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 Hua Jiang, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good Afternoon.

**Liberia

The Liberian peace talks resumed in Accra, Ghana, today after a one-week adjournment.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Special Mediator, General Abdulsalaami Abubakar, held a series of meetings with representatives of the various groups to discuss their views on a comprehensive peace plan for Liberia.

The groups included the Government of Liberia, the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), the Movement for Democracy and Elections in Liberia (MODEL), political parties and civil society.

The Secretary-General’s Representative for Liberia, Abou Moussa, has been in Accra.  In addition, the Secretary-General has dispatched his Special Representative for West Africa, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah.

Also on Liberia, a 10-month ban on the import of all round logs and timber products originating from Liberia went into effect today.  The measure was contained in Security Council resolution 1478, which extended sanctions against Liberia until 7 May 2004.

Meanwhile, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that 300 Sierra Leonean refugees evacuated from war-torn Liberia arrived safely in the Sierra Leonean capital of Freetown over the weekend aboard a UNHCR-chartered rescue ship.

The MV Overbeck arrived in Freetown on Saturday night in the first voyage of an emergency evacuation aimed at bringing home thousands of Sierra Leonean refugees currently stranded in the Liberian capital, Monrovia.

**Statement Attributable to Spokesman for Secretary-General

The following is a statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

“The Secretary-General was shocked to learn of the terrorist attacks over the weekend in a Shi’ite mosque in Quetta and during a concert in Moscow.  More than 50 people were killed in Quetta and at least 13 in Moscow.

“The Secretary-General strongly deplores the loss of so many innocent lives and reiterates his strongest condemnation of such violent acts of terrorism for which there can be no justification.

“The Secretary-General expresses his sympathy to the bereaved families.  He is sending letters of condolence to the Governments of Pakistan and the Russian Federation.”

**Iraq

Over the weekend on Saturday, in Mosul, northern Iraq, a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at a compound used by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

A local guard was wounded.  Two IOM vehicles along with the wall of the compound were also damaged.

In a statement issued in Baghdad, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Sergio Vieira de Mello, condemned that attack, as he would any attack on international and non-governmental organizations.

Available upstairs is the text of yesterday’s briefing by Vieira de Mello’s spokesman.

**Democratic Republic of the Congo - Council

The Security Council is holding a formal meeting today on the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  Jean-Marie Guéhenno, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, first introduced two reports, which are on the situation in the region of Ituri, specifically in the areas of Mambasa and Drodro.

He noted that the total breakdown of law and order under which Ituri currently exists means that no one is, in fact, held accountable for the atrocities committed in these areas.  He underscored that there cannot be any real peace without an end to impunity.

This emphasis was also echoed by Bertrand Ramcharan, the Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights, in his briefing to the Council on the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“In the report you have considered today, there is incontrovertible evidence pointing to the criminal responsibility of particular individuals.  They must know from this Security Council that they will be brought to justice”, he said, adding:  “In the final analysis, human rights are the measure, and international security must be achieved through human security.”

There are 18 inscribed speakers this morning.

**Security Council Mission

The Security Council mission to West Africa led by British Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock returned to New York over the weekend.

The transcript of Ambassador Greenstock’s press conference wrapping up the mission is available in our Office.

Ambassador Greenstock is expected to brief the Council on the mission on Wednesday.

**Secretary-General Travels

The Secretary-General is leaving today for Maputo, Mozambique, where he is to address the Summit of the African Union on Thursday.  He will arrive in Maputo tomorrow.

We have copies of his address to the African Union available upstairs, with an embargo time of 5:30 a.m., New York time, on 10 July, which is 11:30 a.m., Maputo time.

**Secretary-General on Small Arms

Today, the United Nations is holding the first biennial meeting of States dealing with the implementation of the Programme of Action to combat the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, and the Secretary-General, in a message delivered to that meeting, said that those arms cause mass destruction, killing about 60 people an hour worldwide.

Half a million people die each year from small arms, roughly 90 per cent of them women and children, he said, making those arms “truly a global scourge”.  This week, he said in his message, is the first opportunity Member States have to exchange information on how far they have come in implementing the Programme of Action, and he urged Member States to expedite that implementation.  We have copies of his message upstairs.

By the way, we would like you to know that, following his address to the biennial meeting, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, Lincoln Bloomfield, would like to talk to you at the Security Council stakeout.  We will squawk it when he will be there.

**Kosovo

Yesterday in Kosovo, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Michael Steiner, promulgated a criminal code for Kosovo which he said would bring criminal law there into greater conformity with European and international standards.

Steiner said of the criminal code, which will be effective starting next 6 April, “These are the most modern codes in the former Yugoslavia.”  We have a press release upstairs with more details.

**Human Rights

In a statement released in Geneva, the UN Human Right Commission’s Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Dato’ Param Cumaraswamy, expressed alarm over the US Government’s implementation of the Military Order regarding the Detention, Treatment and Trial of certain Non-citizens in the War against Terrorism, signed by President Bush on 13 November 2001.

There are reports; the Special Rapporteur said that six detainees may be brought to trial before a military commission under the Order.  The detainees have been named as suspected members of Al Qaeda or “otherwise involved in terrorism directed against the United States”.

“In proceeding to apply these drastic measures to counter terrorism, the United States Government is seen defying United Nations resolutions, from both the General Assembly and the Security Council”, the Special Rapporteur said.  Those resolutions reiterate and affirm that States must ensure that any measure taken to combat terrorism must be in accordance with international law, including international human rights, refugee and humanitarian law. 

The full statement is available upstairs.

**SARS

Over the weekend, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that Taiwan was being removed from the list of areas with recent local transmission of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, with more than 20 days having passed since the last reported SARS case there.  Based on country surveillance reports, the chain of SARS virus transmission appears to have been broken everywhere in the world.

WHO Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland said that “the global SARS outbreak has been contained”.  Despite this, the WHO warns that continued global vigilance for SARS is crucial for the foreseeable future, with many questions remaining about the disease.  The world is not yet SARS-free, the agency said on Saturday.

**Crime

Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, praised the 40th ratification last week of the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, which allows the Convention to enter into force on 29 September.

Costa said, in a press release we have upstairs, that with the Convention’s entry into force, “the international community will have demonstrated the will to counter the worldwide challenge of organized crime by adopting a corresponding global response”.

**Budget

On budget, Djibouti today became the 91st Member State to pay its regular budget dues in full for 2003, with a payment of more than $24,000.

**Guests at Noon Tomorrow

And tomorrow at noon, we will have two guests from the UN Development Programme (UNDP) to launch the Human Development Report 2003; David Stewart, co-author of the report, and William Orme, Chief of UNDP’s Media Section, will be joining us tomorrow.

**Press Conference Tomorrow

And also at 11:30 a.m., Ambassador Jeno Staehelin of Switzerland and others will be in this room to launch the “Small Arms Survey 2003”.

That’s all I have got for you today.  Any questions?  Yes, Richard?

Questions and Answers

Question:  Can you just state on the record here, what is the relationship between the Sierra Leone war crimes court and the Security Council and the UN?  What’s the link officially for the UN?

Deputy Spokesman:  That court was set up with the mandate from the Security Council.  However, it is an independent organization, which doesn’t come under the control of the UN.  So it has its own independent mandate that the UN cannot interfere one way or the other.

Question:  But the UN did have a big role in helping to set it up, right?

Deputy Spokesman:  Yes, the UN played a very important role in setting it up, but once it was set up it has become a master of its own.  So the UN doesn’t have any control over its actions or actions to be taken.

Question:  So what’s the Secretary-General of the UN’s response if a deal is cut where President Taylor gets asylum in Nigeria without any move to turn him over or, in fact, any immunity offered?

Deputy Spokesman:  That’s a very good question; however, as we have all seen in the report that Nigeria has offered asylum to Mr. Taylor and what’s going to happen to the indictment will be between the Nigerian Government and the court.  The UN will not have any right or mandate to interfere in this matter.  However, as the Secretary-General has expressed before, as the UN has expressed before, that we hope that Taylor will be brought into the custody of the court and tried according to the law.

Question:  So you would, thus, confirm the spokesperson for the court in Sierra Leone as saying that any asylum offer would not necessarily grant him immunity from the charges?

Deputy Spokesman:  I think, again, that will be sorted out between the court and the Nigerian Government; if, as reported, that he will be given asylum by the Nigerians.  Yes, please?

Question:  Following the attacks on the UN personnel and offices in Baghdad, what measures have been taken to prevent such type of attacks in the future?

Deputy Spokesman:  Well, security has always been a serious problem in Baghdad and the UN staff have been very careful; they observe the curfews everyday and they are very careful with their movements inside and outside the city; and after this incident, I am sure that the UN will further review the security measures to see what can be done to strengthen that.

Question:  Has the Secretary-General played any role at all in convincing Charles Taylor to go into exile in Nigeria?

Deputy Spokesman:  The Secretary-General did have a telephone conversation with Mr. Taylor a few days ago; that’s all I can say.

Question:  Did he say, “Please leave” or did he, there’s got to be some information?

Deputy Spokesman:  Apart from what I have just confirmed that he had a conversation with Mr. Taylor, I can’t reveal more details of what was discussed.

Question:  Who called who?  Did the Secretary-General call President Traylor or did Mr. Taylor call the Secretary-General?

Deputy Spokesman:  The Secretary-General called Mr. Taylor.

Question:  Is the Secretary-General in favour of his going into exile?

Deputy Spokesman:  Again, apart from what I have said that I can’t add any thing new on that, I think that the Secretary-General has issued statements regarding Mr. Taylor and the Liberian situation in general.  So I would refer you to those statements.

Question:  Just a follow-up on Richard’s question as I may have missed the beginning of it.  Are you saying that the Secretary-General played no role in brokering an agreement to gain asylum for Taylor in Nigeria?  And also we have heard reports that the issue of the potential departure date by Taylor was discussed during that meeting between the conversations between Taylor and Annan.  Can you confirm that?

Deputy Spokesman:  The only thing I can confirm is that the Secretary-General called Mr. Taylor and they discussed the situation in Liberia, and also they spoke about Taylor’s next move.  But apart from saying that, I cannot give out any further details, I am afraid.

Question:  I’m sorry, Taylor’s next what, Hua?

Deputy Spokesman:  Next move.

Question:  Okay.  So the whole discussion about Taylor’s next move is asylum?

Deputy Spokesman:  Well, his next move, that subject did come up, but I can’t elaborate on that, I am afraid.

Question:  And the first part, I mean, did he play any role in trying to broker an agreement to get Taylor out of Liberia?

Deputy Spokesman:  No, I can’t confirm on that.

Question:  Any thoughts, pro or con, regarding the President’s trip to Africa and the fact that he is not going to stop over in Liberia today?

Deputy Spokesman:  No, I haven’t got any guidelines on that from the Secretary-General, so I can’t make any comment, I am afraid.

Question:  Did the Secretary-General, maybe he mentioned this:  did he speak with Colin Powell in the last two, three days?

Deputy Spokesman:  Yes, yeah.  The Secretary-General has been making calls, has been talking to Colin Powel several times over the past few days.

Question:  I mean, are they; I’m sure you’re going to know this; but are they on the same page?  Is he trying to be good cop, bad cop, how are they playing this phone game with Taylor and the situation?

Deputy Spokesman:  Again, I know that Liberia was a subject constantly coming up during their conversations, but I cannot give out any details on that.  Yes?

Question:  On the day that the Secretary-General spoke to President Taylor, he also spoke to Obasanjo that day.  And he also spoke -- I don’t know if he spoke to Powell that day, but he certainly did within a day of that.  Was he also discussing the issue of Taylor’s next move, as you say, with Obasanjo and with Secretary of State Colin Powel?

Deputy Spokesman:  I am not aware of that.

All right, thank you.

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