DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL AND THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT

Following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, and Richard Sydenham, Spokesman for the General Assembly President.

Good Afternoon.

**Absent Guest at Noon

You may have been hoping to see Carolyn McAskie here, the Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, to talk about Ethiopia and Eritrea.  She is not able to make it today.  So, we are going to try to reschedule that briefing.

**Middle East

Today in Jerusalem, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Terje Roed-Larsen, issued a statement strongly condemning two recent attacks by Palestinian militants that claimed the lives of two Israelis.

The attacks include a suicide bombing in northern Israel this morning that killed a 63-year-old man and a shooting on a highway in central Israel Tuesday morning that killed a seven-year-old girl.

Roed-Larsen expressed his sincere condolences to the families of the victims.  He also called on the Palestinian Authority to bring to justice the perpetrators of these murderous acts and to strive to secure a ceasefire agreement from the militant groups who carried them out.

In his statement, he emphasized that all violence and terror must cease in order to give the “Road Map” a chance to finally bring a secure and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians. 

We have the full text upstairs.

**UNDOF Reports

Out on the racks today is the Secretary-General’s latest report to the Security Council on the UN Disengagement Observer Force in the Golan Heights, known as UNDOF.

In it the Secretary-General recommends to the Council that the mandate of the force, whose presence he considers to be essential, be extended by a further six months until 31 December.

The Secretary-General notes that in the past six months the situation along the Israeli-Syrian sector has remained generally calm, and the mission has continued to perform its functions effectively, with the cooperation of the parties.  The Secretary-General writes that, as in the past, both sides denied UN inspection teams access to some of their positions and imposed some restrictions on the UN’s freedom of movement.  In addition, Israel placed national customs officers at the Israeli Defence Force post at the UNDOF crossing gate between Israeli-occupied Golan and Syria.

The full report is available upstairs.

**IAEA/Iran

Today in Vienna, the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in a statement summing up its discussions on Iran, shared the concern expressed by Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei about Iran’s past reporting failures and urged Iran promptly to rectify all the safeguards problems identified by the IAEA in a recent report.

The Board welcomed Iran’s reaffirmed commitment to full transparency and expected it to grant the Agency all the access deemed necessary.  The Board also welcomed Iran’s readiness to look positively at signing and ratifying an additional protocol to enhance the IAEA’s ability to provide credible assurances regarding the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear activities.

ElBaradei told reporters that he trusted Iran would allow the Agency to do the work it needs to do to provide such assurances, and said, “The jury is still out.  We still have a lot of work to do”.  He added that the IAEA was continuing its inspection work, including the collection of environmental samples, and would be in a better position to report back to the Board about Iran’s nuclear programme by September, although it could also report earlier if needed.

We have copies of the statement by the Chairwoman of the Board of Governors in my office.

**Iraq -- Vieira de Mello

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, just returned to Baghdad after spending the day in the northern Iraqi town of Erbil.

During a meeting there he told Massoud Barzani, the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, that the UN was now entering a new phase in its relations with the Northern regions.  The UN, he said, had developed a long and fruitful relationship with the northern governorates over the years, and the phase-out and handover of the “oil-for-food” programme, as called for by resolution 1483 (2003), would require careful management and cooperation with the Iraqi people.  Barzani said that he appreciated the valuable services that the UN Agencies had provided in the region.  He added that he thought the UN should stay and continue to play a role not only in the humanitarian field, but also in assisting in the establishment of democratic institutions. 

During his daylong visit, Vieira de Mello also saw notable personalities in Iraqi Kurdistan and listened to their many grievances and aspirations.

In addition, he met with the UN staff working in the north.  They briefed him on the preparations for the transfer of the oil-for-food projects to the Authority. 

Yesterday afternoon, in Baghdad, Vieira de Mello received representatives of the Iraqi Bar Association who expressed their concern that resolution 1483 (2003) has now legitimized the occupation of Iraq.  They also expressed their concerns about the breakdown of law and order as well as lack of Iraqi participation in the Authority’s decisions concerning the state of the judiciary in Iraq.

The complete report on Vieira de Mello’s activities is available upstairs.

**Iraq -- Humanitarian

During the weekly humanitarian briefing in Baghdad, the UN Children’s Fund said that, to date, it has delivered 135 million litres of clean water to the people of southern Iraq.  UNICEF is currently averaging between 2 and 2.5 million litres of water a day being brought into Iraq in water tankers from Kuwait. 

The UN Mine Action Programme continues its activities in Iraq mine clearance, explosive ordnance disposal, permanent marking of minefields, surveys, mine risk education and victim support.  In the north, in Dahuk, the UN demined an area of 15,000 square meters and returned the land to the local population. 

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees says that for the time being, the situation in refugee camps in Iraq is under control.  Refugees were issued food rations already before the war.  This should last until the end June.  According to the normal food distribution schedule, the next distribution should take place in the third week of June.  Sufficient water is provided to the refugees.  UNHCR is also currently negotiating with the Coalition Provisional Authority to find housing for some of the 300 Palestinian families, who were forced out of their homes after the fall of the previous regime.

For more information on all these stories, please pick up the Baghdad briefing notes in my office.

**Security Council

The Security Council is holding a public meeting this morning on Guinea-Bissau.

David Stephen, the Secretary-General’s Representative in Guinea-Bissau, briefed on the latest report, which was issued last week.  South African Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo also briefed in his capacity as Chair of the Advisory Group of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) on Guinea-Bissau.

Both painted a bleak picture of the country.

David Stephen reported that “the opposition continued to accuse the Government of restrictions of civil liberties.  Donors have conditioned financial support for the elections on the creation by the Government of propitious conditions for credible elections.  The ‘caretaker’ Government continues in office, while the National Assembly remains dissolved.  Judicial institutions continue to be weak”.

Stephen went on to say that to regain the confidence of the donor community, the leaders of Guinea-Bissau have to take concrete measures to ensure the holding of credible legislative elections and to guarantee the respect of civil rights and liberties of citizens of Guinea-Bissau.    

Both briefers said the Security Council’s forthcoming mission to Guinea-Bissau, with the participation of ECOSOC representatives, is a timely initiative.

**Security Council –- P.M.

Then at 3 p.m. this afternoon, the Council has scheduled consultations on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).  It will consider the Secretary-General's report of 27 May in which he recommends the mandate for the UN Mission in the DRC be extended for another year, until June 30, 2004, and that the authorized military strength of the Mission be increased to 10,800.

**Security Council -– West Africa Mission

British Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock, who is heading the upcoming Security Council mission to West Africa, including Guinea-Bissau, will be updating you on that trip next Wednesday at 12:45 p.m. in this room.

Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone are also on the draft itinerary of that mission, which is scheduled from 25 June to 5 July.

**Liberia

Following the signing of the ceasefire agreement on Liberia, the Liberian Peace Talks are continuing in Accra, Ghana.

Discussions are under way with all the stakeholders on the procedure towards a comprehensive Peace Agreement.  Abou Moussa, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Liberia, is taking part in this dialogue.

Meanwhile, the assembling of the Joint Verification Team, which will be led by the Economic Community of West African States, is almost completed so that it can start its work this weekend.  According to the ceasefire agreement, the team will verify the current position of the parties and plot unit locations on a map.

**ASG for Human Resources Management

The Secretary-General is pleased today to announce his decision to appoint Ms. Rosemary McCreery of Ireland as Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management.

Ms. McCreery has been serving since 2000 as the United Nations Children's Fund’s (UNICEF) Representative in the Russian Federation and Belarus.  And she is also currently serving as Special Adviser to the Executive Director of UNICEF at the Director level.

Ms. McCreery, who had worked with the Irish Foreign Service from 1975, moved to UNICEF in 1979.  We have copies of her bio in my office.

**Human Rights

Legal and human rights experts meeting in Geneva presented acting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Bertrand Ramcharan with a groundbreaking draft legislation for use in post-conflict justice systems, including a penal code and criminal code designed to be used by peace support missions as they attempt to restore law and order.  Model statutes dealing with police powers and detention also form part of the materials, which are the culmination of an 18-month effort.  We have a press release with more details.

**Budget

The last item for today is Budget news.  We’re reporting a significant contribution to the UN peacekeeping account by France, which paid more than $12.6 million.

That’s all I have for you.  Richard is in the wings here, unless you have some questions.  Richard? 

Questions and Answers

Question:  I don’t know if I missed it in the last two days when Secretary-General Annan went to Washington, did President Bush drop in and say “Hello” when he was meeting with Condoleeza Rice, if he did meet with her?

Spokesman:  The President was out of town that day.  I believe he was in Chicago.

Question:  Was that on purpose or…?

Spokesman:  No comment.  Richard?  [laughter]

Spokesman for General Assembly President

Thank you.  Good afternoon.

This morning, President Kavan is chairing informal consultations on the draft resolution on the prevention of armed conflict.

Yesterday afternoon, the General Assembly adopted a budget of some $2.17 billion to finance 11 active peacekeeping missions for 2003/2004.  The new peacekeeping budget represents a significant reduction, compared with the appropriation of some $2.6 billion for the current period (2002/2003), mostly due to the closing of the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH) and downsizing of the UN’s operations in Kosovo, East Timor, Sierra Leone and Lebanon.

The Rapporteur of the Fifth Committee, Mr. Haile Selassie Getachew of Ethiopia, introduced the reports of the committee on Programme budget for the biennium 2002-2003, the financing of 11 active peacekeeping missions and other peacekeeping financing operations.

The General Assembly then adopted draft resolutions on these agenda items without a vote.  There were two recorded votes on a draft resolution on United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which were both adopted by recorded vote.

Then the Rapporteur of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (the Fourth Committee), Mr. Andrej Droba of Slovakia, introduced the report of the Fourth committee on comprehensive review of the whole question of peacekeeping operations in all their aspects.  And this draft resolution was adopted without a vote also.

A comprehensive press release on the meeting is out on the racks.

Upcoming, next Monday, the General Assembly plenary will consider the report of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Integrated Follow-up to Major UN Conferences in the Economic and Social Fields.  And that report will contain the draft resolution that I mentioned yesterday, which is expected to be adopted at that session on Monday.

And next Wednesday, 25 June, the plenary will hold the elections for the ad litem judges of the Rwanda tribunal.

Any questions?

Thank you.

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