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 Marie Okabe, Associate Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.  I am sorry I am a little late.

**Statement on Iraq

In a statement issued in Paris today, the Secretary-General said that, at the meeting on 19 January, both the Iraqi Governing Council and the Coalition Provisional Authority asked him to send a technical mission to Iraq to establish whether elections for a transitional national assembly can be held before the transfer of sovereignty on 30 June, and if not, what alternative arrangement would be acceptable.

Since then, he said, the United Nations has been analyzing the situation and studying the relevant documents.  The Secretary-General has concluded that the United Nations can play a constructive role in helping to break the current impasse.  Therefore, once he is satisfied that the Coalition Provisional Authority will provide adequate security arrangements, he will send a mission to Iraq in response to the requests that he received.

The mission will ascertain the views of a broad spectrum of Iraqi society in the search for alternatives that might be developed to move forward to the formation of a provisional government.  The mission will report to the Secretary-General on its return to New York.

The Secretary-General added that he has already made clear that in his view there is no single “right way”.  He strongly holds to the idea that the most sustainable way forward would be one that came from the Iraqis themselves.  Consensus amongst all Iraqi constituencies would be the best guarantee of a legitimate and credible transitional governance arrangement for Iraq. 

We have copies of his statement, in English and French, upstairs in the Spokesman’s office.

**Press encounter

At a press encounter also in Paris today, the Secretary-General said he hoped that the mission he has decided to send to Iraq will have the chance to talk to a large number of Iraqis.  He added his hope that their presence and efforts will help the Iraqis come to a consensus, reiterating his firm belief that if the Iraqis can agree on the way forward, then we can have a legitimate, acceptable process.  Otherwise, he warned, we run the risk that the conflict will continue.

We hope to be able to provide you with the transcript of that press encounter shortly.

**SG in Paris

The Secretary-General’s statement came out while he was in Paris, where today he met during a working luncheon with French President Jacques Chirac and Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin.  In addition to talking about Iraq, they discussed Côte d’Ivoire, Sudan, Ethiopia/Eritrea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, among other African issues.  They also touched on Afghanistan, UN reform, the slavery of women, and Haiti and AIDS.

After lunch the Secretary-General met with Jacques Dermagne, the President of the Economic and Social Council of France.  They discussed the Council’s work in the fight against poverty.

He attended over the past hour a meeting hosted by President Chirac, bringing together business executives to discuss the Global Compact.  The Secretary-General told the group that he warmly welcomed the creation of a French network in support of the Compact, which will join more than 50 other such networks in the world.  He said we must recognize that the fight against corruption is essential to give meaning to the principles we wish to uphold.  We have copies of his remarks upstairs.

**Security Council

Here in New York, the Security Council held consultations earlier this morning on the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, known as MINURSO.

Hedi Annabi, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations briefed on the latest report in which the Secretary-General recommended that the Council extend the mandate of that mission until 30 April, to allow time for his Special Envoy James Baker to consult further with Morocco on its final response to the peace plan submitted to the parties in January of last year. 

Following the consultations, the Council President, Chilean Ambassador Heraldo Muñoz, said that there was consensus to extend the mission by three months, and a vote was scheduled on Friday.

**Security Council -- PM

Then this afternoon starting at 3 p.m., the Security Council has scheduled a private meeting on the UN Observer Mission in Georgia to be followed by consultations on the UN Interim Force in Lebanon.

And for the record, yesterday evening, at the end of a day-long open meeting on post-conflict reconciliation and the role of the United Nations, the Council adopted a statement, read out by Maria Soledad Alvear Valenzuela, Foreign Minister of Chile.

She said Member States would examine further how to harness the UN's expertise on the issue so that the world learns from lessons from the past.

**Chechnya

Jan Egeland, the UN’s chief humanitarian official, is in the Chechen capital of Grozny today where he met with government officials to discuss the coordination of humanitarian issues.

While in Grozny, Egeland also toured a number of sites including a temporary accommodation centre for returnees, a childcare centre that provides psychological assistance to disabled children and mine victims, as well as a maternity hospital.

Egeland noted that substantial numbers of people are now returning from neighbouring Ingushetiya to Chechnya and that the United Nations stood ready to increase its work in Chechnya. 

We have more on this visit upstairs.  

** Roed-Larsen

And earlier today in Israel, the UN’s Middle East Envoy Terje Roed-Larsen, met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Maher and the head of Egypt’s Intelligence service.

During the meeting, Roed-Larsen thanked the Government of Egypt for its efforts in reaching a ceasefire between Palestinian groups and Israel as well as for its push to revive the peace process.

He called the Egyptian efforts commendable.

**DSG in India

And on the second day of her visit to India, the Deputy Secretary-General today delivered the keynote address on “The United Nations, Multilateralism and International Security” at the 6th Asian Security Conference.

In her speech, Louise Fréchette outlined the changing security agenda, determined by heightened concerns about terrorism and other threats to peace, as well as the dangers posed by poverty, hunger, disease, crime, and environmental degradation.

The Deputy Secretary-General spoke of unilateral acts of force as a fundamental challenge to the existing principles of world peace and stability and called for a strengthening of collective security.

Regarding UN peacekeeping, she noted that developing countries are providing the greatest contribution to peacekeeping operations but even this support is insufficient to meet rising demands.

**UNHCR/Colombia

Kamel Morjane, the Assistant High Commissioner of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), plans to urge Colombia’s leaders to do all they can to restore the basic rights of hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people in that country.

Morjane is on a week-long mission to Colombia and Ecuador.  He’s been visiting areas which have been affected by internal displacement and blockades by armed groups.  He’ll meet Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, as well as other government officials today.

UNHCR reports that more than 1 million displaced people were registered by the Colombian Government between 2000 and 2003.

There is more information on this in the UNHCR briefing notes issued in Geneva earlier today.

**WHO/Polio

Also from Geneva, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that the Central African Republic has become the 7th polio-free country to have a polio outbreak caused by the virus’ importation from Nigeria.

WHO says the outbreak is linked to viruses circulating in northern Nigeria last year, where polio immunization campaigns have been suspended since August 2003.

WHO says it’s critical that Nigeria immediately resume its polio immunization campaigns in the north in order to contain the risk it poses to children in countries across West and Central Africa.

**FAO/Bird Flu

And then the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Organization for Animal Health and the World Health Organization together are calling for broad international collaboration in the fight against the spread of avian influenza virus also known as “bird flu”.

The three agencies have appealed for funds and technical assistance to countries plagued by the “bird flu”.

They add that although it hasn’t happened yet, “bird flu” could evolve into an efficient and dangerous virus for humans.

We have a release upstairs with more details.

**Cambodia

And then Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights Bertrand Ramcharan yesterday condemned the murder last week of a Cambodian trade union leader and appealed to the Cambodian authorities to do their utmost to bring the killers and their masters to justice.

We have more details in a press release.

**UNDP report on Ukraine

We also have a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report on Gender issues in the Ukraine, that we would like to flag, is upstairs.

**Refugees

And there is also an update from UNHCR regarding the newly arriving refugees from Sudan into Chad.  That’s also in their briefing notes.

**ICTY

And we have a press releaser from the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia saying that a Croatian suspect today pleaded guilty to a count of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Tribunal, and the prosecutors’ office responded by recommending that he not receive more than

11 years’ imprisonment.

**Guest at Noon Tomorrow

And just one last announcement, Joseph Chamie, Director of the UN’s Population Division, will be joining us at the noon briefing tomorrow.  And he will be briefing you on migration policies.

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

Questions and Answers

Question:  Yes, Marie, can you give us any information about Mr. Brahimi’s trip to Washington?  Who he met with; what he was talking about; whether there are any further developments on, you know, what role he may or may not play in Iraq?

Associate Spokesperson:  What I can tell you is that Lakhdar Brahimi, who as you know, is the Secretary-General’s senior adviser on a variety of issues, is in Washington, D.C. where he has a number of appointments, including a luncheon at the National Press Club.  He also was scheduled to meet with senior US officials to discuss mostly Afghanistan.  These officials include Under-Secretary for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky with whom he discussed gender issues in Afghanistan.  He is also set to meet with Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, Assistant Secretary of State William Burns as well.  He was also scheduled to meet with US National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice and her deputy, Robert Blackwell.

These meetings are being held at the invitation of the United States Government.  And that’s all I have for you.  Now, you obviously will be hearing more after the National Press Club luncheon.  I think David had his hand up back there first.

Question:  The statement which specifies that the decision to send the team -- whether the sending of the team will happen only once the SG is satisfied that the CPA is offering satisfactory secure or adequate security arrangements.  What specifically is he asking for as relates to security arrangements?  And I wonder if you could be a little bit more specific about the details or level of the mission?  How high a level mission is this, and how many people will be expected to be on this team?

Associate Spokesperson:  I think when you see the Secretary-General’s transcript from his press encounter you will see that he also does not go into any of the details to the questions that you’ve asked.  And these are regarding security matters that we simply can’t get into.  All the questions you are asking are questions that involve the security of the staff of the United Nations.  So, I am afraid we can’t provide any further information at the moment.

Question:  Just to follow up that.  There was this idea of perhaps a second UN security assessment that would go before this team; could you explain how that’s going to work?

Associate Spokesperson:  As you know, last Friday we had announced that there was a two-person team, a liaison team on the ground, that had arrived last Friday.  And their primary mission was to liaise with the CPA and the coalition forces, firstly to be a focal point on security for the national staff remaining in Iraq.  And also to start liaison work for the possible return of UN international staff in the future.  We said that this was not an assessment team, and their work was something that had been in the works prior to the January 19^th talks between the Secretary-General, and the Iraqis and the Americans.  We also said that should the Secretary-General decide to send in an electoral team, then another security assessment team would have to go in to make that specific assessment.  That team has arrived on the ground, and that’s all I can say on this matter today.  Yes? 

Question:  Is the liaison team that went in on Friday, are they going to be involved in this assessment?

Associate Spokesperson:  I can’t give you any further details than what I just gave you.  I gave you background on what’s on the ground now and I simply can’t get into any further details.

Question:  Can I just follow up to David’s question?  The question about the nature of the delegation, the size of the delegation doesn’t strike me as a security issue.  It’s more of a technical or a political question.  Can you give us anything on that?

Associate Spokesperson:  We’re talking about putting staff members at risk.  And so, we simply cannot at this moment give you further details on the who, what, why and when regarding these teams.

Question:  Can you tell us if they’ll be moving out of Baghdad to the broad spectrum of Iraqi society?

Associate Spokesperson:  I can’t comment on their movements, I am sorry.  Yes, David?

Question:  There is now a second security team on the ground that is doing assessment specific toward a selection of the assessment team?

Associate Spokesperson:  That’s correct.  The team has arrived today.  Yes?

Question:  How long is it expected for their work to continue, the second security team?

Associate Spokesperson:  I don’t have further information to give you at this time.

Question:  Among the topics of discussions between the Secretary-General and President Mitterand and Chirac; did you mention Haiti or did I hear you wrong?

Associate Spokesperson:  I did.  The Secretary-General did meet with President Chirac today, and among the topics discussed was Haiti.  I don’t have any further details on that but I’ll try to get you a read out later. Yes?

Question:  What time did the second security team go in?  Was it today?  Were they in yesterday?

Associate Spokesperson:  They arrived earlier today.  Yes? 

Question:  Any ball park idea on when the electoral team might get into the country?  We’ve all been reporting early February.

Associate Spokesperson:  The security team just got in today.  They have to complete their work.  They have to report back to the Secretary-General.  And as he said in his statement, he has to review the work of that team before he can give the green light on the next team.

Question:  Can you explain to us among the unusual activities of Mr. Brahimi -- something that we don’t have here in the past.  Can you explain to us how did the invitation come about?  Did they invite the Secretary-General or did they invite Mr. Brahimi personally to go to Washington?

Associate Spokesperson:  I don’t have details of his invitation from the last visit.  But this visit he was invited as I said, to meet with senior US officials, mostly on the subject of Afghanistan.  So, he in his capacity as just departed Secretary-General representative on Afghanistan…

Question:  So, does he still have his capacity?

Associate Spokesperson:  He, as the Secretary-General’s adviser, senior adviser on peace and security issues, covers a broad range of areas.  Obviously Afghanistan is one.  Iraq would be another.  Afghanistan, as you know, is where he has been spending the bulk of his time the last couple of years and from where he has just returned, and he has an enormous wealth of information to share.

Question:  Marie, once the electoral team does go into Iraq is there a time frame for how long it will take them to conduct their activities and make their assessments?

Associate Spokesperson:  I can’t get into any more details than what the Secretary-General issued today.  I think the main news today is that the Secretary-General made the decision that he did.  We’re doing the security assessment now, and we just don’t want to put our staff at any further risk, and we appreciate your understanding.

Thank you very much.  Have a very good afternoon.

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