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,

**Iraq Letter

A few minutes ago, the Iraqi chargé delivered a letter to the Secretary-General from the President of the Iraqi Governing Council, thanking the United Nations for sending the Brahimi mission to Iraq and welcoming UN consultation on the broad national dialogue regarding the shape and scope of the interim government.

The letter also said that the Governing Council looks forward to UN assistance with direct elections to take place before the end of January next year.

In the course of the morning, a similar letter was received from L. Paul Bremer, the US Administrator in Iraq.

The Secretary-General will be meeting with Mr. Brahimi shortly to discuss the letters, and a reply was likely to go out by the end of today -- or certainly by tomorrow -- to both letters, and then they will also be shared with the Security Council.

**Kosovo - Violence

The ongoing violence throughout Kosovo is the worst since UNMIK, the UN Mission, was established there five years ago.

Final counts on the damage caused and on those who were killed or injured are still continuing.

Up until this morning, 22 people had been confirmed dead and approximately 500 injured –- including 61 police officers and 11 KFOR soldiers.

At a press conference earlier today, Harri Holkeri, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Kosovo, called on all political leaders and media to refrain from making inflammatory statements.

He also appealed to the people of Kosovo to calm down and return to their homes, and let the police and KFOR deal with the situation.  We have more on Holkeri’s comments upstairs.

**Statement Attributable to Spokesman on Cyprus

We have the following statement attributable to the Spokesman concerning Cyprus:

“Pursuant to the 13 February agreement on the search for a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem, the Secretary-General yesterday sent letters of invitation convening a meeting of the two sides, with the participation of Greece and Turkey, in order to lend their collaboration, in a concentrated effort to agree on a finalized test by 29 March.

“Accordingly, the process under way will from 24 March continue at Burgenstock, a hotel complex on the outskirts of Lucerne, Switzerland, that would be United Nations premises for the duration of the meeting.

“The Secretary-General looks forward to the two sides and Greece and Turkey meeting their commitments under the 13 February agreement, and has asked that all concerned be in a position to make final commitments at Burgenstock.  The Secretary-General will be personally involved in the effort as it draws to an end.”

**Türk – Security Council Briefing

The Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Danilo Türk, today briefed the Security Council at an open meeting on the Middle East and the Palestinian question.

In his briefing, Türk said the region has seen an increase in violence, death and suffering -– yet the possibility of restarting the peace process remains open.

He added that he hoped that the Gaza Strip withdrawal initiative, which was approved earlier this week by Israel’s Parliament, is the bold step necessary to restart the peace process.

On the humanitarian front, Türk said UNRWA -– the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East –- may soon be obliged to severely cut back its emergency activities due to a sharp drop in its emergency funding.

Türk also reiterated a call made by Middle East Special Envoy Terje Roed-Larsen last month, for all parties –- including the international community -– to act seriously to implement the Road Map.  We have copies of Türk’s statement available in my Office.

**Security Council

After the open meeting on the Middle East, the Security Council went into consultations on the same topic.

Council members are expected to hear a briefing on Kosovo from Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hedi Annabi, and discuss a letter from Serbia and Montenegro requesting an urgent meeting on the outbreak of violence.  The Security Council presidency says the public meeting will take place at 4 p.m. today, and the Foreign Minister of Serbia and Montenegro is expected to participate.

**ElBaradei/Bush

Mohamed ElBaradei, the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), met US President George Bush yesterday to discuss a range of nuclear non-proliferation issues.  These included IAEA verification of Iran's nuclear programme and ideas on how to control nuclear proliferation.  Also discussed was the need to restrict the number of countries that can enrich uranium, and reprocess plutonium that can be used for nuclear fuel or bombs.  ElBaradei also briefed a US Congressional Committee and held discussions with other high-level US officials during his visit to Washington, D.C.

**Afghanistan

The UN Mission in Afghanistan announced today that voter registration has reached the 1.5 million mark.

You can read more about developments in Afghanistan in today’s briefing notes from Kabul.

**Draft Laws for Post-Conflict States

Legal and human rights experts meeting in Ireland have concluded work on ground-breaking draft legislation to help countries emerging from war rebuild their justice systems.

The draft laws are designed to be used by peace support missions and transitional administrations.

The drafts follow up on a recommendation in the 2000 Secretary-General’s report on the reform of peacekeeping operations, also known as the “Brahimi report”.

Further details are available in a press release from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

**African Union

In a message to the inaugural meeting of the Pan-African Parliament of the African Union, the Secretary-General said the authentic voice of the peoples of Africa at long last will have a more direct influence on policy and action in the African Union.

In Addis Ababa to deliver the message is Tuliameni Kalomoh, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs.

**Sudan - Humanitarian

The top UN official in the Sudan is demanding the release of two Chinese water engineers who were abducted when the town they were working in came under attack last Friday in the south Darfur region of the Sudan.

We have upstairs the statement by the official, Mukesh Kapila, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator.

That’s all I have for you.  Yes, Sylviane?

**Questions and Answers

Question:   Has the Secretary-General met with the German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer?  Do you know the topics they discussed?

Spokesman:  I don’t have a readout of that meeting.  I know that in addition to meeting with delegations, they also had a private meeting afterwards.  But for the meeting with delegations, we’ll see if can get a readout.  I believe the German Minister also spoke to the German media on his way out.  But if you don’t speak German, that probably wasn’t much help to you.

Question:   Do you have any planned events for the first anniversary of the war at the UN?

Spokesman:  I’d have to check the programme.  I am afraid off the top of my head I don’t know.  Mark?  [He later said there was nothing.]

Question:   I was listening to your explanation of the letter on the TV, so I just wanted to make clear.  The letter does what, exactly?  It invites the UN to play a role in preparing elections, is that it?

Spokesman:  No.

Question:   Okay, I am sorry.

Spokesman:  If you just look at the text of what I said.  I extracted elements of the first letter from the Governing Council.  I said nothing about the contents of the second letter from Mr. Bremer except that it was similar.  The texts of both letters will go the Security Council.

Question:   Well, will they be made public?

Spokesman:  When things go to the Council you seem to have means of getting your hands on them; that’s all I’ll say.

Question:   What does the UN understand the implication to inviting the UN to the ...

Spokesman:  I am not going to say that because I also said that the Secretary-General is meeting with Mr. Brahimi right now to discuss the letters and to prepare the responses to the letters.  Those responses will also be shared with the Security Council, and you’ll also have a chance to get them leaked to you.  Akran?

Question:   What is the cause of the uprising in Kosovo, and why did they hit so badly against the UN staff and UN motor vehicles and so on?

Spokesman:  I think you ought to look at the history books of that province to understand the tensions between the Serbs and Albanians.  For the international community that’s been trying to get those two communities to live in harmony, the events of the last couple of days are a setback.  But you’re seeing, I think, very aggressive action by the Special Representative, Mr. Holkeri, on the political side, by the KFOR troops reinforced from Bosnia on the military side, and the hope is that reason can eventually prevail there.  Yes, Suzie?

Question:   Just a clarification on this telephone message from Ayatollah Sistani.  Do we know if this was checked to see whether this aide or whoever it was called was really relaying a message from Sistani, and how much confidence do you put in that message?

Spokesman:  Oh, I don’t think Mr. Brahimi has any doubt that he was receiving a message from the Ayatollah through someone close to him.  So, I don’t think he has any doubt about that.  Mark?

Question:   On the OIOS investigation, yesterday you mentioned that it was going beyond the Office of the Iraq Programme.  My question is, is the OIOS investigation looking into the activities of UN officials in charge of security, humanitarian distribution and so on?  I am trying to get a sense of exactly how wide this OIOS investigation is and who is being looked at.

Spokesman:  I can’t give you that. I am sure OIOS would want any details on the investigation kept confidential.  I did not mean to say or even to suggest yesterday that the scope of their investigation would go beyond UN personnel.  Neither the Secretary-General nor do I believe OIOS has the authority or the capacity to investigate governments or private companies.  So, my understanding is that the OIOS investigation is limited to UN personnel.  Whether they could be security personnel, as well as other employees of the “oil-for-food” programme; I see no reason why it couldn’t touch the activities of any United Nations staff involved in oil for food.

Question:   Just to clarify, when the UN does investigations into UN stuff like this; under what law would they ultimately be prosecuted if there was any finding of misdeed?  Is it done within the UN disciplinary tribunal or do they get turned over to their national governments or to the host government?  I am not sure how that works.

Spokesman:  Well, it depends on what laws were broken.  But certainly, we would be looking at the ethical standards that are expected of all UN employees to follow in the conduct of their work.  If national laws were broken, we’d have to see how OIOS would handle that.  But conceivably, they could turn over the result of their investigations to national authorities for prosecution under national law.  Colum?

Question:   Fred, there was a report of the GAO testimony this morning in which they said as much as $10 billion may have been sort of misdirected or skimmed off the oil-for-food programme.  In the numbers we hold and are aware of in months past was closer I think, (inaudible) than $2 billion.  I am just curious to see whether; is this a surprising number?  Whether you guys were aware of that level of corruption?  Any comment on that?

Spokesman:  I think the only way we could comment on a number like that would be following a comprehensive investigation of all aspects of the oil-for-food programme.  In other words, not just UN personnel but what governments and companies did.  And so, I don’t think we would have any competence to comment on that number.

Question:   And it’s not envisioned to conduct such an investigation?  That’s not even in the planning or thinking right now?

Spokesman:  I can’t say that.  But any such investigation would require the support of the Security Council, and the Secretary-General has already indicated this week that he has been talking to members of the Council.

Question:   Do you have any indication from the Council whether they’re eager (inaudible) or they don’t want anything to do with it?

Spokesman:  It’s much too early to say.  Let’s wait and see once these consultations are over whether we have anything to announce.  Yes, Apostolos?

Question:   Fred, do you have any comment on Mr. Denktash’s statement that he won’t participate in the talks in Lucerne and what effects do you think this is going to have in the whole process?     

Spokesman:  I won’t comment on the effect; and as to the first part of your question, the Secretary-General expects each side to abide by the commitments made in New York on 13 February.

Question:   I also have another question.

Spokesman:  Yes?

Question:   Today, Kieran Prendergast visited Mr. Talat, Mehmet Ali Talat, in the so-called Prime Minister’s office in Cyprus.  I wonder, how is this compatible with the policy of non-recognition of the illegal entity of principle T.R. and C?

Spokesman:  I have no details on Mr. Prendergast’s activities for today, except the press report we saw of the comments he made, I guess as he was leaving Cyprus.  So, I would have to look into that to see if we have any comment to give you.  David?  [He then said that Mr. Prendergast’s visit was in the framework of the Secretary-General’s good offices, which involves fluid communication with both sides, never in their governmental capacity.]

Question:   Fred, I understand your answer to the initial question on Iraq and the letter.  But forgive me for trying.  Could you tell us at least how favourably disposed the UN is to, in its reaction to this letter, to sending Mr. Brahimi and Carina Perelli back to Iraq?  And beyond that, we talked to Mr. Brahimi yesterday a little bit about this, but what impact does the attack of yesterday have on the planning of sending UN officials back into Iraq; at least in the short term?

Spokesman:  I think you know the Secretary-General is prepared to help.  Please wait for him to complete his consultations with Mr. Brahimi regarding what is said specifically in these two letters.  As to the security situation, we know it’s still not good.  We will evaluate the security situation carefully before sending any people back.  But we are continuing our long-term planning for a return to Iraq, with special emphasis on security provisions.  Let me take Bill.

Question:   Would the current request from the Iraqi Governing Council, the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) and the team necessitate that this team’s work take them throughout the country, to the various points -– thus requiring a security force of some sort to go with them and, you know, really involve a lot of travel around the country to prepare for these elections and so forth?

Spokesman:  I can’t say what Mr. Brahimi might feel is necessary for him to do.  Whether he would feel he needed to leave Baghdad, I don’t know.  I’d assume that the electoral team would most likely have to travel outside of Baghdad.  The Coalition Provisional Authority has assured us that they would make all necessary security arrangements for our activities.  But I can’t predict now exactly what those activities would be or where it might take them.

Question:   How much larger would this electoral team be than the one that went in January?

Spokesman:  I can’t say, but I assume it would be larger.  There would be more electoral experts on the team than went in January.

Question:   And also, will there be a new security assessment made before the dispatch?

Spokesman:  I think that’s standard procedure.  It’s my understanding that standard procedure now would be that there would be a fresh security assessment before sending people back in.  Colum?

Question:   Yes.  Sergio Vieira de Mello’s members of his team stayed in this hotel that was bombed yesterday, the Mount Lebanon.  Does the UN or does the Secretary-General think in any way that this is a signal for the United Nations not to come back?

Spokesman:  I don’t think that we attached any particular significance to this target.  There were some United Nations people housed in that hotel last year.  But, I mean, there were so many others in that hotel, as well, that I don’t think we’re inclined to see a message to the United Nations in that attack.  John?

Question:   It seems to me there’s a need for factual clarification on how the oil-for-food programme worked.  I tried to meet this; there’s new stories such as today’s Wall Street Journal don’t seem to come to grips with the actual operations of the programme.  Is there any chance of a fact sheet being issued on that subject?

Spokesman:  It would have to be a fact book.  It was such a complicated programme there aren’t that many people in this house who understand it in detail.  We have noticed that as journalists try to get their minds around this programme to comment on it and criticize it, they get tripped up with some regularity on numbers and facts.  We’re looking at a way to more effectively inform you about how the programme worked.  So, we’ll be trying to make available to you, people who had worked on the programme, but who no longer work on the programme because it no longer exists.  But if they are still on our payroll, to bring them back from whatever their new jobs are, to help you better understand.  And when I have names and phone numbers, I will give them to you.  But in the next 24 hours, I hope we will have resource people available to answer your questions.  Mark?

Question:   Just to clarify on this potential wider investigation into the oil-for-food programme, what is being envisaged?  Is the view that the Security Council would have to have to choose to mandate something, but that something might look like the investigation into diamonds or ...?  I mean, I am trying to get a sense of what is being imagined.  Is it an external team that would have somehow Security Council sanctions to look into national books?  What is being talked about here exactly?

Spokesman:  You’re talking too soon.  So, the way this could be approached is still under discussion, and we will announce to you as soon as we know how we are going to do it.  We know that to do it right, we need the support of governments.

Question:   Some people are suggesting, both in editorial pages and also in talk around these corridors, that the surest way for the UN to guarantee there isn’t a proper investigation into the programme is to ask the Security Council to endorse it.  Do you think that’s a fair characterization or is that ...?

Spokesman:  Let us complete our consultations, make a decision and then announce the decision to you.  I don’t want to speculate about the positions of Council members.  Mr. Abbadi?

Question:   Does the letter of the President of the Governing Council to the Secretary-General in any way refer to the date for the establishment of the government?

Spokesman:  I think I said to you that it mentions help with elections that would take place before the end of January.  That’s what is said in the letter.  Yes?

Question:   I am sorry if I maybe did misunderstand this.  Who will be representing the UN at the talks in Switzerland regarding Cyprus?  The Secretary-General himself or Prendergast?

Spokesman:  We said that, as the effort draws to an end, the Secretary-General would be personally involved.  So, it’s Mr. de Soto now; and at some point, the Secretary-General will join the talks.

Question:   Also, I know that Mr. Brahimi is having various meetings like with Fischer today; he’s meeting with the OIC ...  Is there a particular time when we can sort of have a, maybe, a commitment that he would appear to go to the stakeout maybe at some point make himself available to the media?

Spokesman:  Okay.  Well, he was here just a couple of days ago.  But let’s get the answer to the letters out so that we know what our position is going to be and then perhaps we’ll ask him if he would come and talk to you at the stakeout or even in this room.  Yes?

Question:   I am sorry I missed part of the briefing, but when did the letters actually get to the Secretary-General?  Was it this morning or last night?

Spokesman:  This morning at about 20 to 12.  Well, that was the end of the meeting; I don’t know when it started.  But the chargé had delivered that letter by about 20 to 12 today; that’s the Governing Council letter.  I don’t know when the letter from Mr. Bremer came in; but it was in the course of the morning.  That’s my understanding.

Thank you very much.

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