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.

**Guest at Noon

I have to start by saying that we had expected a guest at the noon briefing; Samuel Nyambi, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ethiopia, but we’re told that he’s stuck on the FDR Drive and has no hope of getting here before this briefing is over.  So, we’ll see if we can reschedule that.

**Statement Attributable to the Spokesman on Indonesia

Next, we have a statement attributable to the Spokesman on events in Indonesia:

“The Secretary-General is horrified at the bomb explosion today at the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, reportedly killing at least 10 people and injuring many more.  He condemns in the strongest possible terms this apparent act of terrorism.

“The Secretary-General extends his heartfelt condolences to the Government of Indonesia and the families of the victims of this despicable act”.

**Liberia

With the support of the UN mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), the airlift of Nigerian troops and equipment to Monrovia –- the vanguard elements of the Multinational Force authorized by the Security Council for Liberia –- continued for a second day.

As of mid-afternoon, UNAMSIL reported that 152 Nigerian soldiers, two Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), one landrover and one day’s supply of rations had been moved from Sierra Leone to Liberia.

It is currently raining in Freetown, but, if weather permits, another 112 soldiers, two more APCs, two landrovers, and one fuel tanker are scheduled to be airlifted this afternoon.

Yesterday, 184 troops from UNAMSIL’s fifteenth Nigerian Battalion, which is now being renamed NIBATT-1, and their equipment were deployed at Roberts International Airport on board Mi-8 and Mi-26 helicopters.

In an official statement last night welcoming the adoption by the Security Council of a resolution authorizing the establishment of the Multinational Force in Liberia, the Secretary-General said he was pleased with the swift action taken by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Government of Nigeria, with UN support, in deploying the vanguard elements of the force within 72 hours after the Council’s action.

The Secretary-General reiterated his call on the Government of Liberia, as well as on the rebel forces, to cease hostilities immediately and to cooperate with the deployment of the West African peacekeepers and the delivery of humanitarian aid.  He also, once again, urged all the Liberian parties engaged in the ongoing negotiations in Accra, Ghana to expedite the conclusion of a comprehensive peace agreement, which should facilitate a smooth transition to a new government.

**Liberian - Humanitarian

The humanitarian situation in Monrovia is continuing to deteriorate, with food and clean water becoming ever more scarce.

The World Food Programme (WFP) announced that a specially-chartered supply ship will sail from Abidjan today destined for Liberia.

The “Seabulk Martin I” will be stationed off the coast of Liberia for the next two months.  The ship will provide a secure base close to Monrovia for a team of five essential WFP staff, enabling them to coordinate the agency's expanded relief operations in the city.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people have not had adequate access to food for the past two weeks.  With the arrival of the peacekeepers, more people have been able to venture out in search of food.  However, prices have soared and even staple foods are increasingly unaffordable.

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) welcomed the arrival of the first international peacekeepers in Liberia, in the hope that the deployment will stabilize the security situation on the ground and enable aid agencies to resume helping hundreds of thousands of people uprooted by the conflict.

In Côte d'Ivoire, UNHCR reports that refugees from Liberia continue to arrive daily in the south-western part of Côte d'Ivoire.

In New York tomorrow at 10 a.m., the United Nations will launch the Revised Humanitarian Appeal for Liberia.  The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Liberia, Jacques Klein, will deliver opening remarks at the launch.  And the original 2003 Consolidated Appeal for Liberia, launched in November 2002, has received less than 22 per cent of the more than $42 million requested.

Klein and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Carolyn McAskie would be the guests at tomorrow’s noon briefing to discuss the appeal for Liberia.

**Statement Attributable to the Spokesman on Rights of Gays and Lesbians

“The Secretary-General was glad to be able to attend part of an event held yesterday in the Dag Hammarskjold Auditorium, focusing on protecting the rights of lesbians and gays around the world.  He believes that the United Nations cannot condone any persecution of, or discrimination against, people on any grounds, and recalls Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which says that ‘Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind’.

“On the specific issue of the rights of gay and lesbian staff members, the Secretary-General intends to act on the Organization's long-established principle that matters of personal status should be determined by reference to the law of the staff member's nationality.

“On the issue of same-sex marriage, his personal view, as stated in last week’s press conference, is ‘that individuals should be allowed to make their own choices and that we should be careful not to draw conclusions, or adopt prejudicial attitudes, towards people for their choices or preferences’.  However, he recognizes that there is a wide range of opinion on the issue among Member States, with very strong feelings on both sides of the argument, and he does not believe this is something the United Nations should get involved in.”

**Democratic Republic of Congo

The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo welcomed the first commercial convoy on the Congo River since 1998.  The convoy, with 4,500 tonnes of goods, departed Kinshasa at the beginning of July and arrived in Kisangani on 3 August.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the DRC, William Swing, who travelled to Kisangani to join with thousands of local citizens in welcoming the arrival of the convoy, hailed this event as “an important moment in the physical and geographical reunification process of this vast and beautiful country”.

The UN Mission in the DRC said that the arrival of the convoy is expected to have an immediate impact on local price levels and is an important commercial incentive for business people to boost production.

The UN Mission has been making intensive efforts over the past years to reopen the Congo River to restore freedom of movement.  Under the escort of the UN Mission, a dozen humanitarian convoys had sailed through the river prior to the first commercial barges.

We have a Press Release with more details.

**Statement Attributable to the Spokesman on Solomon Islands

The following statement attributable to the Spokesman is on the subject of the Solomon Islands:

“The Secretary-General commends the countries of the Pacific Islands Forum for the collective action to support the Government and people of the Solomon Islands in their quest for the restoration of law and order and stability.  He has taken note of the leadership exerted by Australia and New Zealand, in close partnership with other countries in the region, in response to the request for assistance from the Government of the Solomon Islands.  The Secretary-General recognizes the particular importance of the unanimous support for this concerted regional initiative undertaken within the framework of the Forum’s Biketawa Declaration.

“The Secretary-General hopes that the prompt restoration of normalcy in the Solomon Islands will quickly lead to the regaining of national harmony and facilitate a peace-building process.  He wishes to emphasize that the United Nations system is fully prepared to contribute actively to such a process”.

**Kosovo

Late yesterday, we issued a statement expressing the Secretary-General’s shock and outrage at the killing of UN police officer Satish Menon in an attack late Sunday night on a police vehicle in the northern part of Kosovo.

The Secretary-General strongly condemned this appalling act and appeals to all concerned to cooperate with the UN Mission in Kosovo in carrying out the investigation into the circumstances of this brutal murder.  The guilty must be brought to justice, he said.

The Secretary-General expressed his condolences to the family of the slain officer and to the Government of India, whose police officers have given great service to the people of Kosovo.

We still have copies of that statement upstairs.

**Iraq ‘Oil-for-Food’

The Security Council’s 661 Sanctions Committee dealing with Iraq this week agreed to a request from the Office of the Iraq Programme to fund the production of textbooks for 5.5 million Iraqi students and to pay for 25,000 teacher trainees for the 2003-2004 academic year.  The project, worth $72.3 million in all, aims to print more than 66 million copies of newly edited textbooks for nationwide distribution.

Also approved this week were a $104 million project for fertilizer for Iraq’s winter wheat and barley crops, and $6.8 million for fungicides to contain “smut” -– which isn’t what some of you think it is.  “Smut” is a disease that affects wheat and barley seeds.

We have more information in the weekly “oil-for-food” update, which is available upstairs.

Also, we have out on the racks a copy of a letter, transmitted by United States Ambassador John Negroponte, from the Acting Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Faleh Dawod Salman, who urges Member States to transfer all frozen Iraqi assets to the Development Fund for Iraq account that has been established at the US Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

**Security Council

There are no Security Council meetings or consultations scheduled for today.

The Security Council is holding, though, its monthly luncheon with the Secretary-General.

**UNICEF

From UNICEF, we have a press release saying that Executive Director, Carol Bellamy, today in Quito, Ecuador, applauded the commitment of Ecuador’s Government to improving children’s lives through increased social spending, but said that more investment is necessary to reach all children with basic services.  She also called on the Government to do more for working children, including the establishment of a system to monitor child labour in the country.

**DPI Launches Spanish News Centre Web Site

Finally, the Department of Public Information (DPI) has asked me to inform you that, as part of its ongoing efforts to ensure multilingual development of United Nations Web site, DPI has just launched the Spanish language version of the UN News Centre, and that’s on a special portal on the Internet.

The Spanish News Centre uses many of the same database-driven features that are available in English, French, Arabic and Russian.  And work is currently under way on the News Centre site in Chinese.  The Spanish URL is www.un.org/spanish/news.

Yes, Mohammad?

Questions and Answers

Question:   Fred, where will the Iraqi textbooks be published?

Spokesman:  I don’t know.  Let’s look at the report to see if they give that detail.  I don’t know.  Edie?  [He later said the books would likely be published in Iraq.]

Question:   Fred, two questions.  First, do we have any date yet for Carla Del Ponte’s appearance before the Security Council?

Spokesman:  Still nothing.  We’ll keep in touch with the President of the Council and once something is firmly scheduled we’ll let you know.  He did indicate that he expected it would be later this week.  [He later announced her appearance had been rescheduled for 10:30 a.m. Friday.]

Question:   And my second question is, Prince Sihanouk of Cambodia today strongly criticized the tribunal that’s been set up to try members of the Khmer Rouge, saying it should have been an international tribunal in The Hague, not a Cambodian dominated tribunal.  Does the Secretary-General have any comment on his reaction?

Spokesman:  No, he wouldn’t comment on those views.  As you know, the latest negotiations that we undertook with the Cambodian Government were on the invitation, on the instructions really, of the General Assembly, so we worked within the framework that the Assembly gave us to come up with the current formula.  The Legal Counsel, Hans Corell, indicated this wasn’t an optimal arrangement, but one that he felt could help bring the Khmer Rouge leaders to justice and the international community was going to work closely with the Cambodians to try to see that that was done.  Bill?

Question:   Does the Secretary-General have any plans to go to Iraq?

Spokesman:  Not that I am aware of.  Do you know of anything?  (Laughter)  No, there is no plan to go to Iraq that I am aware of anytime soon, or even anytime late.

Question:   Also, flash appeal tomorrow, McAskie’s, will be following your briefing?

Spokesman:  They will be guests at the briefing.  So, right after I finish they will kick in.

Question:   But is the appeal, where is the appeal itself going to be launched?  Here?

Spokesman:  That wasn’t clear to me because of the wording of this thing, so let me double-check because they say that it’s “to discus the appeal...” as if the appeal is being launched somewhere else.  Let me just double-check and we’ll squawk for you.  [He reaffirmed it would be launched at UN Headquarters at 10 a.m.]

Thank you very much.

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