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 Marie Okabe, Associate Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Good Afternoon.

**Guest at Noon

We are expecting as a guest, depending on how quickly the Security Council consultations are finished -- the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Haiti, Reginald Dumas.  I’ll let you know whether he will get here in time before the end of the briefing.

**Secretary-General/Cyprus Talks

The Secretary-General met separately today with the Greek Cypriot delegation and the Turkish Cypriot delegation in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, to receive their reactions to the draft plan that he unveiled yesterday.

Alvaro de Soto, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus, met with Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Yiannis Valinikis for the same purpose.  He had received the reaction of the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after the Prime Minister’s arrival in Bürgenstock last night.  Greek Prime Minister Costas Caramanlis is also participating in the talks.

Contacts at the working level are continuing, while the Secretary-General and his team evaluate the reactions they have received to see whether further adjustments can be made in the time remaining.

The Secretary-General began the day by meeting with the European Commissioner for enlargement.

**Security Council

The Security Council is holding consultations this morning on Haiti, on which it is receiving a briefing by the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, Reginald Dumas.  Mr. Dumas will speak to you shortly, as I just mentioned.

Once consultations adjourn, the Council expects to go into two formal meetings.  The first concerns a resolution on a six-month extension of the UN Mission in Sierra Leone, and the second will be to adopt a presidential statement extending the present arrangements of the Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee, also by six months.

I have just been informed that, unfortunately, Mr. Dumas will not be out in time to be the guest here; and that he will go to the Security Council stakeout microphone following the consultations.  Hopefully, we will have an announcement here; so, if you need to go out, you can do that.  Otherwise, we will squawk it upstairs.

**Statement Attributable to Spokesman on Uzbekistan

I have a couple of statements attributable to the Spokesman.  The first one is on terrorist acts in Uzbekistan:

“The Secretary-General expressed his dismay about the series of terrorist bombings and other violent acts perpetrated in the past two days in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, and the provincial centre, Bukhara, which reportedly claimed the lives of more than 20 people and left more than 50 injured, most of them civilians.

“The Secretary-General condemns those criminal acts in the strongest terms.  Targeting of civilians is a crime, which cannot be justified by any cause.”

**Democratic Republic of Congo Death of South African Peacekeeper

Turning to Africa, the UN Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) reports that a South African peacekeeper was killed yesterday in an isolated incident in the vicinity of Bukavu in the east.

The MONUC is investigating the incident, and we have the following statement attributable to the Spokesman:

“The Secretary-General is deeply saddened by the killing of a MONUC contingent member near Bukavu yesterday.  While the perpetrators of the incident remain unknown, he condemns in the strongest possible terms any attempts to deter MONUC, that is the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, from carrying out its mandate.

“MONUC is carrying out a full investigation into the incident.”

**Democratic Republic of Congo Report

The peace process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is facing daunting challenges, says the Secretary-General in his latest report on the UN Mission in that country, which was issued yesterday as a Security Council document.

In the report, the Secretary-General expresses deep concern on continuing reports of atrocities against civilians by militia groups, especially in Ituri.  He also regrets that the pace of normalization of relations between the DRC and its neighbours has slowed down.

He draws attention to serious delays in enacting key legislation which would pave the way towards national elections in 2005, and which would also trigger essential international assistance.  The Secretary-General says that the increasing factionalism within the Transitional Government is disquieting.  He calls on all government members to work together to build on the progress achieved so as to keep the peace process on track.

**Kosovo

On Kosovo, Harri Holkeri, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Kosovo, today delivered a message on his behalf, at a ceremony commemorating the two police officers killed there last week.

The two officers, one from Ghana and one from Kosovo, were shot while carrying out routine work in the Pristina region.  A UN language assistant who was also shot is in serious but stable condition.

At the ceremony, Mr. Holkeri extended his condolences to the families of the officers, praising their commitment and courage; and wished their wounded colleague a speedy recovery.

We have more in a press release available upstairs.

While on the topic of Kosovo, Mr. Holkeri also signed today signed an Executive Decision to set up a Crisis Management Review Body to review the UN Mission in Kosovo’s response to the disturbances there during 17-18 March.

The body, to be chaired by an international judge or jurist, will include qualified international crisis management experts as members, to be appointed by Mr. Holkeri.

It will evaluate and assess the response of the UN Mission to the crisis, and make recommendations for enhancing the effectiveness of security and protection mechanisms and procedures for future crises.

We have more on this in a press release upstairs.

**Sudan

Civilians in Darfur in the Sudan, who continue to be attacked by armed groups, also now face shortages of water, and outbreaks of communicable diseases such as measles, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

It says internally displaced persons continue to face repeated attacks and looting of humanitarian aid.  Indiscriminate killings, gang rapes, abductions, looting, forced migration and general intimidation are reportedly occurring on a daily basis and are widespread throughout the region.

Attacks against civilians are forcing internally displaced persons to congregate in larger and more urban areas, which increases the risk of disease outbreaks.  There have already been reports of up to 30 cases of measles in one location.  Scarce sources of water around which the internally displaced congregate are dwindling rapidly.

Growing needs are overwhelming the current capacity of aid groups, who are strengthening their staff and material resources and pre-positioning stocks.  Aid agencies in the area report that violence limits their ability to sufficiently assess the needs of internally displaced persons.

Meanwhile, Tom Vraalsen, the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs for the Sudan, has arrived in N’Djamena, Chad, for talks on a humanitarian ceasefire for the conflict stricken Darfur region of the Sudan.  We hope to have more on that later.

**Colombia

The UN refugee agency has sent staff and aid to parts of western Colombia, amid reports of intensified fighting that has displaced more than 1,500 people in the last two weeks.

UNHCR confirmed that heavy fighting between left-wing guerrillas and right-wing paramilitaries in the Choco region had driven more than 500 indigenous Embera people from their homes.  Elsewhere, along the NapipiRiver, armed clashes have forced a separate group, of nearly 700 indigenous people, to flee.  There is more on this in UNHCR’s briefing notes from Geneva.

**Pregnant Women

In a joint report issued by the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization, the number of pregnant women in the developing world who are receiving antenatal care during their pregnancies has increased significantly since 1990.

The number of women receiving antenatal care has increased by 20 per cent since 1990, with the greatest progress reported in Asia, and the least improvement in sub-Saharan Africa.  We have a press release with more details on this development.

**UNEP/Island Rubbish

Urgent international assistance is needed to help small island States deal with a rising tide of rubbish and wastes, according to studies carried out by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

UNEP says the waste material not only threatens public health, but also livelihoods, as many small island developing States are dependent on income from tourists.

For example, the Pacific island of Nauru, now has a “blue green shoreline”  –- but this has nothing to do with it being next to a beautiful azure sea.

The colour is caused by rubbish or more specifically mounds of discarded Victoria beer cans.

UNEP, in collaboration with other UN agencies and waste institutions, has been helping small island States to fight this problem.  We have more in a press release upstairs.

**Statement Attributable to Spokesman on Death of Alistair Cooke

And finally, I have another statement from the Secretary-General and just two more announcements:

“The Secretary-General was saddened by the death of Alistair Cooke.  The Secretary-General was a great admirer of Mr. Cooke’s renowned ‘Letter from America’.  But Mr. Cooke also had a special place in the history of the United Nations.  In 1945, as a journalist for the Manchester Guardian, he covered the San Francisco conference at which the United Nations was founded.  And from 1961 to 1967, he was the producer and on-camera presenter for ‘International Zone’, a globally distributed programme on world affairs produced by the UN Department of Public Information.  The Secretary-General pays tribute to Mr. Cooke’s lifelong efforts to increase mutual understanding between peoples, and extends condolences to Mr. Cooke’s family and all others touched by this loss.”

**Press Conference Today

Press conferences this afternoon, but before that I think I have another update on Mr. Dumas.  We will squawk when Mr. Dumas will be at the stakeout.  So, he will definitely not come here.

But at 2:00 o’clock this afternoon, we will have Mr. Daudi Mwakawago, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sierra Leone, who will brief you on the situation in that country.  He was originally scheduled to come earlier, but he asked for a postponement of that briefing.

**Guest at Noon Tomorrow

And finally, tomorrow we have as a guest at the noon briefing Stephen Lewis, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, who will be joining us to talk about HIV/AIDS in Swaziland.

And that’s all I have for you.  Michéle Montas, the General Assembly Spokeswoman, is here if you have any questions for her.  Any questions?

**Questions and Answers

Question:  Two incidents back to back in the Congo.  One in Bukavu, the other one in Kinshasa the other day.  Do we know what’s going on?

Associate Spokesperson:  Well, as I mentioned, the body of the South African peacekeeper was something that was just discovered last night and an investigation has been launched.  We did issue a statement by the Secretary-General on the disturbances in Kinshasa yesterday, and at the moment I don’t see any correlation between the two.  But we will provide you more as soon as we find out more about the Bukavu incident.  But as the Secretary-General said in his report, there is still a lot of work that remains to be done, and I suggest we review that report, as well, and the Security Council will be taking up that report shortly in its consultations.

Question:  Is there any report of the Secretary-General due on the Congo now?

Associate Spokesperson:  It just came out.  One just came out and the Council will be taking it up. I don’t have a Council programme in front of me, but usually a report comes out a few days before members take it up in consultations.  Yes?

Question:  I have two questions on the security in Iraq; the accountability panel report.  First of all, does Louise Fréchette or anybody else in the Secretary-General’s immediate entourage have any plans to talk to us at some point about what happened; about what was said there in the report?  And the second question, the report concludes that the panel was fully aware that the organization and its staff will continue to have to accept risks, perhaps at higher levels than in the past.  Now that the UN is preparing to go back to Iraq, what is the UN’s assessment of how the security situation may have changed since then?

Associate Spokesperson:  Okay, let me start with your first question regarding senior officials talking to you.  As you know, the Secretary-General’s intention had been to address this issue himself on Friday before his departure.  Unfortunately, this could not happen, and, therefore, it was the Spokesman for the Secretary-General together with the Chair of the panel who ended up giving you the announcement.  But it was the intention by the Secretary-General himself to do this.  And as I said, it was an unfortunate development that he could not.  As of now, I have not heard of any further plans for any other senior officials to address you on this matter.  [It was clarified later that the Secretary-General had intended to be in New York when the findings and response to the report were announced.]  Regarding security in Iraq, I don’t want to go over the report because it was covered fairly extensively.  But I think in terms of risks, what the report was trying to say was that nobody had expected the kind of attack that took place on the United Nations, that had occurred on 19 August on that scale.  And, therefore, the world changed for the United Nations in terms of its operating environment since then.  As for when and how the UN would go back to Iraq in any large numbers, that will obviously depend on further security assessments and improvements in the security environment before that decision can take place.

Question:  Do we know how much improvement has taken place since the attack as far as the security situation that would allow the UN to go back at this point in time or not yet?

Associate Spokesperson:  Improvement in the security environment for ...?

Question:  For the UN to go back to Iraq.

Associate Spokesperson:  Well, as you know each time any assessment has gone in, we have done an assessment for that particular mission.  There is on the ground a liaison security team now that is constantly monitoring and looking towards the future.  Before the UN decides to send back staff to Iraq, obviously at that point, a green light would have to go on about whether the security situation is right for them to return.  But no, there is no public document that is assessing, for the UN at least, the level of security for UN staff on a day-to-day basis since the attack.

Question:  Can we hear now when Mr. Brahimi is going back?  Is he definitely going back?  And is the team that’s there at the moment, are they purely looking at the arrangements for the elections at the end of the year or are there any of Mr. Brahimi’s team there who might be looking at this rather more pressing issue of the handover of power?

Associate Spokesperson:  No.  On the ground, as you know, led by Ms. Perelli, is a technical team.  It is looking into the technical aspects.  There is a short media advisory put out by them that is upstairs for you to pick up which explains specifically what their terms of reference are; which is exactly what you are saying.  We are expecting Mr. Brahimi to go in soon and again as last time, we will convey to you, announce to you, as soon as he arrives there, whether it’s in the middle of the night or over the weekend.  Yes?

Question:  On the General Assembly, do we know if any call has been placed to the President to do the investigation as requested by the 14 heads of the Caribbean countries?

Associate Spokesperson:  Michéle Montas will answer that.

Spokeswoman for General Assembly President:  Yes.  President Julian Hunte is away right now, in Japan.  However, I do know that the Representative of Jamaica is trying to reach him and to discuss with him the possibility of the General Assembly examining the situation and the request by CARICOM.  But the President has not received yet a formal letter.

Question:  But what is the position of Mr. Dumas?

Associate Spokesperson:  Let’s ask Mr. Dumas when he comes to the Security Council stakeout.

Question:  Well, he clearly doesn’t know his position because 14 Caribbean countries did not recognize the government and he is Representative of the Secretary-General.  That’s an embarrassing situation.

Associate Spokesperson:  Let’s ask him.  He will be in front of you shortly.

If there are no other questions, have a pleasant afternoon.  Thank you.

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