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

AND THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT

 

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

Spokesman for Secretary-General

Good afternoon.

**Guest at Noon

We are expecting Jan Egeland, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and the UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator, to be joining us shortly, following his briefing to the Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Africa.

**SG Comments

The Secretary-General, asked this morning by a reporter about the situation in Darfur, Sudan, said he had spoken to the Chairman of the African Union commission this morning on the decision to approve the expansion of the African Union force in Darfur.  He said he hoped they would proceed very quickly.

The Secretary-General emphasized the need to improve the security situation, and to maintain pressure on the Sudanese Government and rebels to honour their commitments.

We are expecting a formal statement by the Secretary-General on this subject shortly.

Asked about Iraq elections, he said that, at this point, it is still technically possible to have elections in Iraq in January.  As we move forward, he added, it will be necessary to send in additional UN staff.  But the circumstances have to be conducive, either in having a genuine improvement in the security environment or solid arrangements for the protection of staff.

We have the transcript of the comments he made to the press upon entering UN headquarters today.  And that’s available upstairs and on our Web site.

**Secretary-General Statement on the Communiqué Issued by the African Union Peace and Security Council of 17 October 2004

We just received the statement attributable to the Spokesman on the African Union Peace and Security decision:

“The Secretary-General commends the African Union Peace and Security Council for its decision to deploy an expanded AU force of troops and police in Darfur.  He especially welcomes the broad mandate given to the AU Mission, which will provide protection to a large number of AU monitors, as well as civilians and humanitarian operations under imminent threat.  In the light of the growing insecurity in Darfur, the Secretary-General urges the AU to deploy this force speedily.”

“The planned deployment requires complex and massive planning and logistical support.  The Secretary-General considers it essential that the African Union receive the urgent, adequate and continuing support of the international community, not only to quickly deploy, but also to sustain effectively its mission.  The AU mission is crucial to enhancing security for the civilian population and for the effective provision of much-needed humanitarian assistance.  The United Nations will continue to offer the African Union whatever assistance it can.  The Secretary-General urges all Member States with capacity, urgently and generously, to provide the required support.”

**Sudan

Turning to the region, the Abuja Talks between the Government of the Sudan and the rebel groups of Darfur, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), have started today.

Jan Pronk, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for the Sudan, will be in Abuja to attend these talks and to discuss with the heads of the parties the ways to move forward with the peace negotiations and the role that the United Nations can play in this regard.

Regarding the decision by the African Union Peace and Security Council, to which we just referred, Jan Pronk also welcomed the decision and its timeliness.  He expressed his satisfaction at the broad mandate designed for the mission, which takes into account almost all the recommendations of the United Nations.

According to Jan Pronk, "The AU has done its part.  It's time now for the others to do theirs.  The countries that are in a position to provide the required assistance to the AU must do it without delay, and the Government and the other parties to the Darfur conflict must extend full cooperation with the African Mission”.

“Time is of essence, any effort must be exerted to ensure the speedy deployment of the Mission”, Pronk says.

Meanwhile, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced that the Office will be stepping up its operational activities in West Darfur as part of a collaborative UN effort to provide protection and assistance to hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people and refugees there.

**Security Council

And, as I mentioned, Jan Egeland is briefing the Security Council on humanitarian emergencies in Africa here at UN Headquarters.

Egeland is paying particular attention to Uganda, where a crisis that has displaced as many people as in Darfur receives a fraction of the attention.

And he will be joining us shortly, we hope.  If not, he will take questions at the stakeout microphone after the briefing.

**Independent Inquiry Committee into the UN Oil-for-Food Programme

I have a few more statements.

“This morning the Secretary-General met with Paul Volcker, the Chairman of the Independent Inquiry Committee into the UN Oil-for-Food Programme, to receive an updated briefing on the work of the Committee.

“The Secretary-General is encouraged that the Committee is working diligently on the inquiry and looks forward to receiving its final report.”

**Statement by the Secretary-General on the Elections for the Assembly in Kosovo

And we have a statement on Kosovo as well.

“On Saturday, this Saturday, twenty-third of October, the people of Kosovo will have the opportunity to vote for their representatives in the Assembly of Kosovo’s Provisional Institutions.

“The Secretary-General calls upon members of all of Kosovo’s communities to exercise their right to vote in the elections.  He urges members of the Kosovo Serb community to participate in the election, and in this way to ensure that their interests and concerns are represented and promoted within Kosovo’s provisional institutions.  Kosovo’s leaders should do their utmost to encourage Kosovo’s voters to engage in the democratic process.

“The 23 October elections will be the first that are largely organized and run by the people of Kosovo themselves.  He is confident that these elections will prove to be yet another significant step in the consolidation of Kosovo’s representative and democratic provisional institutions of self-government and a further demonstration of Kosovo’s progress on the path of normalization and stability.”

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

And, finally, we have issued earlier this morning a statement on Nepal.

“The Secretary-General welcomes the announcement by the Communist party of Nepal (Maoist) to suspend military action for a period of nine days coinciding with the Napalese Dashain festivals beginning on 20 October 2004 and the decision of His Majesty’s Government of Nepal not to initiate offensives against the insurgent forces.

“The Secretary-General considers this to be a positive first step towards the possible resumption of a peace process in Nepal, which he believes to be a matter of urgent importance.  He strongly encourages the Government and Maoists to extend the suspension of hostilities beyond the holiday period in the interest of peace and the restoration of a degree of normalcy, which ordinary Nepalese citizens desperately need.

“The Secretary-General remains at the disposal of Nepal to assist in any manner that would lead to the peaceful resolution of the conflict in Nepal.”

**Afghanistan

And, turning to Afghanistan.  The UN Mission in Afghanistan today thanked coalition forces for their support in a rescue operation of an electoral civic educator, who had been the victim of an accidental weapons discharge that had wounded him badly in the arm.

In the process of bringing the civic educator to a hospital, the coalition rescuers were themselves injured when their helicopter crashed.  The pilot of the helicopter has since died from his injuries, and the Mission extends its deepest condolences to his family.

We have more details in today’s briefing notes from Kabul.

**UN Compensation Commission

And, the United Nations Compensation Commission has made available today a total of almost $195 million to 20 governments and two offices of international organizations for distribution to more than 2,100 successful claimants.

The Commission, as you know, was created in 1991 as a subsidiary organ of the UN Security Council.  It processes claims and pays compensation for losses suffered as a direct result of Iraq's unlawful invasion and occupation of Kuwait.

The present payment brings the overall amount of compensation paid so far to close to $19 billion.

We have more details in a press release upstairs.

**West Africa

And, on West Africa, just a couple of items:  The Secretary-General says that the UN Office for West Africa has been useful in raising public awareness about cross-border problems and promoting conflict prevention, and he asks for it to be extended by three years.

In a letter to the Security Council, which is out on the racks today, he notes the work the office has done, including the efforts by the head of the Office, Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, as Chairman of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission.  And he asks the Council to extend the Office until the end of 2007.

**Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission

And the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission, set up to assist the two countries to implement the International Court of Justice’s judgment on the demarcation of their land and maritime boundaries, is meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, today.

In his opening statement, Mr. Ould-Abdallah, Chairman of the Mixed Commission, reported that tranquillity prevails in the Lake Chad and land boundary areas where the transfers of authority have taken place.

Regarding the maritime boundary, he said submissions by both Cameroon and Nigeria were being considered by both parties.

Regarding the delay in the transfer of authority from the BakassiPeninsula, Mr. Ould-Abdallah said that the Commission faced a real test on whether African States were ready to abide by the rule of law.  He remained convinced that the Commission would complete its assignment in due course, “sooner, rather than later”.

**Press Conference Tomorrow

And, just two announcements.  Tomorrow, Friday, at 12:30 in this room, Ambassador Heraldo Munoz of Chile, Chairman of the Security Council Sanctions Committee on Al-Qaida and the Taliban, and Ambassador Lauro Baja of the Philippines, will brief you on their recent trip to the Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand and Australia in connection with their work.

**UN Day Concert

And, I was just given this note for you.  There are tickets for the UN Day Concert still available.  This is on the 24^th of October at 7 p.m. in the General Assembly Hall, and they will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis from the Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit, starting today.  And that’s in room S-250.

And that’s all I have for you.  We have Djibril Diallo today to brief you on the General Assembly.  I would like to turn to him if there aren’t, yes?

Questions and Answers

Question:  Is the October 24^th concert on October 24^th? Sunday?  Sunday night, then?

Spokesman:  The Media and Accreditation people just gave me this announcement.  Maybe they can clarify.  When is the concert?

Question:  All right.

Spokesman:  I was just handed this announcement by the Media and Accreditation Unit.

Question:  Any information on when the UN names the new security chief?

Spokesman:  We have nothing to announce yet on that.

Question:  Is the fence that’s going up a temporary fence outside, to replace one that will be rebuilt?  Do you know about that?

Spokesman:  The status of the current construction I’ll have to get you an update on.  We are replacing the current existing fence, but exactly what stage we are in that process.  [Later she said that the fence posts being put up were intended to provide a fence while parts of the old perimeter are taken down and a newer fence is constructed.]

Question:  [inaudible] a read-out on the Volcker meeting?  How long they met, what the Secretary-General might have asked?

Spokesman:  My understanding is that Mr. Volcker will be speaking to reporters shortly, so I think these questions probably are best to be addressed to him.

Question:  Any UN comment on this general who commented, whose words were taken the wrong way, he says, about John Kerry and Haiti?

Spokesman:  Well, we were asked about that earlier this week.  I have an update on that.  As you know, we were asked about the Secretary-General’s reaction to the remarks by the UN Force Commander in Haiti on statements by a candidate in the US presidential elections.  What I can say is that the Secretary-General has noted the statement issued by General Pereira on the 18^th of October.  The Secretary-General’s own view is that the problems of the United Nations faces in Haiti have their roots in that country and nowhere else.  Also, UN officials should make public statements only within their area of competence and responsibility, and the Force Commander’s remarks, as originally reported, were therefore both wrong in content and in form.  That’s what I have for you on that subject.

Question:  Was there a punishment, or letter to his country?

Spokesman:  I think the statement speaks for itself in that regard.  Yes?

Question:  This is in [inaudible] Fiji stating that they would send troops for the protection of the staff in Iraq.  Is the Secretary-General confident that other States will be willing to send troops or police forces?

Spokesman:  Well, as you know, that effort continues and the Secretary-General, again, this morning made that point clear.

Thank you very much.  Djibril?

Spokesman for General Assembly President

Good afternoon.  The General Assembly is discussing today cooperation between the UN and regional and other organizations.

At its meeting yesterday, the General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution urging all MemberStates and international organizations to strengthen their efforts in promoting the use of space technologies for the benefit of all humankind, taking into particular account the interest of developing countries, involving civil society, including the private sector.

Building on UNISPACE III, that is the United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space -- held in Vienna in 1999 -- the text adopted in the Assembly yesterday stresses the importance of following the guidelines set out in that Conference’s forward-looking outcome, “Space Millennium:  Vienna Declaration on Space and Human Development”.

The Plan of Action set out by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs was also endorsed.  And that Plan of Action urges a focus on four main areas in the years ahead:  Number one, the use of outer space to support overarching global agendas for sustainable development; number two, developing coordinated global space capabilities; number three, the use of space to support specific agendas to meet human development needs; and number four, overall capacity development.

They highlighted the fact that the importance of space technologies went beyond information and communication, particularly for developing countries, and it included meteorology, marine biology, disaster management and forecasting, as well as in emerging fields such as tele-medicine and tele-health, which transmitted data, medical care and instructions over long distances to remote locations.

In the work of the committees, I’d like to draw your attention to the work of the First Committee.  As you will recall, the First Committee deals with disarmament and international security.  And that committee had two draft resolutions yesterday to review.  One draft resolution recognizing the prevention of an arms race in outer space would avert grave dangers to international peace and security.  And that draft resolution was submitted by the representative of Egypt, who said that the draft resolution would demonstrate the clear will of all peoples of the world, and that it emphasized the need to ensure that outer space remained for the common good of humankind.

The second draft resolution of the two being reviewed by the First Committee was introduced by the Russian Federation, and that draft would have the Assembly welcome the entry into force of the Treaty on Strategic Offensive Reductions, which is called the Moscow Treaty, and recognize specific steps taken by the Russian Federation and the United States to reduce their deployed strategic warheads.

Sixth Committee, this is the legal committee, is taking up today and tomorrow the issue of cloning, and the Committee has heard this morning various Member States, and was presented with the two draft resolutions that you know about, draft resolutions A/C.6/59/L.2 and A/C.6/59/L.8.

The Vice-Chairman of the Committee, from Costa Rica, introduced draft resolution A/C.6/59/L.2, and he said that the draft was endorsed by
61 countries.  It calls for a total ban of all forms of human cloning and use of embryonic stem cells.

The second draft resolution, A/C.6/59/L.8, was introduced by Belgium, and the delegate from Belgium said it was similar to the one introduced last year.  He noted that the draft resolution, presented by his country and endorsed by
21 other countries, calls for a convention that will ban all reproductive human cloning, which he notes is the common denominator between all Member States.  However, the draft resolution submitted by Belgium calls for a convention, which will give three options for countries to choose from when it comes to other forms of human cloning.  The session of the Sixth Committee is going on today and tomorrow, and we’ll keep you posted.  That’s all I have for you.  Any questions?  If not, thank you very much.

Spokesman for Secretary-General:  I just have one quick announcement.  Since Jan Egeland is obviously not out of the Security Council consultations, I believe he will be available at the stakeout microphone afterwards to take your questions on the situation in Uganda and other emergencies in Africa.

And, in response to the question about the concert tickets, the Media and Accreditation Unit has just revised the note.  The concert is on Monday, the 25^th of October, at 7 p.m. And the content of the programme is folkloric musical works performed by the Kuwaiti National Orchestra.  So, that’s all I have for you.  Have a good afternoon.  Thank you.

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