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,

**Secretary-Generalto Talk to Press

The Secretary-General is back from a three-week trip.  He is working at his residence this morning.  He will be coming in for a series of appointments this afternoon.  We think he should be arriving around 2:15, and we will set up the stakeout for him in the lobby.  And, he has agreed to stop and talk to you for a few minutes at about that time.  We’ll keep you posted in case there is any change in his arrival time.

**Security Council

The Security Council began today with consultations on the subject of “Threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts” during which a presidential statement, to be adopted at the end of a public meeting on the same subject, was introduced.

The public meeting began with a briefing by Ambassador Alexander Konuzin, the Chairman of the Counter-Terrorism Committee.

In addition to the Council members, there are nine countries slated to speak.

**Sudan - Security Council

The Security Council presidency has informed us that tentatively scheduled for Wednesday morning is a briefing in closed consultations by the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sudan, Jan Pronk.

**Sudan - Humanitarian

Meanwhile, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says the body set up to monitor the United Nations and Sudan’s Joint Communiqué, by which Sudan pledged to facilitate humanitarian access to Darfur, met on Saturday in Khartoum.

At that meeting, UN officials said that, although humanitarian access had improved, there had been no progress on security and protection of internally displaced persons in the region, according to OCHA.  Instead, air raids and attacks by the Janjaweed and Government-aligned militias were making the displaced persons too afraid to return to their villages.

OCHA also reports that progress has been made in meeting the humanitarian needs of the displaced persons, but significant gaps remain.  Humanitarian agencies are also worried about recent attacks targeting them, as well as by the increasing pressure the Sudanese Government is putting on internally displaced persons (IDPs) to return to their villages or other relocation sites.

There are more details of the humanitarian situation in a press release available upstairs.

**Afghanistan

A joint UN-Afghan report on human rights shows an uneven human rights picture in Afghanistan, with the degree of political freedom appearing to be greater in Kabul and in the east, and lower in parts of the south.

In western Afghanistan, meanwhile, registered political parties complain that local authorities are curtailing their freedom of expression and operation.  The report also observes a high degree of self-censorship among parties and people who do not share the beliefs of those who hold power in the country’s different regions.

The report, written by the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission and the UN Mission in Afghanistan, was released on Saturday.  It includes a number of recommendations to improve the environment in which the electoral process is currently unfolding.

**ICTY

Last Friday, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia unsealed the indictment of a Croatian Serb, Goran Hadzic, who was charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes for murder, torture and other acts committed against Croats and other non-Serbs in the Krajina region.

In a press conference today, Tribunal Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte said that the indictment was unsealed after the prosecutors had been informed that Hadzic had been informed about the arrest warrant against him and had gone into hiding.

She said that the authorities in Belgrade had failed to cooperate with the Tribunal, and urged the Serbian Government to “put its actions where its mouth is” and arrest Hadzic and transfer him to The Hague.

We have a press release upstairs with more details.

**Peru

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has made an emergency grant of $25,000 to Peru’s Government to alleviate suffering brought on by recent snowstorms and intense cold weather in that country.  It has also offered a second grant, also of $25,000, from pre-positioned Danish funds.

Peru has officially declared a state of emergency in eight of its departments, with the number of people affected by the snowstorms and severe cold estimated at more than 150,000.  Agriculture has also been severely affected.

And we have more details in a press release upstairs.

**Guest at Noon Tomorrow

Our guest here tomorrow will be Ibrahim Gambari, the UN’s Special Adviser on Africa.  And he will be here to talk to you about the appointment of the Secretary-General’s Advisory Panel on International Support for the New Partnership on Africa.

**Press Conferences Tomorrow

And press conferences tomorrow, there are two:  President Ricardo Lagos of Chile will be holding a press conference in this room at 12:45 p.m.; and then at 4:30 p.m., Prime Minister Adrian Nastase of Romania will be here to brief you on the Security Council’s thematic debate on cooperation between the UN and regional organizations in stabilization processes.

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

**Questions and Answers

Question:   Meanwhile, what is the UN’s assessment of how the Sudanese Government has performed since the Secretary-General’s visit to Sudan?

Spokesman:  The Security Council has asked Jan Pronk to brief them.  The Secretary-General is just back.  I think he will want to talk to Pronk and also consult with Council members before making any assessment.  On the humanitarian side, you heard my report.  They’re saying that they see no progress on improving the security situation in the country, and some progress on easing humanitarian access in the work of humanitarian aides.  So, it looks from all outward appearances like a mixed picture.  But, I think it’s too soon for the Secretary-General to say.  And you would maybe get a chance to ask him directly when he comes in this afternoon.  But I believe that would be his answer.

Question:   A question on Iraq.  Given the repeated threats to Iyad Allawi, does the UN have any ideas as what should happen in Iraq?  Should the elections be delayed, for whatever reason, at the end of the year?

Spokesman:  I think that would be a question for the Iraqis to decide.  From a technical point of view, I mean, we would have to ask Carina Perelli what she would advise, but I don’t think we want to speculate about obstacles to the process before they actually arise.  So, let’s hope that the elections can be held on schedule as planned.

Question:   Fred, Lakhdar Brahimi is on the record as saying that the UN does not have a “plan B”.  Is that still the position?

Spokesman:  Well, I mean if that’s what he says, then that must be the case.  But again, I think if you’re talking specifically about elections, and it’s a technical issue, let’s ask Carina Perelli.  Yes, Frank?

Question:   Do you know when they’re going to have a vote in the GA this afternoon?

Spokesman:  On the barrier?

Question:   Yeah.

Spokesman:  I don’t know.  There was talk of holding a vote this afternoon, as you know.  Some question about whether everyone was in position to do that.  And so, the latest, I don’t actually have the latest.  We’ll have to ask the General Assembly President whether there has been any change in their plan for a vote today.  Yes?

[The Spokesman later confirmed that the General Assembly had scheduled a meeting at 3 p.m. today at which a draft resolution was to be introduced.]

Question:   Now the Secretary-General is back, has there been any talk about when the Palestinians might be meeting with him regarding Larsen?  Last week they had said that they wanted to speak with him about what had... (interrupted).

Spokesman:  Yes, I am aware that there was that intention to meet with the Secretary-General.  I don’t know whether that meeting has yet been scheduled or even whether they have formally asked for it.  So, if you check with me after the briefing, I will try to find out for you.  Akram?

[The Spokesman announced later that there were no meetings scheduled by the Arab League and the Palestinians, on the one hand, and the Secretary-General, on the other.]

Question:   The security situation in Iraq is worsening without any control over it.  Does the Secretary-General see any possibility to do something so that at the beginning of the year the elections will be held in that country?

Spokesman:  Well, you know, security in Iraq is not something we’ve taken responsibility for.  So, the multinational force and the emerging Iraqi security forces are there to try to get the security situation under control.  It’s a tall order.  Everyone knows that.  But, as I have already said, the hope is elections can go ahead as scheduled and that gradually with Iraqis in charge of the process, the security situation would, perhaps slowly, but at least steadily improve.  Yes?

Question:   Where is Ambassador Brahimi now?  Is he still holding consultations on the conference in Iraq or outside Iraq?

Spokesman:  I honestly don’t know.  You catch me by surprise with that question.  So, see me right after the briefing, I’ll get an answer for you.  Yes?

[The Spokesman later announced that Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi was in Egypt on official business.]

Question:   Can you tell as about the whereabouts of Mr. Larsen after the statement by the Palestinian Authority?

Spokesman:  Where is he physically?  I don’t know.  I’d have to check for you.  The Secretary-General spoke with him by phone from the airport terminal on Saturday.  So, I know that the two of them have spoken recently.  But where Mr. Larsen was at that time, or where he might be today, I’ll have to check for you.

[The Spokesman later announced that Mr. Larsen was now in Norway on leave.]

Question:   Is he in any danger that we can talk of?

Spokesman:  Any?

Question:   Any danger after the statement that he was persona non-grata?

Spokesman:  I am not aware, but neither would I be free to discuss any security threat against him.  But I am not aware of any increased security concern since the testimony that he gave to the Security Councillast week and the reaction to it.

Thank you very much.

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