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.

**Cyprus

Today is Cyprus day at the United Nations and I am pleased to inform you that the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders have arrived in New York pursuant to the Secretary-General’s invitation.  Delegations of the three guarantor parties are also on hand, as the Secretary-General requested.

As you know, the Secretary-General wrote on 4 February to the two parties inviting them to come to New York today to resume negotiations on the basis of his plan.  The objective of the negotiations would be to put a completed text to referenda in April of this year, in time for a reunited Cyprus to accede to the European Union on 1 May.

This afternoon at 4 p.m. there will be a meeting of the Greek Cypriot side and the Turkish Cypriot side with the Secretary-General.

Prior to that there will be brief separate calls by the leaders on the Secretary-General; at 3:30 p.m. by the Greek Cypriot side, and at 3:45 p.m. by the Turkish Cypriot side.

As for the practical arrangements, a stakeout will be in place at the Secretariat entrance for arrivals, and photo-ops will be organized at the start of the three meetings.

We will keep you informed of any possible statements that may be made following the three-way meeting.

**Iraq Team

On Iraq, the UN team in Iraq began their work today by meeting with a non-governmental organization, the International Foundation for Electoral Assistance, which is providing advice to the Coalition Provisional Authority.  That was a technical meeting; lasted about two hours.

Later, the team met with three members of the Iraqi Governing Council -- these were separate meetings:  First with Samir Sumaidy, who is Sunni; the second with Mahmoud Othman, who is Kurdish; and the third with Son Gul Omer Chapook, who is from the Turkmen minority.  They expressed their support for a unified Iraq -- that is, the Turkmen minority faction expressed their support for a unified Iraq -- in which Arabs and Kurds and others can live together.

Tonight, the team is scheduled to meet with a senior Shi’ite cleric, Ayatollah al-Sadr.

**Iraq - Refugees

In the last two days, 500 Iraqi refugees have returned from camps in Iran in two separate convoys.  According to the UN Refugee agency, this brings to more than 2,600 the total number who have gone back from Iran with assistance from the UN since the return initiative got under way last November.

UNHCR says they are not encouraging any refugees to return to Iraq due to the security problems and fragile humanitarian situation.  Iranian authorities estimate that more than 50,000 may have spontaneously gone back in recent months.

We have more information upstairs.

**Benon Sevan

Some of you might have seen some media reports with allegations concerning Benon Sevan and the “oil-for-food” programme.  Mr. Sevan asked me to read the following statement on his behalf:

“I should like to state that there is absolutely no substance to the allegations made in a local Iraqi newspaper, now appearing in some international media, that I had received oil or oil monies from the former Iraqi regime.

“Those making the allegations should come forward and provide the necessary documentary evidence.  They should submit their evidence to the Under-Secretary-General, Office of the Internal Oversight Services.”

And I understand that Dileep Nair, the head of Internal Oversight Services, is in the process of writing to the Governing Council and the Coalition Provisional Authority asking them if they have any documents that would assist in determining the validity of these allegations which have come to our attention primarily through the media.

**Haiti

The Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights, Bertrand Ramcharan, has said he is gravely concerned by the violent situation in Haiti.  He particularly deplores the killings and destruction over the past week in the cities of Gonaives and Saint Marc and he strongly encourages all concerned to resolve the political crisis in a peaceful and constitutional manner.

His full statement is available upstairs.

Meanwhile, a UN inter-agency mission arrived in Haiti on Sunday to assess the critical humanitarian situation that appears to be looming and update contingency plans.  The World Food Programme is particularly worried about serious food shortages in the north of Haiti because of insecure roads.

We have further information on that upstairs.

**Sudan

The UN Emergency Relief Coordinator welcomed an announcement by the Sudanese President to provide access for aid workers so that they can reach millions of suffering civilians in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Jan Egeland said that the humanitarian community is ready to seize this opportunity to increase the amount of assistance within Darfur, where half of the 6 million-strong population affected by the conflict have remained beyond the reach of aid agencies.

Tom Vraalsen, the Special Envoy for the Secretary-General for Humanitarian Needs in Sudan, has been asked to return to Sudan as soon as possible to follow up.

The UN refugee agency, meanwhile, continued to move refugees who have fled Darfur away from the volatile Sudan-Chad border area.

**Democratic Republic of Congo

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN Mission has reported that tensions in the city of Bukavu, in South Kivu province, have abated, and the situation is now calm.

Tensions rose in the past few days after the provincial Governor, and former rebel leader, Xavier Ciribanya, was suspended by the central transitional Government of the DRC after illegal arms caches were discovered in Bukavu.

The UN Mission has collected the arms and is patrolling the area.

**Colombia

The UN Refugee agency has condemned the murder in Colombia of two members of an association of displaced persons on Sunday in the north-western city of Apartado.

The victims were murdered in front of their homes in separate attacks by unidentified armed men in civilian clothing.

The murders are the latest in a string of attacks against individuals involved in human rights work for Colombia’s 3 million internally displaced people.

UNHCR urges the authorities to prosecute these crimes and to ensure the protection of other local leaders who have been threatened.   We have a press release on that.

In a related development, UNHCR has welcomed Venezuela’s recognition of the first 47 Colombian refugees to pass through a newly established asylum process.  UNHCR considers this is a significant step in addressing the previously invisible plight of some 15,000 Colombian refugees who are believed to be living in Venezuela.

We have more information upstairs.

**Liberia

On Liberia, in a development hailed as a crucial step towards the reestablishment of the rule of law in Liberia, the UN Mission and community leaders launched a renovation project for a police station in an area of Monrovia that previously had had no police presence.

The station, which was constructed by the Liberian Government in 1972, was extensively looted and vandalized during the conflict and served as an operational base for one of the military factions.

The Liberian national police chief said, “A few years ago, you ran from the police.  Now you are going to run to us.”

**Security Council

The Security Council has no meetings or consultations scheduled for today.

**UNODC/Afghanistan

Turning to Afghanistan, the executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Antonio Maria Costa, has warned that the country is at a critical juncture in regards to becoming a “narco-State”.  Speaking to the press in Kabul today, Costa said it could go either way.

He welcomed political efforts to fight the drug trade in Afghanistan, but warned that the more the “narco-economy” is allowed to infiltrate life there, then the greater the risk of the country becoming a “narco-State”.

Costa is in Kabul for the International Counter-Narcotics Conference on Afghanistan, and we have a full transcript of his press briefing available in my office.

**Georgia/Security Meeting

In Georgia today, representatives from Georgia and Abkhazia held a second meeting on the issue of security guarantees.

The two sides reiterated their commitment to the non-resumption of hostilities, and the settlement of all disputes by peaceful means.

The meeting was conducted under the Chairmanship of the Security Council’s Special Representative for Georgia, Heidi Tagliavini, and also involved the Group of Friends of the Secretary-General.

The next meeting on security guarantees will take place on 20 May.

We have more details upstairs.

**Côte d’Ivoire

The UN’s Special Rapporteur on the right of freedom of opinion and expression, Ambeyi Ligabo, said today that he’ll call on the Government of Côte d’Ivoire to seek the help of the UN and other international bodies to overcome a serious shortcoming the country faces.

These problems include the free circulation of balanced opinions and ideas, and acts of violence which seem to dominate various aspects of daily life.

Ligabo’s comments come at the end of six-day visit to Côte d’Ivoire, where he was invited by the Government.

We have copies of his statement upstairs.

**ICTY

The Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia today announced that two of its detainees -– Slobodan Milosevic and Vojislav Seselj -– would be prohibited from all outside contact, except for those with their legal counsel, diplomatic or consular representatives and immediate family members.

We have a press release detailing the communications restrictions available in my office.

**WHO/Herbal Medicine

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released guidelines for good agricultural and collection practices for medicinal plants.

The guidelines are intended for national governments to make sure production of herbal medicines is of good quality, safe, sustainable and poses no threat to either people or the environment.

In addition, the WHO’s concern about patient safety issues, it says there’s also the risk that a growing herbal market could lead to the extinction of endangered species and the destruction of natural habitats and resources.

You can read more in a WHO press release upstairs.

**Intellectual Property

And finally, the ways in which the benefits provided by genetic resources and traditional knowledge are shared, particularly with indigenous peoples, need to be improved to ensure that those who provide those promising discoveries can be rewarded.  That is one of the conclusions of a study commissioned jointly by the World Intellectual Property Organization and the UN Environment Programme.

Later this month, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a conference of parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity will discuss how to develop an equitable international system for benefit-sharing.

That’s all I have.  Yes, Mark?

**Questions and Answers

Question:  On Cyprus, the Secretary-General had previously put down conditions for the resumption of these talks, which included a commitment by the parties to a referendum date.  Now, is that commitment still seen as a precondition for continuation of these talks?  Or is it possible that if that commitment is not given today that these talks could end today?

Spokesman:  Let’s not kill these talks before they’ve started.  I prefer not to talk about conditions to the talks resuming a few hours before they are about to resume.  What we hope to establish in the meeting that will take place this afternoon is the commitment of the two parties to reach an agreement.  If that commitment is forthcoming, the assumption is that detailed technical talks would resume as soon as possible involving both sides.  So, I am evading your question intentionally.

Question:  Okay.  Just on a technical, logistical question:  Will the Secretary-General be addressing the press after the meeting?

Spokesman:  We have no plans at this time for him to do so.  It’s possible that in the meeting with the two parties, they will discuss how to handle media aspects of the visit.  Whether they will issue a joint statement or agree to talk to the press individually; I don’t yet know.  I don’t think they have decided.  Yes?

Question:  Another technical question on the same subject.  How do the guarantor nations get involved in the talks with the two parties and the Secretary-General?  Are their representatives in those talks, or do they get briefed afterwards?  I’m just interested particularly in knowing Turkey’s role in these talks.

Spokesman:  Well, the guarantor states are the UK, Greece and Turkey.  And at the Secretary-General’s suggestion, representatives of those three countries are here.  They will not be in the meetings.  They will be in the margins, ready to play a supporting role as might be required.  Yes?

Question:  Fred, what is the reason the announcement for the talks was just made four hours, actually three hours before the leaders met with the Secretary-General?  Was there any reason for this delay?

Spokesman:  Alvaro de Soto wanted to meet with both delegations to discuss the details for the talks.  When they would take place, how many people would participate, et cetera.  He met with the Turkish Cypriot side last night.  He was not able to meet with the Greek Cypriot side until first thing this morning.  So, we couldn’t confirm the details until after that second meeting finished.  I think it started at 9 o’clock this morning.

Question:  Is there any read-out from those meetings?

Spokesman:  No.  They were purely technical meetings as far as I know.  But Mr. de Soto didn’t give us anything of a substantive nature that came out of them.  Yes?

Question:  And is this very much a one-day thing?  If they want to carry on they can move to Cyprus after this?

Spokesman:  It’s hard to predict.  I think it’s our assumption that following a single session with the Secretary-General here in New York that, as I said earlier, the detailed nuts and bolts negotiations could begin with Alvaro de Soto representing the Secretary-General in the good offices function.  And where that would take place I don’t think we’re ready to say.  They may announce it at the end of today.  Yes?

Question:  Fred, we understand that May 1st deadline is a firm deadline for obvious reasons.  But how about all the other deadlines described by the Secretary-General in his letters?  Is he flexible on those deadlines or is it something that just follows them or just...?

Spokesman:  Well, we think the European Union accession date of the 1st of May provides motivation for the parties to restart talks in a serious way.  They have indicated to the Secretary-General that they are prepared to do that.  So, I think everyone’s working assumption is that what they are beginning to undertake today is with a view to concluding by the 1st of May.

Question:  Finally, do you have anything on the meeting of the Secretary-General and Madam Albright?

Spokesman:  I have nothing on that.  I can see what I can find out.  Who asked for the meeting; and if she asked for it, you’d have to ask her why she asked for it.  Yes?

[He later announced that the meeting was being held at Ms. Albright’s request.]

Question:  Fred, the Minister of Labour for Sri Lanka met with the Deputy Secretary-General.  Do you have any details of that meeting?

Spokesman:  I don’t.  But if you like I can ask if there is any read-out to give you.  Mark?

Question:  From there, I should just like you to confirm, in the trilateral meeting with the Secretary-General, who is going to be there?  Is it just Papadopoulous and Denktash, or who else is going to be in those delegations, and how large are those delegations?

Spokesman:  I’ll have to double-check.  But I think the working formula that we had was principals plus two.  So, I think it would be a delegation of three for each side.

Question:  Is it possible to name any of the other members of the delegation?  Do you have that list?

Spokesman:  First, let me confirm that three is what was agreed on in the technical talks last night and this morning.  And second, I’ll ask whether we can give you the names of the other members.  I don’t think that should be a problem.  Warren?

[The Spokesman later confirmed the one plus three formula for each side, including the United Nations.]

Question:  Fred, the rumour that the United States may have bugged missions last year who were opposed to the resolution on Iraq has surfaced again.  This time, as you know, the former Chilean Ambassadortells El País that the Chilean Mission found listening devices.  Two questions:  Was this brought to your attention and if so, is there any comment from the Secretary-General’s office?  And in the past when these had come up, did the Secretary-General’s office get involved at all?  Was it asked to get involved, is this something that security people here for the United Nations have checked out one way or the other?

Spokesman:  This would not be a matter for the Secretary-General or the Secretariat to get involved in.  It’s a bilateral matter between the country that might have the complaint and the host country –- the United States.  There is a mechanism within this building for dealing with these kinds of issues; and that’s the General Assembly’s Committee on Host Country Relations.  To my knowledge, no MemberState, no delegation brought such a complaint to that committee.  But I think I’d have to double-check that with General Assembly Affairs, just to make sure.  What we’re talking about is something that happened outside these premises in the missions of a MemberState; at least these are the allegations.  And, therefore, it would not fall within our competence to cross the street to investigate someone else’s offices.  Yes, Mark?

Question:  Just further to the statement -- I’ve seen that it’s going to be printed upstairs, the statement by Benon Sevan that you will be handing out.  Now, is there, so could you comment, what is happening in the OIOS as regards to...?  Is this all that has happened, now that he’s written a letter asking for, or is there actually an investigation being launched officially on this?

Spokesman:  No investigation is being launched.  It’s really not clear to us even what the allegations are.  But the allegations appear to be based on some kind of documentary evidence that is in the hands of the Coalition Provisional Authority or the Iraqi Governing Council.  So, we’re saying...  First of all this oil-for-food programme has been audited to death.  Second, we have a lot of personal confidence in Benon Sevan’s integrity.  But those two things aren’t enough.  If there are allegations we want to see what the evidence is.  So, we’re just asking those who have based these allegations on documentary evidence, “show us the documentary evidence”.  It’s not clear to me even what he’s being accused of.  It’s not clear, given the way the oil-for-food programme operated, how it could have been possible, because the Security Council acknowledged the sovereignty of Iraq in constructing its resolutions.  While the oil money was kept in an escrow account controlled by us, it was Iraq that decided who they would sell the oil to, and it was Iraq that decided who it would buy humanitarian supplies and services from.  That was overseen by a Security Council sanctions committee.  But, you know, where there’s room in there for a Secretariat member to get involved with something like a kickback I don’t see.  We, the Secretariat, would not even have a way of knowing if there were a kickback scheme between the Iraqi Government and their suppliers.  It just wasn’t within our purview.  So, we are just asking if there is evidence, we’d like to see it.

Question:  And just to clarify the position of the UN Secretariat officials.  UN Secretariat officials have full diplomatic immunity in any of these cases.  How does that work with regard to charges in a case like this?

Spokesman:  I prefer to consult the Legal Department.  But the way diplomatic immunity works is that it would cover a UN official in the conduct of his work.  If he robbed a bank in New York, which had nothing to do with his job, he would not be protected.  In this case, I assume immunity would apply, seeing the allegations apply to his work as a UN official.  The Secretary-General, at any time, can waive that immunity.  So, that’s the other option.  But I mean, on the face of it, these allegations are just not credible from our point of view.  But we are asking if anyone has evidence to show it to us.  Yes, sir?

Question:  Sir, about the tripartite Cyprus meetings today, I know it’s hard to predict, but still a logistical question.  Do you have any idea how long those talks could last?  Could it be an hour or five hours or...  Any guesses?

Spokesman:  Well, those of you who might have dinner plans might want to put them on hold.  There is no way to predict.  There’s no way to predict.  Our collective hope I think is that they won’t go till midnight.  But they will go for as long as the parties feel it’s useful to keep talking.

Question:  Anything tomorrow morning Fred?  Any other session tomorrow?

Spokesman:  Not to my knowledge, no.  But again that would be a decision if it were to be made, would be made in the course of tonight’s meeting.

Question:  I am sorry to keep plaguing you with questions.  On another thing, on North Korea the World Food Programme (WFP) yesterday basically issued a warning that they wouldn’t be able to feed anyone for the next two months.  How serious is the Secretary-General taking, how seriously is he taking this issue?  Is the Secretary-General likely to speak on it at some stage, address it?  Because WFP is warning that an entire generation of children are going to be physically and mentally stunted; which seems to be...

Spokesman:  Yes, I mean it’s a very serious situation, and WFP has been warning for months, and we have been repeating those warnings from this podium, that if they don’t get additional food contributions soon there will be an interruption.  And now those contributions have not come in.  And so there is going to be an interruption.  That interruption is going to affect a large number of people in a very serious way.  But the donor community had plenty of warning.  And for one reason or another, those contributions did not come in in a timely enough way.

Question:  Well, in the case of Liberia, for example, we just the other day saw the Secretariat take a very active role trying to galvanize donor assistance to that country.  I haven’t seen a similarly active effort from the Secretariat on North Korea; I was wondering why?

Spokesman:  That’s apples and oranges.  Liberia was a reconstruction, rehabilitation and humanitarian effort.  In this case, the World Food Programme has the expertise and the know-how.  It has a long history of providing food assistance to North Korea.  They knew the situation was bad; they flagged it publicly; they talked to individual donor governments privately.  They did everything they could, and it hasn’t happened.  So, it’s not from lack of knowing the consequences of not making these contributions that the contributions haven’t been made.  The WFP representative in North Korea acknowledged that it’s a difficult political environment in which they are working.

Question:  I’ll just ask a final time.  It’s just on what the WFP are saying:  An entire generation of North Korean lives are going to be wrecked.  Why is there not some -- I mean, apart from a few WFP press releases -- why is there not a sort of a total emergency being declared by Kofi Annan?  This is a generation of a country’s life being wrecked.  I just detect a relative lack of alarm bells being sounded by Kofi Annan on this issue.

Spokesman:  I have nothing to add to what I have already said.  The alarm bells rang a long time ago.

Thank you very much.

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