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,

**Guest at Noon

Our guest today will be Stephen Lewis, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, and he’s joining us today to talk about the World Health Organization’s “3 by 5 initiative” –- getting 3 million people on anti-retroviral therapy by the end of 2005.  He has also just returned from Botswana and will brief you on the AIDS situation in that country.

**Walzer Report

The Secretary-General today will receive the report of the Security in Iraq Accountability Panel from its Chairman, Gerald Walzer.

Following the recommendations of the Ahtisaari report which looked at the security issues related to the August 19th attack in Baghdad, this panel was tasked by the Secretary-General to carry out a comprehensive study to examine the role of all individuals and UN entities involved in UN security in Iraq.

Once the report is in the hands of the Secretary-General, it will be up to him to take administrative or disciplinary action, as he deems appropriate.

The report is based on the study of relevant internal documents and interviews with more than 140 people, some of whom were interviewed more than once.

**Iraq

The Secretary-General was asked by a reporter this morning whether yesterday’s terror attacks in Iraq would delay the arrival of UN teams, and he said the United Nations was still hoping to go back to assist the Iraqis.

He added that what happened yesterday was tragic, and he felt sorry for all those who had lost loved ones, but he affirmed that it will not impede the United Nations from its determination to help the Iraqi people.

**Haiti

According to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, people in Haiti are starting to resume their normal activities in Port-au-Prince today, though there are still pockets of insecurity around the city.

The UNICEF reports that its airlift of emergency supplies arrived in Port-au-Prince at 10 o’clock this morning.  The cargo includes medical supplies along with water, nutritional, sanitation and educational materials to meet the most basic needs of 30,000 vulnerable children for three months.

The World Food Programme, whose in-country stocks were largely looted, has a ship carrying 1,200 tons of food waiting offshore until it can safely deliver its cargo.

In addition, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) yesterday began the distribution of fuel supplies to restore service at 10 Haitian hospitals.  PAHO officials report that only one of its warehouses, a small building in the port area, was looted during the disturbances of the past days.

**Security Council

The Security Council is holding a formal meeting on Bosnia and Herzegovina this morning, in which it received a periodic briefing from Paddy Ashdown, the High Representative for Bosnia, on recent developments there.

Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean Marie Guéhenno spoke briefly to the Council, to discuss challenges that have been made against the police certification system by police officers who had been deemed unsuitable to serve in the police force.

Although the United Nations no longer has a mandate for police reform in Bosnia, Guéhenno said, it has sought to provide Ashdown with assistance in dealing with those challenges, but so far, the question remains unresolved.

He suggested that the Security Council could consider calling on the Bosnian authorities to abide by their international legal obligations.

**North Korea

The Secretary-General has welcomed the progress at the six-party talks held last week in Beijing concerning the Korean peninsula, in a statement we issued yesterday afternoon.  This round of talks has produced a noticeable step forward towards a nuclear-weapons-free Korean peninsula.

The Secretary-General will continue supporting this multilateral collective effort to resolve through negotiations the issues threatening the security and stability of the peninsula.  We have copies of the full statement available upstairs.

**Sudan

The Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Africa, Mohamed Sahnoun, is in Naivasha, Kenya, to follow up the Sudanese peace negotiations.

Sahnoun has met with the two sides and will travel to countries in the region in support of the Sudanese peace process.  He will also visit Khartoum.

The United Nations, meanwhile, is continuing with planning for post-peace requirements and rehabilitation.

**INCB Annual Report

A reminder that the 2003 annual report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) was released today.

The report focuses on the impact of drug abuse on crime and violence at the community level.  Among its findings, the report stresses that it’s difficult and misleading to suggest a direct causal link between violence and the taking of illicit drugs.

It also draws attention to a continued increase in Internet-based trafficking of pharmaceutical products, which contain internationally controlled substances.  We have much more information on the report in a series of press releases available upstairs.

**UNODC/AIDS

Antonio Maria Costa, the Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, will be presenting evidence of the link between HIV/AIDS and drug addiction, human trafficking, and overcrowded prisons at a meeting of UNAIDS’ co-sponsoring organizations in Zambia tomorrow.

The meeting brings together nine UN system organizations, whose goal it is to prevent new HIV infections, care for the already infected, and to mitigate the impact of the epidemic.  We have more in a press release on that for you upstairs.

**Bird Flu - Update

An update now on avian influenza, or “bird flu”.  The World Health Organization is cautioning against assumptions that the outbreaks can be controlled in the immediate future.

It warns that prospects for rapid control are inconsistent with decades of worldwide experience with previous outbreaks, which have all been much smaller in scope and inherently less challenging.

Over the past two months, the virus has left 22 people dead, with more than 100 million birds either died of the disease or culled in Asia.  We have more on that in a press release.

**World Chronicle Television Programme

The Department of Public Information asked me to flag for you that World Chronicle programme No. 928, featuring William Lacy Swing, the UN Special Representative in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, will be shown today at 3:30 p.m. on in-house television channels 3 and 31.

**Guest at Noon Tomorrow

And finally, our guest at the noon briefing tomorrow will be Hans Corell, the UN Legal Counsel.  And as you may know, he will be retiring and this is his last week in office; and this will be his wrap-up briefing.

That’s all I have for you.  Yes?

**Questions and Answers

Question:  Fred, are you in a position to give us a taste of what’s in the expected report of the accountability in Iraq?  And you mentioned disciplinary action, does that mean that the heads will fall?  And if heads did fall, what mechanisms are there in place to assure people that they’ve fallen out of due process and not out of scapegoating?

Spokesman:  You’re way ahead of the process here.  The Secretary-General hasn’t received the report yet.  It’s going to be given to him at 12:30.  I haven’t seen it.  And the report, because it contains the results of interviews with so many people and observations on the activities and decisions taken by various UN staff members, as well as entities, has to be kept confidential.  On due process, of course, there could be –- and we won’t know until the Secretary-General sees the report –- but there could be disciplinary action taken.  And, of course, that can be appealed under due process.  So, for all these reasons, the report is confidential.  We won’t be saying anything about what it says.  It’s quite extensive, and the Secretary-General will be studying it, I assume for a few days, absorbing everything it contains and then making the tough administrative decisions based on the report’s findings.  Mark?

Question:  Just to get this absolutely clear, this report will not be published in any shape or form?

Spokesman:  No.  The Ahtisaari report, which provided initial findings on responsibility regarding the 19 August bombing in Baghdad, was made pubic.  There have been many bombings since, I think, in Iraq.  To my knowledge, this is the only one that’s being investigated and the initial report made available to the press.  What now follows is for internal purposes.  A detailed investigation of what happened.  Who took what decisions when?  What procedures the United Nations followed?  All of this for the administrative purpose of correcting any procedures that need correcting and, if necessary, replacing some people responsible.  But here again, I am getting way ahead of the report; we don’t know what the report says.  Mark?

Question:  Just to follow up on that:  So, would it not be fair to say that this report is in the public interest?

Spokesman:  It’s in the United Nations’ interest, but also in the interest of fairness, we have to protect any individuals who might be named in it.  

Question:  Does that mean it’s going to the Member States who obviously have an interest?

Spokesman:  No.  No, its not a matter for the Member States.  It’s an administrative matter for the Secretary-General:  What his own staff did, the procedures they followed, what if anything, could be done better; what if anything, was done wrong.  Joe?

Question:  How many people will see it?

Spokesman:  How many people will see it?  I assume a very limited number of people on the Secretary-General’s own staff.

Question:  Will you see it?

Spokesman:  I doubt it.  Mark?

Question:  One other question:  Yesterday, the US announced that the UNDP Special Representative in Haiti is going to be the international community’s representative on the triumvirate which will appoint a nine, well, this council of elders to decide on the future of Haiti.  (a) Why did the UN not announce this?  (b) How is the UNDP rep -- is he going to be in consultation with UN Member States?  With Kofi Annan?  With the Special Representative, who I understand is still on the 38^th floor and not making himself available to the press?  How is this going to work?

Spokesman:  It is true that the UNDP Resident Coordinator in Haiti participated in this tripartite mechanism, which was part of the CARICOM plan.  He did that with the authorization of the Secretary-General and as you said, the CARICOM plan calls for this tripartite group to set up a committee of nine persons that would then name an interim government, as I understand it.  Why did we not announce it?  Frankly, I don’t know.  I think in the chaos of the moment we must have thought it not worth mentioning.  But as a matter of record, yes, he participated in that tripartite group.

Question:  And in terms of consultations as to how he goes about making his recommendations -- will there be any wider UN consultation here, or he basically decides of his own plan?

Spokesman:  No, he would be in and has been in close consultation with the Secretary-General’s Office because, as I said, on the weekend the Secretary-General approved of his participation in this tripartite group.  John?

Question:  The American and French and Canadian soldiers that are in Haiti right now are being called peacekeepers, but they’re certainly not keeping the peace.  There was an American colonel quoted yesterday said “we will not disarm the rebels”.  They were standing by as looting is going on; crimes are being committed.  Will this complicate the Secretary-General’s job in getting countries to contribute to a peacekeeping force if it looks like they’re going to go into a situation where the rebels will still have arms?

Spokesman:  I think it’s much too early to make a judgement on that.  The multinational force is still getting up to strength.  We would not comment on how they go about carrying out their mission there.  The Security Council authorized the formation of this force and gave it terms of reference.  But how it goes about its task is for it to decide.  Whether that will have any impact on the recruitment of personnel for the UN mission that’s to follow on in three months, I don’t know.  But I think you ought to watch the security situation as it evolves.  It’s a little bit early to make a judgement.

Question:  It seems to evoke the days of Bosnia and Somalia when ad infinitum we had arguments in this Building about rules of engagement.  Do you stand by?  Do you get engaged?  When do you defend yourself?  Do you anticipate that kind of a debate coming?

Spokesman:  Well, these are military questions that should be addressed to the multinational force.  And as you know, the military never discuss the rules of engagement.  I think that, certainly within this house, when it comes to peacekeeping forces, we’re much clearer now than we were 10 years ago on rules of engagement and how to formulate them.  Yes, Liz?

Question:  Since Mark raised the role of the UN rep in Haiti; could you kind of refresh, where do we stand now on the UN pieces of the puzzle in Haiti?  What is on the Secretary-General’s plate at this point as he is preparing for the next steps in Haiti?  What’s his expectation?

Spokesman:  Well, our task now is to put together the planning for the follow-on force that was approved by the Security Council on Sunday.  So, to that end, we will be sending an interdisciplinary team to Haiti, most likely the early part of next week, to begin that detailed planning for the UN force.  I have already reported to you on our efforts in the humanitarian area, which will be continuing as the situation permits.  I have said all I have to say about the role of the UNDP Resident Coordinator, but I believe that his role is quite limited.  Once this tripartite commission names the nine wise people who would take over, I think you will see the UN withdraw, at least the Resident Representative withdraw, from a political role, and in the meantime the special envoy, Monsieur Dumas, is  continuing to consult here.  Yes, Abdurahim?

Question:  Fred, if I may take you back to the accountability report.  Does the accountability encompass the strictly UN people or does it extend beyond, outside the UN, as well?

Spokesman:  The Secretary-General is looking at his staff and its procedures and what role they played if any, in the horrific events of 19 August.  Yes?

Question:  Fred, based on what you said earlier about the Walzer report; would it be safe to assume that the Secretary-General will not be announcing his conclusions, there will be no substantive information about the conclusions of this report or his actions today or tomorrow?

Spokesman:  I think that’s a safe assumption, given the volume of data that the panel has presented or will present him in a few minutes.  It’s safe to say it will take him a few days to digest it, reflect on it and take decisions on it.  But you will hear from him when it’s time to take those decisions.

Question:  Has the Secretary-General made any efforts to contact President Aristide?

Spokesman:  No, not since the former President left Haiti.

Question:  Some of the people who were in contact with him were saying that they’re incommunicado now; they can’t reach him and they’re worried about ...

Spokesman:  We’ve had no contact with him and ... (Interrupted)

Question:  Obviously, you had a relationship with Aristide and the Secretary-General.

Spokesman:  I don’t think you could call it a relationship.  They’ve spoken, you know, on and off over the years -– a couple of times in the last week.  Yes?

Question:  In addition to the US and France, which countries have signalled their willingness to participate in the peacekeeping force so far?

Spokesman:  Peacekeeping force or the multinational force?  Are you talking about the multinational force?  Please talk to the sponsors of the ...  We’re not doing the recruiting of the troops.  When it comes to the multinational force, the Security Council authorizes it and then a MemberState or MemberStates take the lead in putting it together, and we’re not involved in that.  So, you should talk to the US or France.  Yes, sir?

Question:  Did you get some request or some response from the Iraqi Governing Council or the Coalition Provisional Authority about the UN recommendations in terms of the electoral procedures?

Spokesman:  No, as of yesterday afternoon -- I didn’t double-check this morning -– but as of yesterday afternoon we had not formally heard from the Iraqis as to a request, either on the technical side regarding elections, or on the political side involving Mr. Brahimi.

Question:  And how has the United Nations interpreted the contents of the interim constitution by Iraq?  It’s kind of deferred the electoral procedure that the United Nations recommended.

Spokesman:  We wouldn’t comment on that internal matter.  If Iraqis want to know what we think, we’d be glad to talk to them.  But as I said, they haven’t asked us yet.  And so, I wouldn’t comment on the interim constitution.

Okay, I think we’re done.  Stephen why don’t you come up and take my chair?

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