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

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICES OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
AND THE SPOKESWOMAN 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 Michele Montas, Spokeswoman for the General Assembly President.

Good Afternoon.

**Security Council

As a follow-up to last week’s Security Council ministerial meeting on “Justice and the Rule of Law:  the UN Role”, the Council is today holding another open meeting on that same subject.

Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guéhenno opened the meeting with remarks on behalf of several United Nations departments within the Secretariat that are engaged in supporting justice and the rule of law in post-conflict societies.

He underscored the importance of the rule of law, saying, "We have witnessed, time and time again, a population's loss of faith in a peace process due to the absence of security and lack of accountability for criminal acts".  He added, "We can no longer afford to treat the rule of law as a side activity in which we engage alongside political objectives.  In many cases, it lies at the heart of the success or failure of our peacekeeping operations."

Today is the last day of the British Presidency of the Security Council, with the United States to take over the Presidency for October starting tomorrow.

**Read-out of Secretary-General’s Meeting with the President of Colombia

I had a number of questions on the Secretary-General’s meeting with the President of Colombia.  It took place mid-morning today.

And on that subject, I can say, the Secretary-General met President Alvaro Uribe today and had a constructive discussion on the current situation in Colombia and the work of the UN Organization in the country.

The Secretary-General reiterated his commitment to the goal of assisting Colombia in reaching a negotiated solution to the conflict in that country.

And his good offices continue to be at the disposal of the parties.

**Force Commanders

The Secretary-General has informed the Security Council of his intention to appoint Lieutenant-General Daniel Ishmael Opande of Kenya as Force Commander of the newly established UN Mission in Liberia.

Opande has served in UN peacekeeping operations in Namibia, where I was happy to work with him, I must say, as well as in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The Secretary-General also announced his intention to appoint Major-General Samaila Iliya of Nigeria as Force Commander of the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

He participated in the UN peacekeeping operations in Lebanon and Rwanda.

Major-General Iliya is expected to assume his duties on 1 January after Major-General Mountaga Diallo completes his tour of duty with the UN Mission in the DRC.

Under Diallo’s command, the DRC Mission evolved from a small military observer mission to a major multidimensional peacekeeping operation with a strength of 10,800 military personnel.

 The Secretary-General expresses his gratitude for the outstanding contribution made by Major-General Diallo to the DRC peace process.

We are waiting for the Security Council’s response to both appointments, and we have bios of both men in my office.

**Secretary-General’s Report on Myanmar

There are two reports of the Secretary-General to the General Assembly out on the racks today.

One is on the human rights situation in Myanmar, in which the Secretary-General notes that, contrary to the expectations of the Myanmar people, there was no substantive progress towards national reconciliation and democratization in the country since the General Assembly’s resolution of 18 December 2002.

He appeals once again for the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her colleagues without delay.

 He underscores that unless the parties concerned are able to engage in substantive dialogue, “it would then fall on the General Assembly to review the situation carefully and to provide, in its resolution, a clearer framework for further action by Member States and the Secretary-General, as to how to help promote national reconciliation and democratization in Myanmar”.

**Secretary-General’s Report on the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The second report is on special assistance for the economic recovery and reconstruction of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The Secretary-General notes that the security and humanitarian situation remains a matter of concern.  The humanitarian situation is particularly worrying in areas ravaged by the armed conflict, where there are more than 2.7 million displaced persons.

The social situation also remains precarious, with the great majority of the population continuing to live below the poverty line.

The report recommends that the international community have a strategic intervention framework, which includes three pillars:  a special transition assistance programme; an emergency public infrastructure rehabilitation programme; and an emergency humanitarian, social and cultural programme.

**Security Council -- Somalia

We have an announcement from the Chairman of the Security Council Sanctions Committee regarding Somalia about an upcoming mission.

Following consultations among members of the Council, it was decided that the mission would visit the region from 12 to 25 October this year and will be led by the Chairman of the Committee, Ambassador Stefan Tafrov of Bulgaria.

The mission will be composed of experts from all 15 Council members.

The mission will visit Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Yemen.

We have available upstairs the terms of reference and the specific objectives of the mission.

**Liberia

We also have an update on the latest assessment mission undertaken by humanitarian agencies to areas near the Liberian border with Côte d’Ivoire.

Road access is the biggest challenge in re-establishing a humanitarian presence in those areas.

Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency reports that, despite an overall improvement in the security situation, hundreds of Liberian refugees continue to flee into Guinea, fearing fighting between government and rebel forces in central Liberia.

**Middle East –- Human Rights

The Special Rapporteur dealing with human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, John Dugard, in his latest report to the Commission on Human Rights, noted the construction in recent months of a wall separating Israel from the West Bank, which he says, “does not follow the Green Line, which marks the de facto boundary between Israel and Palestine”.

He writes that “the Wall has all the features of a permanent structure”, and that “the evidence strongly suggests that Israel is determined to create facts on the ground amounting to de facto annexation”.

The Special Rapporteur says that Israel’s legitimate security concerns cannot be denied, but adds that a balance has to be struck between respect for human rights and the interests of security.

We have copies of that report available upstairs.

**World Food Programme

Today, Executive Director James T. Morris of the World Food Programme called for international support to use humanitarian aid more wisely to overcome Africa’s food crises.

He spoke at the International Conference on African Development in Tokyo.

Stressing that the final goal of aid organisations must be self-reliance for the African people, Mr. Morris said that aid, including food, should be used not just as a “band aid” in emergencies, but it should be packaged into strategies for rebuilding communities and the local economy.

Mr. Morris also announced the launch of a new humanitarian partnership with the popular contemporary jazz artist, Keiko Matsui.

She will dedicate her upcoming concert tours, as well as a song on her new album to WFP’s work in Africa.

We have a press release on that.

**ICTY

Today, in The Hague, a Bosnian Serb, Miroslav Deronjic, pleaded guilty to one count of persecutions on political, racial and religious grounds –- a crime against humanity –- as part of a plea agreement with the Prosecutor’s Office.

Under the terms of that agreement, the Prosecutor’s Office recommended that he receive a sentence of ten years in prison in return for his plea of guilt, while defence lawyers recommended a sentence of no more than six years.

A time and date for the sentencing hearing will be set in due course.

Also today, Judge Richard May ruled that, starting next Monday, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia will hold its trial of Slobodan Milosevic for only three days every week, taking Thursdays and Fridays off, to take account of the former Yugoslav President’s health.

The ruling was made after a cardiologist reported on Milosevic’s condition and found him to be suffering from hypertension, steep rises in blood pressure, stress, exhaustion and fatigue.

**Guest at Noon Tomorrow

Our guest at the briefing tomorrow will be the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, William Lacy Swing, and he will be briefing you about the high-level meeting on the DRC which took place last Thursday, the role of the UN Mission in the electoral process in the country, his vision and implementation of Security Council resolution 1493, and other issues on the DRC agenda.

That’s all I have for you.  Any questions before we go to Michele?  Yes?

Questions and Answers

Question:   The Secretary-General met today with the Bulgarian Prime Minister.  Could you give us some information on that?   

Spokesman:  I don’t have anything here on that.  With heads of State and government, we did arrange for the first time this year, for the Secretary-General and his guest to speak before the cameras, and I think that’s the closest we will get to a read-out of a meeting.  We’ve been recording all of those sessions, so if you would like an audio recording, you can check in my office. If that doesn’t do it for you and you want something more, then let us know and we’ll see if we can help you.  

Spokesman:  Pam? 

Question:   Just checking Fred.  Anything more on the meeting between the Secretary-General and Dr. Benaissa yesterday?  We had a very tiny read-out yesterday. 

Spokesman:  On foreign ministers, we haven’t been doing these press availabilities and basically just responding to requests.  I have not been given any read-out on that meeting apart from three topics that were discussed, which I think I gave to you yesterday.  So I think it’s hopeless to ask for more but if you press, I’ll try. O.K.?        

Spokesman:  Yes? 

Question:   Could you tell us what topics were discussed between the President of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe, and the Secretary-General? 

Spokesman:  No, on that, I have this statement I read out.  That’s the only thing I can give to you.  I read it at the beginning of this briefing.  You can have the text if you want to follow me to my office afterwards.      

Spokesman:  Okay Michele, what about the General Assembly?

Spokeswoman for General Assembly President

Good afternoon.

Today is the sixth day of the general debate, with eleven speakers scheduled for this morning, and ten for this afternoon.  To make it easy for you to watch this debate, where all 191 Member States will have expressed their views by Thursday afternoon, you can access the live broadcast on the UN Web site at www.un.org-webcast.  It’s a redesigned version of last year’s web cast.  You can watch four simultaneous live events at the same time, including this briefing.  The statements (texts) and archived video are also made available at the same address, so you can consult your Internet.

**Bilateral meetings

President Hunte has continued his bilateral meetings this morning, with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, Sao Tome and Principe, and the Sudan.  He is to meet this afternoon with the President of Mongolia.  Also today, he will participate at a luncheon hosted by the permanent representative of the Netherlands, to discuss revitalization of the General Assembly.

**Committee Meetings

To continue on the request I had yesterday.  The legal committee, the Sixth, has convened as a working group to resume the elaboration of a treaty banning reproductive cloning of human beings.

The Committee elected Juan Manuel Gomez Robledo of Mexico as Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on the International Convention against the Reproductive Cloning of Human Beings.

The Committee’s working group was established, as you know, by the General Assembly in December 2001.  The discussions, right now, of the working group are closed.

But deliberations on the Convention concern differences in approach, as you know.  Some favour a two-step process in which reproductive cloning is banned immediately, while the more complicated question of therapeutic cloning is addressed.  Others want both forms banned comprehensively, since the technologies are virtually identical.

During last year’s debate, delegates remained divided on the scope of the Convention and means to implement it.

The resolution finally adopted called for the working group to continue its work during this session of the Assembly, and this is what is being done.  The discussion will last until 3 October.  This will be referred to the Sixth Committee as a whole.

The Committee also decided to establish a working group on the scope of legal protection under the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel.  This is again after the recent attacks against UN personnel abroad.

That is all I have for you.  Thank you.

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