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.

**Liberia

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Liberia, Jacques Klein, and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Carolyn McAskie, will brief you shortly on the just launched revised humanitarian appeal for Liberia.

UN humanitarian agencies and their partners are asking donors to provide $69 million to assist 1 million Liberians in greatest need from 1 August through 31 December this year.

The Secretary-General, in a message delivered by his Special Representative, said that the logic of this emergency appeal is simple:  without urgent action, more lives will be lost, and he urged the international community to seize the opportunity to alleviate unnecessary suffering, to avert preventable deaths, and to let Liberians know that they are not alone in their quest for development and peace.

The World Food Programme (WFP) confirmed that a specially-chartered supply ship is on its way to Liberia.

On the peacekeeping front, the UN Mission in Sierra Leone continued its airlift of Nigerian troops and equipment to Monrovia.  What went out today into Liberia were 112 soldiers, 3 armoured personnel carriers, two landrovers, three tons of ammunition and one fuel tanker.  A UNAMSIL officer in Monrovia reports that the situation at the airport is calm, although the weather is bad.

**DRC

The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Multinational Force has dispatched a joint assessment mission to Nyanda, 20 kilometers north-east of Bunia, following allegations of an attack in that area.

According to eyewitnesses, about 150 armed men, accompanied by civilians, attacked the village of Nyanda and its environs at about 5:30 in the morning.  Nine people were killed in the attack, mostly women and children.  Several houses were torched and some cattle were stolen.  According to eyewitnesses, the attack was carried out by the Lendu from a nearby village.  We have a press release with more details.

**Security Council

The Security Council held an open meeting on Bougainville this morning, in which Noel Sinclair, Director of the UN Political Office in Bougainville, informed the Council of the latest developments in the implementation of the UN mandate outlined by the Bougainville Peace Agreement.

Noel Sinclair informed the Council that stage II of weapons disposal has come to an end and the UN Office has made the verification and certification to the National Government.  With this, he said:  “the stage will have been set for the next steps to be taken, including the holding of elections for a Bougainville Autonomous Government”.  Sinclair said that as the UN Office withdraws at the end of this year, the UN Development Programme would be providing continuing support for the peace effort there.  There are 21 inscribed speakers on the list.

**Middle East

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, known as UNRWA, today warmly welcomed the news that the United States will pledge up to $26 million for the Agency’s current emergency appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory, the largest single donation by any government to the Agency’s emergency appeals since they were launched three years ago.

Commissioner-General Peter Hansen said, “I am delighted by this strong vote of confidence in the Agency from the Bush administration”.  The U.S. Government has provided more than $107 million to UNRWA since October 2000, or 36 per cent of the total amount the Agency has received since then.

UNRWA adds, in a press release that we have upstairs, that it remains concerned about under-funding of its appeals, with $102.9 million required for the current six-month period ending this December, and less than 3 million dollars pledged prior to the new U.S. announcement.  Unless substantial new pledges are confirmed in the next two months, further cutbacks, resulting in layoffs and reductions in food distribution, remain a real likelihood.

We also have a press release from the UN Development Programme (UNDP), whose Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People yesterday issued a call for $18 million in emergency assistance to address the humanitarian needs of the communities most affected by the building of a barrier, known as the “separation wall”, in the West Bank.  The wall’s impact is of particular concern in Jenin, Tulkarm and Qalqilya, where current construction could affect the movement of agricultural products.

**Iraq

The Secretary-General, at his monthly working lunch yesterday with the members of the Security Council, discussed developments on Iraq, telling the Associated Press afterward that his sense was that the Security Council would look at the question of a statement on the Iraqi Governing Council and the mandate for the establishment of the UN Assistance Mission in that country.  On the latter question, he underscored that “we need a decision, and it usually comes in the form of a resolution”.

He was asked whether a second resolution on expanding UN authorization in Iraq was possible, and responded that Council members “know that there are discussions going on, but the membership are not ready to move on it yet”.

**Kosovo

The Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative for Kosovo, Jean-Christian Cady, today spoke at the memorial service of police officer Satish Menon, who was murdered in Kosovo on Sunday night, and he expressed his outrage at what he called “a cold-blooded terrorist attack” performed under the cover of darkness.

Although the murder is a setback for Kosovo, Cady said, the UN Mission and the international community will continue to work for the values that form the core of the UN mandate and the slain police officer’s commitment:  “peace, justice and tolerance”.

The UN Mission in Kosovo yesterday announced that it would give a reward of 50,000 euros for any information that would lead to finding Officer Menon’s killers.

**SG Message

The Secretary-General, in a message commemorating the 58th anniversary of the world’s first atomic bomb attack, calls on the international community “to do more to demonstrate the seriousness of its commitment to nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation”.

The message says that “although some would say it is an achievement that no nuclear weapons have been used since 1945, tens of thousands of such weapons –- the exact number is unknown -– remain in arsenals around the world”.

The message goes on to say that “other worrisome trends have emerged in recent years, such as the acquisition of nuclear weapons by non-nuclear States, and efforts to modernize existing arsenals and to create new types of nuclear weapons.  The possibility that nuclear weapons or radiological bombs could fall into the hands of terrorists has also become a major concern”.

In conclusion, the Secretary-General appeals to the international community to reaffirm the pledge “to bring closer the day when people everywhere will be free to live their lives in peace, without fear of annihilation by the world’s most horrible weapons”.  We have copies of that message upstairs.

**Bulgaria

Bulgaria is taking steps to improve the living conditions and job opportunities for its minority neighbourhoods, where some 46,000 Roma or Gypsies and 5,000 ethnic Turks live, according to the UN Development Programme (UNDP).  UNDP is providing support to a project to upgrade and extend water and sewer systems, electricity and lighting, and roads and paths in Bulgaria’s minority areas, as part of its preparations to join the European Union, which is scheduled for 2007.  We have a press release on that.

**Pollutants

The Protocol on Persistent Organic Pollutants, which seeks to eliminate emissions of 16 polluting substances, including 11 pesticides, will enter into force on 23 October, after France yesterday became the 16^th country to ratify the Protocol.  The 16 parties to the Protocol are now scheduled to meet in Geneva this December to discuss the Protocol, including reviewing whether its provisions need to be updated.  We have a press release with more information.

**UNICEF

From UNICEF we have a press release issued today saying that the agency is calling for continued commitment to protect, promote and support breastfeeding, as part of the celebration of World Breastfeeding Week 2003, which is taking place this week.  The theme of this year’s celebration is “Peace and Justice”, with an emphasis on the enormous benefits of breastfeeding even in the most perilous of settings.

“If every baby were exclusively breastfed from birth to six months, and continued for a few months thereafter, an estimated 1.5 millions lives would be saved each year”, UNICEF said.  We have a press release on that.

**Guest at Noon tomorrow

Finally, tomorrow Sandra Paisley, the Police Commissioner for the UN Mission of Support in East Timor, will be joining us at the noon briefing.

That’s all I have for you.  Anything before we go to Jacques and Carolyn?  Colum?

Questions and Answers

Question:   Yes, Fred, on the Congo, you mentioned, I guess, they’re conducting an investigation beyond that to these killings?  Can you give us some indication on how many attacks of this kind have been outside of Bunia since the French deployed and does this look like it’s sort of going in the direction of the UN beginning to sort of spread out to provide security outside of Bunia and has the increased force approved by the Security Council, you know the increased numbers for Congo and Bunia, I mean would that be sufficient to deal with, you know, an expanded role outside of Bunia? 

Spokesman:  I prefer to answer that question after the briefing.  I’d have to look at the records to see the number of attacks that took place.  And frankly, I’d have to refresh myself on the text of the resolution as well, if you don’t mind.  Thanks. Yes?

[He later said that there have been many allegations, but the UN has sent only two or three investigative missions in the past.  The latest resolution on the DRC authorized the expanded UN force to stabilize the situation eventually throughout Ituri province.]

Question:   The 50,000 euros for the murder in Kosovo, is this the first time or is it customary for the UN to pay a bounty?  Has it been done before?  And, if so, who pays, who puts it up, is it the UN or the European Community or who?

Spokesman:  I’d have to look into that.  My personal recollection, for what it’s worth, is this is not the first time the United Nations has offered a bounty and I’d have to look into the financial side of it.  I would assume it would come from the Mission’s budget unless there has been some voluntary contribution.  So, I would have to see what it was in this case.  [He later said that the reward would be paid out of Kosovo’s consolidated budget.  In exceptional circumstances, rewards have been offered before, including in Kosovo.]

Very well, so, who is going to start?  Jacques Klein, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Liberia.

* *** *