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 Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Good afternoon.  Sorry I’m a few minutes late.

**Statement on Hostage-Taking in Russian Federation

I have a statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General on the hostage-taking in the Russian Federation.

The Secretary-General was appalled to learn that more than 100 pupils are being held hostage at a secondary school in Beslan, Russian Federation.  The attack on the school has already resulted in deaths.  He calls for the immediate release of the children, their parents and teachers, and condemns in the strongest terms this criminal act directed against the most vulnerable members of society.

**Bellamy on Hostage-Taking

Also on this issue, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Carol Bellamy appealed for the “immediate and unconditional release of the children”.

“Children must never be used for political purposes, and schools must never be degraded to places of violence”, she said.

“They must be preserved as safe havens for children to learn and play.  If we don’t respect the sanctity of childhood, then we have nothing.”

Bellamy added that the children's safety should be the paramount concern of all parties involved.

Her statement is available upstairs.

**Moscow Subway Terrorist Attack

In a statement we issued yesterday, the Secretary-General condemned in the strongest terms the terrorist attack at the Rizhskaya subway station in Moscow, which resulted in the death and injury of many innocent victims.  He conveyed his heartfelt condolences to the Russian people and the families of the victims.

**Security Council

Here at United Nations Headquarters, Spain has assumed the presidency of the Security Council for the month of September.  The Council President, Ambassador Juan Antonio Yañez-Barnuevo of Spain, is currently holding bilateral meetings today on the month’s programme.

We announced to you a short while ago that the Council President has scheduled consultations at 5:00 p.m. today on the programme of work, the situation in the Middle East and Threats to International Peace and Security caused by terrorist acts, and other matters.

The Security Council President is scheduled to brief you here in room 226 around 1:00 p.m. tomorrow on the September programme of work.

**Security Council - Sudan

And as you know by now, the Security Council has received the report on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1556 concerning Darfur, Sudan.

And the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sudan, Jan Pronk, will brief the Council on the report in an open meeting tomorrow.  He will speak to you at the stakeout following that open briefing.

**Sudan - Release of WFP Staff

On Sudan from the field, the World Food Programme (WFP) today announced the safe release of three of its employees who had been held captive by rebels in Darfur.

While welcoming their release, WFP condemned the fact that humanitarian workers were being targeted by armed groups.

The three WFP staff, as well as three members of the Sudanese Red Crescent, disappeared in north Darfur on Saturday afternoon, while they were on a mission to register displaced people.

Their release was secured on Wednesday, following negotiations by a United Nations security team with rebels from the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) who had abducted them.

The WFP, meanwhile, appealed for $12 million to expand its special feeding in refugee camps in Chad to save tens of thousands of children under the age of five as well as women fleeing Darfur.

**Sudan - Other

Insecurity and violent clashes continue to be reported in the three states of Darfur, according to information reported at the weekly press briefing by the UN mission in Khartoum today, and a general feeling of fear remains among the internally displaced persons (IDPs) who are reluctant to return to their villages at this time.

Major gaps in humanitarian relief remain, despite an increase in many types of assistance that has been delivered over the past few weeks.

The briefing notes also mention that on the Naivasha talks in Kenya, on the North-South Sudan peace process, the Government of the Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement -- the SPLM -- renewed yesterday the agreement on cessation of hostilities for another three months, until 31 November of this year.

Briefing notes from Khartoum are available upstairs.

**Iraq

Turning to Iraq:  from Baghdad, the Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative, RossMountain, today met with Ms. Pascale Isho, Iraq’s Minister of Displacement and Migration.

They discussed the issue of the resettlement of internally displaced persons in the north and the returning refugees from Iran in the south of Iraq.  The continuing United Nations support for the Ministry and their facilities in Basra was also discussed.

More information is available upstairs.

**Nepal

And yesterday afternoon, for those who may have missed it, we issued a statement on behalf of the Secretary-General regarding the killing of the 12 Nepalese hostages in Iraq.  Through the statement, the Secretary-General said he was appalled and dismayed by the gruesome murder.

He conveyed his deepest sympathy and sincere condolences to the bereaved families. 

We have a full text of that statement upstairs.

**Côte d’Ivoire

On the racks today, is the latest report to the Security Council on Côte d’Ivoire by the Secretary-General.  In it he says that it is encouraging that some progress has been made in Côte d’Ivoire towards implementing the Accra Agreement, but adds that much remains to be done, within a short period of time.

The Secretary-General urges the Ivorian parties to ensure that crucial deadlines for the adoption of legal reforms, and for the revision of Article 35 of the Constitution on the eligibility criteria for the Presidency, are closely adhered to.

He reminds the Ivorian parties of their personal responsibility for ensuring that the commitments made in Accra are translated into concrete actions on the ground that will urgently move the peace process forward.

The report notes that the deployment of the UN Mission in Côte d’Ivoire has had a general positive impact on the security in the country, which has continued to become more stable during this period.

**UNRWA

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) today protested to the Israeli Government at the ongoing closure of the Erez Crossing into the Gaza Strip.

The closure, which began on Tuesday, that’s the 31^st of August, yesterday, seriously damages UNRWA’s ability to carry out its humanitarian mandate in the occupied Palestinian territory.

In an unprecedented and serious development, the Israeli authorities have barred Peter Hansen, the Agency’s Commissioner-General, from leaving Gaza to carry out his duties in the West Bank.  It is unheard of for the executive head of a United Nations agency to have his freedom of movement flagrantly curtailed by a memberState of the United Nations in this way.

We have more upstairs in a press release from UNRWA.

**Rwanda Tribunal

Also out today is the ninth report of the Rwanda Tribunal, saying the Tribunal is on schedule to complete all trials by 2008.  To accomplish that task, the Tribunal would complete trials involving some 65 to 70 persons over the next few years.

By the end of this year, 25 persons will be on trial, the report says.

However, it adds, the Tribunal needs sufficient resources to complete its work.  Recently, recruitment of new staff was frozen because certain member States had failed to pay their contributions to the ad hoc tribunals.  It is essential that this situation be resolved as soon as possible.

**Afghanistan

And today in Afghanistan, the Afghan Government and the United Nations Mission launched a joint appeal for $71.3 million to deal with the drought in parts of the country.  That includes $51.8 million for food and $19.4 million for non-food items.

**Guatemala

And the UN Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) has deplored the violent clashes which took place yesterday when riot police tried to evict armed squatters from a ranch in the southern province of Retalhuleu.  In a press release, MINUGUA stresses that the current crisis is affecting hundreds of peasant families and calls for land conflicts to be resolved through dialogue and public policies.

**UNFPA - Reproductive Health

Developing countries are making real gains in promoting reproductive health and women’s rights, but they’re hampered by inadequate support from rich nations and serious problems persist.

That was the message of Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund, at an NGO conference in London yesterday.

We have her comments available in a press release upstairs.

**United Nations Volunteers

Also available today, in a note on the racks today, is the Secretary-General saying that he is pleased that the Joint Inspection Unit has concluded that the UN Volunteers programme has proven to be dynamic and quick to respond to changing and expanding demands. 

**ILO - Economic Security

And finally, economic security remains out of reach for most of the world's workers with about three quarters of them living in circumstances of economic insecurity that foster "a world full of anxiety and anger”.  That’s one of the findings a new study by the International Labour Organization (ILO).

The report highlights that people's economic security promotes personal well-being, happiness and tolerance, while benefiting growth and development.

But that only eight per cent of people -- fewer than one in 10 -- live in countries providing favourable economic security.

You can read more about that upstairs in our office as well.

That’s all I have for you.  Any questions?  Yes, Richard?

**Questions and Answers

Question:  I realize it’s not an official document, but how significant is the Secretary-General’s report on Sudan -- do you believe -- in this humanitarian crisis, what the findings are for the Security Council?

Associate Spokesperson:  I think we have to defer comment on this report until tomorrow.  The Security Council members just received an advance copy of the report in English overnight.  They’re studying it now.  Jan Pronk, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, will be briefing in an open meeting tomorrow morning, and he will take questions from you at the stakeout microphone immediately afterwards.

Question:  Can you give us one highlight, though; that it seems to be a report that indicates the Sudanese Government is still not doing enough?

Associate Spokesman:  Richard, the document that you’re reading from is not out as an official document yet.  It was transmitted to members of the Council to study prior to the briefing tomorrow. 

Question:  Actually, I’m reading something else here.  The Governor of California, in his speech to the Republican National Convention, said if you’re in favour of democracy, then the United States, in effect, is your best hope, not the United Nations.  That makes you a Republican.  What is your comment on that?

Associate Spokesperson:  Well, I don’t think we’re going to comment on every speech made at a political convention.  But I would like to point out to you that by the end of today, the United Nations will have hosted about 1,000 Republicans who are in New York to attend the convention.

In an event sponsored by the UN Foundation later today, over 650 young Republicans will be attending a briefing on the United Nations, where they are going to be hearing from UN officials on issues from United Nations reform to the United Nations role in Iraq, Sudan and Afghanistan.

And last night, a reception was held for the International Democrat Union (IDU), an international associate of conservative political parties.  We had some very senior UN officials there as well.  

Additionally, free tours of the United Nations were offered to all Republican delegates and their families.  And we just looked into that and we expect by the end of today to have given organized tours to close to 900 convention attendees.

Question:  So is he taking a cheap shot at the United Nations?

Associate Spokesperson:  As I said, we’re not going to comment on individual speeches at the convention.

Question:  Has Security been alerted that so many Republicans are in the building? 

Associate Spokesperson:  Security is aware of everything going on in the building.  Thanks. 

Question:  Can you give me any more details about the WFP people who were taken?  Was that by the Sudanese Government, what happened to them and how many of them were there?  Were there three?

Associate Spokesperson:  Yes, there’s a press release upstairs from the WFP, as well as from the UN Mission in Khartoum.  But what happened was that  three Sudanese local staff of the WFP, and also a few -- three -- Sudanese Red Crescent workers on a routine mission went missing as of 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.  And we just heard the good news that they had been released. 

If there are no other questions, have a very good afternoon.

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