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.

**Middle East

We expect a statement attributable to the Spokesman on the Middle East a little bit later.

**Liberia -– Taylor Indictment

On Liberia, the Chief Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone today announced the indictment of Liberian President Charles Ghankay Taylor.

The indictment accuses Taylor of “bearing the greatest responsibility” for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and serious violations of international humanitarian law within the territory of Sierra Leone since 30 November 1996; and that’s according to Chief Prosecutor David Crane.

The indictment was judicially approved on 7 March and until today it was sealed on the request [by the Chief Prosecutor] to the Court.

On learning that Taylor was travelling to Ghana, the Registrar of the Special Court served the outstanding warrant for his arrest on the Ghanaian authorities and transmitted the arrest warrant to INTERPOL.  This is the first time that his presence outside of Liberia has been publicly confirmed.  The Registrar was doing his duty by carrying out the order of the Court.

The Prosecutor says:  “West Africa will not know true peace until those behind the violence answer for their actions.  This office now calls upon the international community to take decisive action to ensure that Taylor is brought to justice.”

**Liberia Peace Talks

A message from the Secretary-General was delivered to the opening of the Liberian Peace Conference in Accra, Ghana, today by Abou Moussa, his Special Representative in Liberia.

Saying that “For too long, Liberia has been torn apart by disastrous conflict”, he urges all parties to agree on a ceasefire and an end to violence.

He also says that lasting peace cannot be imposed from the outside and that “Liberian leaders must demonstrate a genuine and concrete readiness to restore peace and stability to their country.  It is they who must uphold this responsibility, make the compromises and difficult choices needed for peace, and respond to the overwhelming pleas of the Liberian people for peace.  I hope they will take full advantage of the window of opportunity offered by this gathering”.

The Liberian Peace Conference, sponsored by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), was attended by African heads of State, representatives of the Ghanaian Government, the diplomatic corps, members of the International Contact Group on Liberia, and representatives of Liberian political parties, civil society organizations, and the rebel movement LURD.

We are expecting a press release on this Conference shortly.

The Secretary-General's latest report on Liberia is also out today.  It also echoes the strong message for a binding ceasefire to stop the bloodshed.

**Security Council –- First

The Security Council began its work this morning with a meeting with troop-contributing countries to the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Hedi Annabi, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, briefed on the latest report by the Secretary-General.

**Democratic Republic of the Congo

This morning in closed consultations, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guéhenno introduced the Secretary-General’s second special report on the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In that report, which we flagged to you on Monday, the Secretary-General recommends that the mandate of the Mission be extended for another year, until

30 June 2004, and that its authorized military strength be boosted to 10,800 troops.

Mr. Guéhenno also briefed the Council on his recent trip to the region where he held meetings with the Presidents of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Uganda and Rwanda in regard to the situation in the DRC.  He will brief you on the trip in this room at 4 p.m. today.

The Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Carolyn McAskie, also briefed the Council on the humanitarian situation in the DRC.

On the ground, the UN has withdrawn its unarmed military observers from an eastern town of Kanyabayonga, after they were informed by the local authority of threats against their lives.  In Bunia, the situation remained unstable with kidnapping, robbery and raping a daily occurrence.

The UN humanitarian agencies have assisted the distribution of food to some 10,000 people in Bunia in the past two days.  The food package will last 21 days.  The number of dead bodies that have been collected by the local Red Cross now stands at 429.

**Security Council -- Other

Following the discussions on the DRC, the Security Council is expected to discuss the diamond ban on Sierra Leone, which is due to expire this week.

And then a reminder, at 12:45 p.m., the French Ambassador, Jean-Marc de la Sablière, will brief the press on the Council's upcoming trip to Central Africa.

**Oil for Food

According to the weekly update from the Office of the Iraq Programme, the total value of priority items from the “oil-for-food” programme’s humanitarian pipeline that can be shipped to Iraq for emergency needs has reached $1.2 billion.

Most of these supplies are in the food, electricity, agriculture and health sectors.

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

Also on the racks today is the Secretary-General's 180-day report on the implementation of the humanitarian programme in Iraq.  It covers operations and humanitarian achievements in phase 13 of the programme from 5 December 2002 to 28 May 2003, including the immediate post-war period and implementation of resolutions 1472 and 1476 (2003).

**Vieira de Mello

On his second full day in Baghdad, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Sergio Vieira de Mello, continued his consultations to familiarize himself with all the relevant issues.  He held a number of internal meetings with his staff, which includes representatives of various UN agencies, as well as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

This afternoon, Vieira de Mello met with the President of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Takao Kawakami, and his delegation.  They are the first foreign aid delegation to visit Baghdad since the war ended.  Japan has made available $100 million in aid to Iraq, to be dispersed through various channels.

They are interested in contributing, among other things, to the repair of power stations and water supply and sewage systems, as well as the sectors of health and medicine, and the renovation of hospitals throughout the country.

Kawakami stressed his Agency's intention to cooperate very actively with UN agencies.

Vieira de Mello said he was glad to see Japan here in Baghdad in the early days, because, he said, "we need a truly international approach to the needs of this country".

Tomorrow, Thursday, Vieira de Mello intends to hold his first of a series of meetings with the broadest possible spectrum of Iraqi society when he meets a group of professionals; that is, doctors, lawyers, and so on.

**Statement attributable to Spokesman for Secretary-General

I now have that statement on the Middle East, which I will read for you.

“The Secretary-General warmly welcomes the impetus given to the renewed Middle East peace process by today’s summit meeting in Aqaba initiated by President George W. Bush and hosted by King Abdullah of Jordan.  He believes that the statements by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas open the way for both parties to implement the Quartet’s Road Map.  He calls on them to take immediate steps as outlined in the Road Map to maintain the momentum generated by President Bush’s important initiative.  For his part, the Secretary-General pledges through his personal efforts and together with the Quartet partners to continue to assist the parties in arriving at a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle East based on Security Council resolutions 242, 338 and 1397.”

**Iraq -- Humanitarian

In Basra, getting back to Iraq now, the World Food Programme (WFP) said the city will start to receive its food distribution within a few days.  The distribution process is being carried out in cooperation with the Iraqi Ministry of Trade and under British supervision.  The monthly rations include rice, sugar, tea, oil, lentils, pulses, and soap and detergents.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports the arrival in Basra of 1.8 million doses of refrigerated vaccines.  These include, among others, for measles, tetanus, Hepatis B and polio.

Up north in Mosul, the World Health Organization (WHO) continues with its rapid health assessments of all health facilities.  The WHO established a sentinel surveillance system for communicable diseases, and a water quality-surveillance team to monitor water projects and networks in Mosul.

**Kosovo

We have a press release upstairs from the UN Mission in Kosovo on the murder of three members of a Kosovo Serb family outside of Pristina.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Michael Steiner, said at the scene of the murder that “this is the most despicable, barbaric and heinous crime”.

Steiner announced the setting up of a special police squad to investigate the crime.

**WHO

The World Health Organization today recommended close disease surveillance in flood-affected areas of Sri Lanka, which faces a heightened risk of communicable disease outbreaks due to the severe floods and landslides, which have affected the country recently.

We have a press release on that.

**WFP

Another from the World Food Programme says that the emergency assistance of the WFP to Namibia’s Caprivi region, where thousands of people have had to flee their homes to escape the worst flooding in decades, has arrived, and the trucks carried enough food supplies to last for three months.

In other news, WFP and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today issued a special report on their crop-and-food supply assessment mission to Timor-Leste.

We have press releases on both those items.

**Sesame Street

The Secretary-General and Mrs. Annan will be presented with the Sesame Workshop Award at the celebration of the Workshop's 35th anniversary this evening.

This inaugural Award is being presented to them for their efforts in support of children all over the world.

In their remarks, the Secretary-General and Mrs. Annan are expected to stress the importance of the work Sesame Street is doing in the United States, and around the world, in opening the minds of young people, in working for better understanding, and in uniting us around our common humanity.

The event will be hosted by Sesame Street Muppet Elmo and Katie Couric of NBC's Today show.

At 4 p.m., as I already mentioned to you but let me remind you again, Jean-Marie Guéhenno, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, will come here to brief you on his just-concluded visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

That’s all I have.  Edie?

Questions and Answers

Question:  Fred, is the Secretary-General concerned that the indictment of President Taylor could affect the outcome of the peace talks now taking place in Ghana and does he still support the Sierra Leone Tribunal?

Spokesman:  On the first, I think it’s too early to assess the impact of the indictment on the talks under way.  And he did not give me any specific guidance on that point.  On the second point, he does continue to express support for this Special Court.  The Security Council created it; and it’s just getting under way and he hopes it can successfully conclude its work.  Yes?

Question:  Fred, was the Secretary-General aware ahead of time that this indictment was going to be served while Mr. Taylor was in Ghana, and is he worried that this might send an unfortunate signal that future leaders who are being asked to participate in peace talks outside of their countries that maybe they shouldn’t leave?

Spokesman:  Again, I haven’t discussed this with him; so, I can’t give you a specific reaction on his part.  To my knowledge, he was not aware that this indictment was being issued.  I believe that a member of his staff received a phone call only just after the indictment was announced.  Richard?

Question:  Does the Secretary-General believe that Mr. Taylor has been a good leader for his country and the region?

Spokesman:  You’re asking him now to pronounce on a matter that is formally before the Court.

Question:  How does it work, background-wise, is Ghana really under the Council, or actually, are they required to act on this indictment?

Spokesman:  The Council, in creating the Court in the preambular paragraph of its resolution, did call on all governments to cooperate with the Court.  However, since the resolution is not under Chapter VII, there is no enforceable obligation on any Member State to so cooperate.  Yes?

Question:  I am sorry.

Spokesman:  You, sir.

Question:  To what extent can the Secretary-General contribute to the Middle East peace process?

Spokesman:  I think the work that the other partners in the Quartet have done to lay the groundwork for what is happening today gives all of them a lot of satisfaction.  And as I mentioned to you, he and the other Quartet members remain available to support the process in any way they can.  Akram?

Question:  The food distribution in Basra, is going to be for one day and a half, or one month, one day, one week, what is it?

Spokesman:  I don’t think I have anything to add to the details I gave you.  If you want to follow up with my Office afterwards to see if we have any more than I actually gave here, they will be happy to help you.  Richard?

Question:  Special Representative Razali Ismail says there is a high-level meeting in the UN tomorrow to determine whether he goes to Myanmar.  Is this correct?  What is the timing on any visit by him?

Spokesman:  I am sorry, I don’t know the answer to that question, but I will ask right after the briefing to find out for you.  Yeah?

Question:  The Secretary-General seems to have spent a lot of time with Elmo in the last two years, is there any chance that he’s going to appoint him a special adviser; is he using him for ... [(inaudible)]?  I think there was another event with Sesame Street.  Is there a bilateral; is there a one-on-one tonight at the Cipriani’s?

Spokesman:  I don’t know if he will meet one-on-one with Elmo tonight.  He was invited to make an appearance on Sesame Street, as you know.  He saw it as a chance to reach out to children and to deliver a message on behalf of, well on behalf of the whole United Nations in terms of how in that particular skit he participated in, how children can resolve their differences through discussion and negotiation.  He thought that was a message that was worthwhile putting out.  Tonight, he is being recognized by them, receiving this award.  I think he sees it as just furthering his outreach to children.

Question:  There are other puppet regimes that he could ...

Spokesman:  No comment on that, Richard.  Edie?

Question:  Fred, on the Congo, I was wondering if you could clarify what the European Union’s role was going to be in the multinational force?  There seems to be some commentary from Europe that the Secretary-General spoke to Solana and asked him to help put together this force and the way things were announced in Brussels it made it seem almost as if it were a European Union force and not a multinational force led by France with, you know, a number of countries participating?

Spokesman:  I don’t know about that announcement or how it might have suggested what the composition of the force is.  You heard the Secretary-General, just yesterday in comments to you as he came into the Building, say he was grateful to France for providing the leadership of this multinational force.  So, that’s how we see it, and he was also grateful for other countries contributing, that would include the European Union.  As for the specific nature of the European Union contribution, I’d have to check with the Peacekeeping Department to see what else we can say about that.

Thank you very much.

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