DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

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 Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General:

Spokesman for the Secretary-General

Good Afternoon.

The Under-Secretary-General for the Office of Internal Oversight Services, Mr. Dileep Nair, who was to be our guest today, will be joining us tomorrow instead.  He recognizes an unbeatable adversary when he sees one.  And, after this Iraq thing blows over, he’ll be here to talk to you about his annual report. That report, by the way, is out on the racks today.

**Security Council

The Security Council unanimously adopted a follow-up resolution on Iraq this morning, resolution 1511.

Speaking immediately after the vote, the Secretary-General commended the members of the Council for having reached what he called a “significant agreement”, which addresses the complex situation in Iraq.

He acknowledged that the process had been difficult but that today’s outcome clearly showed the will of Council members to place the interests of the Iraqi people above all other considerations.

The Secretary-General went on to say the he would do his utmost to implement this resolution, bearing in mind his responsibilities to the safety and security of UN staff.  He said, “I am grateful to the Council for the flexibility that the new resolution gives me in this respect”.

He reiterated the UN’s determination to continue helping the Iraqi people as best as is possible, both from inside and outside the country, primarily with humanitarian aid.

“I have no doubt”, he said, “that we all look forward to the earliest possible establishment of an elected Government that will return Iraq to full sovereignty”.

We have the full text of his comments upstairs.

**Security Council -- CTC

Also on the agenda of the Security Council today is an open debate, during which members are to hear a periodic update on the work of the Counter-Terrorism Committee by its Chairman, Ambassador Inocencio Arias of Spain.

The Counter-Terrorism Committee, known as the CTC, established by the Security Council in its resolution 1373, is a monitoring body that aims to increase the capacity of States to fight terrorism.  The CTC is not a sanctions committee and does not have a list of terrorist organizations or individuals.

In addition to the briefing, there are more than 30 speakers on the list for this meeting.

**Iraq Compensation

The UN Compensation Commission made available today more than $196 million to 26 governments and three international organizations.

Today’s payment brings the overall amount of compensation made available to date by the Commission to close to $18 billion.

As you know, the Compensation Commission is a subsidiary body of the Security Council established in 1991 to process claims and pay compensation for losses resulting from Iraq's invasion and occupation of Kuwait.

A full press release is available upstairs.

**Statement on Death of Moktar Ould Daddah

We have the following statement attributable to the Spokesman regarding the death of Moktar Ould Daddah:

“The Secretary-General was saddened to learn of the death of Moktar Ould Daddah, who led Mauritania to independence and served as the country’s first president from 1961 to 1978.  He joins other Africans in mourning yet another of modern Africa’s founding fathers -— one of the continent’s pioneers, who through his courage and commitment propelled his people to freedom and worked for social and economic development in the post-colonial era.”

**China

I was asked yesterday about whether the UN flag had been flown during the flight of the Shen Zhou V spacecraft, and I can confirm that not one but two UN flags were on board the craft during its historic flight, as a symbol of the firm commitment to use outer space for peaceful purposes and for the betterment of all humankind.

We have been informed that the UN flags that were on board the Shen Zhou will later be presented to the Secretary-General here at UN Headquarters, in keeping with the past practice in which Secretaries-General are presented with UN flags that have been flown in space.

We have a statement attributable to the Spokesman upstairs, in which the Secretary-General extends his warm congratulations to the astronaut on board the spacecraft, Yang Liwei, and to the people of China, on the successful conclusion of this historic mission.  The Secretary-General hopes that it will usher in a new era of international cooperation in the exploration and peaceful uses of outer space.

**OIC Speech

Earlier today in Putrajaya, Malaysia, a message from the Secretary-General to the tenth summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference cited the rich history of Islam and asserted, “There is nothing natural or inevitable about the sad state in which so much of the Islamic world finds itself today”.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, read out the message on the Secretary-General’s behalf, saying, “The Muslim peoples are capable of much greater things –- and they know it”.  Most Islamic societies have fallen far behind in a rapidly changing world, the Secretary-General contends.

He says that “the path of political reform, education and development is the only one that offers real hope of a more prosperous present and a glorious future”.

He draws attention to the suffering of Muslims in many parts of the world, emphasizing that the “Road Map” devised by the Quartet is the only route that holds any promise of freedom for the Palestinians, while he asserts that Iraqis need an inclusive political process that enjoys the widest possible support and commitment, both at home and abroad.

We have copies of that message in my office.

**Afghanistan

The UN Mission in Afghanistan has lifted its suspension of road travel from Mazar-e-Sharif to the west.  The Mission said that the situation in the area where the recent fighting took place is reported to be calm, with the agreements of 9 and 11 October holding.

Troops have been withdrawn while armoured vehicles belonging to the Jamiat and Jumbesh factions have been returned to their respective bases.  A 278-strong, Kabul-based police contingent arrived yesterday in Mazar.  The deployment of the policemen to Mazar was one of the terms of the 9 October agreement.

UN road missions to Maimana in Faryab province have also resumed, following suspensions that were put in place after fighting there on 7 October.  The city is calm and the police have now taken over the security.  Jumbesh troops, which had taken the city during the fighting, have reportedly withdrawn to their barracks.

For other developments in Afghanistan, please pick up the briefing note from Kabul in my office.

**World Food Prize

The Secretary-General today offered his congratulations to his Under-Secretary-General for Management, Catherine Bertini, who tonight will receive the World Food Prize for her efforts in fighting global hunger when she was Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP).

“Thanks to her outstanding leadership, the World Food Programme is today on the front lines of the world’s battle against hunger”, the Secretary-General said in a video message to the World Food Prize Symposium, which takes place tonight in Des Moines, Iowa.  “Its staff have made many sacrifices in the line of duty, and have helped save millions from the scourge of famine.  Let’s congratulate them, too”, he says.

Bertini plans to donate the award, which is worth $250,000, to the Friends of the World Food Programme, to help fund education initiatives for girls, which she says “represents the fastest and most efficient way to saving and improving people’s lives in poor countries”.

James Morris, the current Executive Director of WFP, announced that the agency would match the $250,000 award and allocate the same amount of money to the girls’ education initiatives that Bertini will support.

We have a press release upstairs with more details.

**World Food Day

The Secretary-General marks this year’s World Food Day by noting that the Millennium Development Goals will be met only if we forge a true “International Alliance against Hunger” -– an alliance encompassing governments, international organizations, civil society, the private sector, religious groups and individuals.  His message has been put out as a press release.

Today, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director-General Jacques Diouf appealed for an international alliance against hunger, as FAO commemorated its foundation in 1945.

Also today, the World Food Programme (WFP) marked World Food Day by announcing that it has joined as a co-sponsor of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).  WFP committed $195 million to AIDS programs in 2002.

**Early Warning

Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland opened the Second International Conference on Early Warning in Bonn, Germany today.

This conference, hosted by the Government of Germany and the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, aims to identify ways to improve the use of early warning mechanisms in reducing the human, economic and environmental losses from natural disasters.  A checklist on how to integrate early warning into public policies aimed at decision makers is an expected outcome of the conference.

And that’s all I have for you.  Thank you very much.

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