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, and Richard Sydenham, Spokesman for the General Assembly President.

Good afternoon, and a welcome to our visiting journalists from Uzbekistan.

**Secretary-General on Iraq

The Secretary-General today spoke to the press on entering the building, and was asked about the problems in the dialogue between the French and the United States on Iraq, to which he responded, “The governments have to find a way of working together”.

Regardless of how this crisis is resolved, he said, the Security Council and the Member States will have to work together to deal with Iraq, the Middle East and many other issues.  The divisions that have surfaced, he said, should not be long ones that will prevent the Council from tackling the major issues ahead.

He added, “Regardless of how this issue is resolved, the Council will have a role, and the UN will have a role to play in Iraq and beyond”.

We have the full transcript of his remarks.

**Secretary-General Meets Security Council Members

The Secretary-General is continuing to meet with members of the Security Council today.  He saw the Russian and UK representatives yesterday, as you know, and by the end of today he should have seen all 15 members.

He will be urging them to continue their strenuous efforts to find compromise and exploring with them what might be done to further their objective to define a united position on Iraq.

As always, he feels they are most effective when they work together.

These meetings are all one-on-one and we’ll have no readouts for you.

**Security Council

The Security Council held consultations last night, as you know on Iraq during which the United Kingdom circulated a non-paper.  Consultations are scheduled to resume this afternoon at 3 p.m.

A two-day Security Council open debate on Iraq to hear the views of non-members concluded yesterday during which 53 Member States spoke.

**UNMOVIC

We’re still waiting for the daily report from Baghdad on the activities of the weapons inspectors today, and as soon as it comes in we’ll squawk it.

**UN Compensation Commission

Earlier today in Geneva, the UN Compensation Commission for Iraq approved awards totalling more than $223.2 million.  Of this total, $192 million was awarded to Kuwait for individual business and private sector corporation losses.

The governing council also elected the Permanent Representative of Germany to the UN Headquarters in Geneva, Ambassador Walter Lewalter, to a two-year term as President of the Commission.

As you know, the Compensation Commission is a subsidiary body of the Security Council established by the Council in 1991 to process claims and pay compensation for losses resulting from Iraq's invasion and occupation of Kuwait.

We have a press release with more details in my office.

**Cambodia

In Phnom Penh, Cambodia, today, UN Legal Counsel Hans Corell met with Senior Minister Sok An to discuss the programme of work their delegations will deal with as they negotiate on the remaining parts of a draft agreement concerning a trial of Khmer Rouge leaders.

Corell also met for more than an hour today with King Norodom Sihanouk.  And in the afternoon, Sok An will meet with him, each side with their full delegations.

Tomorrow, Corell will meet with representatives from non-governmental organizations and then with Cambodia’s Supreme Council.  In the afternoon, Sok An will again meet with the full UN delegation.

The UN delegation’s trip to Cambodia is expected to wrap up on 17 March, one day before the Secretary-General is due to report back to the General Assembly on progress regarding these trials.

**Djindjic

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia today issued a statement in which its President, Judge Theodor Meron, expressed his shock and horror at the assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic, whose cooperation with the Tribunal had brought international justice closer to a region that had seen terrible atrocities.

His death, the Tribunal said, is a heavy blow to individual accountability for violations of international humanitarian law, and to the rule of law.

**Secretary-General Lunch

The Secretary-General has invited US Secretary for Health and Human Services, Tommy Thompson, for lunch today here at UN Headquarters, to discuss the Global Fund Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.  US Ambassador to the United Nations, John Negroponte, and UN officials will also attend the lunch, at which the Secretary-General is also expected to discuss the $15 billion pledge for AIDS announced by President Bush, the food crisis in Africa and its relation to AIDS and the follow up to the Group of 8 meeting on food security in Africa.

Mr. Thompson was elected Chairman of the Fund in January and the Secretary-General is a patron of the Fund.

**Ethiopia-Eritrea

The World Food Programme today warns that more food aid is urgently needed to avert severe human suffering in drought-affected Ethiopia and Eritrea, where relief stocks will run out in the approaching months.

**Press Releases

One press release we would like to highlight for you today is from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, announcing an Aide-Memoire to be signed tomorrow with the Russian Federation on restoring the education system in Chechnya.  It says cooperation will be based on a recent assessment of education needs in Chechnya conducted by Russian and Chechen education officials with technical support provided by UNESCO.

**Secretary-General’s Lecture Series

Finally, we would like to say that there’s a fourth lecture about to take place tomorrow in the Secretary-General’s Lecture Series.  Jeffrey Sachs, Secretary-General’s Special Advisor on the Millennium Development Goals, Jagdish Bhagwati, Professor in Economics at Columbia University, and Joseph Stiglitz, Professor in Economics and Finance at Columbia University, and winner for the Nobel Prize in Economics, will discuss “Globalization:  Winners and Losers”.  The lecture will take place in the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Chamber and will start at 1:30 p.m.  That’s tomorrow.

The series focuses on topics at the forefront of the humanities and natural sciences.  The Secretary-General believes it will create a strengthened framework for dialogue and mutual understanding in the United Nations community.

The lecture is open to delegates, staff, non-governmental organizations and the media.

That’s all I have for you.

**Questions and Answers

Question:  Did you give the time and venue?

Spokesman:  Time for the lecture?

Question:  Yes, time and locations?

Spokesman:  1:30, ECOSOC chamber.  Yes?

Question:  Which countries met with the Secretary-General yesterday?

Spokesman:  Yesterday was Russia at Russia’s request; the UK at the Secretary-General’s request.  The other 13 members he is meeting today at his request.  Serge?

Question:  Fred, you mentioned that the Secretary-General is not… What is he trying to achieve now with the members of the Security Council?  What is his goal?

Spokesman:  I thought I said in my statement “he’ll be urging them to continue their strenuous efforts to find compromise and exploring with them what might be done further to further their objective to define a united position on Iraq”.  I mean, what else can he do?  He’s not a member of the Council.  

Question:  Yeah, but Fred, you have a divided Council.  So, what is his suggestion to…on one side you have…

Spokesman:  What would you prefer, that he do nothing?  The Council is divided.  He’s trying to help to the extent he can by talking through the issues with them and exploring how the differences might be bridged.

Question:  What about Iraq?  Why doesn’t he talk to Iraq, because Iraq is one of the main questions of this situation?

Spokesman:  He is not ready to engage in unilateral diplomacy with a Member State.  He’s talking with members of the Council.  And what he sees at stake is the Charter provision for united action.  He, as a defender of the Charter, he feels that if the Council can remain united, that’s in the best interests of the United Nations and the rule of law.  And I think that’s something that he wants to try to protect.

Question:  Last time he went to Baghdad.  He was able diffuse the situation by going to Baghdad.  Now he’s refused to go to Baghdad and one of the problems is Baghdad.

Spokesman:  Last time in 1998, the inspectors had been blocked.  They had not been permitted to conduct inspections of presidential sites and he therefore felt he had a role to play.  Today, the inspections process is going full blast.  So, I don’t think he feels there’s the same need for personal diplomacy in Baghdad.  Richard?

Spokesman for General Assembly President

Good afternoon.

At the opening of the General Assembly plenary this morning, President Kavan expressed his shock and sadness at the assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic.  “I feel personally very strongly about this”, the President said, “and share the pain caused by this cruel act, as Zoran was a

friend of mine and a former fellow human rights dissident.  I have worked with him when we were both dissidents… and lastly when we were both in top government positions we endeavoured to work for democratic Central Europe as our contribution to better conditions in Europe and the world”.  President Kavan said he perceived this deplorable act as “a challenge to us all and as a reminder that we have to continue to help to consolidate democratic forces throughout the world”.

The General Assembly then decided by consensus on the dates for the next session, the fifty-eighth session, which will open on Tuesday, 16 September and the general debate will start on Tuesday, 23 September and last for nine working days ending on Friday, 3 October.  This current fifty-seventh session will close on 15 September.

Any questions?

Question:  (Inaudible) Do you have anything on that?

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  I don’t have anything. I don’t believe anything has been received in the president’s office yet, as far as I am aware.

Question:  I was told that the Security Council is seized of the matter; that the General Assembly, as a body cannot intervene.  But there are provisions in the Charter for the Assembly to intervene.  The president of the Assembly did not feel any idea that he can become involved in this situation even if the Assembly is not there?  Because we don’t hear from the president of Assembly any more on international questions?  Did he have any views?  Any ideas?

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  Actually the president has been quoted quite extensively on his personal views about the situation, most recently in the Australian and Japanese media.  But while the matter is in the Security Council, I think we have to wait and see how events unfold.

Thank you.

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