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

The Secretary-General expects to meet this afternoon at 3 with the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders, once again.  This will be for a third day of discussions on the basis of his plan for Cyprus.

Asked whether he believed progress could be made in the Cyprus talks, he said yesterday, “As long as we are talking, we are making progress”.  He added that we are going to do whatever we can to make that progress.

**Iraq

The following statement is attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General on the subject of Iraq:

“The Secretary-General has been briefed regularly by his Special Adviser, Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi on his talks in Iraq, including today’s meeting in Najaf with Grand Ayatollah Sistani and on the progress of the UN Fact-Finding Team.  The Team has had contact with a wide range of Iraqi opinion, and has been listening to the views expressed by Iraqis on the best means of effecting a peaceful and stable transition.

“The Secretary-General understands that there is a consensus emerging from the Team’s contacts that direct national elections are the best way to establish a parliament and government in Iraq that are fully representative and legitimate.  At the same time, there is wide agreement that elections must be carefully prepared, and that they must be organized in technical, security and political conditions that give the best chance of producing a result that reflects the wishes of the Iraqi electorate and thus contributes to long-term peace and stability in Iraq.

“The Secretary-General will be briefed fully next week when Mr. Brahimi returns to New York, after participating in the meeting in Kuwait this weekend of Foreign Ministers of States bordering Iraq, and of Egypt.”

Brahimi met for two hours and 20 minutes today with Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.  Afterward, he told the press in Arabic that they discussed “the deep suffering of the Iraqi people and the need to help this nation out of this ordeal and out of this long, dark tunnel, to a new Iraq, united, and independent and rebuilding itself”.

In a brief interview with CNN later, he said of his talks with the Iraqis, “What is encouraging is that I think they want to go towards the rule of law, they want to go towards a government that is representative and they all agree that this can best be done through elections.  The question is, when are these elections possible?”

This afternoon, he met with a traditional leader, or sheikh, and the representative of a woman’s group.  He also chatted with members of the Society of Students and Youth of Iraq before meeting with a group of Sunni Muslim clerics.

The Secretary-General was asked last night about the two recent suicide bombings in Iraq, and he sent his deepest sympathy to the families of those who lost loved ones and stressed once more the need for a secure environment.

Speaking to reporters at the opening of the Trygve Lie Gallery yesterday, he said, “We’re going through a very difficult phase in Iraq at the moment”, and added that the United Nations intended to remain alert and analyse the security situation before taking any decision on the return of UN international staff to Iraq.  We have a transcript of that press encounter upstairs.

**Middle East

This statement, attributable to the Spokesman, is on the subject of the Middle-East:

“The Secretary-General deplores the loss of life during Israeli military incursions in Gaza yesterday, which led to clashes in which at least 15 Palestinians, including civilians, were killed.  More than 50 Palestinians have been reported injured so far, among them several critically-wounded children.

“The Secretary-General urges Israel to abide by its obligations under international law.  This includes ceasing to use disproportionate force in densely populated areas and taking greater care to avoid harm to innocent civilians.”

**Democratic Republic of Congo

Another statement, involving an incident in the Democratic Republic of the Congo:

“The Secretary-General is deeply saddened to hear the news of the tragic killing of a United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) military observer early this morning (New York time) in Ituri province in the north-eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  The incident took place after an ambush of a MONUC military and civilian convoy travelling from Katoto to Bunia, the main town in Ituri.

“The Secretary-General reaffirms MONUC’s determination in cooperating with the Government of the DRC to pursue the culprits and bring to justice all those who are responsible for this reprehensible and criminal act.”

Regarding the background to the ambush in Ituri, the UN Mission in the DRC reports that a mixed military-human rights team was dispatched this morning from Bunia to the nearby town of Katoto, following reports of serious harassment by the UPC militia (Union des Patriotes Congolais) against the civilian population.  The team investigated the situation, reported that all was calm in the area, and had started back on the road to Bunia when the convoy came under fire.  One of the military observers in the convoy, a national of Kenya, was shot and subsequently died of his wounds.  We have a press release from the mission upstairs.

**Sudan

Tom Eric Vraalsen, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Humanitarian Affairs for the Sudan, arrived in Sudan today.  As we mentioned earlier this week, his mission follows up on the promise made by the Sudanese President to provide access for aid workers so that they can reach millions of suffering civilians in Darfur region.  Vraalsen is expected to discuss with the authorities putting in place an all-inclusive humanitarian ceasefire for Darfur so that aid agencies can have access to those in need.  We have a press release on that.

**Afghanistan

The UN Mission in Afghanistan reports that a total of 210 men have been demobilized in the northern town of Mazar-e-Sharif, while in the capital, nearly 600 former soldiers have passed through the reintegration process.  UN demobilization projects in four cities have now dealt with more than 3,500 former combatants, while more than 2,000 of them have gone through the reintegration process.

We have more details in today’s briefing notes from Kabul, which also mention the opening yesterday of the first women’s-only site for voter registration in the southern city of Kandahar.

**International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, today said he shared the concern and the sense of urgency expressed by President Bush to shore up the non-proliferation regime and global security system.

He noted that he has laid out some ideas and proposals to that end, outlined in a piece he wrote for today's New York Times.  Those ideas, he said, include the need for additional authority for the IAEA, a much more stringent export control system and accelerated efforts towards nuclear disarmament.

ElBaradei said, “I call on the international community to engage in an urgent dialogue that can move us towards an agreed package of measures to strengthen the non-proliferation regime and international security system.”

**Security Council

No meetings, nor consultations scheduled for today.

**Cameroon-Nigeria

We just received and have available upstairs a communiqué issued at the end of the eighth meeting of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission in Abuja, Nigeria.

The Mixed Commission is a mechanism established by the Secretary-General in November 2002 at the request of President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and President Paul Biya of Cameroon in order to facilitate peaceful implementation of the International Court of Justice judgment on the border dispute between those two countries.

**Sierra Leone

Regarding the United Nations Assessment Mission to Sierra Leone:

The assessment team has begun to evaluate the benchmarks guiding the drawdown of the mission [UNAMSIL], conduct a comprehensive assessment of the security situation, and identify major tasks that might remain unfinished when the mission completes its mandate in December this year.  The team will also develop recommendations for any possible post-mission arrangements to complete those tasks.  The Secretary-General intends to present his recommendations on this matter in his March 2004 report to the Security Council.

**United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

And finally:  Toshiyuki Niwa, the head of the UN’s Capital Master Plan Project, has been named Deputy Executive Director of the UN Children’s Fund.

Niwa, who is from Japan, will take responsibility for the overall direction of several key areas in UNICEF, including finance and management, human resources, information technology, and the Fund’s inter-governmental work and relations with the UN.  He previously had been Assistant UN Secretary-General for Central Support Services.  He will assume his new duties at UNICEF as of 1 March.  And we hope to announce his successor as head of the Capital Master Plan Project shortly.

**Questions and Answers

Question:  Was Mr. Brahimi speaking for himself, when he said today that he agreed with Mr. Sistani that there should be elections?  Had he spoken to the Secretary-General before he made that statement?

Spokesman:  I am not quite sure what prompts your question.  There was a bit of misunderstanding of what he said immediately after his meeting with the Ayatollah, saying that they all agreed that elections were the best way to go.  In a subsequent comment that he made today, that I also read from, he said that same thing.  The question, however, is when.  I think that element was not quite clear from his first statement.  He was surrounded by journalists, he was pressed in at all sides, security was trying to shove him back into his vehicle, and I don’t think he was able to complete his thought clearly.  We also issued a statement for that reason.

I don’t know if he had spoken to the Secretary-General before that meeting.  He did speak to the Secretary-General this morning; I believe it was after the meeting, just before the Secretary-General came to the office this morning.

Question:  So it is no longer a question of if, but when there will be elections?

Spokesman:  Yes, elections are the right way to go.  When can they be organized?  That is the issue.

Question:  Has the Secretary-General communicated with Washington on this point?

Spokesman:  To my knowledge he has had no telephone calls to Washington today.  I would have to double-check the log to confirm that for you after the briefing.  [He later confirmed there had been no calls to or from Washington.]

Question:  Is there any consensus emerging on the kind of arrangements that might be put in place in the meantime, before the conditions are met for holding elections?

Spokesman:  That issue has been discussed, but it would be premature for me to comment on that now.  We want to see what conclusions Mr. Brahimi draws from all these meetings he has been holding; what ideas he presents to the Secretary-General; and what ideas the Secretary-General then puts forward.

Question:  President Bush yesterday outlined his proposals and read out a statement from ElBaradei.  Has the Secretary-General got any views on the best way forward on this?  Was there some sort of consensus on the need for change to the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty)?  Would that have to be addressed by a UN treaty-making body level or by the Security Council?

Spokesman:  I don’t think this is the time for the Secretary-General to weigh in on this debate.  I think he would expect Member States, working initially within the IAEA, to discuss what kind of modifications are needed to strengthen the anti-proliferation regime.  And whether those would then take the form of a treaty or of a Security Council resolution, I am not quite sure.  You would probably have to talk to the IAEA experts or legal experts, but I don’t know the answer to that question.

Question:  Is there any relation between the increase in terrorist attacks in Iraq and the talks of Mr. Brahimi?

Spokesman:  We have no way of knowing.

Question:  If there is an agreement today on Cyprus, in what manner would it be announced?

Spokesman:  That is a very hypothetical question.  We have been trying to solve this issue for 40 years.  It is nice to speculate that there could be agreement today, but let’s wait and see what happens.

Question:  Not the Cyprus problem, for sure, it is the methods.

Spokesman:  Let’s see what happens today.  They’ll talk amongst themselves.  Depending on the outcome of today’s talks, a decision will be made whether Mr. de Soto will come down and speak; whether he will come down with the representatives of the two parties; whether the Secretary-General would join that party... let’s wait and see.  There is still a negotiating session left, at least one.

Question:  Is there a chance for the talks to continue tomorrow, or is this going to be the last for this week?

Spokesman:  I can’t tell you.  I thought it was going to end on Tuesday; we are now on Thursday.  We have got the weekend.  I would hope it could wrap up today, but remember I said that on Tuesday.

Question:  Hypothetically, if there ever were to be an agreement, would you expect the announcement to take place in Washington?

Spokesman:  Why?

Question:  To take credit.  I have heard...

Spokesman:  The talks are happening here.  If there is an agreement in the talks here, the announcement would be made from here.

Question:  As elections in Iraq are the right way to go, and the Secretary-General has said that credible elections before 30 June are difficult, the remaining question is how much the election date is going to be moved back.

Spokesman:  No, no.  Let’s wait and see what Mr. Brahimi’s recommendations are.  The question is how to best organize this transition.  The idea of caucuses was in the 15 November agreement.  The idea of elections was then put forward.  Questions were then raised about the viability of elections before 30 June.  Mr. Brahimi has gone there to talk to the broadest possible spectrum of Iraqi opinion to see if consensus can be reached on the way to go.  Let’s hear what Mr. Brahimi’s report to the Secretary-General will say and what recommendations, therefore, will be put forward, representing -- if there is one –- a consensus of Iraqi opinion.

Question:  A consensus is emerging that elections are the right way to go, you have said that.

Spokesman:  Yes, everyone expects elections in 2005.  The question is, what can be done before 30 June.  If it can’t be elections, what other way can you find to establish a legitimate provisional government.

Question:  To clarify:  Mr. Brahimi was speaking of elections in a broad, general sense, not between now and 30 June?

Spokesman:  Yes.

Question:  Is the UN talking to anybody who is considered to be close to the insurgents?

Spokesman:  I can’t answer that question.  I mean, who knows who is close to the insurgents?

Question:  When you say that the UN is talking to a broad spectrum, are the insurgents part of that spectrum?

Spokesman:  I can’t answer that either.  You’d have to ask Mr. Brahimi’s spokesman.

Question:  Regarding talks with neighbouring States in Kuwait, are they neighbouring States, plus Egypt, plus Mr. Brahimi representing the UN?  Is that correct?

Spokesman:  It is their meeting and he is going to meet with them.

Question:  When is it and what precisely is the agenda?

Spokesman:  Saturday in Kuwait.  His agenda would be to discuss his talks in Iraq.  The Secretary-General has been saying all along that the cooperation of the neighbouring States is crucial to any scenario that is agreed upon, so you can see this meeting as an extension of his consultations inside Iraq.

Question:  Is Mr. Brahimi going to brief the Security Council when he comes back to New York?  Do we get the opportunity to talk to him?

Spokesman:  I don’t know yet about the Council.  We will be glad to ask him to speak to you.  I expect he will be happy to do that.

Question:  Other than Kuwait, will he visit some other neighbouring countries?

Spokesman:  I have nothing to announce today about that. I can’t tell you whether that is in the works or not.

Question:  When is Mr. Brahimi expected back?

Spokesman:  I don’t have a date.

Question:  There are now many attacks going on against the civilian population in Iraq, during the visit of the UN.  Does the Secretary-General have any kind of statement on that?

Spokesman:  Just what I read that he said off the cuff to some journalists at this Norwegian art event last night, where he extended his condolences and stressed the importance of a secure environment.  We have no formal statement regarding these most recent terror attacks.

Question:  The combination of Mr. Brahimi’s comments and the Secretary-General’s statement, can we conclude from that that the UN’s position now is that caucuses for selecting a provisional government would not be a practical way to go?

Spokesman:  I would wait to get the final report. You don’t hear many people talking about caucuses these days, but it is not for me to say from this podium that the idea is dead.  Certainly, that is one of the things Mr. Brahimi went there to discuss, and the results of those discussions will only be known when he reports to the Secretary-General.

Question:  Saying elections are the right way to go means caucuses are the wrong way.

Spokesman:  You just have got to wait for his report.  You can’t pull it out of me.  I have nothing to do with it.  I am just reporting whom he is seeing.  He is saying some things about his general impressions of what Iraqis want.  But the nuts and bolts are going to be in his report.

Question:  Is the Secretary-General concerned that UN inspectors in Iran have discovered undeclared designs for an advance centrifuge used to enrich uranium?

Spokesman:  He reads the newspapers, so he saw that report. I think we called IAEA today to see if they had anything to say on it. I don’t think they had anything in the way of a press release today.  The Secretary-General, I think, would let the IAEA take the lead.  The press report that I think you are referring to seems to have advance information on an official IAEA report that is yet to come out.  That is probably why IAEA is not commenting, and the Secretary-General will not comment either.

Question:  What is the Secretary-General’s feeling about the proposal made by Mr. Denktash that an extra step be added to the plan proposed by the Secretary-General, so that any remaining issues that could not be resolved would be handed over to see if Greece and Turkey could handle them, and then, if they can’t, the Secretary-General would become the final arbiter?

Spokesman:  Well, thank you for that briefing on the confidential talks taking place in Headquarters here.  I am not going to comment on any of the specifics that are under discussion.  Let’s see what happens today, and let’s see what, if anything, emerges in the way of a public blueprint for where they go from here, should they agree today.  But you are not going to draw me on that one.

Question:  Was a new proposal by Mr. Denktash the principal reason why talks were extended to today?

Spokesman:  I am not authorized to go into any details on what happened at yesterday’s talks.  You should get a full story if and when agreement is reached.  Then it would come from Mr. de Soto or the two parties.

Question:  You cannot give us any information at all?

Spokesman:  About yesterday’s meeting?  No.

Question:  They are talking about filling in blanks in the plan.  What are those blanks.

Spokesman:  I can’t, because the two sides have sit down and say where they disagree, if they do disagree –- and it is safe to assume that they do disagree -– and then they have to negotiate with each other how to resolve those differences.  The Secretary-General’s proposal was -- if you find you can’t resolve this or that, then leave it to me to fill in the blanks, as a fair exercise of his Good Offices’ function.  That was his proposal.

Question:  Can you give us a one-word description of how the Secretary-General is feeling about the way it is going.

Spokesman:  It went better yesterday than the day before.

Question:  Does the goal remain that the talks would shift to Cyprus for the “nuts and bolts” phase?

Spokesman:  Yes, I think it is probably fair to see what is taking place as the Secretary-General looking to be convinced by the two sides that they are serious about reaching agreement.  Once that is established, then he will send them off to work with Mr. de Soto to try to sort out their remaining differences.

Thank you very much.

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