DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
| Press Briefing |
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 Stéphane Dujarric De La Riviere, Associate Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
**Iraq
Good afternoon. I’ll start off with a report from Baghdad.
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, earlier this afternoon, in Baghdad, met with Iraq’s Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi. The two discussed recent developments related to the current stand-off in Najaf.
The UN Envoy reiterated the Secretary-General’s concern regarding the deterioration of the situation and the risks of additional loss of human life. Iraq’s Minister of State, Dr. Kassim Daoud, also participated in the meeting. The Prime Minister and Mr. Qazi also discussed the UN role in the reconstruction of Iraq.
The Prime Minister reiterated his appreciation of the UN’s assistance and facilitating role during the recent National Conference. Yesterday, on Sunday, the UN Envoy met with Mr. Abdulaziz Al Hakim, the Leader of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution (SCIRI) and discussed the situation in the country, as well as the UN role in the political transition phase and in particular the electoral process.
Mr. Hakim was accompanied by SCIRI senior members and earlier in the day, the UN Envoy also met ambassadors of the permanent members of the Security Council, as well as a number of Iraqi civil society leaders.
**Sudan
Turning to the Sudan, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sudan, Jan Pronk, concluded his three-day visit to south and west Darfur yesterday. In south Darfur he travelled to camps for internally displaced persons at Kalma and Kass, and in west Darfur he went to the Netriti camp. In all three locations, he met with humanitarian workers and with representatives of the internally displaced.
In addition, Pronk held two meetings with the Governor of south Darfur, during which the Governor provided details of the actions being undertaken by the Sudanese Government to meet its commitments in the selected areas to be made safe and secure.
Regarding the humanitarian situation, in north Darfur, UN agencies report that some 100 national police have been deployed to checkpoints around El Fasher town. In addition, 200 police officers have been deployed in Malha town and an unconfirmed number of officers have been deployed in the Abu Shouk and Zam Zam camps.
Despite this increased presence, internally displaced persons continue to express concerns about protection and security. Still in north Darfur, humanitarian agencies have started to prepare for interventions in areas under the control of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), where an estimated 50,000 internally displaced persons are currently living.
The UN Children’s Fund and the World Health Organization are also preparing for mass vaccination campaigns in the SLA areas and other agencies, such as the World Food Programme, are hopeful that their access will follow.
Turning to south Darfur, the situation in Kalma and Kass camps appears to have stabilized as humanitarian agencies have resumed their operations. The humanitarian agencies report an increase in police presence, with the establishment of two additional police stations.
In west Darfur, humanitarian agencies reported that local authorities have indicated to internally displaced persons which areas police will be deployed in to ensure their protection. The agencies confirm that police officers are being flown into Geneina airport. Agencies are also investigating further reports of internally displaced persons’ movements along the Chadian border, following indications that they have returned to certain locations in west Darfur. Intensive water and sanitation interventions are under way to avert the further spread of jaundice and hepatitis E outbreak.
Meanwhile, the World Food Programme reports that two months’ rations have been successfully delivered by air and starting 24 August, airdrops will be conducted at four sites in Geneina. The delivery of food by truck has experienced major limitations due to capacity issues and heavy rains.
**Somalia
Yesterday, on Sunday, Somalia’s first parliament in 13 years was inaugurated in a ceremony at the UN Office in Nairobi. Two hundred and six members were sworn in, and they’re expected to choose a president who in turn will nominate a prime minister to form a federal government.
The parliament’s formation comes after two years of negotiations facilitated by the United Nations and the regional organization known as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development.
In a message read to the gathering, the Secretary-General welcomed the inauguration and congratulated all Somalis for this achievement. But he stressed that this is the beginning of long-awaited reconciliation, and he hoped the new parliament would meet its first challenge with the necessary resolve that is required for the election of a President for Somalia.
We have more on the inauguration upstairs, as well as the Secretary-General’s message.
**SG’s Statement on Bangladesh
I now have a statement on Bangladesh.
“The Secretary-General is appalled to learn that the bombing at a rally in Dhaka on Saturday had caused the death reportedly of more than a dozen people and injured a large number of others who had gathered there. He strongly condemns the use of violence against the civilian population and reiterates his call for the perpetrators of these acts to be brought to justice.
“He urges all concerned to exercise restraint and extends his deepest condolences to the families of the victims of this attack.”
**Timor-Leste Report
Timor-Leste’s Government has taken important steps towards self-sufficiency in the past three months, the Secretary-General says in a new report to the Security Council, which is out on the racks today. The preparations for the country’s first elections since independence are making significant progress, he says in the report. Meanwhile, as the UN Mission reduces its personnel, Timorese forces have taken over full responsibility for security.
Since Timor-Leste’s formal assumption of that responsibility on May 20, the Secretary-General says, the overall security situation has remained calm and peaceful, although smuggling, illegal trading and border crossings continue to cause concern.
The Secretary-General also notes the recent overturning of four convictions handed down by the Ad Hoc Human Rights Tribunal of Indonesia in cases connected with the 1999 violence. He writes, “Those responsible for the serious crimes committed in 1999 must be held to account, and it is essential that justice is seen to be done in those cases.”
The Security Council will hold a public meeting on Timor-Leste tomorrow.
**Security Council
As for today, there are no Security Council meetings or consultations this morning. At 3:00 this afternoon, Council members will hold a private meeting with troop contributing countries for the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
**Press Kit for Fifty-Ninth GA Session
And looking ahead to next month, I’d like to let you know that we have upstairs copies of the press kit for the upcoming Fifty-Ninth session of the General Assembly. The Assembly convenes on September 14th, and the press kit contains information on the items included on its provisional agenda, as well as information on Jean Ping, the President of the Fifty-Ninth session of the GA.
**Afghanistan
Turning to Afghanistan, the Afghan Government should immediately release an estimated 725 prisoners detained at Shibergan prison, the UN Independent Expert on Human Rights in Afghanistan said over the weekend. The expert, Cherif Bassiouni, said at the end of his latest visit to Afghanistan that he was unable to visit some 300 to 400 detainees held by coalition forces, and expressed his serious concerns about the legality of their detentions.
The independent expert also voiced his concern that some Afghan women are charged with what are mostly social and alleged moral violations, and are confined to custody in what he called “close to a condition of modern slavery”.
We have the transcript of his briefing upstairs, as well as more from the UN Mission in Kabul.
**Slavery
In Paris today, the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition is taking place at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) headquarters. UNESCO’s Director-General, Mr. Matsuura, said the Day gives an opportunity to reflect on “a tragedy that was concealed for many years and is yet to be fully recognized”. He noted that, although slavery has been abolished, it is still practiced today in new forms that affect millions of people around the world.
**Ethiopia
A couple of notes from Ethiopia from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The Office reports that a field mission to Ethiopia’s south-central Oromiya Region has found that, as a result of erratic and delayed rains, a poor harvest of the main food crops is expected. More seeds are urgently needed, and there’s now deep concern over increasing malnutrition and disease outbreaks. Also, unless the delayed rains extend up to the end of September, there’ll be serious water shortages.
In addition, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that the food pipeline for the World Food Programme’s refugee operation in Ethiopia is expected to break in October unless donors urgently make contributions. And we have more information upstairs on that item.
**Kosovo
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Kosovo, Søren Jessen-Petersen, and the head of the Council of Europe, Walter Schwimmer, today signed an accord on human rights issues for Kosovo. We have a press release upstairs on that.
**FAO/AIDS Mozambique
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) flags that HIV/AIDS is threatening subsistence agriculture in Mozambique with long-term decline, a trend that has ominous implications for the country's food supply. That warning comes from a major new study by the FAO in Mozambique.
**UNODC/Pakistan
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime and Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior and Narcotics Control have signed an agreement to enhance the intelligence capacity of key law enforcement agencies in Pakistan.
The two-year project is designed to better equip Pakistani law enforcement agencies to conduct intelligence-led operations against drug trafficking and organized crime.
**Convention
A housekeeping note: our colleagues at the Safety and Security Service have put together a note on how traffic and public transportation will be affected during the upcoming Republican National Convention here in New York. We’ve made that note available for you upstairs, if you are interested.
That’s it for me. Any questions?
**Questions and Answers
Question: Stéphane, when Mr. Qazi met with Prime Minister Allawi, did he again reiterate the Secretary-General’s offer to use his good offices or intervene in any way, and what was Mr. Allawi’s reaction?
Associate Spokesman: I don’t have any details of that particular conversation. But the Secretary-General’s position remains that he’s prepared to play a facilitating role if he can help and if all sides are, obviously, agreeable to it. But I’ll see if I can get some details of the conversation.
Question: Does the UN have any awareness of what’s going on along the Afghan/Pakistan border? Seems to be some military operation there.
Associate Spokesman: No, I do not have any information on that.
Question: Tomorrow in the Security Council... will Mr. Pronk be back here to brief the Security Council?
Associate Spokesman: No, Mr. Pronk is expected to brief the Council in person early next month and a senior official from the Department of Political Affairs will do the briefing tomorrow on Sudan.
Question: Was Pronk not going to brief the Council on August 30th?
Associate Spokesman: The report is due on August 30th. As for the exact date of his briefing to the Council, whether or not it’s exactly on the 30th or the day after… the problem is if it’s the day after, it’s a new presidency, so the calendar has to be worked out. But it will be very close to the 30th. The report itself will be in on the 30th.
Question: Now that the National Conference has been held and the Council has been set up, what are the next specific steps that the UN will undertake prior to the elections in January?
Associate Spokesman: The steps will be to continue to assist the Iraqi Independent Electoral Commission in organizing the elections and, obviously, also on the development front, and whatever further assistance in the political transition process is requested by the Iraqi Government.
Question: Just as a follow-up to that, are there any plans for Carina Perelli to go back? And if she does go back, can she come talk to us before?
Associate Spokesman: No, on the first part of the question, and we will ask her again to come down and talk to you as soon as she’s able and willing to come down. I don’t think she’s in New York this week, but we have a constant call into her office.
Question: Do we have a better idea about when the heads of mission of the Burundi and Democratic Republic of the Congo peacekeeping missions will be reporting back to the Council on the findings on the massacre in Gatumba?
Associate Spokesman: No, the investigation is still ongoing and I don’t have a date on when we expect that investigation to be completed.
Thank you very much.
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