door?  We’ll have to see.  I’ll see whether we can get you any information on that.  Serge?

Question:  With the creation of the new International Criminal Court, can future cases of the Rwanda Tribunal be handled by the Court?  Or is there going to be a duplication of cases handled by the two bodies?

Spokesman:  As you know, we’ve only had ad hoc tribunals.  I believe that the ad hoc Tribunals on Rwanda and Yugoslavia will continue until the end of

their mandate.  The new International Criminal Court can only take on issues as of the date that its Statute was adopted.  Now you have a permanent universal Court that can try any matters brought before it as of the date that the Statute was adopted.  In the case of Rwanda and Yugoslavia, you have events that pre-dated the approval of that Statute.  So, those Tribunals will continue to do their work on their mandate.  Now the ICC has its new mandate as of 1 July last year.

Question:  Does the Secretary-General have any reaction on the election of the judges of the Court, particularly, the gender balance and the geographical distribution?

Spokesman:  I’ll have to check with him.  He was informed before he left for Williamsburg Saturday morning on the outcome of the late Friday elections.  I believe that the gender balance agreed upon in advance of the elections had been met.  I don’t know that he has any comment on the geographical balance, but I have the impression that it is pretty good.  I can’t speak for him without speaking to him first.  Sorry.

Okay, enjoy.

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