DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICES OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL AND THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICES OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL AND THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT

Following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, and Richard Sydenham, Spokesman for the General Assembly President.

Spokesman for the Secretary-General:

Good Afternoon.

**Guest at noon

Our guest at the briefing today is Major-General Patrick Cammaert, who is the UN’s Military Adviser, and he will be talking about peacekeeping issues generally, and in particular the military aspect of the UN operation in Liberia.

**Statement of Secretary-General on Second Anniversary of Terrorist Attacks

        on United States

The following statement concerns the 11 September anniversary:

“On the second anniversary of the massive terrorist attack on the United States, I extend my sincere condolences to the families and friends of the victims.  The trauma, wounds and losses of that awful day are still keenly felt by all of us.  And since then, many other innocent people throughout the world -- including, last month in Baghdad, dedicated staff of the United Nations -- have been killed by this global scourge.

“All nations must work together in the fight against terrorism, which is an affront to the spirit and purposes of the United Nations, and has become a leading threat to international peace and security.  I hope nations will also bring similar determination to bear in confronting the other ills that plague our world.

“For today, however, let us remember those who died, and honour the sacrifice made by those heroic public servants who risked, and in too many cases lost, their lives in the effort to save others.”

That’s attributable to the Secretary-General himself.

**11 September Ceremony

At an interfaith ceremony earlier this morning at St. Bartholomew’s Church here in New York, to mark commitment to the work of the United Nations, Assistant Secretary-General for External Relations Gillian Sorensen read out a message on the Secretary-General’s behalf, saying that today marks the second anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States, and that this year the UN family also has been jolted by a terrorist attack, in Baghdad.

But, the Secretary-General says in this message, “if our hearts are filled with sorrow, if our minds are unsettled by images of violence, our spirits can still draw strength from occasions such as this, when people of different faiths and cultures come together in friendship and in prayer.  We need that strength”.  We have the full message available upstairs.

And then today in Geneva, the Secretary-General was asked about his thoughts on the anniversary of the 11 September attacks, and he said that “it should remind us that we need to cooperate across international borders, we need international cooperation and to work together to be able to contain terrorism”.  The fight against terrorism, he warned, is not over.

**Statement Attributable to Secretary-General

He also issued, from Geneva, the following statement on the death of Anna Lindh, which reads, as follows:

“I was shocked and deeply saddened this morning to learn of the death of Anna Lindh, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sweden.

“Sweden has lost a successful and great Foreign Minister, a great Swede and a great European.  I also have lost a close friend and so has the United Nations.

“In these painful times, I send my heartfelt condolences to her family, her husband and their two children, as well as to the people and Government of Sweden.

“I share in their grief and pain at this tragic loss.”

**Lindh Statement – Add

The Secretary-General today spoke to reporters in Geneva again about Anna Lindh, calling her a strong ally of the United Nations, “someone who really believed in the Charter, believed in what the United Nations stood for, and generally believed that countries have to work across borders and cooperate to get things done”.

He said she was dynamic and without pretensions, and added that he had seen her as a mother, as a defender of Swedish positions in international circles and as a prominent politician in Europe.  Combining her efforts in those three areas, he said, “shows you what a woman she was.  I don’t think many of us men could do that”.

**Secretary-General Meeting in Geneva

The Secretary-General met within the past hour in Geneva with Adnan Pachachi, a member of the Governing Council of Iraq.  They discussed the situation in Iraq and the upcoming meeting of the foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the Security Council with the Secretary-General.  That meeting, you’ll recall, will take place in Geneva on Saturday.

**Democratic Republic of the Congo

The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo informed us that, to date, over 2,500 troops from Bangladesh, Uruguay, Indonesia and India have been deployed in Bunia in the north-eastern part of the country.  On the ground, there are also 280 Pakistani troops and another 800 are expected to arrive next week.

The UN Mission is proceeding with its patrols in Bunia.  The opening of schools and the return of people to the marketplaces indicate that people were restoring their confidence in the Mission.

The UN Mission has also launched a weapons-search operation aimed at making the town weapons-free.  This operation is a follow-up to the one launched by the Multinational Force.  Peacekeepers are searching houses for illegal weapons.  There are also people who spontaneously come to surrender their weapons and seek protection from the Mission.

**DRC Robbery Inquiry

Also on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations informed us that seven Uruguayan soldiers are under investigation by the UN for stealing from a church in Bunia.  Sacred objects, including a chalice, were found in their camp following the allegation of theft from the church earlier this week.

The seven men will be transferred to Kinshasa and they could be repatriated to Uruguay for disciplinary action by their national military authorities if the allegations are found to be true.  The reports by the Board of Inquiry and the Military Police will be concluded in the coming days.

**Security Council

There are no Security Council meetings or consultations today, but we can give you a preview of tomorrow’s agenda.

At 10:30 a.m., the Council has scheduled a vote on lifting UN sanctions on Libya.  That is expected to be followed by an open meeting on the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea and a public briefing on the UN Mission in Kosovo.

**Al Qaeda List

Twenty individuals have been added to the UN list of individuals and entities belonging to or associated with the Taliban and Al Qaeda organization.

That list, which is available as a press release, is being maintained by the Security Council Committee established to oversee the implementation by States of the sanctions imposed by the Council on individuals and entities belonging or related to the Taliban, Usama Bin Laden and the Al Qaeda organization.

**Cartagena Protocol

The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety entered into force today, 90 days after it had received its 50th ratification.

In a message to mark the occasion, the Secretary-General called the Protocol’s entry into force “a landmark for sustainable development, and another milestone in the global effort to reconcile environmental conservation and development”.

He said that the treaty “will enable us to derive maximum benefits from biotechnology while, at the same time, protecting biodiversity and human health from potential risks posed by living modified organisms.”

The Protocol establishes rules to ensure an adequate level of protection on the safe transfer, handling and use of living modified organisms.  For more information on the Protocol, you can pick up a press release upstairs or go to the UN Environment Programme’s Web site.

**Guest at Noon Tomorrow

Finally, our guest at the noon briefing tomorrow will be Jacques Klein, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Liberia.

And that’s all I have for you.  You can find later today on our Web site some additional items I am not going to take the time to read here.

First, the Secretary-General paid a tribute to Arthur Helton of the Council on Foreign Relations who died in the Baghdad bombing; there is a report today on Myanmar from the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights; there is a report of the Secretary-General on the Sudan, which we would recommend to you; and a press release from FAO.  So, you can get those things from our Web site a little bit later.

Any questions before we go to Richard?  I’ll start with Edie?

Questions and Answers

Question:  Fred, do we know how many people are now on the list of people who are subjected to sanctions under the Al Qaeda and the Taliban?

Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  I don’t know if I have that number.  No, I don’t have it here; I’ll try to get it for you right after the briefing.  [He later said there were 123 individuals and 93 entities on the Al Qaeda list.]

Question:  Thank you.

Spokesman:  Mark?

Question:  I just wondered if you could give an update on the state of both internal and independent investigations into the attack on the UN building in Baghdad.

Spokesman:  There was one –- I guess you could call it semi-independent study, it was an internal [preliminary] study, but it involved OIOS, which, of course, is independent of the Secretary-General and reports directly to the General Assembly.  So, that has been completed, I believe.  And then the Secretary-General’s intention is to launch a separate, independent investigation.  We’re not prepared yet to announce exactly how that will be done, but we’re very close to being ready to announce that.

Question:  And could we see the OIOS report, please?

Spokesman:  It’s not an OIOS report.  OIOS was one of the entities that participated, which made it not entirely an internal report from our point of view.  I doubt it would be made public, but I will ask.

Question:  And what are the findings of the report?

Spokesman:  I doubt we would make that public, but I will ask.  Yes, Robert?

Question:  The draft amendments that are out there on the Iraq resolution, there seems to be a general growing indication that the Governing Council is being seen as a legitimate interim representative for Iraq.  Does this give the Secretary-General cause for optimism for this convergence that he is seeking in Geneva?  Covergence of the UN ...

Spokesman:  The discussions among Member States are very preliminary.  Any pieces of paper that might be circulating have no official status.  The Secretary-General has asked these governments to quietly work out their differences among themselves; and, certainly, I am not going to comment on whatever might be circulating now on his behalf.

Okay, Richard?

Spokesman for the General Assembly President

Thank you, Fred.

Good afternoon. 

General Assembly President Kavan issued the following statement, this morning.

“I am deeply shocked and saddened by the murder of Anna Lindh, Foreign Minister of Sweden.  Anna was a good friend and colleague with whom I had worked closely as Czech Foreign Minister and as President of the UN General Assembly.  I remember her as a warm and lovely human being, an excellent diplomat, a great European, a passionate social democrat and a wonderful woman with whom I shared a vision of a socially just and peaceful world based on solidarity and tolerance.  I am appalled by this senseless and brutal death and hope that the perpetrator will be speedily brought to justice.  My thoughts are with her family, friends and the people of Sweden who so much cherish their open society.”

The statement is available at the documents counter.

And I would just like to remind you of President Kavan’s press conference this afternoon in UNCA at 4 p.m.  

Questions and Answers

Question:  What is the status of Iraq going into this General Assembly session, is it going to be represented by the people who are in the Mission now or do you have any information on that?

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  I don’t have any information on that, no.

Question:  It’s not an issue that’s up before the Assembly, I mean ... ?

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  I am not aware that there is anything before the Credentials Committee or anything at this point.

Question:  Okay.

Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  General, welcome to the briefing.

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