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 Stéphane Dujarric, Associate Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.

**SG in Brussels

Today the Secretary-General addressed the summit of the European Council in Brussels, telling gathered European leaders that the strong European-UN partnership gives him hope that they can make progress to meet the threats of the twenty-first century.

He urged the leaders to be ready over the coming year to reach agreement and take action on the recommendations by the High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change which was recently released.

He told them, “If 2003 was a year of deep division and 2004 has been a time of sober reflection, 2005 must be a year of bold action.  Historic, fundamental progress is possible”, he said.  And we have a complete version of his speech available upstairs.

The Secretary-General then spoke at a joint press conference that included European Council President Jan Balkenende, who started off by saying that “Kofi Annan can be sure the European Union is a partner for him and the United Nations”.

The Secretary-General was asked about Cyprus, and he said that he has indicated that the parties should reflect on the way ahead, and, after they have done that, his good offices could be available.  But for the moment, he added, he has no plans to resume the talks.  And of course we will have the full text of his press conference available upstairs.

**SG Bilaterals

He also held a number of bilateral meetings in Brussels.  This morning, he met privately for half an hour with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

In the afternoon, he had a private meeting with Javier Solana, the European Union’s High Level Representative for Common, Foreign and Security Policy.  He then saw Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt for a detailed discussion of the current situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In the evening, he was to meet first with José Manuel Barosso, the President of the European Commission, and then with the EU Commissioner for External Relations, Benita Ferrero Waldner.  And we expect a joint press conference some time after this briefing.

**SG in Washington

And yesterday, before heading off to Brussels, the Secretary-General met in Washington with U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.  They had a very positive and substantive meeting, on a whole range of issues, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Haiti, Liberia and the Middle East Peace Process -- including the upcoming Palestinian presidential elections.

**Deputy Secretary-General

And today the Deputy Secretary-General is in WashingtonD.C. this morning to attend an Open Forum, organized jointly by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the United Nations Foundation.  The focus of her intervention is “An agenda for UN Reform in 2005:  Iraq, Darfur and Beyond.” She will be back at Headquarters this afternoon.

**DR Congo

Regarding the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UN Mission there congratulated the DRC’s government for its decision to send an investigation and conciliation team to the country’s east following an outbreak of fighting there, centred around the locality of Kanyabayonga, and which is believed to involve a rebel faction of the national army.  The government team, composed of senior officials, was flown to Goma today, by planes belonging to the UN Mission.

The UN Mission is also calling on the rebel troops to stop fighting, and for a unilateral truce ordered by the DRC government to be respected.  The Mission is currently proceeding with the redeployment of all its available troops to the North Kivu, in order to dissuade the rebel troops from continuing their activities.  The Mission says it’s extremely concerned about the new crisis provoked by the fighting -- which is said to have displaced more than 30,000 people.  It’s currently assessing the displaced persons’ humanitarian needs.

Separately, the Mission says it’s convinced that foreign troops have entered the DRC in the wake of threats made to that effect by the Rwandan government in late November.  The Mission is calling for foreign groups engaged in the conflict to halt all support to the rebel troops.

Since the beginning of the crisis, the UN Mission has stepped up its reconnaissance patrols in the province of North Kivu –- and these patrols have confirmed that unidentified soldiers have weapons and supplies of foreign origin.  And we have more information available upstairs.

**Security Council

Turning to the Council, this morning, Chilean Ambassador Heraldo Munoz briefed Council members on the work of the Sanctions Committee on Al-Qaida and the Taliban, which he chairs.  And he said this was his last briefing as Chairman of that Committee.

**Security Council -- Thursday

Yesterday afternoon, the Council held scheduled consultations on Somalia.  Members also received an update on the latest developments on Haiti, and afterwards the Council adopted a presidential statement on Côte d’Ivoire.

As you’ll recall, the Security Council last month imposed an arms embargo on Côte d’Ivoire and gave the parties to the conflict until 15 December to implement their commitments under the peace agreements or also face travel bans and a freeze in financial assets.

In the statement yesterday afternoon, Council members deplored the fact that the parties have not implemented all their commitments and expressed their intention to consider without delay further steps to ensure the effective monitoring and implementation of the arms embargo.

In the statement read out by its President, Ambassador Abdallah Baali of Algeria, the Council expressed full support for the facilitation mission taken by South African President Thabo Mbeki on behalf of the African Union to promote dialogue and relaunch the peace and national reconciliation process in that country.

It underlined that any failure by the Ivorian parties to respect their commitments to President Mbeki would constitute a threat to the implementation of peace and national reconciliation process, as defined in the Linas-Marcoussis and Accra III Agreements.

**Côte d’Ivoire

On the ground, UN peacekeepers and government troops are preparing joint patrols in Abidjan and other key towns, which are scheduled to start this Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that recent assessments undertaken by UN aid agencies in Côte d’Ivoire reveal that the humanitarian needs are growing in the north of the country.  And we have a press release upstairs available and more details.

Also, we expect a revised humanitarian appeal to be launched on Monday.

**Burundi

From Burundi, we have been informed that two soldiers serving with the United Nations peacekeeping operation in Burundi have been suspended from duty with immediate effect.  The UN mission says that the two soldiers are currently under investigation for allegations of sexual misconduct this past weekend in Muyinga.  An official United Nations investigation commenced on Monday and will conclude its deliberations as soon as possible.

The UN Mission in Burundi says it will not waiver from its responsibility to the Burundian people and international community to ensure absolute implementation of the Secretary-General’s zero-tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse by United Nations personnel.

**Kosovo

From Kosovo, Søren Jessen-Petersen, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Kosovo, and Ramush Haradinaj, Kosovo’s Prime Minister of the province, this morning announced an agreement between the Government and the UN mission in Kosovo, on the prioritisation of certain standards, which include the issues of returns, freedom of movement, the rule of law, and decentralization.

They are considered the most urgent, in terms of developing a sustainable, multi-ethnic Kosovo, and their implementation has been designated key to unlocking further progress on the other standards as well.

**Middle East

From the Middle East today, the UN’s outgoing Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Terje Roed-Larsen visited Gaza to bid farewell to the UN family after over five years of serving as the Secretary-General’s senior representative in the region.

Roed-Larsen will leave the region tomorrow to assume new responsibilities as the Secretary’s Special Envoy for the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559 (2004).  He will be based in New York and as you know, he will also serve as the President of the InternationalPeaceAcademy.

**WFP –- Kenya

A couple of more items:  The World Food Programme (WFP) today warned that 224,000 refugees in Kenya will go hungry unless it receives immediate donations.  Rations were already cut by 12 per cent in November, and the agency requires
$9 million for the next six months to avoid further reductions.  By April, all available commodities will have been exhausted.  And WFP has assisted refugees in Kenya, who are mainly from Sudan and Somalia, since 1991.

**Backgrounders

Finally, available upstairs two background notes; one on UN Peacekeeping Operations and the other on UN Political and Peace building missions.  And they are available upstairs for your information.

**Press Conference –- Monday

Press conferences on Monday, right here in 226, Mr. Zepherin Diabre, the Associate Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and Ms. Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate for 2004, will brief you on the observance of UN Day for South-South Cooperation.

**UN TV –- World Chronicle

UN TV programme World Chronicle will be shown today.  The topic will be “Complex Humanitarian Emergencies” and the guest will be Kevin Kennedy, from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.  You can watch that at 3:30 on channels 3 or 31.

**The Week Ahead at the United Nations

And today, thank God, being Friday, we have the Week Ahead for you for next week.

Evelyn?

Questions and Answers

Question:  Stéphane, Three things:  I want to thank you for putting up the EU press conference this morning.  You didn’t just say what the Secretary-General said but what whomever he was speaking to said.  I know there must be a reason for it, but it is totally useless what you did yesterday and before, when you put out the Secretary-General’s comments without Colin Powell’s or any other person he was talking to.  No professional journalist could possibly use that.  And I am not sure why you’re doing it that way, but maybe, you know, maybe you should just stop.

Anyway, on Burundi, do you have any more details on that?

Associate Spokesman:  We just got this recently... (Interrupted).

Question:  Yes, I saw it.

Associate Spokesman:  ...we’ll get more details as they come in.

Question:  And on the Sudan, there has been alarming statements by the AU today from Abuja, saying that astronomical quantities of arms and ammunitions have been put into Darfur.  And the other statement is that it is a time bomb waiting to explode.  And we’d like some reaction from here on that.

Associate Spokesman:  I haven’t seen those comments, but we will get you something as soon as we can.  Massoud?  [The Secretary-General later reacted from Brussels during a press encounter.]

Question:  Yes, Stéph, do you have any reaction, there is a very huge ad in The New York Times about Jewish groups, about the United Nations, the discrimination against Israel?  Do you have any reaction to that?

Associate Spokesman:  I think if you look back at the Secretary-General’s record since he came into office, you will see that he has worked very actively with the Israeli governments and he has reached out to Jewish groups notably.  In terms cooperation with the Israeli government, I’d point out to you the fact that Israelis and Lebanese both agreed on having the UN demarcate the Blue Line in southern Lebanon.  The UN envoy has been actively involved with the Israeli authorities during his time as the Middle East Coordinator.  And the Secretary-General has spoken out forcibly against anti-Semitism.  He has held a number of seminars here at the UN.  So, I think the charges against him are unfounded.

Question:  Not to belabour the point, or to take the temperature on Iraq since the Secretary-General’s meeting yesterday with Mr. Powell, is there emphasis to, I mean the whole Administration is saying to increase the number of UN personnel over there.  Are there any movements being made towards that direction?

Associate Spokesman:  Well, we’re not yet at the number of 25 electoral personnel in Iraq proper, but we’re moving to that goal.  And as we’ve often said, we also have almost an equal number backing them up in Jordan and we have people working at Headquarters.  So, we’re working towards the numbers that we feel are sufficient to provide very active support to the Iraq Electoral Commission.  Yes, Mohammad?

Question:  Stéphane, Mr. Powell yesterday clearly expressed his confidence of Mr. Annan.  Do you have any information that Ms. Rice also gives the same support to Mr. Annan?

Associate Spokesman:  You know, the purpose of the visit in Washington was to present the High-level Panel’s report to a very influential audience in Washington and to have very substantive working meetings with US Administration officials, including Powell and Rice.  So, the objective of the visit was accomplished.  The discussions with Ms. Rice did not focus at all on the Secretary-General’s job.  They focused on issues that are important to the U.S. and to the United Nations, in which we’re working very closely with them, which includes Iraq, the Middle East, Afghanistan and all the others which we have mentioned.  Yes?

Question:  Do you know if the Secretary-General will be having his end-of-year press conference or is that going to be re-scheduled for 2005?

Associate Spokesman:  We’re working on a very tight calendar.  So, I hope to have an announcement on that very soon for you.  Yes?

Question:  Mr. Larsen’s position to do with resolution 1559.  What is it?

Associate Spokesman:  It’s a resolution having to do with Lebanon, and that post will basically be just, punctually, the Secretary-General will call on him to assist in the writing of the report as required by the resolution.  Yes, Peter?

Question:  Stéphane, as you have mentioned Burundi, saying there are sex allegations, and there have been a number of (Inaudible), a long line of them.  Do you have a list or some information of how many of the peacekeeping missions are being plagued by this type of allegation?  And what is being contemplated to halt this plague?

Associate Spokesman:  It’s a multi-pronged approach. This is a problem that the Secretary-General takes extremely seriously.  At the mission level, they have reinforced, with having what we call personal conduct officers, which will work with the peacekeeping troops with a lot of back up here at Headquarters.  And, as you know, the Secretary-General has called on Prince Zeid, the Jordanian Permanent Representative here at the UN, to address the issue of sexual exploitation and to work closely with the troop-contributors and the police contributing countries.

Question:  What’s the number of missions that are affected by this?

Associate Spokesman:  I’ll get you the number after the briefing.

Question:  Off-hand, the Congo, Burundi...?

Associate Spokesman:  I’d rather not speak off-hand.  Yes, sir?

Question:  Regarding Haiti, did you receive anything from MINUSTAH in Haiti?

Associate Spokesman:  No, I didn’t get anything this morning, but I’ll be happy to check right after the briefing for you. Yes, sir?

Question:  Is there a final clear decision from the UN to help any effort for the Iraqi elections in terms of numbers?  More than what has been said?

Associate Spokesman:  No.  I think we’ve been very clear.  We’ve worked extremely closely with the Iraqi Interim Government and we helped create the structure for the Iraq Independent Electoral Commission.  We’ve worked hand-in-hand with them to support them in achieving the goal of having fair and credible elections by the end of January.

Question:  But are you going to have offices in different cities, like some Member States were asking?

Associate Spokesman:  Well, I think we’ve announced last week that we’re looking at sending assessment missions to Basra and Erbil to open up offices with a view to sending people in early in the New Year.

Question:  How many people?

Associate Spokesman:  I think four or five per office.  But I think it’s a little premature.  It depends on the security assessment.

Question:  Are you satisfied with all the guarantees for security... (interrupted)?

Associate Spokesman:  Well, obviously we will not progress and send more people without having the assurances that we need for security.  So, as we grow in size in the mission it’s because we do have the security assurances that we need.

Question:  Did Washington give the signal?  I mean, last week?

Associate Spokesman:  It’s an ongoing process.  Yes, Evelyn?

No?  Good. Thank you.

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