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.

**Guests at Noon

I have brought three people back to talk to you about the “oil-for-food” programme at your request yesterday.  Apparently, you still have questions following the high-level briefing we provided on Friday.  We describe this as a working-level briefing.  Philip Ward, who is the programme adviser for the World Food Programme (WFP) is here in New York.  He was, indeed, at the Friday briefing but he’s back again today.  From the Office of the Iraq Programme, we have Darko Mocibob, and from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Oliver Ulich.  So, these are people who do the work there, and we hope have answers to all your questions.  We’ll be getting to them in just a minute.

**Secretary-General on Iraq

The Secretary-General spoke to reporters upon entering the Building, and expressed his hope that UN weapons inspectors would eventually return to Iraq.  He noted that the inspectors’ work has merely been suspended, and he said that, if any weapons of mass destruction were to be found, the inspectors should go back to test them.

Asked about what consequences it may have for the legitimacy of military action if such weapons are not found, the Secretary-General noted that, although the issue before the Security Council was one of disarmament, he said “the Council had not endorsed this war”.

He said, in response to a question about Iraqi threats concerning suicide attacks throughout the Arab world that, “if we were to have suicide attacks around the world, most people would see it as illegal; it would be seen as terror against innocent civilians”.

Asked about the humanitarian situation, he said he was concerned about the conditions in the besieged Iraqi cities.  With the hot season coming, he said, “if you have no water and electricity, it can lead to sanitation problems”.  We have the full transcript of his remarks upstairs.

**Iraq -- Humanitarian

We also have the briefing notes from Geneva and Amman, Jordan, on the humanitarian consequences of the war in Iraq.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said that UNICEF was concentrating its work in the north of Iraq, where it estimated that 280,000 persons were displaced.  UNICEF has been attempting to send humanitarian aid with trucks contracted privately -- through several fronts, into Iraq, with varying degrees of success so far.

Today, UNICEF reported that two trucks of essential humanitarian aid are making their way through the customs and inspections processes on the border between Turkey and northern Iraq.  The supplies are destined for Dohuk, Erbil and Sulaymaniyah.  And would be the first time humanitarian supplies have been delivered through this route, in the north.

UNICEF also noted that the temperature on the border between Kuwait and Iraq today is a stifling 37 degrees -– 99 degrees Fahrenheit.  In weather like this, the need for water, already acute in several places, becomes more and more urgent. Dehydration among young children is a concern.  Access to safe water also remains a concern, and grows, as the temperature increases.

The World Food Programme reported that staff members continued to work in three northern provinces.

In Geneva, WFP reported that it hoped that its staff could return to Iraq within a month to get the food public distribution system, which was already in place in Iraq, working and reaching more than 27 million Iraqis within the oil-for-food framework.  WFP estimated that 16 million Iraqis were totally dependent on the oil-for-food programme.  WFP hoped to be able to distribute around 480,000 tons of food every month in Iraq.  In response to a question on why its programme would not start for a month, WFP said that was because they estimated that there was food in the country to last until the end of April, and there was also the security situation to take into consideration.

**‘Oil-for-Food’ Programme

The Office of the Iraq Programme said today that an initial assessment of contracts in the UN humanitarian pipeline for Iraq has identified over $1 billion worth of goods and supplies as potential priorities for delivery over the 45-day period established by Security Council resolution 1472 (2003), which last until

12 May.  The assessment includes more than 450 contracts across the spectrum of medicines, health supplies, foodstuffs, water and sanitation and other materials identified by the Security Council as priorities for shipment.  The contracts are held by suppliers from some 40 countries representing almost every region of the world.  The full text of the oil-for-food update is available upstairs.

**UNIKOM

The Secretary-General, in his latest report to the Security Council on the UN Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission (UNIKOM), which is out on the racks today, said that conditions in the Mission’s area of operations deteriorated so markedly that he was finally obliged for security reasons, and because the peacekeepers could no longer fulfil their mandate, to suspend its operations on 17 March.

By 21 March, he added, UNIKOM had evacuated all its personnel, with the exception of a small headquarters, consisting of 12 military officers,

20 essential civilian staff and some local staff, which remains in Kuwait City.  That headquarters, he said, will undertake liaison duties and provide valuable support to other UN activities as the need arises, and he recommended that the Council maintain that small peacekeeping presence for three months, until 6 July, subject to any further Council decisions.

**Iraq -– Human Rights

In Geneva today, the Commission on Human Rights discussed the situation of human rights in Iraq, and the special rapporteur dealing with that topic, Andreas Mavrommatis, drew attention to what he called the “imperative necessity” for continued action to promote human rights in that country.  That, he said, presupposes an adequate UN human rights presence in Iraq, which, in cooperation with the authorities, could assist in the gradual attainment of full compliance with international human rights norms.   Mr. Mavrommatis also emphasized that the war should be over at the soonest and that “events such as the carnage in the marketplace of Baghdad would not occur again”.  We have the text of his introductory statement available upstairs.

**Security Council

Ambassador Adolfo Aguilar Zinser of Mexico took over today as President of the Security Council for the month of April and is having bilateral consultations with other Council members.  He is scheduled to hold a press conference tomorrow, following consultations on the Council's programme of work, which will be made available at that time.

Available on the racks today is a letter from last month's Security Council President, Ambassador Mamady Traoré of Guinea, to the Secretary-General, saying that the Council has extended the deadline for nominations of short-term (or ad litem) judges to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, until 15 April.

**Middle East

The Secretary-General met yesterday afternoon with a group of eight visiting Palestinian journalists, and discussed with them the current situation in Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

On the latter issue, he said he was very happy that United States President George W. Bush had reasserted that he intends to press ahead with the Quartet’s road map, and he said, “I would hope that now that Abu Mazen has been appointed Prime Minister, the road map will be released and the parties can sit at the table to discuss its implementation.”

He said that, unlike the sequential approach that had been tried before, which he said “has not worked”, the road map places parallel demands from both parties and envisages a monitoring mechanism to ensure that both parties are performing.  We put out his opening comments to those journalists yesterday.

**Colombia -- Humanitarian

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says that incursions into Venezuela by irregular armed groups from Colombia are taking place, and reported armed clashes in the border between the two countries have reportedly caused the forced displacement of hundreds of people.  UNHCR says that these events signal a worrying escalation of the Colombian conflict and underscore the growing humanitarian impact on the countries neighbouring Colombia.

UNHCR appealed to all combatants to respect the rights of the civilian population, and to all governments in the region to continue to abide by their international obligations and ensure the right to asylum.  We have briefing notes with more details.

**Liberia -- Humanitarian

One of four WFP aid workers abducted last week in Liberia is still missing, although his three colleagues have been released, the food agency reports.

**Multilingualism

The Secretary-General has appointed Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information Shashi Tharoor as Coordinator for Multilingualism.  Since 1999, that post has gone to a senior Secretariat official to coordinate questions relating to multilingualism throughout the Secretariat.

Mr. Tharoor, an Indian national, will perform his new functions in addition to his current responsibilities as the head of the Department for Public Information.  The post was previously filled by Miles Stoby of Guyana.  We have a press release on the racks on that subject.

**Landslide in Bolivia

The United Nations country team in Bolivia is responding to a landslide that occurred in the town of Chima, some 250 kilometres from La Paz, yesterday.  Though preliminary reports indicate that damage was extensive, the number of those killed or missing as a result of the disaster cannot yet be confirmed.

In support of the Bolivian authorities’ own relief efforts, an assessment mission, including representatives of the WFP and UNICEF, is under way.  The WFP is providing 5.5 metric tonnes of food, enough to feed 200 affected families for 15 days.  And the World Health Organization (WHO), together with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) will provide medicines.  We have a press release on that.

**SARS

Finally, the World Health Organization is concerned about the cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, in a Hong Kong apartment complex as the disease seems to be transmitted there in a way that is not yet understood.  So far, 213 people from the complex, which has a total of 15,000 residents, are suspected of having SARS.

The latest figures from WHO indicate more than 1,800 cases in 17 countries resulting so far in 62 deaths.  We have a press release with more on that.

That’s all I have for you.  Any questions before we go to our three guests?  Liz?

Questions and Answers

Question:  Regarding that port of Umm Qasr, there is a report in The New York Times that basically says the port is still standing idle and it’s the fault, according to the US officials there, of the UN Security Coordinator in New York who has not, that office has not yet deemed that the port is safe or declared it safe. And there are further accusations that this is really politically motivated, not security.  Do you have any comment on this or explanation of what might be going on there?

Spokesman:  Frankly, I don’t understand it.  If the United States has effective control of the town and the port of Umm Qasr, the United States is responsible under international law for humanitarian assistance to the civilian residents.  The United Nations Security Coordinator has not at this time cleared any part of Iraq for work by international staff.  And as you’ve heard me reporting every day, we’re doing everything we can to maintain operations with local staff, more in the north than in the center, and in the south where the Iraqi authorities have asked us to suspend our operations.  So, frankly, I don’t understand the allegation.  Yes?

Question:  It could be the allegation is tied to the fact that the United Nations as the NGOs, as the AID, is waiting to see whether they can distribute, it or the military has decided to distribute, for example, the wheat that the WFP has on hand and so forth.  And I think that’s where the politics came in to (inaudible) the United Nations is (inaudible).

Spokesman:  On the specific matter of the WFP, those are the two shiploads from Australia, 100,000 metric tons of wheat that, I think, just yesterday there was agreement reached with the WFP to transfer that wheat to the WFP for distribution.  So, why don’t I let Philip Ward take up that question when he comes up here?  Yes?

Question:   The Secretary-General yesterday after his meeting with the Arab group had said that he is now calling on the belligerents and he specified; he said the “coalition and the Iraqi government”, which was my understanding is that it was the first time that he used the “Iraqi government” since he decided to pull United Nations personnel out of Iraq.  I was just wondering if that signals a change in the Secretary-General’s attitude to the war in Iraq now?

Spokesman:  There is no change in his attitude to the war.  He was against it from the beginning in the hope that a peaceful solution could be worked out.  He was deeply disappointed when the Security Council failed to reach agreement.  In his letter to the Security Council recommencing an overhaul of, or an adaptation of, the oil-for-food programme, he referred to the de facto authorities.  I’d have to look at the record to see if it’s the first time he’s mentioned the Government of Iraq in that amount of time.  It would surprise me if that were so.  So, no, I don’t see any significance to his mentioning the Government of Iraq.  Yes, Greg?

Question:   Fred, can you give us some idea about whether there are any discussions under way intended to identify a figure or coordinating figure for the United Nations in Iraq in any post conflict era; and, if so, how far down the line are those discussions?

Spokesman:  We’re not discussing post-conflict Iraq with any government authorities.  I’ve already indicated to you that, within the privacy of the four walls of this building, there’s contingency planning being done for a variety of different possible outcomes.  But we’re not prejudging the outcome of this conflict and we’re not prepared to discuss the contingency thinking that’s going on at this time.

No more questions?  Okay, so why don’t I ask our three guests to come up here?

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