DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
| Press Briefing |
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.
** Memorial Service for Sergio Vieira de Mello
The Secretary-General attended a memorial service in Brazil over the weekend for Sergio Vieira de Mello, his Special Representative for Iraq, who was killed last Tuesday in a bomb attack on the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad.
On arriving on Saturday, the Secretary-General met briefly with Brazilian President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, with whom he discussed the deteriorating security situation in Iraq. The Secretary-General also conveyed his condolences to the President for the deaths on Friday of 21 Brazilian technicians when a rocket designed to launch a communications satellite exploded during a test.
The two then proceeded to Rio’s City Hall for the memorial service, where, surrounded by mourners, the Secretary-General spoke first, saying that Vieira de Mello’s work in Iraq should be completed. “His dying wish was that the United Nations Mission there should not be pulled out. Let us respect that”. He concluded, “Sergio, my friend, you have entered that pantheon of the fallen heroes that the United Nations wishes it did not have. You will shine forever among our brightest stars. May you rest in peace”.
After the service, the Secretary-General met again with the Brazilian President, and they spoke about Vieira de Mello. They also discussed the upcoming General Assembly session in September, at which Lula will be the opening speaker, and also mentioned ways to revive the Monterrey consensus on fighting poverty and to accelerate the efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
On Saturday evening, the Secretary-General had a private dinner with Vieira de Mello’s family. On Sunday afternoon, before departing for New York, where he returned early this morning, the Secretary-General described Sergio Vieira de Mello as someone who was “more like a brother” to him.
Asked about security measures in Iraq, he said that further measures will be taken to strengthen the security of United Nations personnel. But he added, “The option of withdrawing is not something we can consider. The people of Iraq need us; they want us to stay”. Asked about the possibility of multilateral forces being sent to Iraq, he said that is an issue under discussion and added, “I’m intimately involved in these discussions, but it will take some time for us to come to conclusions”. We have a transcript of that press encounter upstairs.
**Iraq
Over the weekend, the United Nations humanitarian agencies operating in Iraq resumed some of their emergency humanitarian work in Baghdad for the first time since last week’s bombing. Staff from both the United Nations Children’s Fund and the World Health Organization are back doing work in hospitals. The World Food Programme has resumed its work with its public distribution system.
On an administrative note, out on the racks is an exchange of letters between the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council concerning the Secretary-General’s decision to appoint Ramiro Lopes da Silva as his Acting Special Representative in Baghdad.
**Memorial Mass
Here in New York, the Permanent Mission of Brazil to the United Nations is organizing a memorial mass in memory of Sergio Vieira de Mello. The mass will be celebrated today at 6 p.m. at Saint Agnes Church, located at 141 East 43rd Street.
**Malloch Brown
United Nations Development Programme Administrator Mark Malloch Brown met with United Nations staff relocated from Baghdad in Amman, Jordan, today. He visited seven injured staff members in an Amman hospital and met with about 120 United Nations staff members who have been temporarily relocated from Baghdad. He also thanked the Jordanian Foreign Minister, Marwan Mouasher, for Jordan’s help in receiving injured and other relocated United Nations staff members. Malloch Brown will also meet with family members of those who lost their lives in last week's bombing.
**Middle East
The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Terje Roed-Larsen, today issued a statement condemning Israel’s extrajudicial assassination yesterday of four Palestinians. Helicopter gun-ships fired missiles into a car in Gaza City, reportedly killing a Hamas militant and three Islamic University students. Roed-Larsen reiterated the United Nations consistent and vocal opposition to such assassinations. He said that Israel clearly has a right to live in peace and security. However, no country can resort to these extrajudicial measures.
Roed-Larsen calls on all parties to halt violent actions and immediately re-engage in a constructive process toward peace, as outlined in the “Road Map”.
**Statement on Human Rights in Middle East
We also have upstairs a statement from the Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights, Bertrand Ramcharan, who says that the acts of violence by both the Israeli and Palestinian sides over the past week are unacceptable, and he appeals to all parties to refrain from any further acts of violence and to do their utmost to control those who commit terrorist acts against civilians or engage in the disproportionate use of force.
**Security Council
The Security Council Presidency informed us this morning that the open meeting that had been scheduled for 11:00 this morning, to consider a draft resolution on the protection of United Nations personnel, associated personnel and humanitarian personnel in conflict zones, has been rescheduled until tomorrow. The time of the formal meeting will be determined later.
There are no Council meetings or consultations scheduled for today. In addition to the open meeting on the draft resolution, the Council has scheduled consultations tomorrow on Liberia and Iraq.
**Liberia
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Liberia, Jacques Klein, met today in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, with the country’s President, Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, and Vice President, Solomon Berewah, in what is planned to be a series of visits to regional capitals to discuss the situation in Liberia with West African leaders. Klein also met today with the Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, David Crane. Tomorrow, he expects to travel to Conakry, Guinea, to meet with senior officials there.
In Liberia itself, World Food Programme food distributions in Monrovia continued over the weekend; they have now reached over 122,000 people in the capital. Over the weekend, they also succeeded in providing food to sites for internally displaced persons in Sinkor, Newport St. and Capital Bypass. The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), meanwhile, distributed non-food items in Monrovia over the weekend.
Yesterday, an initial assessment of camps for internally displaced persons took place in Montserrado, 15 kilometers outside of Monrovia. Conditions are reportedly poor in terms of food and other supplies. Another assessment mission is scheduled for today. The assessment mission also traveled to Bong County today to examine the camps for internally displaced persons there.
**Afghanistan
Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, has begun a week-long visit to Afghanistan, where on Sunday he signed an agreement in Kabul with the Interior Minister to help establish a new drug interdiction department and to fund 20 projects, worth $38 million, to boost drug control in the country.
Late yesterday, Costa met with President Hamid Karzai, and they agreed on the need for the international community, including major development institutions, to help Afghan farmers to grow commercial crops and develop infrastructure in the poor rural areas of the country.
**Statement Attributable to the Spokesman
Now, I have just received a statement attributable to the Spokesman of the Secretary-General:
“The Secretary-General utterly condemns the terrorist bomb attacks in Mumbai, India, killing more than 40 innocent civilians and injuring many more. He is adamantly opposed to all acts of terrorism, from whatever quarter. The Secretary-General conveys his heartfelt condolences to the Government of India and to the bereaved families of the victims of these despicable acts of terrorism.”
**UNFPA Report
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has published a special report on its activities in Afghanistan for reducing maternal mortality. Among other things, UNFPA has been developing strategies together with local health authorities to improve reproductive health facilities and is supporting NGOs in building clinics and training staff to serve rural communities with no medical care. The report is available online and we have a press release with more details.
Questions and Answers
Question: You mentioned 120 United Nations personnel relocated from Iraq to Amman. Is that the sum total of the reduction? Has anybody gone anywhere else?
Deputy Spokesman: That is the number we’ve got today. The number varies from day to day, but that’s the total number of people evacuated from Baghdad.
Question: Which leaves how many in Iraq?
Deputy Spokesman: About 200 international staff in Iraq. As you may have heard last week, before the bombing, we had about 300 international staff in Baghdad and 646 people in the whole country.
Question: Last week, at one point, people were given an option of leaving Iraq. At that time, it was said that only two people had taken it. So are these 120 people who have chosen to leave, or are those two different things?
Deputy Spokesman: Those are two different things. Those people who left are what we call non-essential staff. They mainly deal with administrative work. Those people left because their work can be done outside the country. Those who have remained are the essential staff who have to be there to carry out emergency United Nations operations in the country.
Question: So the number of people who have chosen to leave has gone from 2 to what –- where does that stand now?
Deputy Spokesman: You mean the two who have left voluntarily? Those things are different, as I have said. These 120 are administrative personnel who really do not have to be in the country. So the 200 who have stayed will have to be there to carry out the emergency work.
Question: Is the Secretary-General back in New York?
Deputy Spokesman: He is back in New York, and we are expecting him to come into the building some time this afternoon.
Question: Does the Secretary-General see any progress in the attempts of reconciliation between the United States’ and European position on Iraq regarding giving additional authority to the United Nations?
Deputy Spokesman: I think the Secretary-General has made his position very clear on several occasions last week. He expressed hope that Member States of the Security Council would have further discussions on the issue. However, he preferred them to have those discussions behind the doors, so he would not like to make any public comments at this stage about these discussions. But he himself is very intimately involved in those discussions, as he said in Brazil when he attended the memorial service for Sergio.
Question: It has become obvious, as the Secretary-General has actually mentioned, that there is no reconciliation between the two sides and that as a result, there is not going to be a second resolution. Is the Secretary-General then ready to move -- and how quickly -- to reconsider the role of the United Nations in Iraq?
Deputy Spokesman: We should not give up the hope yet. The discussions are still ongoing, and so I would not draw any conclusions right now.
Question: Is the Secretary-General going to Geneva for the funeral?
Deputy Spokesman: There is no plan for him to go to Geneva as of now, but that might change in the course of the week.
Question: Is the Secretary-General going to stop at the stakeout microphone on his way into the building today?
Deputy Spokesman: We will try to talk to him to see whether he would like to speak to the press when he comes in this afternoon.
Question: With expanded security activity here at Headquarters in New York, have there been any alerts of any kind?
Deputy Spokesman: Not that I am aware of, but we will find out for you after the briefing.
Question: Do you have any information about possible links between the Jordan bombing and the explosion at the United Nations headquarters?
Deputy Spokesman: As you know, the investigation of the bombing is still ongoing, and before we see the full final report, we are not going to make any comment on that.
Question: What is your estimate regarding the time when the Secretary-General will be entering the building?
Deputy Spokesman: Some time after three o’clock.
Question: What are the most significant activities that remain curtailed in Iraq?
Deputy Spokesman: As I have just mentioned in the briefing, the UNICEF and WHO have come back to their work in Baghdad hospitals, so those are the main activities there.
Question: What activities have been suspended in Iraq?
Deputy Spokesman: Well, apart from what I have just mentioned, the activities of the WHO, UNICEF and also food distribution programmes -– other things I am not aware of, but we can find out for you.
Question: Has the Secretary-General talked to any of the representatives of leaders of Germany, France and Russia regarding Iraq?
Deputy Spokesman: He spoke to many world leaders last week after the bombing attack, but as far as I know, he has not spoken to anybody over the weekend while he was away on the trip to Brazil.
Question: What about these particular nations that I mentioned?
Deputy Spokesman: I need to find out whether he actually got in touch with these three countries.
Question: Did the remaining 200 international personnel in Iraq move to a new headquarters?
Deputy Spokesman: They have started using other United Nations agency offices. Also, some of them have been working in tents, which have been set up temporarily. We are looking for alternative offices for the moment.
Question: Do you have any idea when the 120 staff will move back or be supplemented by people coming from New York or Geneva?
Deputy Spokesman: The Secretariat sent out a security assessment team last week, and what will happen to the scale of operations and the number of personnel that we will allow to go back will depend on the results of that assessment. So we will wait and see.
Question: When are the results of that assessment to be expected?
Deputy Spokesman: It depends on the complexity of the work there.
Question: Anything to report on Liberia?
Deputy Spokesman: Liberia is –- again, I have just mentioned what Jacques Klein has been doing in the country. He has been talking with regional leaders, and the United Nations has been carrying out humanitarian operations there. Apart from that, again, there is an assessment team in that country, too, to look at the security situation there, but the work has been fairly slow because of the security concerns and also some other logistical problems, like being short of transport, for example.
Question: There are reports that Americans have gone back to their ship. Is that a problem as far as security situation is concerned?
Deputy Spokesman: Well, the Americans, as you know, in the past week have been in and out of the capital, but it’s their decision how to operate in the country, so I am not going to comment.
Question: But does that affect the security situation for the United Nations?
Deputy Spokesman: Again, I am not going to comment on that. We will wait to see the results of the assessment team’s report.
Question: How many United Nations staff have been injured in Iraq?
Deputy Spokesman: We don’t have the precise figures yet. As you know, the whole situation after the bombing attack was quite chaotic. People have been sent out to different locations, different hospitals and even different countries for treatment. It will take some time to locate all those people and come up with a precise figure, but so far we don’t have that yet.
Have a very good afternoon.
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