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.

**Secretary-General Press Conference at The Hague

The Secretary-General just recently wrapped up a press conference at The Hague, in which he pointed to the desire by people around the world for a peaceful resolution to the Iraq crisis.  He emphasized that war must “always be a last resort”, and that the United Nations has “a duty to search until the very end for the peaceful resolution of conflicts”.

Security Council members, he said, “now face a momentous choice”, adding, “If they fail to agree on a common position, and action is taken without the authority of the Security Council, the legitimacy and support for any such action will be seriously impaired.”

He added that the success or failure of the international community would crucially affect its ability to deal with other problems in the Middle East, the Korean peninsula and Africa.

The Secretary-General noted the importance attached the world over to the Security Council and the United Nations, and said, “As they approach their grave decision, I must solemnly urge all members of the Council to keep this in mind, and to be worthy of the trust in them that the world’s peoples have shown.”

We have copies of his opening statement to the press upstairs.

He then took a number of questions.  Asked whether an attack on Iraq without Security Council authorization would violate the UN Charter, the Secretary-General said, “If the U.S. and others were to go outside the Council and take military action, it would not be in conformity with the Charter.”

The Secretary-General was asked about his discussions today on Cyprus, and one reporter asked, in particular, about the difficulty in getting a “yes-or-no” answer from the Cypriot leaders on putting his plan to separate, simultaneous referenda on 30 March, and the Secretary-General responded that, “sometimes, to get to what you call a simple yes or no, takes a lot of doing”.

**Secretary-General in The Hague

On Monday morning, at the Peace Palace of The Hague, which serves as the seat of the International Court of Justice, the Secretary General began a round of meetings on Cyprus.

On 28 February, he had asked the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktash, and the Greek Cypriot leader, Tassos Papadopoulous, to come to The Hague to tell him whether or not they are ready to enter into a binding commitment to put the plan

for a comprehensive settlement, as revised on 26 February, to separate simultaneous referenda on 30 March.

Yesterday, we issued a statement on today’s meeting, which said that “the Secretary-General’s plan represents the best and last opportunity for Cyprus to sign the EU accession treaty reunited.  The Secretary-General hopes that the leaders will agree to put the plan to referendum and allow their people to decide on their future in a united Cyprus”.  We have copies of the full statement upstairs.

At the Peace Palace, the Secretary-General first met with Tassos Papadopoulos, and then met with Rauf Denktash.  Before leaving the Palace at the end of the morning session, the Secretary-General met again with the Under- Secretary of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ugur Ziyal.

Consultations among the various parties are to continue at the Peace Palace in the afternoon.

Yesterday, after arriving in The Hague, the Secretary-General met with Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein, the Permanent Representative of Jordan to the United Nations, who serves as the President of the Assembly of the States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.  They discussed various issues relating to the Court, which is to be inaugurated tomorrow at The Hague.

Later yesterday afternoon and evening, the Secretary-General held a number of meetings relating to Cyprus.  He first met with his Special Adviser, Alvaro de Soto, who briefed him on the latest developments regarding the Cyprus issue. Afterwards, de Soto joined the Secretary-General for separate, back-to-back meetings on Cyprus with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Greece, George Papandreou, and the Under-Secretary of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ugur Ziyal.

**ICC Inauguration

As I just mentioned, the inaugural session of the International Criminal Court (ICC) will be tomorrow, and it will take place at the Hall of Knights in The Hague, with the Secretary-General, Queen Beatrice of the Netherlands and scores of world leaders attending.

During the session, the 18 elected judges of the Court will be sworn in by the President of the Assembly of States Parties, and the Secretary-General met with the 18 judges this afternoon, in a courtesy call.

The ceremony will be webcast live at www.icc-cpi.int

**Security Council

The Security Council is holding an open meeting this morning on Timor-Leste. Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guéhenno first introduced the Secretary-General’s special report on the UN Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET).

“This is not a general report on progress towards implementation of the mandate”, he said.  “It is, rather, an effort to sound a warning bell at a critical time -– to indicate to the Council a number of worrisome developments.”

Mr. Guéhenno appealed to the Council to reconsider the downsizing plans for the Mission in light of developments in the security environment and warned that a premature downsizing of the Mission could imperil the overall strategy of establishing a sustainable Timorese structure that can maintain security after the UN leaves.

As of now, there are 21 speakers on the list.

As you know, the Security Council held consultations on Iraq on Friday evening and decided to resume the consultations this afternoon at 4 p.m.

**UNMOVIC

The UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) supervised the destruction of 18 Al-Samoud 2 missiles since Saturday, with

six missiles being destroyed on each of the past three days. As of today,

52 Al-Samoud 2 missiles had been destroyed, along with 19 warheads, one launcher and five engines.

Today, an UNMOVIC missile team also inspected one command-and-control vehicle used to launch Al-Samoud 2 missiles and eliminated all the computer software used for the launch.

As for interviews, UNMOVIC conducted a private interview with an Iraqi scientist on Saturday, and another today with an individual who had taken part in the unilateral destruction of precursors for chemical weapons production.  These were UNMOVIC’s eighth and ninth private interviews since 28 February.  During that same period, four private interviews did not take place, due to conditions imposed by the Iraqi interviewees.  Also, on Sunday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) conducted a completely private interview with an Iraqi scientist.

UNMOVIC and IAEA teams also conducted several other inspections over the weekend, including the supervision by an UNMOVIC biological team of the transfer of R-400 bombs and fragments that had been excavated from the al-Aziziyah Airfield and Firing Range to a more secure area.  Today, an UNMOVIC team continued supervising the excavation and transfer work of the R-400 bombs.

We have further details in the briefing notes from Baghdad.

**Report on Ethiopia-Eritrea

The Secretary-General’s report to the Security Council on Ethiopia and Eritrea is out.

While reporting further progress in implementing the peace agreement, the Secretary-General notes the process is now at a critical stage, and that the international community should not be complacent.

He raises several concerns, including recent démarches made to the Boundary Commission, which could have “very serious consequences”.  The Secretary-General urges the Security Council to consider the Commission’s observations carefully and in their totality.  The Commission’s eighth report, which contains these démarches, is provided as an annex to the UN report.

The Secretary-General also says that, while the two parties should be commended for the fact that there have been no serious ceasefire violations since the establishment of the Temporary Security Zone, recent cross-border incidents are a source of concern.  He urges the parties to do their utmost to prevent a recurrence of such incidents.

He also renews his appeal to donors to contribute to the Trust Fund for the Delimitation and Demarcation of the Border and other mechanisms to facilitate the conclusion of that process.  In addition, he says that the serious drought affecting the two countries requires immediate attention and international support.

The report is scheduled to be discussed tomorrow in consultations of the Security Council.  Today, at 3:30 p.m., the Council is holding a troop contributors’ meeting on this UN mission.

**Eritrea - Humanitarian

The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Eritrea, Simon Nhongo, will arrive in New York tomorrow to speak to donors about the shortfall in funding for the Inter-Agency Appeal for Eritrea.  The Appeal was launched last November and calls for $163 million to assist 2.3 million people.  The Appeal has received just 2 per cent of the total figure so far, and there is a good possibility that reserves will run out at the end of the month.

We have a press release with more details.

**Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namanga Ngongi, dispatched to Bunia today a delegation to assess the situation on the ground there, following violent clashes between Ugandan troops and those of the Union of the Congolese Patriots.

The mission’s goal is first to secure an agreement for the cessation of hostilities between the Union of the Congolese Patriots and the Ugandan Army.  And second, should conditions permit, to proceed with the identification of the Ituri participants in the preparatory technical committee meeting.

We have a press release with more details available in my Office.

**Press Releases

Finally, a couple of press releases to highlight for you today.

The first is on the launch today of the State of the World’s Forests 2003 by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).  The report says there has been progress in implementing sustainable forest management, but improvements are still needed. 

The second is from the FAO as well, announcing today that an international committee of experts has recommended a number of substances for addition to the list of chemicals and pesticides under trade controls.  The proposal, which includes five additional forms of asbestos, a severely hazardous pesticide and two lead-based gasoline additives, will be presented to the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee of the Rotterdam Convention when it meets in November.

That’s all I have for you.  Yes?

Questions and Answers

Question:  As always, the BBC.  Can you just clarify something you said quoting Mr. Annan in The Hague?  I think you said that he’d announced in response to a question that if the United States was to go outside of the United Nations, it would not be in conformity with the Charter.  Is that, in effect, saying that if this draft second resolution were to be rejected by the Security Council for whatever reasons, then countries which participated in military action would actually be breaking the founding Charter?

Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  I don’t think I need to do exegesis on this simple declarative sentence.  Its meaning, I think, is very clear.  So, I’d rather not turn it around and say:  “is this also true?”  What he said, and I quote again, “If the U.S. and others were to go outside the Council and take military action, it would not be in conformity with the Charter.”  Serge?

Question:  As a follow-up to his question:  is it the duty of the Secretary-General, or is he misinterpreting the Charter?  Did he have the duty to do that?  Can he do that?

Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  He has to defend it.  In order to defend it, he’s got to interpret it.  He’s got a Legal Adviser should he run into any difficulties.  He also takes his orders from Member States through the General Assembly and the Security Council.  So, if they want to help him in interpreting the Charter, they may do so.  But again, he’s made it very clear, the statement.  Felicity?

Question:  Fred, how unusual are the remarks he made specifically exhorting the Security Council?  He’s been speaking in recent weeks about the extent to which he wants the Council to remain united.  But the statements today were considerably stronger and when you add on the response to the question that my two colleagues just spoke about, there seems to be a level of force and pressure that he’s putting on that seems unusual to me.  Can you give me some context?

Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  The context is evolving each day that goes by.  The tensions rise, and he felt that on this particular day he wanted to issue this statement, reiterate what he’s said before, but perhaps, more forcefully, to throw down some markers as governments get prepared to make very important decisions.  Yes, Mr. Abadee?

Question:  Fred, the Secretary-General has been remarkably silent during the debate of the Security Council on Iraq.  Traditionally, the Secretary-General makes a statement on important issues before the Council.  Is his silence due to the fact that he’s aware of the division within the Security Council?

Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  The recent meetings had to do with Drs. Blix and ElBaradei presenting their reports to the Council and the Council debating those reports.  He did not see it as his role to enter directly into that particular debate.  That’s why he chose not to make a statement at those meetings.  He did speak to Council members, notably, at the lunch with the foreign ministers when a lot of very pertinent issues came up.  So, he’s been making his views known, but in private.

Question:  A follow-up?  He says in his press conference this morning that “war must always be a last resort arrived at only if and when every reasonable avenue of achieving Iraq’s disarmament by peaceful means has been exhausted”.  What is his current thinking?  Does he think that those efforts have been exhausted or there’s room still for further negotiations?

Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  A final vote has not been taken, and final military action has not been undertaken.  I think he still feels there’s room in the Council’s deliberations to come up with a peaceful resolution.  Yes?

Question:  If the U.S. and other countries are found to be in violation of the Charter, what are the consequences or possible consequences?

Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  That would have to be for Council members to decide.  And I don’t want to speculate further about what is basically a hypothetical question.

Question:  Is it the process though that the Secretary-General is obliged or would be able to make some kind of declaration that they’re in violation and is some kind of procedure triggered at that point?  How’s that handled?

Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  No, I don’t ...  Again, it’s hypothetical.  But he’d like the Council to take the lead in making this determination.  He’s made a judgement call today and then I think he’d leave it to the Council to act.  Yeah?

Question:  If I could just follow up?  Is there a precedent for this matter?  Is there a procedure some place and how this has been handled previously?  Where a Security Council member was found in violation of the Charter?  So there’s something to look to to see whether this happened in the past?

Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  I am not a historian; it’s hard for me to give you a precedent.  But this would not be the first time that a Member State had taken military action without Charter approval.  It was done by the United States in Kosovo.

Question:  Fred, regarding the situation in the Congo?  Are we losing control.  What is your interpretation of it?

Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  The situation in the east was extremely destabilizing.  I think the hope though is that the parties are committed to an agreement, and if they can just get this situation in Ituri under control, the peace process can be salvaged.  I wouldn’t say it’s out of control.  Yeah?

Question:  Just picking up on my colleague’s question.  You referred to the American action in Kosovo taken without Council approval.  But you’d agree, wouldn’t you, that the precedent is not at all exact because the matter was never put to the Council and a specific resolution was not rejected or indeed vetoed?

Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  That’s true.

Question:  So, the precedent is not exact?

Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  I accept that.  Felicity?

Question:  Could I follow upon this line with one more?  If a new resolution, the one that’s currently pending, is withdrawn, would 1441 give the authority for action?

Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  That’s not for the Secretariat to pronounce itself on.  So, the Council would have to decide the answer to your question.

Question:  And what about, if possibly you could talk about the reverse.  Legally, if the current resolution is offered and rejected, does that mean whatever authority is in 1441 is null and void?

Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  I don’t want to ... I mean, it’s really wrong to ask the Secretariat to make these kinds of judgements.  These are matters for governments to debate and decide on.  Yes?

Question:  Is there anything new on potential plans for withdrawal from Iraq by UN personnel?  You spoke about that last week.  Is there anything different any more of urgency this week, today?

Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  The only new development was in the UN peacekeeping force along the Iraq-Kuwait border, which went to phase three, which means non-essential staff were removed.  But that’s only about 100 people out of a total strength of 1,000.  And that mission continues to carry out all its functions and, as far as I know, we still have roughly 600 people in Iraq.  So, as of today there is no dramatic reduction in our presence.  What will happen in the course of the week, we’ll have to see.

Question:  Secondly, there have been some questions about the exact procedure in taking a vote of this nature in the Security Council, assuming that a vote on the resolution introduced on Friday is called this week.  Can you outline to us how that is done in the Council?

Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  I think there’s no change in the standard procedure.  The resolution, as agreed upon in draft, is put to a vote by the President.  He asks those in favour and members show hands.  Those against, members show hands.  Those abstaining, members show hands.  And then he announces that either the vote has carried or the resolution was not adopted for whatever reason -– lack of the required number of votes or the casting of a veto.

Question:  My understanding is that the casting of a “No” vote by a permanent member is the same, equivalent to casting of a veto or is that a separate process?

Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  No.  That’s part of the same process.

Question:  Finally, the question is called by one of the sponsors at any time during consultations or during the meeting?

Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  Which question?

Question:  To call the question.  In other words, how is that actually done, to say we now want to vote on this resolution?

Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  All that is decided in closed consultations.  So, members agree in closed consultations to take a particular draft to a vote.  Then they go into an open meeting for the vote.  Frank?

Question:  Fred, which section of the UN Charter would the U.S. not be conforming with, if it went into action in Iraq.  Do you know which section it would be violating?

Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  I don’t have my Charter with me, and I am not prepared, therefore, to cite chapter and verse.  If you like, we can ask the Legal Office to give you a precise answer to that question.  Mr. Abadee?

Question:  Fred, on the voting question, do you know if there is any current thought being given to simulating a vote by a two-action vote?

Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  I don’t understand that question.  Simulation?

Question:  Yes, within the informal consultations to take stock of who is for or against prior to the formal vote?

Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  I am not aware that that is done.  I think members assess each other’s position based on statements made in closed consultations, not on simulated votes.  There’s nothing in the procedures that says it couldn’t be done, I just have never seen it done.

Okay?  Thank you very much.

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