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 understand we have a visiting group of journalists from Nigeria.  Welcome to UN Headquarters.

**Guest at noon

And we also have Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Ethiopia and Eritrea, who is already here and will be joining us shortly to brief you on the work on the UN Mission which he heads.

**SG in Washington

And as you know, the Secretary-General traveled to Washington, D.C. this morning, to meet with President George W. Bush and other senior US officials, as part of the regular exchanges he holds twice a year with officials in Washington, D.C.

This morning, the Secretary-General met with Secretary of State Colin Powell for about 45 minutes, and they held wide-ranging discussions.

He then went to the White House, where he should be meeting now with President Bush. He will also have lunch with the President, after which he will meet with National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.

Before he leaves Washington later today, the Secretary-General will also meet with members of the US Congress, including Senate Majority leader Bill Frist, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Representative Bill Young, Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

**SG in Geneva

Just to recap:  On Saturday, the Secretary-General held a series of meetings in Geneva with the leaders of Nigeria and Cameroon, to discuss the follow-up to the 2002 International Court of Justice ruling on their border dispute.

He met, first separately and then together, with Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and Paul Biya of Cameroon.  Following an afternoon meeting, the two sides issued a joint communiqué and all three men spoke to the press.

The Secretary-General praised the two Presidents for their “incredible leadership” in agreeing to abide by the Court’s decision and setting up mechanisms for its implementation.

He said the two had agreed to strengthen confidence-building measures, including an exchange of ambassadors and the introduction of joint security patrols, and also said they would consider a non-aggression treaty between their two countries.

We have a transcript of that press encounter upstairs as well as background notes leading up to this meeting on Saturday.

**Iraq

The acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Iraq, RossMountain, yesterday expressed his profound sorrow at the shocking news of the devastating explosions in Erbil, which caused so many deaths and injuries.  Among those who have been killed, he said are numerous distinguished Iraqi Kurdish political and public figures with whom the United Nations has enjoyed close working relations over the years.

He strongly condemned these murderous acts of violence, which have taken place without any regard for one of the holiest feasts of Islam.

**Security Council

Here at the United Nations, today is the first working day of the Security Council President for February, Ambassador Wang Guangya of China.  Today, Ambassador Wang is holding bilateral consultations on this month’s programme.

And tomorrow, he is scheduled to brief you on that programme following consultations in the morning.

And for the record, late Friday afternoon, the Security Council tightened the sanctions regime against the Taliban and Al-Qaida in what the Council President called a significant step forward in the struggle against terrorism.

**OIOS

The United Nations is conducting a survey to strengthen awareness of integrity and professional ethics in the Organization, which is being conducted this week and next by the consulting firm Deloitte.

The purpose of the Integrity Perception Survey is to gauge the staff’s views about integrity within the United Nations.  Deloitte will prepare the results of the survey, which is confidential, and will serve as the basis for developing strategies and programmes to reinforce integrity and ethics within the UN Secretariat.

**Bird flu meeting

The Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Animal Health Organization and the World Health Organization are today holding an urgent meeting of experts to discuss the Avian Influenza -- or “bird flu” -- crisis in Asia and chart out a coordinated response strategy.

The meeting is being held to develop shared strategies to help affected countries respond to the existing emergency and prevent further outbreaks of the disease.

The meeting continues tomorrow.

So far 12 people in Asia have died from “bird flu”, and thousands of birds have been culled.

**Korea  -- Food shortages

The World Food Programme has said that it will not be able to respond to the food needs of 4 million North Koreans, including vulnerable women and children, as cereal rations for February and March from the United States and Russia have not been delivered on time. 

You can read more about this in today’s briefing notes from Geneva.

**Convention on Hazardous Chemicals

The Committee reviewing the Rotterdam Convention on Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides is meeting in Geneva this week.

The Convention, which will enter into force on 24 February, enables countries to decide which potentially hazardous chemicals they want to import and to exclude those they cannot manage safely.

And you can read more about this in a press release that we have upstairs as well.

**UNDP -- Report

Better preparation for natural disasters could save millions of lives in developing nations, according to a new report from the UN Development Programme.

And we have again a press release on that upstairs.

**Press Conference today

And at 1 p.m. this afternoon, Ambassador Nasser Al-Kidwa, Permanent Observer for Palestine will be in this room to talk to you about the request for an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice.  And that will follow our guest’s briefing here.

**Press Conferences tomorrow

And tomorrow at 11 a.m. in this room, the UN Fund for International Partnerships will be sponsoring a press conference by the Co-Chairs of “Artists for the United Nations”, Heathcliff Rothman and Xorin Balbes.

The Artists for the United Nations is a partnership between the Global Vision for Peace and the UN, in which artists as well as statesmen who support peace will offer their collective voices to support the vision and power of the United Nations as the global peacekeeping body.

And as I mentioned earlier, following Security Council consultations tomorrow, Ambassador Wang Guangya of China, who is the President of the Council for the month of February, will be here to brief you on the month’s programme.

And that’s all I have for you today.

Before I turn to Mr. Legwaila, do you have any questions for me?  David, and then Edie.

Questions and Answers

Question:  Marie, do you have details of those traveling with the Secretary-General for example people like Mr. Brahimi?  And just on the schedule – in the trip today, one of the visits was to Senator Frist’s office which I understand is being decontaminated as we speak.  Do you know how this ricin scare in Washington was going to impact the latter part of the schedule in the afternoon?

Associate Spokesperson:  I will answer your second question first.  I just checked with the Secretary-General’s delegation.  So far there has been no change in venue of any of the meetings.  And then the answer to you first question, usually we do not give names of the delegations traveling with the Secretary-General.  But I can tell you Mr. Brahimi is not on that delegation.  Edie?

Question:  Marie, any word on when the electoral team might be heading toward Iraq?

Associate Spokesperson:  Nothing further to report as of now.  We’ll keep you posted.  Yes, David?

Question:  I understand what you said that this is a regular meeting or visit to Washington.  But to what extent should we understand this particular visit to be a decision-making visit for the Secretary-General as it relates to the ultimate decision to have that team go to Iraq to check out the feasibility of an election?

Associate Spokesperson:  Well, so far only one meeting has taken place and that meeting was with Colin Powell.  And the items on the agenda, which I mentioned were wide-ranging, included not only Iraq but Sudan, Afghanistan the Middle East, Cyprus and Liberia, just to give you an idea of the kinds of discussions that took place in that meeting.  As for the answer to your other question, I think in a few minutes there should be some kind of a press encounter at the end of the meeting with President Bush, and we’ll hopefully find out more directly from Washington.  Yes?

Question:  You say Cyprus is among those subjects being addressed.  Where are we?  Where is the United Nations in re-entering the Cyprus process?

Associate Spokesperson:  On Cyprus, I think I’d like to refer you to the remarks from the Secretary-General’s press encounter from Brussels on the 30^th in which after he meets with Mr. Papadopoulos he does say “we have very little time.  And I hope the parties will come to the table with concrete ideas and determined to move forward.”  I would just like to flag that from his remarks then.  And I can also confirm to you that he did speak with the foreign minister of Greece yesterday as reported in the press.  Yes?

Question:  And with the Turkish Cypriots?

Associate Spokesperson:  I have nothing further on that right now.

Question:  Why is there a survey being taken of the staff and can you tell us more about it?

Associate Spokesperson:  Well, I have nothing further.  And on this, I have to refer you to Deloitte.  And if you go to our office I can give you the number so that you can talk to them directly on this.

Question:  How many people will be receiving the survey?  Do you know?

Associate Spokesperson:  No.  I have no further details.  I have to refer you to the Deloitte contacts on this one.

Question:  Any comment on, I think it was the conviction of a Ukrainian involved in; who was charged the last few weeks?  Have you heard this incident?  Federal court?

Associate Spokesperson:  Nothing.

Question:  No comment?

Associate Spokesperson:  Nothing from us.  If there are no other questions, I’d like to turn the floor over to Mr. Legwaila.

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