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.

**Security Council

The Security Council this morning held consultations on Iraq, to discuss a draft resolution, which was circulated yesterday by the United States, concerning the establishment of the Iraqi Governing Council and the authorization of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq.  It is expected that, following today’s consultations, the Council members will proceed to a vote on the resolution.

Also, during today’s consultations, the Council is hearing a briefing from Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Tuliameni Kalomoh on the latest developments in Burundi.

On the military side, the large-scale offensive launched by FNL-Rwasa on Bujumbura between 7 to 14 July was not followed by further attacks and the security situation has improved considerably.  On the political side, intensive efforts were made by the Facilitation and the leaders of the region to end the violence and put the Burundi peace process back on track.

The Council President is expected to deliver a press statement on Burundi following today’s consultations.

Under “other matters,” the Council expects also to hear a briefing by Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Hédi Annabi, on the latest developments in Liberia.

**Liberia

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative Jacques Klein is on his way to Monrovia after a stopover in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

In a ceremony today in Monrovia, meanwhile, rebels of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) handed over control of Monrovia’s port to peacekeepers from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Monrovia was relatively calm today after yesterday’s looting in the port area.  The extent of yesterday’s looting of World Food Programme (WFP) warehouses in the port area is unclear, as humanitarian workers have not yet completed their assessments.

Before departing the region yesterday, Carolyn McAskie, the Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, stressed the importance of secure access to the port.  “If the port is opened and we can get access, we are fairly confident that we can start food distribution within a couple of days.  We have UNICEF, WHO and the WFP bringing in medical supplies as well as food within the next 48 hours”, she said.

As part of continuing efforts to increase the amount of aid getting into Liberia, UN humanitarian agencies continued to fly staff and supplies into the country today.  We have a press release with more details.

On the peacekeeping front, the UN Mission in Sierra Leone continued its airlift to support the deployment of troops and equipment in Liberia.

**Lebanon

Staffan de Mistura, Personal Representative of the Secretary-General for Southern Lebanon, issued a statement from Beirut yesterday, in which he noted the large number of Israeli air incursions into Lebanese airspace that day, which were very visible and loud and appear to have taken place over large parts of Lebanese territory.

As has been stated on numerous occasions by the United Nations, these aerial violations of the Blue Line are not conducive to helping restore peace and security to this area.  De Mistura reiterated the calls made by various UN officials, most notably the Secretary-General himself, and a number of other concerned Member States that Israel cease these violations.

He also reminded all parties concerned of their obligations to fully respect the Blue Line and called for them to ensure utmost restraint.  We have copies of that statement upstairs.

**Afghanistan

In Afghanistan, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees suspended operations this week in the eastern province of Kunar, following a rocket landing within 400 metres from its Asadabad office on Sunday evening.

The UNHCR said that the security situation in the province has been difficult for about a year now, with frequent rockets, mines and bomb explosions, but this is the first time it had to close the office itself.  The decision followed not only the rocket attack, but also an incident a week ago when a government vehicle was hit by what seemed to be a remote-controlled mine, killing one and seriously injuring others.

In a briefing to the Security Council yesterday, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Lakhdar Brahimi, stressed that the need for improved security in Afghanistan continued to be a fundamental concern, and the prevailing insecurity was also a particularly important argument for the expansion of international security assistance beyond Kabul.

He stressed that the Bonn process, the peace accords reached by the various factions in 2001, “is taking on very important and complicated and logistically heavy political processes, and for that security is again indispensable, and it's a source of worry for us”.

**DRC

The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo said that it expected that the last group of the Bangladeshi contingent would arrive in Ituri today.  Already working alongside the Multinational Force, the Bangladeshi troops will be operational as of 15 August.  That’s tomorrow.

The Mission said that random missions would be sent to sensitive areas to reassure the civilian population and warn those who plan to terrorize them.  When imminent attacks or massacres are reported, troops will immediately be dispatched to the concerned areas.

In Kisangani, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the DRC, William Swing, attended a graduation ceremony where 265 policemen received their training certificates.  The UN Mission plans to train 1,200 policemen to be deployed in Kinshasa and in Bunia by the end of this year.  However, that project is now facing difficulty because of a lack of training centres.  Talks are underway with the Government to resolve the problems. 

**Kosovo

UN police and the Kosovo Force are proceeding with an investigation to find out who killed two Kosovo Serb teenagers and wounded four others near Zahac village in the Gorazdevac area yesterday.

Speaking at the scene of the crime yesterday, the Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative, Jean-Christian Cady said the murders were “worse than terrorism; it is an act of barbarism”.  He argued, “By killing children, you are killing the future of Kosovo”.

We have a press release with more details upstairs.

**Israel

In Geneva today, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination met under its emergency procedure to discuss Israel’s Temporary Suspension Order, which was enacted into law on July 31, and which suspends, for renewable one-year periods, the possibility of family reunification in the cases of marriages between an Israeli citizen and a person residing in the West Bank and Gaza.

The Committee expressed its concern about the order and noted that it has already adversely affected many families and marriages.  It said that Israel should revoke this law and reconsider its policy, with a view to facilitating family unification on a non-discriminatory basis.  We have copies of its decision upstairs.

**Budget

Thailand today paid its regular budget dues to the UN in full for this year, with a contribution of more than 2.7 million dollars, becoming the 97th Member State to have paid in full.  The United States, meanwhile, made a large partial payment of its UN regular budget dues, contributing more than $24 million.

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

Questions and Answers

Question:  Concerning the Iraqi Governing Council, are they initiating a special committee to prolong the activities there or are they’re doing it themselves?

Deputy Spokesman:  Sorry, I didn’t get your question.

Question:  You referred to, I wonder if they are doing it of their own or they have other committees to act upon what the Government is supposed to (inaudible).

Deputy Spokesman:  The Governing Council in Iraq, you mean, whether there are committees who are working on its behalf or…?

Question:  Are they producing any specific (inaudible) or what?

Deputy Spokesman:  Oh, yes, I see what you mean.  The Governing Council has been meeting almost on a daily basis.  They have been discussing names of ministers for interim ministries, and also they have been discussing the constitution, which will be eventually adopted.  But we don’t have any details on that yet.  It’s at a very early stage.  And also they have been meeting on dealing with issues from budget to various other emergency humanitarian issues in the country.

Question:  No mention of the new administration to act regularly just like police officers or administrator for interior ministry or something like that?

Deputy Spokesman:  Well, for the time being, according to resolution 1483, the security issues are the sole responsibility of the occupying powers, the coalition.  So, they are responsible for the security, not the Governing Council at the moment, no.  All right.  Yes?

Question:  Can you speak a little bit more on Burundi, what some of the discussions have been and what if anything the UN might be doing in relation to the renewed fighting there?

Deputy Spokesman:  In Burundi, the UN has been very concerned about the development there.  But as I have said, at least the fighting has stopped recently.  The UN has been facilitating the western African countries, especially in their peacekeeping efforts.  However, that effort has been somehow hindered because of lack funding and financial difficulties.  But the Secretary-General has a representative on the ground and has kept on talking to various parties in the region as well as in the country.  As regards to what Kalomoh, the Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, has been briefing in the Council, I am afraid I am not at liberty to give you more details.  But, if you want to have a general picture of what’s going on, I can give you more after the briefing.  Yes?

Question:  Will the Secretary-General be making any statement in response to the new approach of the United States reported in today’s New York Times concerning UN involvement in peacekeeping in Iraq?

Deputy Spokesman:  I have seen that article, but I haven’t been able to get any guidelines on what his latest reaction to that one would be.  What I can say at the moment is that you know that the Security Council at the moment is discussing a resolution and once it’s passed, the Secretary-General would welcome the adoption of the resolution, because these two are the issues that he has been paying much attention to lately; the setting up of UNAMI and the other one is the Governing Council.  I think once the UNAMI is set up with the newly adopted resolution, then the UN can proceed with many of the roles that are proposed by the Secretary-General in his report of 15 July.

Thank you.

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