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.

**Guest at Noon

Good afternoon everyone.  We are going to have a guest at this briefing.  He’s sitting right here in the front row -- Philip Emafo, who is the President of the International Narcotics Control Board -- and he’ll be here to launch the Board’s annual report.  However, the briefing is going to have to be embargoed.  The report itself is embargoed until 12:01 a.m. (GMT), 26 February.  So Wednesday, 12:01 a.m. (GMT) is the embargoed time.  Mr. Emafo’s briefing will also be embargoed until that time.

**Security Council

Security Council today:  At 3:30 this afternoon, they have announced they will go into closed consultations on Iraq.  I suppose that will be your main focus for the day.

Meanwhile, this morning, they started the day with an open meeting on Afghanistan -– I think that’s still going on now -- with a focus on the security sector reform.

The Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Marie Guehenno, gave an update on general developments and also drew attention to what he described as some recent and worrying security trends in Afghanistan, including increasing threats and actions against international assistance agencies.  These trends, Guehenno said, highlight the imperative to both quicken the pace of security sector reform and to consider immediate measures to improve security.

We have copies of his briefing in my office.

Also briefing the open meeting were Ambassador Harold Brown of Germany on Rebuilding the Afghan Police and Mutsuyoshi Nishimura, Ambassador of Japan in charge of Afghan Aid Coordination on the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration of Ex-Combatants.

After the open meeting, they are to go into closed consultations on Afghanistan.

**Secretary-General in Ankara

The Secretary-General arrived yesterday in the Turkish capital, Ankara, telling the press on his arrival that Cyprus was the question uppermost in his mind.

He said that the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots have to decide, in separate and simultaneous referenda on 30 March, to approve a comprehensive

settlement, and that they must come to terms in time for those votes to go forward.  “That time is now,” he said.  “That is why I am here.”

Asked if he still believed there would be an agreement by the end of this month, he replied, “I would not be here otherwise.  I think we can do it if the will is there.”

He was also asked about the letter from chief United Nations weapons inspector Hans Blix last Friday that ordered Iraq to destroy its Al-Samoud 2 missiles by 1 March.  The Secretary-General replied, “They have to destroy these weapons,” adding that he was confident that Iraq would do so.  Otherwise, he said, “if they refuse to destroy them, the (Security) Council will have to take a decision on that”.  We have copies of the transcript of his comments upstairs.

This morning, the Secretary-General conferred with his senior advisors on Cyprus.  Then, in the afternoon, he met first with Turkish President Ahmed Nejdet Sezer, with whom he discussed Cyprus, and also Iraq.  After that, he met with Tayyip Recep Erdogan, the leader of the Justice and Development Party, which is the ruling party in Turkey, as you know.  He told reporters afterward that he and Erdogan had held a very constructive discussion on Cyprus and again Iraq.

On Cyprus, he said, “We’ve been discussing and searching for a settlement for a long time”, and, following discussions with the parties, “We know their concerns and their worries.”  He added, “I will be giving them a fresh document in the next day or so.”

The Secretary-General is expected to meet with Prime Minister Abdullah Gul this evening, before he attends a dinner hosted by the Prime Minister in his honour.

**United Nations Monitoring, Inspection and Verification Commission

Going back to Iraq, the College of Commissioners of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) is meeting today and tomorrow.  During these two days, the Commissioners will review with their Executive Chairman, Hans Blix, his upcoming quarterly report on the work of the weapons inspectors.  The report, as you know is due on 1 March.

Meanwhile in Iraq, four UNMOVIC missile teams performed five inspections at various missile-related locations.  Another UNMOVIC team inspected munitions fragments at an old destruction site.  For a complete picture of the weapons inspectors’ activities, please pick up the briefing notes from Baghdad that we have upstairs.

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

The following statement is attributed to me concerning the earthquake in China. 

“The Secretary-General was saddened to learn of the powerful earthquake in the Xinjiang region of China, and of the loss of life and destruction that have resulted from the disaster.  He wishes to convey his heartfelt sympathy to the people and Government of China as they cope with their losses.  He wishes to assure the Government that the United Nations stands ready to assist in responding to the needs created by the tragedy.”

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

The second statement also attributable to the Spokesman refers to the killings in Pakistan over the weekend.

“The Secretary-General is appalled by Saturday’s attack on a Shiite mosque in Karachi, Pakistan, which left several people dead and many injured.  He urges the Pakistani authorities to make every effort to bring to justice those responsible for this terrorist act that was apparently aimed at dividing religious communities in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.  The

Secretary-General conveys his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and to the Government of Pakistan.”

**Non-Aligned Movement Summit

The Secretary-General was represented at today’s Summit meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, by his Chief of Staff, Iqbal Riza, and his Special Representative, Lakhdar Brahimi.  Brahimi delivered a message on the Secretary-General’s behalf, noting that the Summit takes place at a critical juncture, with war looming in Iraq.  However, the Secretary-General adds, war, even now, is not inevitable, but the international community must make every effort to encourage Iraq to comply fully with Resolution 1441 and to cooperate proactively with United Nations inspectors.

He says of the unabated violence between the Israelis and Palestinians, “Ultimately the political stalemate must be broken”, and he urged the international community to encourage the parties to give the two-State vision, and the “road map” to attain it, their wholehearted support.

The Secretary-General also noted other challenges that must be faced, including North Korea’s decision to withdraw from the Non-Proliferation Treaty, the crisis of governance now engulfing Latin America, and internal conflicts in Africa, ranging from Côte d’Ivoire to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Sudan.  We have copies of that message upstairs.

**Côte d’Ivoire

On Côte d’Ivoire, 13 members of a multi-disciplinary technical assessment mission to Côte d'Ivoire, led by Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hedi Annabi, has arrived in the country to begin its work.

As we mentioned on Friday, the mission, including political, humanitarian, human rights and security components, are in Côte d’Ivoire at the

Secretary-General’s request to gather the necessary information on the ground, which would enable him to prepare recommendations to the Security Council on the role the United Nations could play in support of the implementation of the Linas-Marcoussis Agreement.

The mission is scheduled to remain in Côte d’Ivoire until 5 March.

Meanwhile, as continuing instability limits their access to people in need, humanitarian agencies in Côte d’Ivoire are receiving consistent reports of abuses against civilians, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).  Shortages of food and access to health care are also taking their toll on civilians caught in conflict.  The western area of Côte d’Ivoire along the border with Liberia remains highly unstable.  OCHA says reports of atrocities and lawlessness, particularly in the west, and large numbers of internally displaced persons fleeing violence are extremely worrying.  We have a humanitarian update with details in my office.

**Central African Republic/Chad

On Chad and the Central African Republic, we understand that an additional 15,000 Central African refugees and returning Chadians, some of them wounded, have fled to southern Chad in the last four days amid raging fighting between Government and rebel forces in the western Central African Republic.  The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says that since last Wednesday an average of 1,000 people per day have been crossing the border.

The increased influx now brings the total number of refugees and returning Chadians around towns and border villages to an estimated 21,000 people.  Plans are underway to set up a camp for the refugees and to transport the returning Chadians home.  For more information, you can get details in the UNHCR briefing note in my office.

**International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

From the Yugoslavia Tribunal, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) confirmed that Serbian politician Vojislav Seselj was transferred today to the Tribunal’s detention unit, with his initial appearance before the court to be scheduled shortly.  Seselj was indicted earlier this month on eight counts of crimes against humanity and six counts of war crimes.

**Thailand

The United Nations rapporteur who deals with extrajudicial executions, Asma Jahangir, today expressed her deep concern at reports of more than 100 deaths in Thailand following a crackdown on the drug trade.  She cited allegations of the excessive use of force during law-enforcement operations by the Thai authorities.  She called on the Thai authorities to carry out transparent and independent investigations into each individual death.  We have more details in a press release upstairs.

**Timor-Leste

On Timor-Leste, just after noon local time today in Timor-Leste, a minibus carrying civilians was attacked by an armed group in the Bobonaro district near the border with West Timor.  The Timor-Leste National Police and the United Nations Police responded and were joined by the Quick Reaction Force of the United Nations peacekeeping mission.  One passenger was killed and three seriously injured.  Two of the serious injuries were taken to Dili and the third to the regional peacekeeping force medical centre.

Earlier in the day, a truck was similarly attacked in the same area.  The United Nations police are assisting the Timor Leste police in investigating the incidents.  We have a press release from Dili with more information.

**AIDS Vaccine Trials

On AIDS vaccine trails, Peter Piot, the Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, or UNAIDS, said today that the preliminary results of a large-scale trial for an AIDS vaccine were promising.  The trials, being conducted by the United States company VaxGen, show a protective effect among non-Caucasian population, but had a minimal effect on the Caucasian participants.  Piot said the trials indicate that a vaccine can work, but that there was need for more targeted research to find out why the vaccine only seems to work on certain sub-groups of population. 

Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director General of the World Health Organization, said that continued research into HIV vaccines remained an urgent global need, and especially for vaccines against the most prevalent HIV sub-types that are devastating sub-Saharan Africa.  A total of 22 candidate vaccines are being tested in developing countries including Brazil, Haiti, Peru, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago and Uganda.  We have a joint UNAIDS/WHO press release with more information. 

**Colombia

Out of Colombia, the United Nations has presented a Humanitarian Action Plan for Colombia to the international donor community.  Out of the total budget of $79.4 million, $48.9 million still needs to be raised.  The Plan aims to ensure respect for and access to human rights for the population affected by the humanitarian crisis.  Last year, more than a quarter of a million people were forced to flee their homes due to armed conflict, with indigenous people being particularly affected.  We have a press release with more details.

**Children and Armed Conflict

News out of Sierra Leone:  The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Olara Otunnu, is in Sierra Leone for a weeklong visit to assess the status of war-affected children now that the country has entered the post-conflict, peace-building phase.  Two initiatives that were proposed by Otunnu in his report “Agenda for action for the Children of Sierra Leone” in 1999.  They will be inaugurated during his visit.  The initiatives are the National Commission for War-Affected Children and the Voice of Children, a radio station run by and for children.  We have a press release with details.

**Budget

Budget news.  Madagascar today became the fiftieth Member State to be paid in full for the regular budget assessments for 2003 –- that was with a payment of about $28,000.

**Press Conference

And finally a press conference tomorrow -- 3:15, Hans Dahlgren, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Sweden, together with Dr. Peter Wallensteen of Uppsala University, will be in this room to brief you on the Stockholm Process on the Implementation of Targeted Sanctions.

**Questions and Answers

Question:  Have the inspectors and Iraqi officials reached any agreement on destroying Al-Samoud missiles?

Spokesman:  Has Dr. Blix heard from the Iraqi Government, you mean, in response to his letter? 

As of early this morning, they told us they had not heard.  They are all downstairs now in the Commissioner’s meeting, so I don’t know that that’s the freshest information.  But, as of early this morning, they had not had any word from Iraq.

Question:  This press conference, targeted sanctions, what does that mean?  Do you know?

Spokesman:  If you check with my office they probably have a handout for you, which will give you all the details.  I’m not sure what the Stockholm Process is, but I’m sure we have some information that the sponsors of the press release gave us that we can share with you.

Question:  How many of these Al-Samoud missiles are supposed to be destroyed?

Spokesman:  My understanding is all of them, as it has been judged that their range exceeds that allowed under Security Council resolutions.

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