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 Hua Jiang, Deputy Spokeswoman for the Secretary-General, and Michele Montas, Spokeswoman for the General Assembly President.

Deputy-Spokeswoman for the Secretary-General

Good Afternoon.

**Statement on Iraq

The following statement is attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-Generalon the terrorist incidents in Baghdad, Iraq.

The Secretary-General strongly condemns both today’s suicide bombing at a police station in Sadr City, Baghdad, and the killing of Mr. Jose Antonio Bernal, a Spanish diplomat.

The Secretary-General is deeply saddened by the toll of dead and wounded arising from these numerous attacks.  He conveys his condolences to the families of the victims and hopes that the injured will make a full recovery.

The Secretary-General reiterates that all terrorist acts, from whatever quarter and whatever their justification, are morally repugnant and indefensible. 

He remains greatly concerned about the security situation in Iraq.

**Ahtisaari

In answer to a number of questions we’ve been getting, I wanted to confirm that President Martti Ahtisaari and his team have now left Baghdad.

They were in the Iraqi capital as part of the ongoing work of the Independent Panel on the Safety and Security of UN Personnel in Iraq.

**Larsen

The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Terje Roed-Larsen, is continuing his regional tour.

Earlier today, he met, at the request of the Secretary-General, with Syria’s President, Bashar al-Assad, to discuss the grave situation in the region.

He is now, as we speak, meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara.

After his meeting with the President, Larsen told the press that attacks and counter attacks, such as the recent Israeli air attack on Syrian territory and the attack on Israel across the Blue Line earlier this week, only lead down a steep and precarious path towards more violence.  “I seriously advise the parties”, Larsen said in a statement, “not to travel down this road”.

The next step for the parties, he said, is to abstain from further action that could increase the already high level of tension in the region.

He called on them to work exclusively through diplomatic means and to allow the international community to work out a solution that could defuse the tensions.

The full text of his statement is available upstairs.

**Afghanistan

The UN Mission in Afghanistan informed us that an Agreement by the High-Ranking Delegation for solving the current tensions in Balkh province was signed today, with the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan as one of the witnesses.

The agreement was signed after fighting broke out yesterday between factions of Jamiat and Jumbesh in Fayzadad District.

According to preliminary reports, the conflict was very intense with both sides using tanks as well as mortars.  High numbers of casualties were reported, though the Mission is not able to confirm the number at this time.

As a result of the fighting, the UN suspended road missions to the west of Mazar city.

You can find more details in the briefing note from Kabul available upstairs.

**Security Council

The Security Council has consultations this morning and an open meeting scheduled for this afternoon.

This morning, Assistant Secretary-General for Peace-keeping Operations Hedi Annabi gave an update on Liberia.

Under other matters, Council members are expected to hear a briefing on Burundi.  As you will recall, the Secretary-General yesterday welcomed the signing of an agreement aimed at ending the civil war in Burundi.

Following consultations, U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte, in his capacity as the Security Council President, is expected to read a press statement on Liberia.

This afternoon, the Security Council will hold an open meeting to hear briefings from the Presidents of the two International Criminal Tribunals.

Judge Theodor Meron will present the annual report of the Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, while Judge Erik Mose will report on the Rwanda Tribunal’s work over the past year; both of them also presented their reports this morning to the General Assembly.

Also addressing the Council will be Carla Del Ponte, the Prosecutor for the Yugoslavia Tribunal.

The report from the Yugoslavia Tribunal is out on the racks today, and it says that the pace of the Tribunal’s activities has reached an all-time high.  Holding six trials simultaneously throughout the year, the Trial Chambers have handled more cases over the past year than ever before, while, an increasing number of plea agreements have been struck.

**UN Force Commander for Sierra Leone

Major General Sajjad Akram of Pakistan has been appointed as the Force Commander for the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL).

He replaces Lieutenant General Daniel Opande who is now the Force Commander for the UN Mission in Liberia.

Until his appointment, Major General Akram was UNAMSIL’s Deputy Force Commander.

**Secretary-General’s Reports

The Secretary-General’s report to the General Assembly on the UN Register of Conventional Arms is out on the racks today.

The report, which is the eleventh since the establishment of the Register in 1991, contains data and information provided by 115 Governments on imports and exports of conventional arms. 

Also, on the racks today is a report on human rights in Cambodia, which was transmitted to the General Assembly by the Secretary-General.

In this report, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for human rights in Cambodia, Peter Leuprecht, notes that the three National Assembly elections held since the signing of the Paris Peace Accords in 1991 mark an important step in the country’s efforts to establish a multiparty democracy.

However, the report notes, the establishment of a level playing field for all political parties still encounters significant obstacles and the enforcement of the law also remains a continuing problem.

**Liberia-humanitarian

Liberians displaced by harassment and abuse continue to flee to areas recently visited by humanitarian agencies in the central part of the country.

You can find more details of this in the latest update from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

**UNHCR

Continuing reports of raids, landmine incidents and rebel presence along the border, highlight the current urgent need to move more than 65,000 Sudanese refugees further inland into eastern Chad.

But so far, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has had little luck finding suitable sites for relocation.

More information on that is available upstairs.

A new study co-published by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has found that despite skyrocketing numbers of internally displaced persons in Bogotá, these people –- especially indigenous communities -– lack assistance to integrate in the capital.

Again, we have more information available upstairs.

**Secretary-General’s Message

The Secretary-General, in a message issued to coincide with tonight’s Africare Bishop Walker Dinner in Washington, says that Bill and Melinda Gates have helped to set up new standards in partnerships.

The contribution they have made to the fight against AIDS not only serves as a powerful example to other donors and to Governments, he says, but it is also helping to save millions of lives.

We have copies of that message upstairs.

**Deputy Secretary-General’s Message

Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette, this morning, participated in a roundtable discussion sponsored by the International Crisis Group on key issues in conflict resolution, and told them that the war on Iraq and its aftermath have brought us all face to face with a host of fundamental questions of principle and practice.

And we have copies of her remarks available upstairs.

**WHO

To mark the occasion of World Sight Day today, VISION 2020:  The Right To Sight, a joint global initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness -- is launching a tool kit to help governments and health professionals develop national blindness prevention plans.

Globally, an estimated 40 to 45 million people are blind.  However, the World Health Organization estimates that 80 per cent of visual impairment could be avoided or cured.

**UNRWA

Today, Johann Koss, Norwegian Olympic speed skating champion and head of a non-governmental organization “The Right To Play”, along with Peter Hansen, UNRWA’s Commissioner –- General, launched a child development partnership in the West Bank Palestinian refugee camp of Aqabat Jabr.

Under the agreement signed today, “The Right To Play” will send several project coordinators to the West Bank to bring sport programmes to children in Ramallah and Jericho.

**Mexican Band Mana Joins War against Hunger

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has organized a press conference by the Mexican band Mana, who are Goodwill ambassadors for the organization, at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, 14 October in Conference Room 4, in the GA building.

We have more information available upstairs.

**Press Conference Tomorrow

At 11:00 Gerald Gahima, Prosecutor-General in the Rwanda Supreme Court, will be here to talk to you about the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

That’s all I have for you.

Questions and Answers

Deputy Spokeswoman for the Secretary-General:  Yes Edie?

Question:   Hua, on Martti Ahtisaari’s trip to Baghdad, could you tell us a little more of what he did there and what his mission was, and what his mandate was?   

Deputy Spokeswoman:  Well, he was appointed by the Secretary-General to look into the security situation, especially security concerning the UN Staff, before the bombing, also to look at what can be prevented.  He went to Baghdad over the weekend.  We didn’t announce his trip for security reasons, as you can imagine, but now he is out of the country.  While he was in Baghdad, he talked to UN Staff there, as well as some other people, who were relevant to his mission.  

Question:   Does the Secretary-General continue to support the holding of a donor’s conference in Madrid on 23 October?  And if so, why?

Deputy Spokeswoman:  Well, the Secretary-General has not spoken lately in public of his views on this donor meeting.  As you know, he is working very hard to get consensus among the Security Council members on the resolution, which will have an impact on this donor conference. 

The Spokeswoman later said that the UN’s role is confined to providing technical support, mainly by making available the findings of its joint Needs Assessment with the World Bank.  The UN delegation will be headed by UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Bown.

Question:  The SG’s representative on the DRC, he’s meeting with him today.  Do you know if he has anymore information on the massacre there?    

Deputy Spokeswoman:  (inaudible)… I have to check on that. 

The Spokesman later said the meeting was a tête-à-tête.

Question:  It’s on the schedule.  It says he is supposed to be meeting with him at 12:15?  I am wondering if he has uttered any more information?  

Deputy Spokeswoman:  I have to check after this briefing what they talked about.           

Okay, Michele?

Spokeswoman for General Assembly President

Thank you Hua and good afternoon.

The General Assembly is meeting today on four issues.

First, there was a joint debate this morning on the Report of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Genocide and Other Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of Rwanda.  This is for the period 1 January to 31 December, 1994.

And there is also a Report of the International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since

1991.

Seven speakers were listed after the report of Judge Erik Mose, on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and that of Mr. Theodor Meron of the Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, as Hua mentioned earlier.

The joint debate also resumed today on the follow-up on the outcome of the Millennium Summit and the report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization.

Five speakers were listed on these last two items that have now been discussed, as you know, for the last two days.

The observer representative of the Holy See is expected to address the two issues.

The Third committee is meeting on international drug control.

On the 23 October, we will have, in the Assembly, the vote for the 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council, and on the 29^th, the High-Level Dialogue on Financing for Development.

Two important issues you might want to follow.

This is all I have for today

Thank you.

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