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

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 Hua Jiang, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General and Richard Sydenham, Spokesman for the General Assembly President.

Deputy Spokesman

Good afternoon.

**Guest at Noon

Carolyn McAskie, Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator will join us later today to talk about the humanitarian situation in Eritrea and Ethiopia.

**Secretary-General Leaves London

The Secretary-General left London today for Geneva, where he will have a working luncheon with the heads of UN agencies tomorrow and will address the high-level segment of the Economic and Social Council next Monday.

Yesterday afternoon, following his meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Secretary-General met with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, with whom he discussed the upcoming review in October toward meeting the Millennium Development Goals.  They also touched on the private sector’s role in development, the economic situation in Iraq, development prospects in the Middle East, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, the Doha round of trade talks and the UN budget.

The Secretary-General then met with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.  They discussed the Middle East, including Iran, and then talked about Zimbabwe, the Rwanda Tribunal, the war in Liberia and UN reform.

At a press encounter afterward, the Secretary-General called on Uganda and Rwanda to cooperate in maintaining peace along their common border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Asked about whether UN troops were needed in Iraq, the Secretary-General noted that the Security Council, in resolution 1483, gave the responsibility for creating a secure environment to the occupying powers.  “And quite frankly”, he added, “I doubt that we will have the capacity to take on that responsibility at this stage.”  He said that security in Iraq should be left to a multinational force or to the Coalition.  We put out the transcript of that press encounter, as well as an earlier one following his meeting with Tony Blair yesterday afternoon.

**Liberia

The ability of humanitarian workers to assist those in need in Liberia has dwindled further.  Before fighting erupted around Monrovia on 5 June, humanitarian workers had access to barely 30 per cent of Liberia.  With the recent fighting in Monrovia, humanitarian workers are increasingly unable to assist even those in need in Monrovia.  United Nations offices today remain closed, and national staff have been instructed to remain at home.

With a cholera outbreak affecting as many as 500 people, and reports from non-governmental organizations indicating that hundreds of civilians have been wounded or killed, the need for medical care is critical.  However, we have heard reports that the Redemption Hospital in Monrovia is closed.

In an interview with UN Radio today, Abou Moussa, the Secretary-General’s Representative for Liberia flagged his team’s strong concern for the victims of the fighting.  Abou Moussa says he hopes that there will be a stop to the war so that we might again go back and attend to the needs of the population in need.

**Security Council

This morning the Security Council is meeting in closed consultations to be briefed by Benon Sevan, Executive Director of the Iraq Programme.  He updated Council members on the delivery of humanitarian goods to Iraq, as well as the wind-down of the “oil-for-food” programme, as mandated by resolution 1483.  The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, Ramiro Lopes da Silva, was also present during consultations and answered questions from members.

Earlier, in two back-to-back open meetings, the Council unanimously adopted resolution 1488, which extends the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan by six months, and resolution 1489, which extends the mandate of the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by one month.

**Democratic Republic of Congo

Under other matters, Jean-Marie Guéhenno, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, is expected to brief the Council this morning on the latest situation in Kivu, in the north-eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where there have been reports of intensified fighting between rival militias.

In other developments, the official deadline for the withdrawal of Congolese Union of Patriots troops from Bunia ended yesterday noon local time, and the UN Mission in the DRC reported that the withdrawal is in progress.  Bunia has been declared an “arms-free town” and it has become illegal to carry weapons of any type in the town.

In Kinshasa, the 68 representatives of the political opposition to the Inter-Congolese Dialogue are scheduled to meet under the auspices of the International Committee for Support to the Transition and in the presence of the Follow-Up Commission today.  The object of the meeting is to designate members from the component who will form a part of the transition government.  Their failure to take a decision on representatives has been one of the stumbling blocks for the formation of the transition government.

**Security Council Mission

The Security Council mission to West Africa should be arriving in Guinea-Bissau, which, in the words of the head of Mission, was a question of peace-building, or “trying to get a sensitive and fragile internal situation going better”.

British Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock is Mission leader, but Ambassador Adolfo Aguilar Zinser of Mexico is leading the Guinea-Bissau leg.  The Security Council is working closely with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) on the issue of Guinea-Bissau, and ECOSOC representatives are on that leg of the Mission.

**Al Qaeda Report

Ambassador Heraldo Munoz (Chile), Chairman of the Security Council Committee on Al Qaeda sanctions, and Michael Chandler, Chairman of the Monitoring Group of those sanctions, have just briefed you on the group’s latest report.

The report says that during the period covered by this report –- 19 May through 31 May -- there were marked successes in the fight against the Al Qaeda network, and the efforts to find and detain key Al Qaeda leaders.  This has lead to the break-up of cells in a number of countries and the detention of substantial numbers of the network’s supporters and operatives.

But the report goes on to say that, as recent events have demonstrated with bombings in Saudi Arabia, Chechnya, Morocco, and Afghanistan, Al Qaeda and its associated groups still pose a significant threat to international peace and security.  They retain strong appeal among Islamic extremist elements around the world and are able to draw on a substantial number of cadres trained in Afghanistan or in other training centres associated with the Al Qaeda network.  There are also indications that the Al Qaeda network has been able to reconstitute its levels of support.

The report gives a number of recommendations and both Ambassador Munoz and Michael Chandler appealed for sustained international effort, information and coordination.  “We have a long way to go”, they both said.

**Iraq

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, will travel to the city of Najaf on Saturday to meet with political and religious leaders.  This is part of his continuing effort to reach out to a wide spectrum of Iraqi society, both in Baghdad and the provinces.

We have available upstairs the weekly humanitarian briefing from Baghdad, in which the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) outlined its assistance plan for the upcoming winter harvest in Iraq.  To help farmers with the planting, FAO will be supplying fertilizers.  FAO, along with the World Food Programme, is also involved in the purchase of wheat and barley crops from Iraqi farmers who are unable to market their production.

**UNIFEM

The United Nations Development Fund for Women today will sponsor a panel discussion on Women's Role in Post-Conflict Iraq.  In cooperation with Women Waging Peace, UNIFEM will discuss how it has worked within the United Nations Development Group to prepare guidelines for carrying out gender-sensitive needs assessments.  The panel discussion will start at 1:15 p.m. in Conference Room 2.

**Larsen

Terje Roed-Larsen, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, will leave tomorrow on an eight-day regional tour of Arab capitals.  He will meet with senior government officials in Beirut, Damascus, Amman and Cairo to follow up on last week’s Quartet meeting in Jordan.  Roed-Larsen will engage in consultations on implementation of the “Road Map” and discuss possible ways for the Quartet’s regional partners to assist in that process.

**Torture

Today is the International Day in Support of the Victims of Torture, and the Secretary-General, in a message to mark the occasion, says we still have a long way to go in stamping out torture.  He urges nations to ratify the Convention against Torture and its Optional Protocol, and also calls for generous contributions to the UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, which last year supported projects providing assistance to about 100,000 torture victims.  We have copies of his message upstairs.

**Drugs

And in a message to mark the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, the Secretary-General says that the best starting point for tackling any problem is recognizing that it exists and speaking openly about it.  It’s time to talk about drugs, and admit there is a problem, with an estimated 200 million people worldwide using illicit drugs, he says.

**UNAIDS

A new UNAIDS report on global HIV/AIDS funding, that was issued today, estimates that $4.7 billion will be spent to address the AIDS epidemic in 2003 in low- and middle-income countries, falling far short of the more than $10.5 billion that will be needed annually by 2005 to effectively fight the epidemic in these countries.  And we have press releases with more details.

**International Criminal Court

Yesterday, the International Criminal Court elected its first registrar, French legal expert Bruno Cathala, completing the roster of its senior officials.  He was sworn in on the first ballot.  Cathala previously served as the Deputy Registrar of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

**ICTY

And today in The Hague, a trial chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia held a hearing to consider a plea agreement between prosecutors and Predrag Banovic, a Bosnian Serb prison guard accused of torture at the Keraterm camp, who agreed to plead guilty to one count of persecution, a crime against humanity, in exchange for the dropping by prosecutors of the other charges against him.  The judges were satisfied with the plea agreement, and a sentencing hearing has been scheduled for September.

**Budget

On the budget, Mozambique today paid more than $13,500 to become the eighty-ninth Member State to pay its regular budget dues in full for the year.

**Suspicious Package

And early this morning, I am sure some of you have already heard this, a UN security officer discovered an unidentified package, described as a bag with a canister inside it, at the tent outside the Visitors’ Entrance.

Although results from a canine team sent to inspect the package were negative, one initial reading for radiation caused concern, but subsequent tests for radiation did not show anything unusual.  We called in the New York Police and Fire Departments to help inspect the suspicious package, and closed the Visitors’ Entrance, suspending tours for this morning.

All of the tests that have been conducted so far, including those from the New York Bomb Squad and from the radiation unit, have come back negative.  The Department for Environmental Protection also conducted tests, and we will re-open the Visitors’ Entrance and resume tours shortly.  And we have already received the message that all is clear.

**Noon Guest Tomorrow

Ambassador Luis Gallegos of Ecuador, President of –- and this is a long name –- President of the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, will be joining us at noon tomorrow to brief you on the Committee’s work during its second session, which will end tomorrow.

**Press Conference Tomorrow

And also another press conference at 11 a.m. tomorrow, Anwarul Chowdhury, Under-Secretary-General, High Representative of the Least Developed States, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, will hold a press conference in this room to discuss the first session of the Intergovernmental Preparatory Committee for the Ministerial Conference of Landlocked and Transit Developing Countries and the Donor Community on Transit Transport Cooperation.  The preparatory Committee meeting began last Monday and ends tomorrow.  The Conference itself is scheduled for 28 and 29 August in Almaty, Kazakhstan. 

That’s all I have for you.  Richard?

Spokesman for General Assembly President

Good afternoon.

Yesterday afternoon, the General Assembly plenary elected 18 ad litem judges of the International Tribunal for Rwanda.  By resolution 1431 (2002) the Security Council decided to establish a pool of ad litem judges, for a four-year term, to help with the workload, hence the election yesterday in which 18 judges were elected on the second round of balloting.  The list of judges elected is at the documents counter.

This morning informal consultations on a draft resolution on prevention of armed conflict are continuing, as are the informal meetings of the Ad Hoc Committee on a Convention on Disabilities.

Also today, the Preparatory Committee for the Ministerial Conference of Landlocked Countries will continue consideration of the outcome of the Conference.

In his message today, on the occasion of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, President Kavan says that the theme this year, “Let’s talk about drugs”, provides a chance to talk -– in our homes, in our local communities, in the global community -– about drug abuse, the problems it creates, and the ways we might prevent it.

In some cases UN policies seem to be working, his message continues.  “Cultivation and production are down in the Golden Triangle of South-East Asia and in the Andes of Latin America.  Trafficking routes are under pressure from international law enforcement.  Demand for drugs is down in Bolivia, Pakistan, Peru, Thailand and Turkey.”

“But these successes are diminished by dismaying trends elsewhere.  Afghanistan is producing record crops of poppies.  Drug abuse is on the rise in the new markets of Eastern Europe, Russia and China.  Injecting drug use is becoming one of the main modes of HIV/AIDS proliferation in many parts of the world.  Synthetic drugs pose a yet to be fully understood threat.”

In the face of these trends, President Kavan calls upon Member States, donor States and non-State organizations “to recommit themselves to an international cooperative effort to control illicit drug production, trafficking and consumption.  If we are to have any hope of solving the global drug problem, we are going to need to work together to forge a global solution.”

And in his message today in support of victims of torture, President Kavan says that today more than 130 States have ratified the Convention Against Torture, and he notes with appreciation that, during the recent General Assembly session, the international community took another step towards the further improvement of the legal framework of the prevention of torture by adoption of the text of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture.  This allows for visits by independent experts to places where people are detained or otherwise deprived of their liberty.

Despite these international and national efforts, cases of torture are still reported all over the world.

President Kavan expresses his gratitude to “non-governmental organizations, private and public entities and individuals for continuing effort to prevent torture, to bring public attention to such cases, to relieve the suffering and assist the recovery of torture victims around the world often with the financial support of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture”.

Copies of both these statements are available at the documents counter and on the President’s Web site.

And just a note for tomorrow, there will be informal consultations on organization of the High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development to be held here on 29 to 30 October.

Any questions?

Thank you.

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