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.

Spokesman for the Secretary-General

Good Afternoon.

**Guest at Noon

Our guest at noon today is Ibrahim Gambari, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Africa, and in just a few minutes he will be talking to you about the progress in the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, known as NEPAD.

**SG on Iraq

The Secretary-General, upon entering the building this morning, was asked about the latest draft resolution on Iraq, and he said that, “obviously, the current resolution does not represent a major shift in the thinking of the Coalition”.  He went on to say, “I am grateful that they have taken into view, into account, some of my preoccupations”.

He added that he would implement any resolution that the Security Council may adopt, bearing in mind the constraints the United Nations faces.  In particular, he noted the very difficult security situation, adding that, in the present draft resolution, his own role “will kick in when the circumstances permit”.

Asked about the security situation while the US remains the occupying power in Iraq, the Secretary-General said that he is on the record as stating that “as long as there is occupation, the resistance will grow”.

He was asked about language in the resolution which states that the Governing Council will embody the sovereignty of Iraq, and said that the wording was “a nice phrase”, but added that, under this resolution, the occupying power is and will remain the government until such time that power is fully handed over to the Iraqis.

The Secretary-General, in response to a question about whether the resolution would be useful, said that “when the Council passes a resolution, it always hopes the resolution will have an impact”, adding, “that is the test of the effectiveness of the resolution”.  He hoped that the drafters of the resolution would work hard to obtain as broad support as possible.

We have the full transcript of his remarks upstairs.

**Security Council

This morning, the Security Council began consultations on the latest resolution on Iraq.

The Council suspended those discussions about an hour ago to make way for the scheduled open debate on the Middle East, which was requested by Syria, concerning Israel’s construction of a “wall” in the occupied territories.

There are 45 speakers for the Middle East meeting, which will be meeting through the lunch hour.

Consultations on Iraq are scheduled to resume later today at the conclusion of the Middle East debate.

Just to recap, late yesterday afternoon, the Security Council authorized the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan to extend its presence from the capital, Kabul, to other parts of the country, citing the importance of extending the Government's authority throughout the country and providing security for reconstruction and humanitarian efforts.

The vote on the new resolution, which extended the Force's mandate by another 12 months, was unanimous.

**Liberia

Charles Gyude Bryant was sworn in a short time ago as Chairman of the National Transitional Government in Liberia in an inauguration ceremony in the capital Monrovia.

The Secretary-General, in a message read by his Special Representative Jacques Klein, described the occasion as “a turning point for Liberia”.

“This is your country, and yours to rebuild.  I urge you to seize the opportunity provided by the international attention and resources currently directed towards Liberia”, he said in his message.

Also attending the inauguration were Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and John Kufuor of Ghana, in his capacity as chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).  Foreign ministers from the West African subregion and a senior US State Department official were also present.

Klein, adding his own remarks, said, “The rains this morning are a symbol from heaven.  They washed away the past, they cleansed the land and they have blessed this nation and its people”.

We have the text of the message available upstairs, and are expecting a press release on the inauguration.

** Statement of Bolivia

The following statement is attributable to the Spokesman on the subject of Bolivia:

“The Secretary-General is gravely concerned by the continuing violence in Bolivia, which has led to many deaths in the past several days.

“He calls upon the Government of Bolivia and the opposition to exercise maximum restraint at this very dangerous time and to settle their differences through peaceful means and dialogue.  There must be full respect for human rights, above all the right to life.

“In order to address the very serious social and economic problems confronting the country, democratic institutions must be preserved and strengthened and the rule of law must prevail.  This is the only way to ensure peaceful development for the benefit of all Bolivians.”

**OIC Summit

In response to a number of questions we had concerning the Secretary-General’s attendance or planned attendance at the OIC summit, he did inform the organizers of the tenth summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, taking place this week in Malaysia, that he will not be able to attend, due to current events in Iraq and the Middle East that make his presence here at UN Headquarters imperative.

However, he has asked Lakhdar Brahimi, his Special Representative for Afghanistan, to represent him and deliver a message to the Summit on his behalf, and the Secretary-General will also speak to the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohammed, this evening by telephone.

We hope to have embargoed copies of his statement for you tomorrow.

**DRC

The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) said that the Mission is now being deployed in four locations in Ituri besides Bunia.

One company, with 175 “blue helmets”, has already been deployed in Bule, near the village where the last massacre occurred on 6 October, which we reported to you recently.

Starting tomorrow, three more companies will be deployed in the villages of Bogoro, Iga Barrier and Marabo.

For the rest of Ituri, deployment will start at the end of November with the full presence of the Nepalese contingent.

Security Council resolution 1493 requires the Secretary-General to deploy UN peacekeepers in other parts of Ituri, as the situation permits, to help stabilize security conditions and improve the humanitarian situation.

We also have a press release from the Mission on the support to the DRC electoral process available upstairs.

**Middle East Seminar

The question of peace in the Middle East will be the subject of an international media seminar organized by the UN’s Department of Public Information on 21 and 22 October 2003 in Seville, Spain.

Co-hosted by the Three Cultures of the Mediterranean Foundation, the two-day meeting will bring together present and former policy-makers from Israel and the Palestinian Authority, as well as senior United Nations officials, international experts and representatives of the world’s media.

The seminar, entitled “Toward a Two-State Solution”, will provide a forum for media representatives and international experts to discuss the present situation of the “Road Map” to peace in the Middle East.

Participants will reflect, as civil society leaders, on the role of culture, literature and education in facilitating a dialogue for peace, and on the media’s coverage of the conflict.

Senior UN officials present will include the Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, Shashi Tharoor, as well as the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Terje Roed-Larsen.

For more information, please pick up a press release upstairs.

**Iran -- IAEA

The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, will visit Iran later this week, and he will be accompanied by senior officials of his Agency.

Yesterday, he accepted an invitation from the Iranian Government to visit.  As discussed with Iranian officials, the purpose of the visit would be for Iran to provide the IAEA with all the remaining information required to clarify the important questions that are still outstanding about Iran's nuclear programmes.

The Director General will report to the Agency's Board of Governors in November on the implementation by Iran of its safeguards agreement under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

**DSG

Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette is leaving Headquarters today to travel to Vancouver, Canada, to be followed by an official visit to China.  In Vancouver, she will participate in a meeting of the Board of the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation.

On 19 October in Beijing, she will address the opening of the General Assembly of the World Tourism Organization, where one of the main issues will be the agreement that will make the World Tourism Organization a specialized agency of the United Nations system.  While in China, she will have meetings with government officials as well as the UN Country Team there.

She will return to the office on Monday, 27 October.

**UNEP

From the Environment Programme, we learn that manatees and green sea turtles are just some of the growing list of already threatened species at risk from the destruction of ocean sea grass, according to a new report issued by UNEP.

The first-ever global survey of the underwater meadows of sea grass that skirt the world's coasts reveals that 15 per cent of this unique marine ecosystem has been lost in the last 10 years.

For more information, we have a press release upstairs.

**Budget

In budget news, Vanuatu paid more than $13,500 to the UN regular budget to become the 112th Member State to be paid in full for this year.

**United Nations/World Bank Joint Needs Assessment for Iraq

And immediately following this noon briefing, Julia Taft, the Director of the UN Development Programme’s Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery, will be joined by Nicholas Krafft, the World Bank’s Country Programme Coordinator for Iraq, to brief you on the UN-World Bank Joint Iraq Needs Assessment.

**Goodwill Ambassadors

And I have an FAO announcement here that the legendary Mexican band Maná will make its first appearance at UN Headquarters as goodwill ambassadors for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization at a press conference at 1 p.m. in Conference Room 4.  The band will talk about its campaign to help FAO win the war against hunger.  I don’t think they’re going to play.

**WFP

One last thing here from the World Food Programme.  WFP today launched an appeal for Angola for $2.5 million for the next three months so that it could maintain its air operations concerning transport of personnel and supplies for 200 humanitarian agencies in Angola.  We also have an embargoed WFP press release on World Food Day which will be on Thursday of this week.  The agency stresses that, this year, it needs over $4.3 billion to feed millions of people who are still hungry.  We have more information upstairs.

That’s all I have for you. Any questions before we go to Michele on the General Assembly?

Mr. Abbadi?

Questions and Answers

Question:  Fred, the UN resolution on Iraq says that the Secretary-General will play a role as circumstances permit, as Iraq indicated.  Did he get any clarification on what that means or might mean?

Spokesman:  That language is in response to his request that the Council consider a number of factors that will determine his ability to carry out activity in Iraq using international staff, the most important of which, but not the only one, is security.  Michele?

Spokeswoman for General Assembly President

Thank you, Fred.  Good afternoon.

The General Assembly concluded this morning its examination of the Security Council’s report.  The debate on another agenda item on the “question of equitable representation on, and increase in the membership of the Security Council” also started this morning.  Representatives of 46 Member States, now there were 42 yesterday, are expected to take the floor on this issue.

On the work of the Committees, you heard at 11 this morning the briefing by Ambassador Chowdhury, Chairman of the Second Committee.  Ambassador Chowdhury spoke of the soft terror that hunger, disease and environmental degradation represent, a soft terror largely ignored by the media.  He defined the work of his Committee against the backdrop of the failure of the Cancun talks and the need to focus on development issues.  In this context, and in the margin of the Second Committee’s work, a keynote address to the Second Committee delegates will be made by Mr. Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate and Professor of Economics and Finance at Columbia University on “Prospects for Economic Growth and the future of Development Cooperation”, tomorrow, Wednesday, from 9:30 to 11:30 in Conference Room 2.

I will leave on this note, as we will continue on development issues, and I am sure many of you are here for the New Partnership for Africa’s Development.

Thank you.

Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  Any questions for Michele?  Yes, Sally?

Questions and Answers

Question:  Michele, I was curious about the description of 108 and 109 in the Charter and…(inaudible) …the president of the General Assembly…but I understood was that there could be a possibility under 109…(inaudible) …without a window of possibility.  Do you have an answer to that?

Spokeswoman for General Assembly President:  I think there is a window of possibility.  As I said yesterday, four of the permanent members are speaking out on this issue today, and I think, yes, you’re right, both articles of the Charter refer to approval by at least a number of permanent members of the Security Council.  The only difference is that one calls for a conference, and the first one just calls for a general decision on the issue by two thirds of the votes.  I think at least there is some hope, otherwise there wouldn’t be so many people willing to speak about it.

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