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 Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, and Djibril Diallo, Spokesman for the General Assembly President.

Good afternoon.

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

We’ll start with a statement attributable to the Spokesman:

“The Secretary-General has reviewed the report by the Investigation Team from the Secretariat which has inquired into the Israeli allegations against United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) personnel.

“The Secretary-General takes note of the team’s conclusion that the allegation that a rocket was loaded into an UNRWA ambulance was unjustified as the object, in fact, was a folding stretcher of the type carried as normal equipment in UNRWA ambulances.  He also takes note that, following the team’s visit, the Government of Israel has admitted that it wrongly identified the stretcher as a Qassam Rocket and has publicly withdrawn the allegations.

“The Secretary-General acknowledges the cooperation of the Government of Israel with the United Nations team in dealing with this inquiry.  He expects that any issues of this nature will be addressed through normal diplomatic channels.  He welcomes the offer of the Israeli authorities to work towards strengthening their cooperation with the United Nations and with UNRWA.

“The Secretary-General reiterates his full confidence in the integrity and impartiality of Mr. Peter Hansen, the Commissioner-General of UNRWA.  He commends UNRWA personnel for their dedication in providing vital assistance under very difficult circumstances to the Palestinian refugee communities in the occupied Palestinian territory and in the region.”

**Sudan

The UN mission in Sudanreports that insecurity and restrictions on humanitarian access continue to impede the timely and effective delivery of humanitarian aid in north Darfur.  Some roads remain closed for UN operations.

The mission also reports that pressure and intimidation continue to be reported by those displaced by the conflict.  Agencies say that the internally displaced in south Darfur continue to receive threats and pressure from local authorities to encourage them to return to their villages.

In west Darfur, internally displaced persons report that they are increasingly being harassed, intimidated and questioned by police about their relationship with the rebel SLA. 

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization reports that the first round of the polio vaccination campaign in north Darfur has covered more than 90 per cent of the targeted population and that it has completed the polio vaccination campaign in west Darfur.

The World Food Programme (WFP), in the first survey of internally displaced people and residents across western Sudan, said today that almost 22 per cent of children under the age of five are malnourished and almost half of all families do not have enough food.

While much has been done for months now to feed as many people as possible in Darfur, the survey underlines how much remains to be done, says the WFP.

**Iraq - Qazi

In Baghdad today, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, met with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiar Zubari.  Their discussion focused on the international conference on Iraq, which is to be held in Egypt later in November, as well as the security situation and preparations for the country’s first democratic elections, scheduled for the end of January 2005.

Qazi reiterated his satisfaction with the work of UN experts who have been providing technical assistance to the Iraqi Independent Electoral Commission.  He said work is proceeding as planned, noting that he expected the number of electoral workers to increase.

He said that realistic conditions, namely the security situation, are a major factor in determining the scope of work and the number of UN staff deployed in the country.

Also today, Qazi visited the headquarters of the Association of Muslim Scholars, which is a Sunni organization.  He met with the association’s leader, Sheikh Harith al Dahri, and other senior members. 

Qazi was briefed by Sheihk al Dahri on the organization’s stand on the political process in the Iraq, especially the elections and the international conference.  Qazi told the group the UN is doing all it can to help Iraq through the transitional process and that the UN stands ready to assist the effort to achieve national reconciliation as mandated by resolution 1546.

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

I have the following statement attributable to the Spokesman on the subject of the Middle East:

“The Secretary-General congratulates Prime Minister Sharon on the historic vote in the Knesset, which produced a clear majority in favour of his initiative to withdraw from Gaza and parts of the northern West Bank.

“The Secretary-General remains supportive of a full and complete Israeli withdrawal, leading to the end of the occupation of the Gaza Strip.

“The Secretary-General very much hopes that the Israeli withdrawal will have the effect of reviving peace efforts, which must be based on the Road Map.  As such, withdrawal could be an important step towards a process that will eventually result in the end of Israeli occupation of the West Bank, paving the way for the establishment of a sovereign, democratic, viable and contiguous PalestinianState living side by side in peace with a secure Israel.”

**Security Council

On the Security Council today, this morning Ibrahima Fall, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Great Lakes Region of Africa, briefed the Security Council in an open meeting on the preparations for a conference to promote peace, security, development and democracy in the region.

He said discussions have so far been constructive, and that the first summit of the Conference will be held in Dar es Salam, Tanzania, on the 19 and 20 November.

Consultations on the Great Lakes followed the open briefing.  A press statement is expected.

The second agenda item of consultations is a briefing by the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Georgia, Heidi Tagliavini.

She was to brief the Council on the Secretary-General’s latest report on the situation in Abkhazia, Georgia.

The report came out last week, and it says that the peace process there has come perilously close to a standstill, with the two sides not having met at the political level since July.

**Security Council - Other

There will be a meeting at 3:15 this afternoon in the Trusteeship Council chamber, chaired by the Presidents of the Security Council, the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), to launch the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) report.

Copies of the report are available upstairs.

Other speakers will include representatives of Sierra Leone and of UNICEF, and there is a separate "children's version" of the report.

**OIOS

The annual report of the Office of Internal Oversight Services is out on the racks today, and it says that the Office, in its work over the past year, has helped to save the United Nations some 16 million dollars.

The Office issued some 1,500 recommendations, calling for improvements to productivity and accountability for fraud, waste and abuse.  Half of these recommendations have already been implemented by Departments and Offices, the report says.

We also have a press release upstairs on the report.

**Haiti

Two hundred Spanish marines have arrived in Cap Haitien in northern Haiti to join the UN peacekeeping mission there.

The Spanish troops came equipped with armoured vehicles and other material, and they will form a joint brigade with a Moroccan contingent of 150 troops, which is due to arrive in Cap Haitien this coming Sunday.

Later this week, the newly arrived troops will be deployed in Cap Haitien and in Ouanaminthe, near the border with the Dominican Republic.  The joint brigade will be tasked with ensuring security in the north-east of Haiti and along the border, an area in which there is reported to be widespread smuggling and arms trafficking.

As of tomorrow, when part of a Sri Lankan military contingent arrives, the total force number will be 3,692.

**Liberia Refugees

A total of 239 Liberian refugees are heading home today from their camps in Sierra Leone in the fourth and largest convoy since the operation started, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Those still in exile are discussing their return options in the wake of a mass information campaign conducted by the agency.

**Democratic Republic of the Congo

The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has welcomed the signing of a tripartite agreement on security in the Great Lakes Region.

The agreement, between the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Uganda, was signed yesterday in Kigali.

And we have further details available in a note from the Mission upstairs.

**WHO - Patient Care

Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners launched the World Alliance for Patient Safety -- a series of key actions to cut the number of illnesses, injuries and deaths suffered by patients during health care.

WHO says that, on average, 1 in 10 patients admitted to hospital suffers some form of preventable harm that can result in severe disability or death.

This is the first time that a coalition of partners has joined efforts to act globally to improve patient safety.

WHO said the move underlines the need to take action to reduce the growing number of adverse effects in health care and their impact on patients’ lives.

And we have a press release on that.

**Human Rights

Just a reminder:  the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, will launch the Secretary-General’s “Action Two” reform initiative at 1:10 this afternoon in Conference Room 4.  That initiative calls for joint UN action to strengthen human rights actions at the country level.

Today’s launch follows a year-long process in which 21 heads of UN departments and agencies worked to develop an inter-agency plan of action, to integrate human rights into the UN system’s humanitarian and development work.

It’ll be followed by a press conference at 2:25 in this room with Arbour and three other participants in today’s launch:  UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Brown, UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy and the UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland.

**Press Conference This Afternoon

Press conference this afternoon, at 3:30, Theo van Boven, the Commission on Human Rights Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, will be here to talk to you following his report to the General Assembly’s Third Committee.

**Guests at Noon Tomorrow

And then our guests at the noon briefing tomorrow will be Jean-Marie Guéhenno, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, and Thoraya Obaid, the Executive Director of the UN Population Fund.  And they’ll be here to talk to you about the Secretary-General’s report on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, which the Council will be taking up tomorrow morning.

**Press Conferences Tomorrow

Then press conferences tomorrow, 11 o’clock in this room, Jean Ziegler, the Commission on Human Rights Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, will be here to brief you.

And then at 1:30 in the afternoon, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar.

And then that will be followed at 3 p.m. by Cherif Bassiouni, the Independent Expert appointed by the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan.

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

**Questions and Answers

Question:  I have two questions for you.  How many certified international UN staff are election experts, and do you think the number is enough for organizing an election?  And my second question is:  Have you heard any scenario for holding elections just in the stable parts of Iraq, and not all over the country?

Spokesman:  Of the 35, eight are currently electoral experts advising the Government.  I think our initial plan is to increase that number of eight, while respecting the 35 ceiling.  And then we continually monitor the security situation in the country, in the hope of being able to send in additional electoral experts.  Any judgment on how these elections should be conducted will be made by the Iraqis themselves, although I believe our advice to them would be to not hold it in only some parts of the country, but rather to hold it in all parts of the country.  Yes, sir?

Question:  Also in Iraq, it is reported that more than 400 explosives are missing.  Does the Secretary-General have any reaction to that?

Spokesman:  No, that is a matter that has been reported on and monitored by the UN weapons inspectors as well as by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who have expressed their concern about these explosives in Iraq.  The Secretary-General, of course, shares their concern.  But I think anything that the UN system has to say about the fact that these explosives are missing has been said by the IAEA.  Yes?

Question:  There were some indications, I believe, that the UN had a plan to, within the very near future, send 25 more election workers to Iraq.  Was that a false report, or is that on hold?  Also, what is the latest on the UN talks with the multinational force on providing security, and with Georgia for participating in the closed guard?

Spokesman:  Our intention would be to send 25 additional election monitors, once the security situation permits.  So, as a first step, we would look to increase the number of eight, I can’t say by how many, but while respecting the ceiling of 35, as I said.  And then we would be looking to send in the additional monitors, once the security situation permits.  Now, part of the security equation, of course, is the protection elements that we have been trying to put in place, and I have nothing new to report to you today about that protection force, neither the close protection elements nor the larger, outer ring of support that we would expect from the Multinational Force.

Question:  As a follow-up here, are negotiations ongoing on a daily basis with the Multinational Force, and what’s the hold-up in bringing this to a conclusion?

Spokesman:  The hold-up is that we do not yet have a MemberState prepared to provide the protection elements with the necessary equipment.  So, until those pieces can be brought together, the security personnel, the support equipment, and a dedicated unit within the Multinational Force for the outer ring, we won’t be in a position to say we have that protection element in place.

Question:  But I thought the US was essentially saying, “We’ll do that”, and that negotiations were with the US over the details of making that happen?

Spokesman:  I have nothing to report to you today further to what we’ve already said about our efforts to put all the elements of this protection package in place.  Yes?

Question:  Yesterday, the Ambassadors of Japan, Germany, Brazil and Armenia met with the Secretary-General.  Could you shed some light [inaudible] aspiring for permanent seats on the Security Council?

Spokesman:  Yes, and indeed, that was one of the things they discussed, the possible expansion of the membership of the Security Council.  But, more generally, they discussed the plans for next year regarding the sixtieth anniversary summit of the General Assembly, and other elements.  Next year is a big year, as you know.  There’s the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change; that report expected in December.  But then, it’s expected that Member States will deal with its recommendations throughout 2005, and the Secretary-General hopes, it will take action on those recommendations at the sixtieth anniversary session of the GA.  So, these were the general subjects discussed yesterday in that meeting.

Question:  Did the four Ambassadors make any proposals on the Council’s expansion?

Spokesman:  I don’t have those details, sorry.  Okay, Djibril will come up and talk about the General Assembly.

Spokesman for General Assembly President

Thank you again, Fred.  Good afternoon. The General Assembly concluded, this morning, consideration of matters related to sport and peace for development, as well as a report of the Secretary-General on the promotion of religious and cultural understanding, harmony and peace.  The General Assembly is considering right now the follow-up to the outcome of the 2001 special session on children.

Yesterday, the General Assembly discussed the Report of the Economic and Social Council, and the role of the United Nations in promoting a new global order.  Introducing the report, the President of ECOSOC, Marjatta Rasi of Finland, said that over the past few years, the Council had promoted integrated implementation of the outcome of the UN conferences and summits by effectively coordinating the activities of the UN system, by providing a forum for dialogue on the merging challenges and development.  While delegations supported the notion of a new global human order, many speakers urged the Council to do more in managing globalization and in promoting equitable socio-economic development.

Another item was discussed jointly with the item on sport and peace for development, that one called Culture for Peace:  a report of the Secretary-General.  This comes out of a request of the fifty-eighth session of the General Assembly, that had asked for a report to be presented by the Secretary-General.  The General Assembly, at its fifty-eighth session, acknowledged that respect for diversity of religions and cultures, tolerance, dialogue and cooperation in a climate of mutual trust and understanding could contribute to the combating of ideologies and practices based on discrimination, intolerance and hatred, and help to reinforce world peace, social justice and friendship among peoples.  It also welcomed the efforts of States, relevant entities of the United Nations system, and other intergovernmental organizations, civil society and the media in developing a culture of peace and encouraged them to continue such efforts.

The General Committee met this morning at its fifth meeting.  It considered the request for inclusion of three additional items on the Agenda of the General Assembly, and a sub-item.  The three additional items are as follows:  One, the Andean Zone of Peace was established on 12 July 2004 at the fifteenth meeting of the Andean Presidential Council held in Quito, Ecuador.  It’s based on the promotion of relations of friendship, cooperation for all-round development, the culture of peace, efforts to prevent and combat threats to security, and the quest for a fairer and more equitable international order for the Andean countries.  And, for those of you who may want more background, the list of Andean countries is as follows:  Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.

The second additional item had to do with a request for observer status for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, commonly referred to as SAARC.  SAARC represents seven countries of South Asia, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.  And it was launched in December 1985.

The third item had to do with the situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

And the sub-item is in regard to elections of a member of the International Court of Justice.

As Fred Eckhard mentioned earlier, the report of the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission is being discussed this afternoon.  It’s the President of the General Assembly, Jean Ping of Gabon, who will chair that meeting.  And the meeting, correction, the meeting is chaired jointly by the Presidents of the General Assembly, the Security Council and Economic and Social Council.

The President of the General Assembly will say the following in his statement:  One, that “the publication of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Sierra Leone is an important event for the people of Sierra Leone and the world, as it constitutes an example for Africa and for the International community as a whole.”

“I am convinced”, says the President of the General Assembly, “that the relevant recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report reflect the will and the determination of Sierra Leone to rebuild its unity and to eradicate impunity.

“I also welcome the interest and the solidarity demonstrated by the international community and call for further support of the efforts of the Sierra Leonean people, particularly the victims of the conflicts, in order to foster hope and faith for a better future”.

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

**Questions and Answers

Question:  When will the legal committee of the GA resume its discussions on human cloning?

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  On human cloning?

Question:  Yes.

Spokesman for General Assembly President:  No further indication so far.  But, we’ll get back to you when we get some information.  Any other questions?  If not, thank you.

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