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.

Good afternoon.

**Statement Attributable to the Spokesman

We have the following statement attributable to the Spokesman regarding relations between India and Pakistan:

“The Secretary-General welcomes meetings held in Islamabad yesterday and today between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of India with the President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali of Pakistan.

“He considers that these meetings represent another important step forward in the continuing bilateral efforts to improve relations and resolve outstanding issues between the two countries.  The Secretary-General urges both sides to continue with these efforts and hopes the summit meetings will give a new impetus to serious and sustained dialogue.”

**Afghanistan - SG Statement

And then we issued a statement yesterday welcoming the events in Afghanistan and I will read it into the record:

“The Secretary-General was very pleased to learn of the Constitutional Loya Jirga's agreement on Afghanistan's new Constitution.  He congratulates the delegates to the Constitutional Loya Jirga on the completion of this difficult and complex process.

“This historic achievement represents the determination of the Afghan people to see their country transition to a stable and democratic State.  This is another important step in the peace process that justifies the commitment of the Afghan people and the international community to date and which must be sustained, if not increased.

“The Secretary-General is gratified that the United Nations has been able to contribute to this achievement and wishes to commend his Special Representative, Lakhdar Brahimi, for the vital role he has played.”

**Afghanistan

Brahimi, the head of the UN Mission in Afghanistan, yesterday welcomed the passage of the new Afghan Constitution, telling the delegates in Kabul that they have “every reason to feel proud” of what they have achieved.

He added that the Constitution, however, is just a piece of paper, and will need to be translated into “a living reality” by the Afghan people.

He told the women of Afghanistan, “Your cause is just”, and urged them to continue in their struggle for equal rights with dignity and with courage.

He confirmed, as the Constitutional Loya Jirga closed yesterday, that his assignment in Afghanistan is now finished and he will be leaving the country shortly.

Brahimi told the delegates that his “central government” in New York had asked him to leave, adding, “If I don’t, then I will be called a warlord for refusing the instructions of the central government”.  We have transcripts of his impromptu remarks upstairs.

And until a replacement for Brahimi is appointed, the Secretary-General has decided that Jean Arnault, Brahimi’s deputy for political affairs, will be the Officer-in-Charge of the UN Mission in Afghanistan.

**Earthquake

The United Nations’ chief humanitarian official, Jan Egeland, is on his way to Iran and the devastated city of Bam.

It is in Bam that this Thursday, the UN will, jointly with Iranian authorities and the Iranian Red Crescent Society, launch a flash appeal for the relief effort.

UN and other humanitarian officials are currently on the ground in Bam to assess the population’s most immediate needs.  The flash appeal will cover various areas, including food, shelter and health, for the next 90 days.  The latest financial figures logged by the UN show that more than $74 million have been pledged towards the ongoing relief efforts.  This covers both cash and in-kind donations.  We have more information available upstairs.

**First on the Ground

Mobile phone companies Ericsson and Turkcell dispatched to Bam mobile communications equipment to assist in the relief efforts.

When natural disasters hit, the communications systems are often crippled or quickly overwhelmed.  This severely undermines the ability of rescue workers to communicate with those in need and with one another.  The phone and radio equipment was installed in Bam within 24 hours of the quake and accommodated some 5,000 users.

Ericsson’s and Turkcell’s efforts are in response to the Secretary-General’s “First on the Ground” initiative which he launched in his Millennium Report.  The initiative aims to create effective partnerships between the UN and the private sector to assist in humanitarian relief operations.

The UN’s partnership with Ericsson was facilitated by the UN Fund for International Partnerships and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

**Security Council

There are no meetings or consultations of the Security Council as a whole scheduled for today.  The President of the Security Council for the month of January, Heraldo Muñoz, the Permanent Representative of Chile, is holding bilateral meetings today.  The first consultations of the year are scheduled for tomorrow.

Ambassador Muñoz is scheduled to brief you on the January programme of the Council following those consultations at about 12:30 p.m.

**Sudan Refugee Repatriation

Aid workers from the UN refugee agency are in Sudan to prepare for what it believes will be one of its largest refugee repatriation operations this year –- pending the signing of a peace agreement between the Government and southern rebel groups.

It is estimated that the 20-year civil war in Sudan has uprooted some 4 million people inside the country, while a further 570,000 are living in neighbouring States as refugees.

While visiting both Khartoum and southern Sudan last November, High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers warned that the return of refugees must be sustainable, and that considerable help would be needed by a host of partners to establish rehabilitation and reconstruction activities throughout the impoverished country. Sudan is roughly five times the size of France.

**SARS

Finally, Dr. Julie Hall, the head of the World Health Organization’s SARS group in China, today told UN Radio that a case of SARS has been confirmed in the Chinese province of Guangdong.

She said that the patient, a 32-year-old television producer, remains isolated in the hospital, and his condition is stable and improving.  All of the people whom he had been in contact with have been traced, she added, and are all said to be well.  An epidemiological investigation is continuing in Guangdong Province, with a WHO team on a joint mission there with China’s Ministry of Health.

That’s all I have for you.  Yes, Warren?

Questions and Answers

Question:  Has the Secretary-General had any further communication with the United States Government over the January 19^th meeting and the invitation to the Coalition Provisional Authority to attend, and do you have any comment on reports over the weekend that the United States is deliberately not responding to that invitation because it, in the end, does not want the CPA to come here because of past bad experiences in the United Nations?

Spokesman:  We saw that report.  I won’t comment on that report or any possible motivation of the US Government for what it may or may not do.  The Secretary-General has, while he’s been on vacation and right through to this morning, had contacts with senior officials in the administration.  It continues to be his hope that the meeting that will take place here on the 19^th will be a three-way meeting.  Although not a necessary condition, as I said last week it’s his preference that it be a three-way meeting.  Yes, Bill?

Question:  All the contacts ironing out the format, this would be to generally agree on the agenda?  That’s why it was being discussed?

Spokesman:  By whom and with...?

Question:  The contacts you just mentioned with senior officials.  They’re trying to agree on the agenda or the format before the CPA will...?

Spokesman:  These are telephone conversations he had while on vacation with different officials on a variety of subjects.  I am not aware that there was any detailed discussion of an agenda for the meeting of the 19^th.  Yes?

Question:  Can you say which senior officials he contacted?

Spokesman:  I mean, I prefer not to.  You all know that he speaks with the Secretary of State regularly, so Colin Powel was one of the people he spoke to on more than one occasion during this period.

Okay, thanks very much.  See you tomorrow.

* *** *