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.

**Today’s Guest

I’ve got enough material here for briefing for three days.  But I’m going to try and finish up in 12 minutes because the guest at the briefing today will be Koïchiro Matsuura, the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, with headquarters in Paris.  He will be here to talk to you about UNESCO’s role in Iraq and tell you a little bit more about the meeting that was held in London yesterday to deal with the antiquity items that were taken from museums in Baghdad and elsewhere.

**Middle East

Our main item today is on the Middle East.  In Ramallah today, within hours of the swearing of the new Palestinian Government, led by Prime Minister Abu Mazen, the representatives of the Middle East Quartet delivered the “Road Map”.

The document was handed over to Prime Minister Abu Mazen by the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Terje Roed-Larsen, the acting US Consul General in East Jerusalem, Jeff Feldman, the Russian Federation’s Middle East envoy, Andrei Vodvin and the European Union’s Middle East Envoy Miguel Moratinos.

At about the same time, the US Ambassador to Israel, Dan Kurtzer, delivered the Road Map to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.  Also attending the meeting in Ramallah with the Quartet were Palestinian ministers Nabil Shaath, Yasser Abed Rabo, and Saeb Erakat.  The Road Map itself is available in my office and will be posted on the UN Web site shortly.

**Quartet Joint statement on Road Map

The following joint statement was issued by the Secretary of State of the United States of America, the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, the High Representative for Security and Foreign Policy of the European Union and the Secretary-General of the United Nations and it reads, as follows:

“The Quartet today presents to the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority a Road Map to realise the vision shared by the United States, the European Union, the Russian Federation and the United Nations of two States, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side in peace and security.  The members of the Quartet will work with the parties and key regional actors towards the implementation of the Road Map, in accordance with that vision.”

**Statement Attributable to the Spokesman

And then the next statement is attributable to me.

“The Secretary-General warmly welcomes the formal presentation of the Road Map for Middle East peace.  He believes that this performance-based and goal-driven peace plan -– the fruit of long and intense cooperation between the European Union, the Russian Federation, the United States of America and the United Nations –- gives the Israeli and Palestinian peoples a real chance to end their long and painful conflict, and thus a chance for all the peoples of that troubled region to establish, at last, a just and comprehensive peace.  He calls on the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to embrace the Road Map, and to cooperate with the Quartet in implementing it.

“The Secretary-General wishes to assure both Israelis and Palestinians that the United Nations will do everything it can to support them, as they follow the Road Map.  He also looks forward to continued cooperation among the Quartet members and with the parties, as well as with the States in the region, which have an important role to play in the peace process. 

“The Secretary-General believes that, while the path to peace may be difficult, Israelis and Palestinians, as well as the international community, must stay the course.  The Road Map’s goal of two States, a secure and prosperous Israel and an independent, viable, sovereign and democratic Palestine, living side-by-side in peace and security, must be the focus of our energies and efforts.”

**Statement Attributable to the Spokesman

And the next statement, also attributable to the Spokesman reads, as follows:

“The Secretary-General congratulates Abu Mazen on his swearing-in as Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority and on the approval of his cabinet by the Palestinian Legislative Council.  He applauds the Council and the President of the Palestinian Authority for taking this notable step in the development of Palestinian democratic institutions.

“The Secretary-General looks forward to working closely with Abu Mazen and the Palestinian Government to implement the Quartet’s Road Map and achieve the vision of two States, Palestine and Israel, living side-by-side in peace and security.  He pledges the cooperation and the support of the United Nations to the parties for the implementation of the Road Map and the quest for peace in the Middle East.”

**Middle East

Late yesterday, we issued a statement on the Tel Aviv bombing attack, which I will read for the record:

“The Secretary-General condemns in the strongest possible terms tonight’s terrorist attack in Tel Aviv.  He strongly urges Israelis and Palestinians not to let this morally reprehensible act derail the resumption of the peace process.  The Secretary-General calls on all concerned to exercise maximum restraint and begin the implementation of the Road Map. 

“He reiterates his appeal to the Palestinians to pursue non-violent policies and urges the Palestinian Authority to make every effort to stop these terrorist acts against Israelis.  The Secretary-General remains convinced that there is no alternative to a political solution of the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

We also have a statement on the attack from the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Sergio Vieira de Mello.  The texts of both those statements are available in my office.

**Secretary-General’s Speech

The President of the Security Council, Ambassador Adolfo Aguilar Zinser of Mexico, is chairing a wrap-up session of the month on the last day of his presidency.  The topic of the session is “The role of the United Nations in post-conflict situations”.

Speaking to the Security Council meeting, the Secretary-General noted that no two conflicts are alike and that, therefore, what is needed is to determine what makes a crisis unique and to develop a response accordingly.  He cited a few specific lessons that stood out from recent experience, including the need to cultivate and preserve the trust of the population; the importance of setting priorities, starting with essential humanitarian needs; and the direct correlation between UN success and Security Council unity.

In the case of Iraq, he said, the Council has a chance to leave behind its earlier disagreements and find unity of purpose in the post-war phase, although he acknowledged, “Those decisions will not be easy”.  The overriding objective, he said, must be to enable the Iraqi people to take charge of their own destiny.

What is needed in Iraq, he said, is an impartial, representative and transparent process, leading to the choice, by the Iraqis themselves, of a credible and legitimate Iraqi political authority, to which sovereignty can be restored.  As for a UN role, the Secretary-General voiced the hope that any Security Council mandate for the United Nations would be clear, coherent and matched by the necessary resources.

He told the Council, “In just over 20 years, the Iraqi people have lived through three wars and over 10 years of harsh UN sanctions.  Let us set aside our past disagreements”, he said, “ask what will help the Iraqi people most and act accordingly”.

In addition to the Secretary-General, the President of the General Assembly, Jan Kavan, and the President of the Economic and Social Council, along with

23 other speakers, are slated to make statements.

**Secretary-General Comments on Iraq

On leaving the Security Council meeting, the Secretary-General was asked about whether sanctions on Iraq should be lifted, perhaps by 3 June, when the current phase of the “oil-for-food” programme ends.

He responded that it is important to bring Iraq into the family of nations, and that there is no question that sanctions will have to be lifted and that the oil-for-food programme will have to be phased out.  The question, he said, is when and how that will be done, and he added there shouldn’t be an arbitrary date for that task.

Asked about the meetings of Iraqi representatives that have taken place in Baghdad, he said that he hoped the meetings to identify Iraqi leaders is not the end of the road, but something that will open up into a broader process, in which the United Nations will have a role to play.

**Amman

UN humanitarian operations in Iraq are continuing to grow with agencies like UNICEF and WFP increasing their capacity to deliver much-needed goods to various parts of the country.

Two trucks carrying high protein biscuits and medical supplies provided by UNICEF Iran crossed the Khosravi border point in western Iran today en route for Baghdad.  UNICEF staff in the Iraqi capital will distribute the biscuits and health supplies to medical centres and hospitals in Baghdad.  This is UNICEF Iran’s first medical convoy to Iraq, following two tanker convoys, which took supplies of drinking water to Al-Fao peninsula in southern Iraq earlier this month.

The WFP said that today two ships are going to berth at Aqaba port with 38,500 tons of food donated for WFP operations in Iraq.  The grain will be off-loaded later today or tomorrow to be milled in Jordan and then forwarded to our warehouses inside Iraq for eventual distribution.

For its part, the UN Development Programme said that this past week saw a concrete restart of its operations in Iraq.  Four UNDP international technical staff arrived in Erbil to resume their duties as part an Electricity Rehabilitation Programme.  UNDP’s national staff had ensured the continuation of the programme throughout the conflict.  For more information, we have the Amman briefing notes upstairs.

**Burundi

Today, at a ceremony in Bujumbura, Burundi, former Vice-President Domitien Ndayizeye was sworn in as the new President, together with Alphonse Kadege as Vice-President, thereby completing the presidency’s transfer from Tutsi minority to the Hutu majority, in accordance with the 2000 Arusha peace agreement.

The Secretary-General, in a message read out by Berhanu Dinka, his Special Representative for Burundi, cautioned that this second phase of the transition, “unfortunately, is starting in an environment which is still unstable”.  He warned

that “despite the ceasefire agreements concluded in October and December 2002 between the Government and the armed movements, war and violence are continuing”.

He called upon the parties to cease hostilities and respect the commitments undertaken and reminded the Government of the tasks lying ahead, including reform of the army and the police, and the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of former combatants.  The Secretary-General also urged the international community to support these efforts and he pledged that the UN would continue to uphold and promote the peace process in the country.  You can find copies of the message upstairs.

**Suspension of Briefing

I am not going to read the remaining 10 or 15 items I have here.  It’s

12:15 p.m.  We’ll put them on the Web site and you can read them later, and I will ask the Director-General of UNESCO, Mr. Koïchiro Matsuura, to come up here and take the centre seat.  Sir.

Mr. Matsuura:     Okay, thank you.

Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  And before turning it over to you, Sir, I’d just ask if anyone has any questions for me on any of the items I’ve read so far?

Thank you.  So, now we’ll turn to Mr. Matsuura.  Welcome to the briefing, Sir.

(Mr. Matsuura’s briefing issued separately)

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