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.

**DR Congo

The Secretary-General’s second special report on the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) was issued on Friday and is out on the racks today.

The Secretary-General says that the DRC finds itself at an intersection of peace and war, and that the UN Mission is well placed to play a central catalytic role in assisting the parties through the transition period.  For that reason, he believes that the Mission’s main focus should now shift to facilitating and assisting the transition process and that it should be reconfigured and augmented accordingly.

The urgent priorities for the Mission include providing assistance to the transitional process, contributing to security arrangements in Kinshasa, supporting the Ituri peace process, assisting local-level peacemaking in the Kivus, and continuing the disarmament and demobilization of foreign armed groups.  The longer-term objectives include assisting in elections, encouraging reform in the rule of law and the security sector, and reconstruction and rehabilitation.

With regard to Ituri, which the report calls one of the most volatile and lawless areas in the country, the Secretary-General proposes that both the mandate and the troop level of the UN Mission be strengthened to back up the mission’s support for the political and reconciliation process generated by the Ituri Pacification Commission.

The increased military backup would be provided by deploying a UN battalion group previously earmarked for disarmament, demobilization and rehabilitation activities in eastern DRC and based in Kisangani, and reinforcing it with two additional battalions.  This Ituri Brigade Force, the Secretary-General says, would require that the Security Council raise the troop ceiling of MONUC from its present 8,700 troops to 10,800.

We expect to have a statement by the Secretary-General welcoming the Security Council’s approval on Friday of a multinational force for Bunia.

**SG in Evian

The Secretary-General is in the air now, and should be arriving back in New York in a few hours, following a weekend trip to Europe in which he attended the “Group of Eight” Summit at Evian, France, where he told a closed working session of G-8 leaders yesterday that formidable challenges lie ahead if the world is to come close to meeting the Millennium Development Goals that world leaders agreed to three years ago.

He warned that, since the Goals were adopted, the proportion of people living in extreme poverty has actually increased in all areas except East Asia and, to some degree, South Asia.  He said that the world is still far from finding the extra $50 billion a year that is needed to achieve the Millennium Goals and appealed for more and better aid.

Yesterday evening, the Secretary-General attended a working dinner bringing together the G-8 leaders and presidents from members of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), and he warned them, “If we don’t want food shortages and famines to recur, we must have a long-term strategy that emphasizes investments in rural infrastructure and agricultural research”.  He also appealed to the G-8 leaders to endow the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria with the additional resources it needs to achieve its goals.

We have copies of his remarks upstairs.

The Secretary-General had come to Evian from Lausanne, Switzerland, where on Saturday he met with a delegation from Switzerland headed by President Pascal Couchepin.  During the discussion, which was focused on Iraq, the Secretary-General said he was pleased with the adoption of resolution 1483 and explained the role that the UN would play under the resolution.

**Statement attributable to the Spokesman

I now have the text of that statement attributable to the Spokesman on the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“The Secretary-General was heartened by the Security Council’s approval on Friday of a robust multinational force to work alongside the UN Mission of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to restore stability to the town of Bunia and help improve the humanitarian situation there.

“He is grateful to France for having assumed the role of lead nation and for contributing roughly half the troops for the force, on which the people of Bunia, and indeed of all of the north-eastern region, count to help them restore normalcy to their lives.

“With advance elements scheduled to be deployed in a matter of days, and full deployment to begin within two weeks, the multinational force offers the parties in the DRC a chance to rebuild the peace process in that country, which is essential to the stability of central Africa.  He urges them to cooperate fully with the force, as well as with United Nations peacekeepers in pursuit of that goal.”

**Statement attributable to the Spokesman of the Secretary-General

Myanmar

We have two statements on Myanmar; actually three.  We’re going to kill you with statements today.  Let me just read into the record the one we issued on Saturday.

“The Secretary-General is following closely, and with concern, the situation in Myanmar after the Government announced Saturday that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and several other leaders of the National League for Democracy (NLD) were taken into ‘protective custody’ after clashes reportedly broke out between her supporters and pro-Government protesters in northern Myanmar.     

“He believes that the latest developments underline the urgent need for national reconciliation in Myanmar and renews his call on the two sides to start their substantive dialogue as soon as possible.

“The Secretary-General reiterates his readiness to help facilitate the national reconciliation process, and his Special Envoy, Razali Ismail, is due to arrive in Yangon for a five-day mission on 6 June.”

**Statement attributable to the Spokesman

And this statement is issued today.

“The Secretary-General is increasingly concerned with the situation in Myanmar, following the incidents this weekend in the North of the country.  He is especially worried by the continued detention in ‘protective custody’ of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior leaders of the National League for Democracy (NLD).

“The Secretary-General believes that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior members of the NLD should be released immediately.  At this crucial juncture, he maintains that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, as both a national leader and the leader of the NLD, must be allowed to play a role, in cooperation with the Government and others, in taking steps to bring about national reconciliation in the country.  Moreover, all parties should act responsibly to ensure that the national reconciliation process is not undermined further.  The present situation in Myanmar is not merely a question of ‘law and order’, but rather as one that derives from the political aspirations of the Myanmar people who are overwhelmingly in favour of change.

“The Secretary-General has instructed his Special Envoy, Razali Ismail, in his capacity as ‘facilitator’, to talk to the Government of Myanmar, to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and to other national leaders, during his 6-10 June visit, with a view to starting the process of national reconciliation.

And we have from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special Rapporteur on Myanmar a statement urging the immediate release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the lifting of government restrictions on the exercise of basic political rights and freedoms.

We have the text of that in my office.

**Iraq

From Iraq, “My only purpose, as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, is to try to ensure that the United Nations does all that it can to help the people of Iraq out of what has been a terrible period in their long and noble history”.  Those were the words of Sergio Vieira de Mello as he arrived in Baghdad a short while ago.

Vieira De Mello was accompanied by a staff of about 20 who traveled on a UN plane from Cyprus; that was a UN aircraft.

Speaking to journalists on his arrival, Vieira de Mello said that the task ahead is huge.  “We should all come to it with a keen sense of humility and a strong sense of determination”, he said.

Vieira de Mello explained that one of the most important tasks that the UN will seek to assist in is the critical effort to establish representative governance.  “The day when Iraqis govern themselves must come quickly”, he added.

In the coming days, Vieira de Mello said he intended to listen intensely to what the Iraqi people had to say and that he would be meeting with broadest possible spectrum of Iraqi society.  He will also meet with the Authority, as well as with his UN colleagues who have been working in the country for a long time.  We have the full text of his statement upstairs.

**Iraq -- Food

With the relaunching today of Iraq’s Public Distribution system, nearly 27 million Iraqis are to receive their food rations from 44,000 distribution agents across the country this month.  This is the first time the system has been reactivated since it was disrupted by the war.

To date, the World Food Programme (WFP) has brought about 440,000 tons of food to Iraq to help reactivate this vital social safety net in a country where 16 million people are believed to be entirely dependent on monthly food rations after two decades of wars and stringent economic sanctions.

Security remains one of the largest threats to Iraq’s vast Public Distribution System.  WFP provided the U.S. Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance with a complete list of the silos, mills and warehouses in the country to ensure that proper security arrangements can be made.  More information is available in a WFP press release that we have upstairs.

**Security Council

Russian Ambassador Sergey Lavrov has taken up the Presidency of the Security Council for the month of June.  Today, there are no meetings or consultations scheduled.

Ambassador Lavrov is holding talks with other Council members on the program of work for the month.  He is scheduled to brief you on the month’s programme tomorrow following consultations.

**Cambodia

UN Legal Counsel Hans Corell is leaving today for Geneva, where he will work with the International Law Commission over the next two days.  After that, he will travel to Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, where he is to arrive on Thursday afternoon.  He intends to sign an agreement on Friday with his Cambodian counterpart, Sok An, on the establishment of extraordinary chambers to try the crimes committed during the period of Democratic Kampuchea, which is from 1975 to 1979.

**Sierra Leone

Officials from the Special Court for Sierra Leone yesterday took into custody the alleged body of indicted war criminal Sam Bockarie, and will conduct, starting today, an independent forensic examination in order to identify the body and determine the cause of death.  We have a press release on that.

**SARS

The World Health Organization Saturday removed Singapore from the list of areas with recent local transmission of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS.

**Press Releases

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is working on a new project called “Shopping for a Better World” -- that’s the title -- targeting the $7 trillion retail industry in an attempt to promote the positive side of sustainable consumption and production. 

UNEP also launched a new “Green Customs” Web site today as part of an initiative to help tackle the growth of environmental crime.  The initiative will provide a training package to strengthen domestic capacity in environmental crime and enforcement of international environmental agreements.

**Press Conference tomorrow

At 11:15, Gianfranco Rotigliano, the Representative of the UN Children’s Fund in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, will be here to brief you on the situation in Bunia.

**Civil society/guest

And finally, the Secretary-General’s Panel of Eminent Persons on United Nations Relations with Civil Society began two days of closed-door meetings at UN Headquarters today, chaired by former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso.

Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette opened the panel session this morning, after which the panel immediately began a discussion of two main issues, with presentations by President Cardoso:  an overview of civil society and global governance; and a review and analysis of UN practice in dealing with civil society.

President Cardoso will be our guest here at the noon briefing tomorrow, to discuss the panel’s work with you.

That’s all I have for you.  Yes?

Questions and Answers

Question:   Fred, did the SG have any other meetings during the G-8 summit to talk about Iraq and the UN’s role?

Spokesman:  I don’t have the details of his bilateral programme.  What we got from my deputy Hua Jiang, who is traveling with him, is pretty much what I gave you this morning.  When she arrives back here with him, we can ask her for more details on what other bilaterals he might have had and what subjects might have been discussed.  Mr. Abbadi?

Question:   Fred, speaking on DRC, there are some indications that another big massacre has taken place in the north-east part of the country on the border with Uganda.  Are there any details of that?     

Spokesman:  I don’t have anything in the cables for today.  The situation in Bunia centre remained quiet, although they talked about continued clashes between the Lendu and the Hema on the outskirts of Bunia, but we didn’t witness those directly ourselves.  And I did see the report -- that may have been a press report -- of the massacre further outside of the town, but we have nothing in our cables on that today.  Yes, Steve?

Question:   Do you have any more on that report then that the two people who were tortured and killed, the two UN officials, have been identified?

Spokesman:  The two military observers?   I have…

Question:   All the military observers have been identified, but the actual people who killed them, in my understanding, have been identified?

Spokesman:  Oh, I see… 

Question:   Unless I misread the report. 

Spokesman:  No, I don’t have anything on that, I’d have to check after the briefing.  Serge?  [The Spokesman said after the briefing that the UN Mission has received rumours about the identity of the killers of the two military observers, but, as it proceeds with its investigations into their deaths, it has not received any details to substantiate those rumours.]

Question:  Regarding the RDC, (DRC), in the 1960s it took us about 50,000 troops in order to solve part of the problem.  How can we expect to solve the problem now with the contingent that we have, when the problem is still the same?

Spokesman:  You’re talking about the Katangese war of secession? 

Question:   Which is almost the same thing.

Spokesman:  I don’t think so.  The numbers of combatants is limited, there are already talks between the militia leaders facilitated by the UN trying to work out elements of a ceasefire; you have agreement at the senior-most levels on a peace plan, pacification plan, for Ituri; you have probably one of the most democratic exercises in the Congo so far in the establishment of that Ituri Pacification Commission.  So, there are a lot of elements there.  But, the militia are unable to separate, disarm and pacify Bunia and other parts of Ituri and after watching these periodic, but very bloody eruptions of conflict between these two groups, it was decided that a multinational force was needed -- well-trained, well-equipped, well-armed -- and the Security Council approved that on Friday.  So, we think that the force that was approved on Friday is what is needed to assist the UN peacekeepers already there with a higher level of military capability to enforce peace.

Question:   In other words, the force that we have now is sufficient?  

Spokesman:  The force you have until Friday had been a peacekeeping force under Chapter Six.  The Secretary-General said the situation is getting out of hand; you need an enforcement unit.  And so, that’s what was approved on Friday under Chapter Seven.  Yes?

Question:   Is there any reason to believe that the follow-on UN mission will be an enforcement mission as well?

Spokesman:  I wouldn’t want to comment on that until the Council dealt with the Secretary-General’s proposals.  And frankly, I was out much of last week, so I can’t tell you.  But I am assuming that the expansion of the existing mandate that he proposed is under Chapter Six and I am not aware that there has been any discussion of Chapter Seven and this Chapter Seven force that was approved on Friday was specified as an interim force.  So, it has a short lifespan, just to allow the peacekeepers to expand in numbers, and once the interim force under Chapter Seven has the situation under control, then you have a larger peacekeeping presence to maintain stability.  That’s the plan.  Yeah?

Question:   Fred, what is that status of the former diplomats of Iraq here at the United Nations?  Something like a few weeks ago they were still at the mission?

Spokesman:  I don’t know what their current situation is, whether they are at the mission or not.  And I probably should consult the lawyers before speaking, but my understanding is that the sovereignty of Iraq has been interrupted by the invasion of the coalition and the responsible authorities in Iraq today are the coalition partners who led the intervention force.  So, under the Geneva conventions, these occupying powers have responsibility for restoring government functions and eventually turning the formation of a new sovereign government over to the Iraqis themselves.  Once that sovereign government is established under Iraqi control, they will designate diplomatic representatives here and elsewhere.

Question:   Can those diplomats enter the UN building?

Spokesman:  I don’t even know if they’re still here.  But I would think that should there be an attempt by the representatives of the former Iraqi Government to present themselves here representing Iraq today, they would most likely meet a challenge from other Member States -- a credentials challenge. 

Mr. Abbadi?

Question:   Yes, Fred, the Secretary-General made a very frank statement before the Group of Eight regarding the implementation of the Millennium Goals.  Is there any immediate reaction to his recommendations?

Spokesman:  Not that I have record of.  But maybe he’ll come in the front door tomorrow and you can stop him and ask him yourself.

Thank you very much.

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