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

The capture of Saddam Hussein, the Secretary-General told Security Council members a short while ago, creates an opportunity for a new beginning in the vital task of helping the Iraqi people to control their destiny.

The task is urgent, he said.  While there may not be time, he went on to say, to hold credible elections before the restoration of sovereignty, it is essential that the process of setting up a transitional government be fully inclusive and transparent.  No Iraqis should feel excluded, he added.

As he presented his latest report on Iraq to the Council in their open meeting, the Secretary-General said that for the United Nations, the challenge has been to find creative ways of intensifying the Organization’s engagement despite a diminished capacity on the ground.

He told Council members that he could not say with certainty when circumstances would permit the return of international staff to Iraq.  In the meantime, he added, there is much being done from outside Iraq, including reconstituting the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, which will be headed by Ross Mountain on an interim basis.

Furthermore, greater clarity is needed, he said, on what is expected from the United Nations by the Iraqis and the Coalition in terms of assistance for the political transition.  “I have called for clarity”, he stated, “because in taking the difficult decisions that lie ahead, I need to weigh the degree of risk that the United Nations is being asked to accept against the substance of the role we are being asked to fulfil.”

The process of transition, he said in conclusion, must be made to succeed for the sake of the millions of Iraqis who have endured decades of suffering and the memory of those who have given their lives to help the people of Iraq.

The Foreign Minister of Iraq, Hoshyar Zebari also addressed the public meeting.  Immediately afterwards, the Council moved into a closed meeting to continue its discussion.

Also on the Council agenda today is a formal meeting to adopt a resolution on the Somalia arms embargo.

Following the meetings, the monthly Security Council luncheon with the Secretary-General is scheduled for today.

And for the record, the report by the monitoring group on Al Qaeda sanctions is officially out as a Security Council document and you will find it on the racks.

**Missing Kuwaitis

After many years of denial and manoeuvring by the previous Iraqi Government, the grim truth regarding the fate of missing Kuwaitis and third country nationals is unveiling itself.  That’s one of the conclusions of the Secretary-General’s latest report to the Security Council on that subject.  The discovery of mass graves in Iraq is a gruesome and devastating development, he says in the report which is out on the racks today.

While there’s still hope, he says, the prospect of finding alive some of the six hundred and five persons in question is diminishing.

The report presents an overview of the activities of the High Level coordinator, Ambassador Yuli Vorontsov.  In conclusion, the Secretary-General says that there is still some room for further progress in settling Kuwait’s humanitarian concerns.  The Council, he adds, will have to decide whether or not to continue Ambassador Vorontsov’s mandate.

The Council is scheduled to discuss the report on Thursday morning.

*United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

This morning, another convoy of 254 refugees from the 1991 Gulf war returned to Iraq after leaving Saudi Arabia's Rafha camp late yesterday, and that’s according to the United Nations refugee agency, announced today in Geneva.

Only about 1,000 Iraqis now remain in that camp.  More than 4,000 have already returned.  All the returning refugees are met by United Nations national staff upon their arrival and given various assistance items and tents if they require emergency shelter.

Meanwhile, some 500 Iraqi refugees have returned to Iraq from Iran this week in convoys facilitated by the United Nations refugee agency.  Most were going home to Basra, while others were headed for Karbala and Najaf.  For more information, please pick up the UNHCR briefing notes.

**Western Sahara -- Refugees

According to the United Nations refugee agency, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Western Sahara, Alvaro de Soto, and senior UNHCR staff are travelling to Algeria and Morocco today to discuss new confidence-building measures to assist Western Saharan refugees.

An estimated 165,000 refugees have spent the last 28 years in camps located around Tindouf in the Algerian desert.

Building on positive meetings held last week in Geneva with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro (POLISARIO Front) officials, the United Nations representatives will be discussing with Moroccan and Algerian officials plans to re-establish person-to-person contacts between the refugees and their relatives in the territory of the Western Sahara.

Under this initiative, UNHCR would propose setting firm dates for the establishment of telephone and personal mail links between the refugees and their families.  It would also propose limited family visits begin as soon as possible, using United Nations aircraft.  We have a briefing note on that subject upstairs.

**Ethiopia

The United Nations refugee agency is also keeping a close watch on developments in western Ethiopia, home to 85,000 Sudanese refugees, after weekend violence killed dozens of people, including staff of its partner agency.  You can read more about that in today’s briefing notes from Geneva.

**Morocco

Morocco is the main producer of cannabis resin, used to produce hashish, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, they confirmed today following the first cannabis cultivation survey in that country.  The Office says that Morocco produced an estimated 47,000 metric tons of raw cannabis, with potential hashish production estimated at more than 3,000 metric tons.

Antonio Maria Costa, the head of the Office on Drugs and Crime, says that Morocco has acted courageously to expose the extent of domestic cannabis cultivation.  Now, he says, “it is Europe’s turn to focus especially on preventive measures”.  European markets receive most of the cannabis and hashish produced in Morocco.  We have a press release upstairs with more.

**South-South Cooperation

The Secretary-General says that the conference taking place today in Marrakesh, Morocco, on South-South Cooperation is heartening, at a time when the need to build bridges among developing countries is more urgent than ever.

He notes that in decades to come, some of the larger countries of the South may have economies that surpass those of the developed world, and he calls on those countries to help build “bridges across the South”.  We have copies of that message upstairs as well.

**Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission

The Secretary-General today welcomed the launch of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission chaired by Dr. Hans Blix.

In a message, which we have upstairs, he says the Commission faces a task of utmost importance:  providing proposals on how to make progress in the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and to minimize the risks of those weapons falling into the hands of terrorists.  He looks forward to fruitful cooperation between the Commission and the United Nations.

**Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) Agricola Award

The Food and Agricultural Organization has awarded Nigeria’s President, Olusegun Obasanjo, the Agricola Medal for his role in bringing peace and boosting agricultural and social development in Africa's most populous country.

FAO’s Director-General, Dr. Jacques Diouf, presented the medal to President Obasanjo during a ceremony in Abuja today.  The Agricola Medal honours distinguished personalities for their support and commitment to the promotion of sustainable food production, world food security and international cooperation.  We have a press release on that.

That’s all I have for you.  No questions, I’ll turn it over to Michele.

Spokeswoman for the General Assembly President

Thank you, Fred.  Good afternoon.

The next plenary of the General Assembly is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.  The vote on the Credentials Committee’s report will be the eighth and last item on the agenda.  To answer a number of questions, I would say that we do not expect a challenge of the Committee’s report, neither on Israel’s credentials nor on the credentials of Iraq.

The Credentials Committee, one of the procedural committees of the General Assembly, is tasked, as you know, with examining and reporting on the credentials of representatives of Member States to the United Nations.  The Rules of Procedure stipulate that “the credentials of representatives and the names of members of a delegation shall be submitted to the Secretary-General if possible not less than one week before the opening of the session” and that the Credentials Committee shall “report without delay”.  In practice, however, credentials from Member States trickle in throughout the session.  The General Assembly usually considers and adopts the report of the Credentials Committee at this time of the year.

This year the Non Aligned Movement and the Arab Group will present a separate resolution to be acted on after the vote on the report of the Credentials Committee.  The draft resolution notes that the report does not currently address the issue of the credentials of Palestine in its capacity as Observer to the General Assembly.  It expresses the hope that the Palestinian people will soon exercise sovereignty in their State, Palestine, and affirms that the Observer delegation of Palestine to the General Assembly represents the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967, including East Jerusalem, and that the credentials of the delegation of Israel do not cover that territory.

It’s going to be a separate resolution voted on after the vote on the Credentials Committee report.

On the issue of revitalization of the work of the General Assembly, a draft resolution has been formally submitted by the President of the Assembly.  It is now out as a document -- L.49 –- and it is expected to be voted on Thursday or Friday.

The Second Committee will finally conclude its work today.  It is to act on a number of resolutions on the international financial system and development, on external debt and on further implementation of the programme of action for the sustainable development of small island developing States.

I would like to attract your attention to two resolutions concerning financing for development.  One is sponsored by Saint Lucia, the other one by the United States.  The vote is to take place today.

This is all I have for you right now.  Thank you.

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