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 Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.

**Secretary-General’s Report on Afghanistan

The Secretary-General, in a report today, says that the year ahead will present many challenges to Afghanistan’s political and economic recovery.  He adds, “For the first time, however, Afghanistan will face these challenges with a directly elected President endowed with a strong popular mandate”.

He says that President Karzai has an opportunity now to select an effective Cabinet that is able to extend government authority throughout the country and deliver basic services.  He writes that a Cabinet that is both competent and representative of Afghanistan’s diversity will be critical for advancing national reconciliation.

The Secretary-General says that many issues, including social indicators and human rights, remain insufficiently addressed.  But he asserts that “it is a cause for hope and optimism that Afghans have embraced with such enthusiasm the transition to civilian, democratic rule”.  We have copies of that report in my office.

**Afghanistan

Lakhdar Brahimi, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser, arrived in Kabul today to head the United Nations delegation that will attend the inauguration of Afghan President Hamid Karzai tomorrow.  During his three-day stay in Kabul, Brahimi will meet with President Karzai and other senior Afghan officials, and will also hold discussions with the head of the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan, Jean Arnault, and United Nations agency heads.

**Côte d’Ivoire

The United Nations Mission in Côte d’Ivoire has confirmed that the Secretary-General’s Special Representative there, Albert Tevoedjre, has submitted his resignation in a letter dated 24 November.  The Special Representative is expected to stay on the job until the end of January.  He is expected to be in New York next week for consultations in the Security Council on Côte d’Ivoire which are scheduled for Monday.

The Deputy Secretary-General for Côte d’Ivoire, Alan Doss, travelled to Bouake yesterday along with visiting South African President Thabo Mbeki in a bid to revive the peace process.  Doss took part in a closed-door meeting President Mbeki held with the Secretary-General of the Mouvement Patriotique de Côte d’Ivoire, Guillaume Soro.  The general situation is reported to be calm in Abidjan and throughout the country generally, and United Nations peacekeepers are conducting their normal patrols.

**Democratic Republic of the Congo

Peacekeepers from the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo carried out a police operation yesterday to disarm an armed group in the Ituri region.  The operation was carried out as part of the Mission’s role in protecting civilians.  Its aim was to investigate allegations that the militia -– belonging to the Armed Forces of the Congolese People, known by its French acronym FAPC –- had executed a number of civilians, as well as child members of the militia who had attempted to flee.

Three hundred peacekeepers were involved in the operation as well as two attack helicopters.  Two United Nations peacekeepers and a civilian were wounded during the operation, while two militia fighters were killed and seven arrested.  A number of militia members escaped into the bush, using women and children as shields.  We have more on the operation in a French language press release available in my office.

**Iraq

Yesterday, in Baghdad, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative there, Ashraf Qazi, held separate talks with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh and Minister of Defense Hazem Sha'lan.  The talks tackled progress in the political process as well as preparations for Iraq's national elections scheduled for 30 Jan.  Qazi and the two ministers also discussed the security situation in Iraq and efforts to improve it ahead of the elections.

Qazi, who is continuing contacts with Iraqi officials and political activists, also met with civil society groups for discussions on how the United Nations can further contribute to advancing the political process in the country.

**Sudan

The Special Representative for Sudan, Jan Pronk, met today in Naivasha, Kenya, with General Lazarus Sumbeiywo, the chief mediator to the Sudan talks.

They discussed the level of progress made so far by the parties towards achieving a comprehensive peace agreement.

Pronk is also scheduled to meet later today with Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha and John Garang of the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M).  He will be reviewing with them separately the progress achieved so far, and the prospects for meeting the 31 December deadline for concluding a comprehensive peace agreement.

**Security Council

There are no meetings or consultations of the Security Council scheduled for today.

There is a note from the President of the Council out on the racks, saying that newly elected Council members, whose terms won’t begin until 1 January, have been invited to attend the informal consultations of the whole, as well as both formal and informal meetings of the subsidiary bodies of the Council.

The agreement applies as of 1 December to Argentina, Denmark, Greece, Japan and Tanzania.

**Secretary-General’s Remarks on the International Year of the Family

Policies and programs must recognize that strong and healthy family structures are essential for human well being, the Secretary-General told the General Assembly this morning.  He spoke at an event marking the tenth anniversary of the International Year of the Family.

He also said that although families take many different forms, all confront very serious pressures.  So Governments need to do more to help them adapt, thrive, and fulfil their social, cultural and economic roles.  We have the full text available upstairs.

**Somalia

Over the weekend, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland wrapped up a three-day mission in Somalia.  In Nairobi today, Egeland urged the donor community and the press to pay closer attention to Somalia, where a major humanitarian crisis has been all but forgotten.

With the establishment of a transitional government, he said, Somalia has reached a turning point.  For the United Nations agencies to be effective in their efforts to capitalize on this momentum, they would need a much stronger response to the 2005 Humanitarian Appeal for Somalia, which totals $164 million.

**Islamophobia Seminar

The Secretary-General will open a seminar tomorrow on Islamophobia, which begins in Conference Room One at 9:50 a.m.  The seminar, “Confronting Islamophobia: Education for Tolerance and Understanding”, is the second in a series of seminars organized by the Department for Public Information on “Unlearning Intolerance”.

**World Chronicle

The United Nations television programme “World Chronicle” will be shown today.  The guest, Kathryn Bushkin, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the United Nations Foundation will be talking about the Foundation’s work.  You can be seen that on in-house television channels 3 and 31 at 3:30 this afternoon.

**Press Conference

Finally, a press conference tomorrow at 11 a.m.  Ambassador Philippe Djangone-Bi of Côte d’Ivoire will be here to talk about the latest developments in his country.

That’s all I have for you.

**Questions and Answers

Question:  Lakhdar Brahimi was quoted on Dutch radio this weekend as saying that the situation in Iraq is a mess -- I think was his phrase -- and said that if it remained that way, he couldn’t see how elections could go on.  Since he was so intimately involved with the United Nations process that has led to elections, is he speaking for the United Nations when he says that?  And if he is not, what does the United Nations think about what he said?

Spokesman:  He was speaking in his own words, I think, in his personal capacity.  So he was not speaking for the Secretary-General.

Question:  Does the Secretary-General have any thoughts about what he said?  I mean maybe he says he is speaking in his personal capacity, but he is known to the world as a United Nations official who is involved in the process in Iraq.

Spokesman:  The Secretary-General did not know he was going to be making these remarks, and he was not speaking for the Secretary-General.

Question:  Following from that question, has Mr. Qazi determined, along with the United Nations officials, that the situation has stabilized to the extent that they can hold elections.  Is he still optimistic?

Spokesman: You know, we consistently said that it’s really not Mr. Qazi’s or the United Nations’ call.  It’s really up to the Iraqi authorities to say whether they feel they can hold elections or not.

Question:  But Mr. Qazi has in the past given statements to the effect that, for instance, he has cautioned the United States with not taking (inaudible) in Falujah.  And he has no opinion on this at all?

Spokesman:  I think I have nothing to add to what I just said.

Question:  If elections are not held by 31 January, does that mean, through the administrative law, that Iraq is back under occupation?  Is the Government still a legal entity -– the transitional government there -- if elections are not held by the thirty-first?

Spokesman:  That’s a decision that the Iraqi Government will have to make, how they bridge the gap resulting from the transitional law.

Question:  The Secretary-General’s critics and supporters alike seem to want to hear a more comprehensive response to the allegations about his son’s involvement in the oil-for-food and, indeed, a strong response to the Congressional calls for his resignation.  When is he going to start speaking to the press, or is he avoiding us right now?

Spokesman:  First of all, it’s not for him to speak for his son.  His son will have to speak for himself.  Second, he does expect to give a year-end press conference.  We haven’t fixed a date yet, but it will be in December, before the holidays.  What was the other thing that you mentioned?

Question:  Is he avoiding us right now?

Spokesman:  No.

Correspondent:  It appears that way.

Spokesman:  Security does put restrictions on his movements.  He’s not as free as he once was to come in and out of the front door of the building.  And that has resulted, I think, in a little bit less interaction with you.  He has been talking a bit more one-on-one to journalists, though, to try to compensate for that.

Question:  One diplomat described him to me this week as being in torment.  Is that your impression?

Spokesman:  No.  It’s not easy for him to take demands for his resignation from a few United States lawmakers and a few United States publications.  But he’s focused on his work.  He has for the coming year, 2005, a big and essential agenda for him, and he intends to stick with it.

Question:  Going back to Iraq for a second.  How many election monitors -– I read somewhere that the United Nations was doubling them -– how many are there now?

Spokesman:  I can’t give you an exact number.  There should be over 20 now.  But it’s in the area of 20.

Question:  And that’s in addition to the 35 (inaudible).  What’s the total number of United Nations people there then?

Spokesman:  I don’t have that number, but the ceiling remains 59.

Question:  On a different subject.  Last Friday, when we were talking about the OIOS inquiry and the meeting between the Staff Union and Catherine Bertini, you said afterwards that the United Nations will now listen to staff complaints about the Nair case after following this meeting.  In an interview over the weekend, which was published in a paper in Asia, Mr. Nair was quoted as saying that the reopening of this inquiry was completely wild.  And he said I have been reassured by the Chef de Cabinet that there will not be any reopening of the inquiry.  Could you explain that discrepancy?

Spokesman:  That runs counter to what I’ve been told, and to what Catherine Bertini, the Under-Secretary of Management, told the Staff Council leadership.  She said that she would look at what they had to submit, and if she felt there were grounds -- there was fresh information -- she would take a fresh look at these allegations.  So I’ve said that publicly, and I say it again now.  And that’s our official position.

Question:  What are the specific reasons behind the resignation of the Special Representative for Côte d’Ivoire?

Spokesman:  He’s 75 years-old and I think he felt that he has made a good effort, but it’s time for him to step down.  He’ll be here, as I said, next week, and you can ask him yourself.  We don’t have many details, but he did explain to the Secretary-General that he wanted to step down.  He’ll stay on until we can find a replacement.

Question:  There are press reports that he has resigned because of the difficulty of dealing with President Laurent Gbagbo.

Spokesman:  You would have to ask him that.  I don’t have that kind of detail.

Question:  Is there any link between the wave of pressure about his oil-for-food programme with his position on an illegitimate and illegal United States war in Iraq and also his (inaudible) condemnation of Israel for the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinian people, including children?

Spokesman:  I don’t want to speculate about why people are saying what they’re saying.  He feels he has the strong support of the Member States and, as I said, he’s committed to working on the substantive agenda that he has before him, in particular United Nations reform and the Millennium Development Goals.  I don’t think we want to speculate about the reasons for these few people calling for his resignation.

Question:  On Friday, we asked a question about whether, or some of the questions were answered in the FT interview today, but one question wasn’t answered today which is whether Mr. Annan has any knowledge of his son being involved in any Iraqi oil trade.  Do you know if he has any knowledge of his son (inaudible)?

Spokesman:  I don’t know the answer to that question.  It has never come up here, so.

Question:  Well, I raised it on Friday.  It came up then, so maybe you can make another effort to try and find out.

Spokesman:  I’ll relay that question for you.

Question:  Will the Secretary-General be meeting with the Foreign Minister of Fiji this afternoon?  Since Fiji in the past had offered forces to protect United Nations election staff, and now you know have the European Union offering money for that force protection.  Is this in any way leading up to some announcement of new measures, new commitments of United Nations staff for the Iraqi election?

Spokesman:  I’m not aware that it is.  We’ll see if we can get a read out of the meeting afterwards.  I frankly don’t know what the subject is, whether it is specifically Iraq.  It could be, for the reasons you’ve mentioned.

Question:  I have one more question about the FT interview.  In there the Secretary-General says he was never lobbied by his son.  But he then says, rather mysteriously, that of course his son did introduce him to his friends.  What does he mean by it?  Does it mean that his son introduced him to his business associates or does he mean that he introduced him to his personal friends?

Spokesman:  I don’t know the answer to that question.  I think what he was trying to say is that there were casual, social encounters that naturally take place.  But that you should not necessarily see these as being linked to his son’s business affairs.

Thank you very much.  Djibril is not with us today, so that’s it for today.

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