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.

**Statement attributable to the Spokesman on Korean developments

We’re going to start with a statement attributable to the Spokesman concerning North Korea.

“The Secretary-General is very encouraged by reports indicating a good prospect of early talks with the participation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the United States, as well as China, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation.  This format should enable its participants to address multilateral and bilateral issues of concern to them.  The Secretary-General commends the recent efforts by the Government of China, as well as other countries, in overcoming the current impasse.  He will continue to support this diplomatic approach.”

**Liberia

As fighting resumed today in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that the humanitarian situation remains dire, with food stocks running out and disease spreading.

Cholera continues to be rampant due to overcrowding and the increasingly poor sanitary conditions in settlements for internally displaced persons.

The shortage of potable water is compounding the health crisis, with humanitarian organizations having to rely on bringing water from deep wells, which need chlorination, to settlements for the displaced.

Fuel shortages are also hampering relief efforts, with Monrovia’s main hospitals reporting that, within two weeks, they will run out of fuel for their generators, as well as medical supplies.

**Liberian questions

Yesterday, I was asked about the costs the United Nations will face in trying to support the deployment of some Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) forces in Liberia.  First of all, I’d like to point out that it’s hard to calculate those costs precisely at this stage, while we’re still trying to determine what ECOWAS will need.

However, I can say that the United Nations will pay for the transport of one Nigerian battalion that had been deployed as part of the UN peacekeeping force in Sierra Leone, and will also provide what the military call a “sustainability package” to both Nigerian battalions; that includes the second one that will be coming in directly from Lagos and that package includes things like food, water, fuel, communications equipment, computers and also will be providing medical evacuation capacity.  The estimated cost for those tasks for the 30 day period is roughly $8 to $10 million.  We may be asking for voluntary contributions to offset these costs.

**Security Council

So far, there are no Security Council consultations scheduled today, since, as the new month begins, the new Council President, Ambassador Mikhail Wehbe, will hold bilateral meetings with other Council members to discuss the program of work for the month.

We expect the Security Council will hold consultations on that program of work starting Monday.  After they adjourn, the Ambassador intends to brief you in this room to discuss the programme.

We have received indications that the Security Council may take up the draft resolution on Liberia in consultations, and possibly a formal meeting, this afternoon, but there is as yet no confirmation that those have been scheduled.

**Western Sahara

Following the Security Council’s unanimous vote in favour of a resolution on Western Sahara yesterday, we put out a statement expressing the Secretary-General’s gratitude that the Council adopted a resolution expressing its clear and strong support for his efforts and those of his Personal Envoy, James Baker, for the peace plan.

Given the unanimous nature of this resolution, the Secretary-General invites the parties to act constructively and to work with each other and with him and his Personal Envoy towards acceptance and implementation of the plan.

**Iraq

This coming weekend, a team from the UN’s electoral assistance division will be traveling to Baghdad.  As you’ll recall, in his recent report the Secretary-General said he would be sending such a mission to Iraq.

These electoral specialists will be discussing with the relevant Iraqi and Coalition Authority counterparts the various possible modalities for electoral registration and the electoral process, including electoral laws, rules and regulations, the registering of political parties, and the options for United Nations electoral support in those areas.  The four–member team will be in Iraq for about two weeks.

As for the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Sergio Vieira de Mello, he will be traveling to Kuwait City tomorrow to meet senior Kuwait officials as part of his continuing consultations with Iraq’s neighbours.

One last Iraq-related note, the third expert meeting of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on the safeguarding of Iraqi cultural heritage took place earlier today in Tokyo.  At the meeting, which mainly focused on short- and long-term action to preserve the Baghdad Museum, UNESCO officials urged donor nations to start immediate work on restoring and preserving the remainders of Iraqi cultural heritage.

**Ethiopia-Eritrea

Yesterday, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Ethiopia and Eritrea, Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, noted that both those countries have on the whole remained loyal to their peace agreements, but added that Ethiopia has expressed some problems with the decision of the independent Boundary Commission that deals with the border between them.  He said it is clear that Ethiopia will pursue its disagreement with the Boundary Commission through the established legal process.

If disagreements persist on the demarcation of the border, Legwaila added, that would be a matter for the Security Council to consider, since, as he put it, “It’s not the intention of the Security Council to watch and see this become another Cyprus”.  We have a transcript of his comments upstairs.

**ICTY

Yesterday in The Hague, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia found Bosnian Serb doctor Milomir Stankic guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, holding him responsible for more than 1,500 killings of Bosnian Muslims and Croats in Prijedor.  The Court accordingly sentenced Stankic to life imprisonment.  He was acquitted of charges of genocide and complicity in genocide.  We have a press release with more details.

**The Week Ahead at United Nations

And we have the week ahead for you, as you plan your work here at Headquarters for the next week.

Yes?

Questions and Answers

Question:  About Liberia that you just mentioned, can you give us a time period when you might know if there’s going to be something today or not?

Spokesman:  I don’t know what you’re referring to -- the moving of the troops or the…

Question:  Sorry, about the Council.

Spokesman:  The Security Council.  We’re in their hands; we’re waiting for them to say whether they want to meet today.  There was even talk of meeting tomorrow, so I hope you don’t have weekend plans.

Question:  And if they did, they would make a decision, they’d be able to vote on the resolution brought up by the U.S. or what?

Spokesman:  Well, you heard me say that there is discussion of a possible consultation and an open meeting, so if they went into an open meeting it would be for the purpose of voting.  Irwin?

Question:  Fred, the Washington Post said today that Hedi Anabi had told the Council on Wednesday that they couldn’t possibly meet this 1 October deadline that the United States has tentatively selected to get a UN peacekeeping force into Liberia.  I am wondering if you can confirm that, or do you have anything else on that?

Spokesman:  I am not going to confirm what was said in a closed meeting.  I will say that within the house there is some concern about that tight deadline.  Bill?

Question:  What would the U.S., I mean I’m sorry, the Secretary consider a more reasonable or practical deadline?

Spokesman:  I am not prepared to say.  You know what we say over and over again about the amount of time it takes to put together a peacekeeping operation -- four to six months is what we say.  Sometimes, when you have a multinational force already in place where some of those troops can be incorporated into the peacekeeping force, you can speed things up a bit.  But, now it would be speculative to think about whether that is going to happen in this case or not.  Yes?

Question:  What’s the Secretary’s view of the call for a 15 August package from the Secretary-General, you know, a proposal, recommendations etcetera, the practicality of that?

Spokesman:  We made our views known to the Council on that in closed consultations and, as with the deadline for the peacekeeping force, I can tell you we have some reservations about it being tight.

Question:  What would be a more realistic idea there?

Spokesman:  I am not prepared to say.  Thank you very much.

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