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.

**Security Council

The Security Council, in a formal meeting this morning, unanimously approved a resolution to establish a UN peacekeeping mission in Côte d’Ivoire, comprising a maximum military strength of 6,240 personnel.  That mission, the UN Operation in Côte d’Ivoire, would begin its work on 4 April, for an initial period of 12 months.

Its mandate includes monitoring the implementation of last May’s ceasefire agreement, investigating ceasefire violations, and promoting, in coordination with French forces, the re-establishment of trust between all Ivorian forces.

The Secretary-General commended the Security Council for adopting the resolution, saying that Côte d’Ivoire has “come a long way” since a crisis erupted there in September 2002.  The adoption of the resolution, he said, shows that the international community is determined to ensure that there is no turning back.

He warned, however, there are some hard-line elements among the various Ivorian parties who remain determined to undermine the peace process.  He asserted, “They must not be allowed to succeed.”  We have copies of his statement upstairs.

**Haiti -- Dumas

We announced late yesterday that, in view of the escalating crisis in Haiti, the Secretary-General has appointed John Reginald Dumas of Trinidad and Tobago as his Special Adviser on Haiti.

Mr. Dumas is a former Trinidadian Ambassador to the United States and Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States.  He will closely follow the developments in Haiti and liaise with all relevant actors, in particular the regional organizations that have been undertaking vital efforts to find a solution to the country’s persistent political impasse.

The Secretary-General hopes that with his appointment as Special Adviser the UN can make a significant contribution to the alleviation of the political, economic and social crises that afflict Haiti.  We have a statement upstairs announcing the appointment, which includes details of Mr. Dumas’ extensive diplomatic background.

**Haiti –- Security Council

Yesterday afternoon, the Security Council held an open meeting on the situation in Haiti. The Council heard statements by the Foreign Ministers of Jamaica and the Bahamas, and by the representative of Haiti.  In total, 31 speakers took the floor.

At the end of the meeting, the Security Council issued a presidential statement expressing its deep concern regarding the deterioration of the political, security and humanitarian environment in Haiti and calling on the Government and all other parties to respect human rights and cease the use of violence to advance political goals.

The Council noted its support of efforts by the OAS and CARICOM, and for the CARICOM Plan of Action as an important basis for a solution to the crisis.  The Council acknowledged the call for international involvement in Haiti and said it would consider options in this regard, including that of an international force, in support of a political settlement.  Finally, the Council expressed support for the Secretary-General’s decision to name a Special Adviser for Haiti, and said it would continue to monitor the situation closely.

**Iraq

RossMountain, the Secretary-General’s acting Special Representative for Iraq, left Baghdad after two days in the Iraqi capital.

While there he met with the UN’s national staff, as well as with the leadership of the Coalition Provisional Authority, Ambassador Paul Bremer and Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock.  He also had the opportunity to meet with a number of Iraqi ministers involved in reconstruction and rehabilitation issues.  He is today in Abu Dhabi, where he will attend a two-day donors meeting on Iraq, hosted by the United Arab Emirates.

**Sudan

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has received reports from people displaced from Sudan’s Darfur region that armed militias are robbing them of the aid they have received from UN agencies and non-governmental organizations.

The internally displaced people are reporting that they are still being systematically attacked by militia who burn homes, rape, extort and kidnap.  The looting has caused the World Food Programme to consider feeding recipients directly, rather than supplying them with rations that could be stolen.

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan today condemned one attack by armed militia in the southern Sudanese town of Nimnim on 20 February, in which eight UN and non-governmental staff were deliberately targeted.  The UN calls on the Sudanese Government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army/Movement to identify, detain and prosecute the perpetrators.  There is a press release with more.

**Nigeria-Cameroon

Two sub-commissions of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission are currently carrying out a field visit to the southern part of the land boundary between these two nations, to deal with the issues of affected populations and demarcation of the border.

Since Tuesday, the group has travelled to the BakassiPeninsula, where it is scheduled to visit several villages until Saturday.  The Mixed Commission, you’ll recall, was set up by the Secretary-General, at the request of the Presidents of Nigeria and Cameroon, to help them with the implementation of the International Court of Justice’s ruling on their boundary.  We have a press release in English and in French with more details.

**Libya

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has been informed by the Libyan Government that Libya intends to begin the destruction of more than 3,300 unfilled bombs, intended for the delivery of chemical weapons, starting today.

The Organization will verify their destruction, and an OPCW inspection team has arrived in Libya for that purpose.  The inspectors will carry out an inventory of all munitions prior to destruction, and the destruction operations are to be completed by 5 March.

The Director-General of the Organization, Rogelio Pfirter, said, “This is a very positive step and a confirmation of Libya’s intention to actually get rid of prohibited weapons”.  We have a statement upstairs with more details.

**Refugees

The UN refugee agency announced today that it would be resuming its assistance to Afghan refugees who wish to return home from Pakistan.  These operations had been suspended in November following the death of UNHCR staff member Bettina Goislard.

The agency expects to help about 400,000 Afghans return home during the coming year.  The return package offered by the UN to refugees includes a small travel grant, food and non-food items.  For more information on this item and other refugee news, please pick up the UNHCR briefing notes in my office.

**WHO/Vaccine/Update

And now an update on the mass polio vaccination campaign being carried out in west and central Africa.  The World Health Organization says 35 of Nigeria’s 37 states are now taking part -– a big increase from the second-half of last year when only 18 states took part.  The states of Kano and Zamfara are the only two Nigerian states which have yet to take part in this campaign.  And WHO reiterates that rumours about the safety and efficacy of the polio vaccine are unfounded.

**UNEP/Biosafety

The 87 member States of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety have moved to improve the safety of international trade in genetically modified organisms.

Under the new system, all bulk shipments of genetically engineered crops intended for food, feed or processing -– such as soybeans and maize -– are to be identified as possibly containing genetically modified organisms.  The 87 member States had been attending the first meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, in Kuala Lumpur.  We have much more on this in a press release available in my office.

**African Union

The Secretary-General, in a message, sent his warmest greetings to the meeting that African leaders are holding, starting today, in the Libyan town of Sirte.  He says it is fitting that, as those leaders pursue their efforts to develop the institutions of the African Union, the United Nations will continue to work with the Union to assist it in enhancing its operational effectiveness.  We have copies of that statement, delivered by Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Tuliameni Kalomoh, and that’s upstairs.

**Jean-Selim Kanaan

At this moment in Geneva, the French Ambassador to the United Nations offices in Switzerland is posthumously awarding the Legion of Honor to our colleague Jean-Selim Kanaan.  As you know, Jean-Selim was one of our colleagues killed in the 19 August attack on UN headquarters in Baghdad.

In a message delivered by his Chief of Staff, Iqbal Riza, the Secretary-General said that France was honoring Jean-Selim’s tireless efforts on behalf of the weak and the oppressed.  He added that we would remember Jean-Sélim as someone who until the very end fought to make the world better, and his life will continue to inspire us.  We have the full text upstairs.

**FYR Macedonia

The UN flag is being flown at half mast today, and the other flags outside UN headquarters are not flying, to mark the United Nations’ official mourning following the death yesterday of President Boris Trajkovski of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

**Press Conference

We have a press conference coming up shortly in this room at 12:30 p.m. with President Abel Pacheco of Costa Rica, who will be here to brief you following his meeting with the Secretary-General.  There will be Spanish-English interpretation available for this press conference.

**Press Conference on Monday

Then on Monday, the Secretary-General will speak to the press here at noon, along with the Prime Minister of Canada Paul Martin, the former President of Mexico Ernesto Zedillo and the UN Development Programme Administrator Mark Malloch Brown.  They will be launching the report of the Commission on Private Sector and Development entitled, “Unleashing Entrepreneurship:  Making Business Work for the Poor”.

The Secretary-General will not take any questions from the press at this time, but the other participants will be here to take any questions you might have.  That is going to happen at noon, as I said.  So, we will do our regular press briefing on Monday at 11:30.

**The Week Ahead at the United Nations

And finally, we have the Week Ahead for you.  Yes?

Questions and Answers

Question:  The Secretary-General spoke with President Aristide.  Was it over a secure line?

Spokesman:  He did have a phone conversation.  I can’t tell you exactly when it was.  It was several days ago he spoke to President Aristide.  The way secure phones work is you need two -– one that scrambles the outgoing message and one that unscrambles it at the other end.  And frankly, I don’t know if a secure phone was used in this case.

Question:  Was he asked by France or the United States to speak with him, perhaps to encourage him to step down?

Spokesman:  I think this telephone call that I just mentioned predates any discussion of his stepping down.

Question:  We’re coming up to the 10 year anniversary of the Rwanda genocide, after which everybody said, never again would we allow a situation where everybody was warning of impending bloodshed to just stand by and do nothing.  Now I’m not suggesting there are direct parallels of what’s happening with Haiti, but yesterday basically Caribbean leaders came and said, ‘we’re going to have bloodbath in Haiti’, and no one is being sent in.  Does the Secretary-General think any lessons have been learned over the past 10 years in terms of how you actually go about avoiding a massacre?  What is the Secretary-General’s response to the appeals by the Caribbean countries for the outside world to intervene in what looks like an impending bloodbath?

Spokesman:  Well, O.K., I’m glad you qualified your comment with the parallel with Rwanda, because I don’t think we should use the term “genocide” lightly.  The Security Council is discussing what it might be willing to do, and you heard from the speakers yesterday that they seem to be agreed that they want a political agreement in Haiti first, before dispatching an international police presence.  The Secretary-General attended that meeting, has named a Special Envoy, wants to support the political process.  As I mentioned, he’s spoken to President Aristide.  He’s doing what he can.

On the larger issue of intervention, you know what he’s done.  First he raised the issue very early on, saying if there is to be intervention, if future Rwandas are going to be stopped, what are the ground rules?  You, the governments, have to draw up the ground rules.  The Canadian Government sponsored an excellent study on the responsibility to protect, which the Secretary-General mentions every chance he can, because he urges everyone to study that.

And finally, in setting up his high level panel on United Nations change, one of the things he told them to look at was this question of intervention, because you’re going to need ground rules, otherwise, if it’s done ad hoc, it will become chaotic and it will undermine international law.  Short term, he’s supporting the Security Council, particularly CARICOM and what it’s trying to do.  Longer term, he’s asking the big questions.

Question: Just to follow up on that, while the political process was being discussed, rebels are drawing closer and closer and they’ve said they are going to go into the town by Sunday.  Aristide has said he’s not stepping down.  At what point, does the Secretary-General think that one has to bypass political process in order to save lives?

Spokesman:  Well what options does he have?  I mean, if troops or police or whatever are to go in, it’s not he who will send them, it’s Member States who will send them in. 

I think you have to see his job in a realistic context.  These decisions are tough decisions.  They have to be made by governments.  Governments are discussing their options and their decision yesterday seemed to be, that without a political agreement, they’re not going to authorize intervention through the Security Council.  The Secretary-General’s statements –- publicly and privately –- tell these governments what they already know.  That the situation is deteriorating rapidly.  And very often, events on the ground go faster than diplomatic processes do.  The Council is looking at it closely.  We know that Member States are following this very closely.  Certain Member States with the capacity to intervene are leading the debate in the Council.  But you heard yesterday the views of the principal actors.  I don’t think the Secretary-General can do anything more than he’s now doing.

Question:  It might be easier for you to answer questions about spying.  The Secretary-General has seemed to have gone into hiding the last day or two, sneaking down back staircases and giving a press conference on Monday but not taking questions.  How long is that going to go on, because you know we’re going to go on bugging him about it, until we get a comment.  Eventually he’s going to have to say something about it.

The second thing is, yesterday you asked Britain to stop this practice if it went on.  Have you yet received any assurances from the British Government that the practice has been stopped?

Spokesman:  Well first of all you’re right.  He did not come in the front door or walk in front of your noses as he went to the Security Council this morning, because he felt that everything we had to say on this subject was said yesterday by me and by other members of the Secretariat.  I will convey your view that you intend to continue to bug him until he comes forward with a personal statement.  I’m sorry, your last question?

Question:  Whether you yet received any assurances from the British Government that your request would be complied with and that they would stop this practice.

Spokesman:  No, since the telephone call from Ambassador Jones Parry yesterday, the Secretary-General has not had any contact with the British Government.

Question:  Has he tried to have any contact with the British Government? 

Spokesman:  No.

Question:  Have they tried to contact him?

Spokesman:  No.  He has not spoken to any representative, and they have not spoken to him since Ambassador Jones Parry called him yesterday.

Question:  Fred, I assume you saw the reports out of Australia about Hans Blix cell phone was monitored or bugged every time he went to Iraq and the transcripts were shared among all the Anglo-Saxon countries –- Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.  Is it your understanding that that type of eavesdropping would not be in contravention of the three legal instruments that you described yesterday?  If those conversations were picked up by satellite, that’s fair game? 

Spokesman:  No, I think I said yesterday that it’s our interpretation of that 1946 Convention that prohibits interference in the conduct of business here at the United Nations.  That’s a generally worded prohibition that I think was intended to anticipate any subsequent technological innovations.  So our interpretation is even satellite interception of messages constitutes interference and is prohibited by the 1946 Convention.

Question:  Boutrous Ghali gave a rather nice interview to the BBC today in which he said that he was told on his first day of work that the office was bugged, and that as a result, he used to have any private conversations he wanted to in the garden.  First, do you have any memory of that happening, and with whom that happened, and secondly, does Mr. Annan ever resort to such means?

Spokesman: First I think I was in Yugoslavia at the time and I don’t have any recollection of that.  I think you just have to take the former Secretary-General’s words at face value. 

The Secretary-General does not take any extra precautions, apart from talking on a secure phone, or using a secure fax when his interlocutor has the same facility and when he feels it’s warranted.  I think you might have heard his Director of Communications say in an interview yesterday, he sometimes talks on the phone on a walk in Central Park, but that’s not to avoid detection, it’s just because he’s available to speak whenever phone calls come through.  They’re relayed from the residence to the security who are with him.  You might have noticed sometimes when he’s coming into work in the morning, he’s on the phone in the car.

Question:  Is that a secure phone, that cell phone?

Spokesman:  I can’t tell you that, and I don’t think I would tell you that. 

Question:  Boutros said the car was bugged too.

Spokesman:  Well I don’t know how he would know that, but I’ve already mentioned to you that our own security does conduct periodic sweeps of various United Nations premises.

Question:  He never takes a walk with a visiting dignitary and have a conversation?

Spokesman:  He does, but not with the express intent of avoiding detection.

Question:  Where does he walk when he does that?  In the garden?

Spokesman:  The reason I said he does this is that I’ve been with him on trips, when the garden looks lovely, the two principals decide to get up and get some fresh air, and to have a chat.

Question:  How about in New York, when he’s in New York?

Spokesman:  He’s never to my knowledge gone into the garden with any principal to have a conversation.

Question:  Yesterday you said that there would be no contact with Clare Short.  I was wondering if there was any intention to talk to her, given that she said she’d read transcripts of conversations between Kofi and other people.  Is the United Nations not interested in finding out what transcripts she read?

Spokesman:  I have no knowledge that he has any intention of contacting Clare Short or that we, from our part, want to follow up with her.  If there’s any explanation to be given, we would like to hear it from the British Government.

Question:  Is the Secretary-General waiting for the British Government to contact him and give him clarification or any assurance that it would not happen again, if it indeed had happened?

Spokesman:  I honestly don’t know.  I think it’s probably safe to say that he would like a fuller explanation.

Question:  Fred, on Iraq.  Sistani seems to favour a new Security Council resolution pertaining to the election.  How does the Secretary-General feel about that?  And on Libya, has UNSCOM become moribund now, and if it hasn’t, how does the Secretary-General feel about involving it in Libya?

Spokesman:  On the UNSCOM question, I think the Secretary-General feels that these inspectors have accumulated valuable knowledge and techniques.  I think he would like to see these skills preserved and put to use elsewhere.  This body, of course, UNMOVIC, reports directly to the Security Council, so it would be the Council’s decision whether to extend its mandate or whether to modify its mandate.  But the Secretary-General has no specific recommendation to make at this time about Libya.

There was a second question on Iraq?

Question:  New Security Council resolution…

Spokesman:  The Secretary-General wouldn’t intervene in the discussions that the Security Council will have to have on when and if to adopt a new Security Council resolution.

Question:  The Americans are saying that in the past he expressed flexibility about that.  I was wondering where he stands on that now.

Spokesman:  He may convey his views to members of the Council, but he’s not authorized me to share them with you.

Question:  Carina told us the other day that she could just about envisage organizing the elections before the end of this year, but only if they got going pretty much immediately.  Now Sistani is saying that he wants these elections before the end of the year.  Is the Secretary-General trying to do anything to encourage the Security Council to get a move on?  I mean, if they’re going to meet that deadline fast then they’re going to have to do something fast. 

Spokesman:  Why does the Security Council have to do something?  It seems to me that the Iraqis would have to work with the CPA to begin organizing elections immediately.  I think Carina Perelli said that, should they ask her for assistance, she’d be prepared to give it.

Question:  Well is he trying to hurry things along in Baghdad then? 

Spokesman:  We have no political presence in Baghdad, as you know.  We’re still waiting for the Iraqis to signal us whether they accept the Brahimi recommendations.  This statement by the Ayatollah Sistani is a step in that direction, but we’re really waiting for them collectively to decide how they want to go.

Question:  Fred, back on Haiti.  Does the Secretary-General have any views on France’s pressure on Aristide to step down so that the political process can move on? 

Spokesman:  Nothing that I’m authorized to say publicly. 

Question:  Is he supporting the CARICOM initiative the way it stands now, which states that Aristide will remain in power until his term ends?

Spokesman:  He supports CARICOM’s efforts.  Ultimately it’s the Haitians that have to make the hard decisions. 

Question:  When is Reginald Dumas actually going to go to Haiti?

Spokesman:  When he sees fit, and when the security situation would allow.  But not immediately.  He’s still having consultations here at Headquarters. 

Question:  Has the Secretary-General spoken with any heads of government or foreign ministers in the last few days?  Is he worried that the incident might make such people reluctant to speak with him?

Spokesman:  I think if you look at our statement, his concern is that heads of State or any political actors that deal with him over the telephone might be a little bit less forthcoming if they think someone might be listening in.  And that was his main concern yesterday that his work would be hampered by this activity, if it is indeed going on.

Question:  Has he spoken to any political actors in the last two days?

Spokesman:  Yes he has.  I don’t have the log with me.

Question:  He doesn’t notice any difference in the type of conversations that he has?

Spokesman:  Not that he’s mentioned to me.

Question:  Are you not also concerned that when people go to talk to him in his office, face-to-face might be less forthcoming with him.  There’s some ambiguity about whether that office itself is bugged.

Spokesman:  Well, as I mentioned, sweeping for bugs is something that we do with some regularity, so I think on our part, there’s a little less concern about bugs.

Question:  What about reading the vibrations on the window or whatever they do?  Do you have any counter measures that you can put some stuff on the window to stop that from happening?

Spokesman:  I think the only stuff we put on the window is the anti-shatter film that we put in just in the last month or so.  But I don’t know anything more about those kinds of listening devices.  Irwin?

Question:  Fred, yesterday when you talked about that telephone call from Ambassador Jones Parry, you said you had nothing to tell us about it.  But it was unclear whether this was because you had no information or you didn’t want to give any information.  And I am wondering if now you might have any information and what that call was about and specifically whether there was an acknowledgement or an apology?

Spokesman:  I was trying to protect the confidentiality of a diplomatic exchange.  Yes?

Question:  Fred, concerning the report, when do you think it will be available?  The report to be launched on Monday, is it available now?

Spokesman:  The accountability report?

Question:  No, the report to be launched by…

Spokesman:  Oh, by Mark Malloch Brown, et cetera?  I’d have to just check with my office to see if embargoed copies of the report might be available.  I am not sure yet.

Question:  I know you’d like a fuller explanation from the British Government.  What form would you expect that or would you look for that explanation to come in?

Spokesman:  I can’t really say.  I suppose when Ambassador Jones Parry returns from London, there might be a chance for the two to have an exchange.  Yes?

Question:  (Inaudible) yesterday was that if this is true et cetera, (inaudible) he doesn’t have to believe that… it’s a denial.  Because he had two choices:  a denial or it was true.  If Parry was truly sorry he wouldn’t be saying it’s true.

Spokesman:  No.  We were basing ourselves on press reports.  Basing ourselves on press reports.  We will have to shut this down quickly because the President is overdue.

Question:  Why do you base your response on press reports if you already had spoken with the Ambassador?

Spokesman:  Our whole posture yesterday was in response to press reports based on comments by someone who had served at the cabinet level in the UK for five years and therefore whose credibility on the subject was considerable.  Last question, please?

Question:  I was wondering if the Secretary-General noticed an improvement in the quality of service?

Spokesman:  Which service?

Question:  Telephone service?  Lately?

Spokesman:  Why would he…

Question:  Well, from the bugging, maybe they improved the quality of the service providing more clarity?

Spokesman:  I don’t think I have a comment on that.  Thanks very much.

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