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 Hua Jiang, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good Afternoon.

**SG in Vienna

This morning in Vienna, the Secretary-General met with the Director-General of the UN Office in Vienna, Antonio Maria Costa, saying afterward that he was encouraged by the reforms and changes taking place in Vienna, as well as the collegial atmosphere there.

He spoke to UN staff at the Vienna International Centre, telling them that he thinks the United Nations has an important role to play in post-conflict Iraq, and that he expects, in the not-too-distant future, that “we should be able to come to some understanding as to how collectively we pool our efforts to work with the Iraqi people to establish a peaceful, stable Iraq, run by and for the Iraqis”.

Asked about the challenges the UN faces because of the Iraq crisis, he told the staff, “The UN has been through crises before, and I hope and trust we will come through this one”.  What is important now, he said, is to heal the differences that emerged as a result of the crisis, which he believes can be done if the post-conflict situation is handled well.

At noon, the Secretary-General met with Austrian President Thomas Klestil, and said afterward that they discussed the situation in Iraq and the UN role in that country, and they also talked about the need to press ahead with the Quartet’s “road map” to resolve the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Asked by a reporter whether 3 June could be a realistic date for lifting sanctions on Iraq, he noted that the 3 June date was intended to review the “oil-for-food” program and added, “I think sanctions have to be lifted some day, and I hope the Council will focus on what needs to be done for it to be lifted”.

Asked about the UN role in Iraq, he said that was a matter for the Council to discuss, and added that the UN has played important roles in many countries dealing with reconstruction, facilitation of political processes, human rights and other issues.

He then went on, “We should also bear in mind that we have other major challenges that require us to work together”, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Afghanistan, the fight against terrorism and the battle to reduce poverty.  “So I hope we will all realize that we do need each other”, he concluded, “and that we need to come together and focus on what needs to be done”.

We have the transcripts of that press encounter and of his address to UN staff upstairs.

This evening, the Secretary-General and his wife, Nane, will attend a dinner in their honor, hosted by Austrian Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

While the Secretary-General was meeting with Antonio Maria Costa in the morning, Nane Annan was briefed by experts from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime on alternative development programs for farmers involved in the cultivation of illicit crops in Central Asia and the Andean region of Latin America.

**Security Council

The Security Council is holding two sets of consultations on Iraq today.  This morning, Council members heard from Hans Blix, Executive Chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC).

Asked by reporters on his way into the building this morning what he was going to tell the Council today, Blix said he will talk about the readiness of UNMOVIC to go back to Iraq.  Blix said he would also talk about the need for some signals and adjustments of the basis for its work there by the Security Council. 

Blix added he did not think it would be possible for UNMOVIC to do any sort of verification without physically being back in Iraq.  “We are not an auditing firm”, he said.

Gustavo Zlauvinen, the representative of Director General Mohamed ElBaradei of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), also briefed.

The Agency’s 15th report to the Security Council assessing nuclear disarmament in Iraq, which is out on the racks today, concludes that, as of

17 March, when IAEA inspectors left Iraq before the onset of military action, the IAEA “had found no evidence or plausible indication of the revival of a nuclear weapons program in Iraq”.

Nevertheless, the agency adds, it had not completed its investigations, and says that “the IAEA, as the sole legal authority to verify Iraq’s nuclear activities, remains ready, subject to Security Council guidance, to resume its verification activities as soon as conditions permit”.

Present in the consultations was Rafeeuddin Ahmed, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser who has been assisting the UN System in thinking about possible UN involvement in a post-war Iraq.

This afternoon at 3:30, Benon Sevan, head of the Office of the Iraq Programme, will brief on the “oil-for-food” programme.

**Amman Briefing

The humanitarian situation in Iraq is slowly improving, but remains precarious, UN humanitarian agencies say.

In the north, food shipments by the World Food Programme (WFP) continue from Turkey and from Iran, while the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has brought in almost $2 million of emergency supplies into northern Iraq from Turkey since

28 March.

UNICEF adds that its staff in Baghdad say the situation there has marginally improved, with the condition of health and other vital services no longer deteriorating, although the services have stabilized at a low level that still leaves children at great risk.  As the situation in Baghdad improves, more UNICEF local staff are returning for work, and more doctors are reporting for duty at local health clinics.

WFP also sent today its first aid convoy from Damascus to the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, which should enter Iraq tomorrow.  The convoy is composed of 20 trucks carrying 1,000 tons of wheat flour.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says that the health assessments in Baghdad, Tikrit and Mosul show the situation is improving, but still tense.  WHO is urgently working to arrange the delivery from Jordan to Baghdad of basic kits to deal with hepatitis C and AIDS, as well as of oxygen cylinders.  WHO’s Baghdad office is operational, working at a temporary site after its previous office was completely damaged and looted.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, meanwhile, noted the deportation by Syria yesterday of 32 Iraqi refugees from the El Hol camp. 

And we have more details in today’s briefing notes from Amman.

**Oil-for-Food

The Office of the Iraq Programme reports today that an ongoing review of priority items in the oil-for-food pipeline for Iraq has so far identified

$455 million worth of supplies that are “shippable” within the 45-day timeline adopted last month by the UN Security Council.  Most are already in transit to Iraq.

As I just mentioned, Benon Sevan will brief members of the Security Council on progress under resolution 1472 at informal consultations this afternoon.

The full text of the oil-for-food update is available upstairs.

**Human Rights -- Iraq

High Commissioner for Human Rights Sergio Vieira de Mello has echoed the concerns voiced by the Secretary-General regarding the reported expulsion of Arabs in northern Iraq, especially around the area of Kirkuk.

The High Commissioner recalled that on a number of occasions in the lead-up to the conflict, he had raised the possible problem of retribution and the displacement of people who had been brought to this area under the Arabization program of the previous Government.  That is taking place now. 

The High Commissioner said these were problems that could have been foreseen, and that action should be taken now to protect these populations from intimidation, forced expulsion and other abuses.

We have more details in today’s briefing notes from Geneva.

      **SARS

A six-member expert team of the World Health Organization arrived yesterday in Shanghai, China, to investigate the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, there.  The WHO team will conduct a four-day probe in which they will confer with local health authorities, inspect hospitals and examine measures taken to prevent and control the spread of SARS.

WHO notes that, in an indication that the Chinese leadership is now taking seriously the need for transparency in SARS reporting, the Health Minister and Beijing mayor were both removed from their Communist Party posts.

The latest available statistics include a total of 3,861 reported cases, with 271 deaths in 26 countries.

**Haiti

In Port-au-Prince today, the United Nations Country Team for Haiti appealed for $84 million to address the emergency needs of the poorest of Haiti’s 8.3 million people over the next 18 months.  The “Integrated Emergency Response Programme:  Targeting Vulnerable Communities and Populations in Haiti” will address urgent needs for food security, improved water and sanitation, access to health and education, and mitigation of natural disasters.

We have a press release available upstairs.

**Angola -- Humanitarian

The UN Children's Fund said that Angola's biggest-ever health campaign had been launched, aiming to inoculate 7 million Angolan children against measles.

**GA President

The past Presidents of the General Assembly, who have a Council of Presidents to represent them, wrote the Secretary-General recently to give him their full support in the present climate of international tension.  We have copies of that letter upstairs.

**Treaties

This morning, India formally ratified the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.  We also had a treaty signing yesterday afternoon, when Spain signed the Agreement of Privileges and Immunities of the International Criminal Court.

**Press Conference

The first prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Luis Moreno Ocampo will be joined by the president of the Court Judge Philippe Kirsch and the president of the Assembly of States Parties Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein of Jordan in press briefing at 1 p.m. in this room.  You will recall that Mr. Ocampo was unanimously elected prosecutor in a secret ballot yesterday.

**World Chronicle Television Programme

And World Chronicle programme no. 892 with Martin Barber, Director of the United Nations Mine Action Serve will be shown today at 3:30 p.m. on in-house television channel 3 or 31.

That’s all I have for you.  Any questions?  Yes?

Questions and Answers

Question:   You said the UN will be going to Baghdad.  To do what?  Is it to legitimize the Americans being there or what?

Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General:     At the moment, the priority for the UN with regard to Iraq is to provide humanitarian aid to the Iraqi people who are in desperate need of that aid.  So, the UN is planning to go back to the country provided the security situation permits, that includes, of course, the capital Baghdad.  So, that’s our top priority, and as regards to other roles that the UN might play later in that country, that will have to be decided by the Security Council.  So, we’re trying to get back to provide the badly needed humanitarian aid to the people in the country.

Question:   And when are they planning to go?

Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General:     I think we’re still waiting for the “permissive” from the coalition forces.  “Permissive” has been given in certain parts of the country, that includes some towns in the south and the three northern governorates.  However, the capital itself, we still have not got the “permissive” from yet.

Okay?  Thank you so much then.     

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