Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

AND SPOKESMAN FOR THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT

Following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General and Djibril Diallo, Spokesman for the General Assembly President.

Good afternoon.

**Guest at Noon

Jan Egeland, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, and the UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator, will be joining us today to talk about the UN Flash Appeals in response to the recent natural disasters in Haiti and Grenada.

**Statement Attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

The following statement is attributable to the Spokesman regarding an event in Pakistan:

“The Secretary-General has learned with dismay and abhorrence the reports of a terrorist attack on a mosque in the town of Sialkot in Pakistan during Friday prayers today, which has killed and injured a large number of worshipers.  No cause or motive can justify attacks on places of worship and innocent civilians.  The Secretary-General condemns this cowardly act in the strongest terms.  He also calls for calm and restraint in the wake of the dastardly act.”

**Lebanon

The Security Council has now received advance copies of the Secretary-General’s report pursuant to resolution 1559.

The resolution, among other things, calls on all remaining foreign troops to leave Lebanon and the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias.

A senior UN official will brief you on background in this room immediately after Mr. Egeland’s briefing.

**The Sudan -- Arbour

Following yesterday’s Security Council consultations on the Sudan, High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour told reporters that the Council had received a briefing on the mission that she and Special Adviser for the Prevention for Genocide Juan Mendez had made to Darfur.

Most importantly, Arbour said, they had highlighted the recommendation that there should be an international police presence in Darfur to monitor and assist the Sudanese police in their tasks, particularly in and around camps for displaced persons.

She noted that in some camps the number of police is clearly insufficient, but even when the police presence has substantially increased, people have no confidence in it, she said.  Some IDPs have claimed that they recognized some police officers as former Janjaweed elements, she said.

She added, in response to a question, that she did not see conditions that were conducive to safe and voluntary return.  Arbour has said that the camp residents were “trapped in prisons without walls”.

Juan Mendez told reporters that “we have not turned a corner” in terms of preventing genocide from happening in the future, or even the near future.  Genocide could still happen, he said, and therefore, we need to prevent it.

**The Sudan -- Chad

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees and Chadian authorities are stepping up efforts to improve security in and around refugee camps in eastern Chad in the wake of increasing violence against Sudanese refugees.  Three refugees have been killed in recent days.

The 180 Chadian gendarmes, 20 of whom are women, deployed under an agreement between UNHCR and the Chadian Government, have begun patrols in and around the refugee camps.

**Security Council

Today is the first day of the U.K. Presidency of the Security Council for the month of October.

As is customary, the President, Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry of the United Kingdom, is holding bilateral meetings on the month’s programme.

Then, at 3:30 p.m., the Council will hold a meeting on its response to the Secretary-General’s letter regarding close protection troops for UN staff in Iraq.

It will be followed by a meeting to vote on a resolution on the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, whose mandate expires today.

**Iraq -- UNICEF

The head of the UN Children’s Fund yesterday said that the killing of dozens of children in Baghdad was an “unconscionable slaughter of innocents”.

Carol Bellamy said it was obvious that no regard was shown for the presence of children at the site of the bombing.  She added, “The killing of children is a crime and a moral outrage.”

Iraq is one of the most dangerous places in the world for children, Bellamy said.

**Haiti

According to the UN Mission in Haiti, the total number of peacekeepers currently in that country is 3,089.

In Gonaives, the Argentinean contingent is escorting two daily convoys of trucks carrying food and water to the warehouse of the non-governmental organization CARE.  It is also providing medical assistance to some 1,900 injured Haitians per day at premises set up in the University of Haiti.  And additional support is being provided by 141 Uruguayan troops who arrived in Gonaïves on 26 September.

Further details regarding humanitarian assistance, as well as military, police and civil activities, political affairs and gender issues are available in the Highlights issued in Port-au-Prince by the UN Mission.

**Grenada

In connection with the launching today of a UN Flash Appeal for Grenada and Haiti, the UN Development Programme has issued a survey of the damage created by Hurricane Ivan on Grenada.

The survey shows that Ivan destroyed 9 out of 10 homes on the island, leaving more than half the country’s 110,000 citizens homeless and in desperate need of basic supplies.  It also says that Grenada’s biggest foreign exchange earner -- its tourism industry –- has been shattered just before the crucial winter holiday season.

**Great Lakes

Angola, the Central African Republic, and the Republic of Congo, along with the Sudan, have been accepted as core members to the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region.  Their membership brings the total number of core countries to 11.

The request by these States to be full-fledged members is based on the position that they are always directly affected by events within the Great Lakes region, especially in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The next meeting to prepare for the Conference will be held in Kinshasa from 19 to 23 October.  Further information is available in a press release.

**FAO/Locust Update

The Food and Agriculture Organization says that desert locust control operations have been expanded in West Africa, but countries are still facing serious shortages of pesticides and the aircraft to spray them.

FAO now has $14.7 million on hand to increase pest control operations, with a further $40 million of pledged contributions –- around $12 million have been promised by donors but are awaiting confirmation.  FAO is providing around $6 million from its own resources.

Around 3 to 4 million hectares of land are now estimated to be infested in West Africa, with Mauritania, Mali, Niger and Senegal currently the countries most severely affected.  We have more in an FAO press release upstairs.

**SG/Day of Older Persons

Populations in developing countries will age most rapidly in the coming century –- yet those countries have only limited economic resources with which to respond to the ageing of their societies.  That’s part of the Secretary-General’s message to mark this year’s International Day of Older Persons, which is today.

He adds that the challenge will be to ensure that those countries don’t experience the ageing of their societies as a burden -– but derive from it added value and opportunities for development through an actively engaged older population.

We have copies of his full message upstairs.

**Liberia

The UN refugee agency announced the start today of a massive, three-year voluntary repatriation programme to return home some 340,000 Liberian refugees scattered throughout West Africa during 14 years of civil war.

The agency says this is a real milestone in the recovery of a country that not so long ago seemed hopelessly mired in conflict, corruption and misery.

Meanwhile, with the deadline for the disarmament of Liberia’s warring factions set to expire in just one month, the UN Mission in Liberia has launched the final round of its nation-wide disarmament programme.

Approximately 1,000 combatants of the armed group Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL) in three south-eastern counties are expected to turn in their weapons during this last round.

**Ocampo/Bretton Woods

The international community has taken important steps to increase its official development assistance, but much more needs to be done, and it needs to be done more quickly in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

That was the message this morning of UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Jose Antonio Ocampo, when he addressed the annual meetings of the Bretton Woods institutions, in Washington, D.C.

He also called for improvements in the way developing countries are represented in the governance structures of the multilateral financial institutions.

Tomorrow, he’ll address the Development Committee of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

**Press Conference on Monday

Press conferences:  On Monday, 12:30 in this room, Ambassador Jones Parry of the UK, will brief you on the Security Council’s work programme for the month of October.

Delegations are invited to watch this briefing in Studio 4, located in the First Basement.

**The Week Ahead at the United Nations

And we have the Week Ahead at the UN for you, to help you plan your coverage of the UN next week.

That’s all I have.  Yes, Akram?

Questions and Answers

Question:  What is the number of those children who were injured or killed in Iraq?  The same question goes for those who were massacred at the mosque in Pakistan?

Spokesman:  You want to know numbers?

Question:  Yes.

Spokesman:  I’m afraid we’re not in a position to give anything authoritative on numbers in Iraq.  We don’t have enough presence in Iraq.  David?

Question:  Resolution 1546, I believe, called for a distinctive entity to be created to protect the UN in Iraq.  Is it correct to understand that this letter, and the report that came before it, is basically the structure the SG would like to see for that force?

Spokesman:  Well, the structure, I think we’ve already explained to you, covers a close protection element for the leaders of the mission when they travel outside of headquarters, a larger group to protect headquarters locations and then a final level of protection to be provided by the multinational force throughout the country.

I don’t know whether this letter goes into that specific detail, but that’s the overall structure of the protection that we’re looking for in Iraq.

Question:  What exactly is this letter looking for?  My understanding is it’s an administrative matter of trying to get the Security Council to approve the Secretary-General’s plan so that he can get the financing and logistics in place.  Is that correct?

Spokesman:  Yes.  The first two elements will be recruited by the United Nations, and the third is recruited by the multinational force.  So this is just getting the Security Council’s blessing for that [to provide the legal framework for it].

Question:  If I could have another line on that, if you don’t mind? Of the first two being recruited by the UN, what is the progress that you could report as of now?

Spokesman:  We have nothing to announce as yet.  I think you might have seen reports that a given nation has offered us close support elements.       But until we have finally concluded the agreement with that country, including for its equipment, we will have nothing to announce or to confirm.

Question:  Just one more follow-up?  Does this letter in any way recognize the inability of the UN to recruit these forces, and does it indicate any sort of change of approach by the Secretary-General in recognition of that inability to find forces, or is it as resolution 1546 outlines?

Spokesman:  It’s no secret that we have approached a large number of potential troop contributors for this protection element in Iraq and have been largely unsuccessful.  We’re in a negotiation now, as I’ve indicated, that we hope will provide the first two elements.  So let’s just wait and see if we can wrap up this negotiation.  Abdurrahim?

Question:  Fred, the SG’s report, this one to Security Council resolution 1559.  It’s obvious that the SG has spoken to various parties, can you tell us in the context specifically of Lebanon, who exactly he talked to in Lebanon for purposes of compiling this report?

Spokesman:  I’m not going to comment on a report that has only been unofficially circulated in the Council.  As we mentioned to you, as we announced, there will be a background briefing on that report following this briefing and you can put that question to the background briefer.

**Statement Attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

I have one more thing before I ask Jan Egeland to come up.  I have a statement to you attributable to the Spokesman regarding the Lebanon car bombing:

“The Secretary-General expresses his serious concern over the car bombing in Beirut that wounded former Minister of Economy Marwan Hamadeh this morning.  He reiterates his abhorrence of such violent acts.  The Secretary-General expresses his condolences to the family of Ghazi Bou Karoum, who was killed in the attack and wishes for the speedy recovery of those injured.”

Jan, why don’t you come up? And following Jan, we’ll have Djibril Diallo on the General Assembly.

[Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland’s briefing is covered separately].

I’ll ask Djibril Diallo now to come up to talk to you about the General Assembly.

Spokesman for General Assembly President

Thank you, Fred.

You’ll recall that Haiti and the Dominican Republic were given the floor at the opening of the general debate and the result has been that there was great sensitization of the international community as a result of that exercise.  And also linked to the previous speaker’s briefing, I would like to report to you the great concern that was expressed by speakers in the general debate on the issue of doing everything possible, as a matter of urgency, to deal with the degradation of the environment.  And there was insistence in particular, on the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol.

I’d like to very briefly give you some facts that come out of the general debate, which ended yesterday.  And as of Monday, we go to the next phase of the General Assembly, which is really the work of the committees.

We had only one MemberState out of 191 that did not intervene.  That is Somalia.  And added to that, we have the Holy See and the Observer Mission of Palestine.  Again, history was made this year because never before had the Holy See intervened in the general debate portion of the General Assembly.  This follows the resolution that I had talked to you about in my earlier briefings.

Of the 190 statements by Member States, 121 statements talked about reform of the United Nations.  Of this, 140 States spoke specifically about the reform of the Security Council.  Number one, the majority of States indicated their preference for the enlargement of the Security Council in the permanent and non-permanent membership.  Number two, there was a group of speakers that wished for the enlargement of the Security Council only in the non-permanent membership, not for the permanent members.  And there was a third category of speakers that was ready to accept the enlargement of the Security Council no matter what the final option adopted.

And in this connection, the President of the General Assembly, Jean Ping, told delegates that he will do everything possible to try and reach a consensus on this issue during the present General Assembly

The other item has been the revitalization of the General Assembly.  A large number of delegations recognized the need for comprehensive reforms of the United Nations to ensure that the Organization has its own capacity to face the current challenges to peace and development.  And in that connection, the General Assembly, the delegations said, was the central organ of the United Nations, the only one with universal membership.  Therefore, they said, the General Assembly must become more than an annual forum where Member States focus carefully on critical topics.

Another issue that I would like to bring to your attention on behalf of the president of the General Assembly is the concern expressed by Member States at the slow pace in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.  And the Member States also expressed interest in the summit in 2005, which is usually known as MDGs + Five.  There was interest in focusing on the needs of landlocked and small island countries, and in the area of economics, particular emphasis was placed on the situation of Africa and the need to support the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).

The other issues I have already mentioned here are the fight against terrorism, reinforcing measures to prevent armed conflict, control of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and so on.

I have the statement by the President of the General Assembly that goes into more details about some of the other issues that came out the statements of the 190 MemberStates plus the two observer missions.

Questions, please?  Yes, please, go ahead.

Question:  You mentioned 190 statements, 121 talked about reform of the UN, and of those 146 or 14?

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  One-four-zero spoke about the reform of the Security Council.

Question:  So that’s more than the number that spoke about reform of the UN?

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  Yes.

Question:  Okay, so overall reform 121, but Security Council reform one-four-zero?

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  140.  One-four-zero.  Yes, please?

Question:  So the General Assembly didn’t touch on the veto power?

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  I think what I try to do is to give you broad areas.  Obviously, the General Assembly said that the work of the current session needed to build on the work of the fifty-eighth. Session.  As you may recall, the veto power was among the five issues that the previous session focused upon.  But the majority of the States focused on the points that I mentioned to you.  Obviously, there will be others who would have mentioned those.  But I just gave you the key issues that were the focus of the majority of the statements.

Thank you.

Spokesman for the Secretary-General:  Okay.  So we will now ask UN Television to shut down and give you a few minutes.  The background briefing will start in a few minutes.

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