PRESS CONFERENCE BY SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT
| Press Briefing |
PRESS CONFERENCE BY SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT
Ambassador Lauro L. Baja of the Philippines, President of the Security Council for the month of June, told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon that, as expected, the Council’s work for the month would be dominated by discussions on Iraq.
That was why, he said, the presidency had freed up the afternoons of the first two weeks of June for possible consultations and negotiations on the revised draft on Iraq, submitted by the United States and the United Kingdom. The Council has scheduled an open briefing on Iraq tomorrow afternoon to hear from the new Iraqi Foreign Minister, Hoshiyar Zebari.
The Council’s programme, he said, would also include a joint briefing on Liberia tomorrow morning, as well as items on the Middle East and two open debates -- on the protection of civilians on the 14th and on the role of civil society in post-conflict peace-building on the 22nd. There was also the possibility of holding an open debate on the 28th, if the Secretary-General’s report on the rule of law was made available by the middle of the month.
In addition, there was a request from Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry of the United Kingdom, who was leading the Council mission to West Africa, for an oral briefing on that mission on 30 June.
Regarding any possible meetings with the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, Ambassador Baja said that Mr. Brahimi might attend the retreat arranged by the Secretary-General for Council members this weekend. As for the agenda for the retreat, he noted that, while it was the Secretary-General’s call, the items mentioned were the forthcoming Council mission to West Africa and Iraq. It was also the Secretary-General’s call as to whether the Iraqi Foreign Minister would be part of the retreat, he said in response to another question.
Asked to sum up the feeling in the Council and the response to the revised draft resolution, Ambassador Baja said his personal assessment was that there was a general expression of gratitude to the sponsors of the text for accommodating the concerns of Council members. Understandably, there was a need to refer the new text to the respective capitals. The technical experts were currently meeting on the draft.
As to the sequencing of events, he noted that the Council would hear from Mr. Brahimi on his mission and then hold a dialogue with the representatives of the interim government, before proceeding with action on the draft. A specific time frame for action had not been set and would depend on the outcome of the consultations.
While tomorrow’s meeting was with the Foreign Minister, he added that Council members did not rule out the possibility of meeting with others from the interim government, if there was an opportunity to do so. As for inviting the Iraqi Prime Minister-designate to the Council, he said that that decision was in the Council’s hands.
Responding to whether the Council felt “left out” of the process, he stated that Council members would have expected to be briefed by the mission before anything had come out in the press. When he meets with the Secretary-General this afternoon, he would convey the request of Council members that the Secretary-General provide a preliminary report to the Council before the Council’s meeting with the Foreign Minister tomorrow. He added that the meeting with the Group of Friends of Iraq had been postponed until a later date.
Turning to the items on Cyprus and Haiti, scheduled for the 8th and 16th, respectively, he said that Cyprus was put on the programme provisionally, in expectation that the Secretary-General’s report would be available before then. If it was not, then the item would be rescheduled. Haiti was put on the programme at the request of Chile, Brazil and others, but would also depend on developments on the ground.
Asked about the draft resolution on the International Criminal Court (ICC) submitted by the United States a few weeks ago, he informed correspondents that the United States had withdrawn its request to have a vote on that text. The Council was still deciding when to hold the open debate on the issue, which had been requested by some 45 Member States. As to any possible connection between the ICC text and negotiations on the Iraq text, he said he was not in a position to say whether there was any connection.
In response to a question on whether there was anything planned on the Sudan, he said that the United Kingdom had introduced a draft resolution on the Sudan this morning, which experts would meet on tomorrow.
At the outset of the press conference, Ambassador Baja read out a statement on behalf of the Security Council on the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (For the text of the statement, see Press Release SC/8109-AFR/955 issued today.)
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