DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

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 Marie Okabe, Associate Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.

I’m sorry I was a little late.  We were trying to get some updates on this helicopter crash in Sierra Leone.

**SG Travels

The Secretary-General today is in Doha, the capital of Qatar, where he began a press conference a little over an hour ago.  He began by calling on all Iraqis “to come together in a spirit of national unity and reconciliation” to lay down “secure foundations for the new Iraq.” 

Responding to a question he said that he stands ready to go to Iraq in the future, but has no immediate plans to go to Iraq now. In reply to another question, he observed, “I doubt that we are going to see another Iraq very soon. I think there are lessons in Iraq for everyone.”

Asked about the Sudan, the Secretary-General said, “We cannot talk of comprehensive peace in Sudan if the fighting and the gross and systematic human rights abuses in West Sudan, in the Darfur region, continues.”  

He left Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, earlier today, where he spoke to Dubai-TV, saying that he hoped that the Iraqis will take yesterday’s handover as an opportunity to come together and “bring everybody under the tent.” He added that he hoped the Iraqis will use the National Conference that is being planned for next month as an opportunity to pull together.

Upon arriving in Doha, he was asked if it was safe enough for the United Nations to return to Iraq, and he stressed that security is essential, not just for UN staff but for the Iraqi people and for reconstruction. He affirmed, “We are prepared to do everything we can to help the people of Iraq.”  We have the transcripts of both press encounters upstairs.

Also today, the Secretary-General toured Qatar’s EducationCity, a new 800-hectare campus housing a variety of educational institutions, and talked to professors and students there. This evening, he will attend a dinner in his honor, hosted by the Emir of Qatar.

**Darfur

Turning to Darfur, the World Food Programme says the situation in the Darfur region continued to be a major preoccupation, especially with the rainy season underway which had severely hampered its food delivery operations, particularly in the west.  Health conditions were also a matter of concern with water-borne diseases on the rise.

WFP said that airdrops were also being scheduled to areas where roads were impassable. WFP offices and storage facilities have also opened in 10 towns across the region.  At present, the WFP had access to about 70 per cent of the camps for internally displaced persons in Darfur. 

The UN refugee agency, meanwhile, announced it was starting a new round of emergency airlifts today into Chad to bring urgently needed supplies for the tens of thousands of refugees who fled Darfur.  The first of 22 flights, which will bring 16,100 additional tents for Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad, left for the region today.  In all, more than 113,000 Sudanese refugees have so far been accommodated in eight camps in eastern Chad.

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

A short while ago, we issued the following statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General on a helicopter crash in Sierra Leone:

“The Secretary-General regrets to inform that today, at approximately 9:20 a.m. local time, an MI-8 UNAMSIL civil contractor helicopter, carrying more than 20 United Nations and non-United Nations personnel, crashed in Sierra Leone, while conducting an operational flight from Hastings to Yengema.

“While the rescue effort is ongoing, it appears that there may be no survivors in this tragic incident. The United Nations has launched an investigation into the event. The Secretary-General extends his deep condolences to the families and Governments of those who have perished in this tragedy. He once again pays tribute to the men and women who have lost their lives in the name of peace in this and other important peacekeeping operations.”

**Security Council

Here at UN Headquarters, the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda are both on track to complete their work by 2008, the heads of those two bodies told the Security Council a short while ago.

In an open meeting, Judge Theodor Meron, President of the Yugoslavia Tribunal, said that the current shortfall in contributions from Member States has hindered the Tribunal’s staffing efforts, warning, “Our work is now imperiled.” He said that, at the moment, there are still doubts that credible war crimes trials can take place domestically in Croatia or in Serbia and Montenegro.

Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte criticized the failure by the authorities in Serbia and Montenegro, and in Bosnia’s Republika Srpska, to arrest or obtain the surrender of 20 indicted suspects who are still at large.

Earlier today, the Security Council unanimously extended the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Golan Heights by six months, until the end of December.

**ICTY

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, meanwhile, today sentenced former Croatian Serb leader Milan Babic to 13 years in prison, for the persecution of Croats and other non-Serbs in Croatia’s Krajina region in 1991 and 1992.

Babic had pleaded guilty to persecution, and, in a plea agreement, the Tribunal prosecutor had recommended a sentence of no more than eleven years for him. But the Tribunal, upon reviewing Babic’s case, said that such a sentence did not achieve the purposes of punishment nor do justice, and it opted for a longer sentence.  We have a press release containing the summary of the judgment upstairs.

**Security CouncilMission

The Security Council mission to West Africa is scheduled to return to New York today.  British Ambassador Emyr Jones Perry is expected to brief the Security Council tomorrow in an open session on the mission that he led.

**Central Africa

In his latest report to the Security Council on the situation in the Central African Republic, the Secretary-General notes that the situation in that country remains fragile. However, there is hope for a return to stability, as the parties are managing the political transition through consensus.  Keeping this spirit of consensus is essential to the success of the transition, the Secretary-General writes.

In his appeal for support for the Central African Republic, the Secretary-General underscores the risk of spill over of the Darfur conflict in the country. If the crisis in the Sudan persists it is very likely that refugees in Chad will be pushed in the Central African Republic, he says.  The full report is out on the racks.

**UNHCR/DR Congo

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees meanwhile, reports that the situation in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo remains tense, with refugees continuing to flee to Burundi amid reports of continued fighting in their homeland.

Yesterday, more than 200 Congolese crossed into Burundi –- the biggest group to cross over this past week.  UNHCR estimates that the number of Congolese refugees who’ve fled to Burundi now stands at 34,000.  Meanwhile, a UNHCR emergency team arrived in Burundi over the weekend to reinforce existing staff.

**ECOSOC

The focus of international aid and policy advice has shifted too far away from setting up reliable infrastructure, leading countries to miss opportunities to escape from extreme poverty, according to a report of the Secretary-General submitted to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

The report, presented to the High Level Meeting of ECOSOC underway this week at UN Headquarters, recommends infrastructure investment and productive development strategies, to unleash domestic potential for attracting investment and sustaining economic growth.  We have a press release upstairs with more details on that report.

OCHA/Somalia

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that severe food shortages continue to affect people in the northern pastoral and southern agricultural areas of Somalia because of prolonged drought.  We have more information in a press release on that.

**SG/ECLAC Population Meeting

We also have a Secretary-General’s message to the meeting of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).  It says that Latin America and the Caribbean need to invest more in universal access to education and health.

**FAO/Plant Treaty

We also have a press release on the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, which entered into force today, as 55 countries now have ratified it.  The FAO says this legally binding treaty offers a multilateral approach for accessing genetic resources and sharing their benefits.

**Press Conference tomorrow

And finally, at 11:15 tomorrow, the Canadian Mission will be sponsoring a press briefing in this room by the NGO Watchlist on Children in Armed Conflict, on the release of a report on children in Liberia.

That’s all I have for you.  Yes?

Questions and Answers

Question:  There are news reports today that the U.S. has expelled two security guards at the Iranian UN mission.  Do you have any official reaction to them?

Associate Spokesperson:  I have seen the news reports and we’re waiting to see if the UN had been notified of this or not.  I’ll give you an update as soon as we get some more on that.  Yes?  [The correspondent was later informed that the United Nations had not been informed and referred the journalist to the US and Iranian Missions.]

Question:  Marie, the Secretary-General said that he will be going to, if I understood correctly, to Iraq, but not now.  Did he give any specific reasons why he will not be going now to Iraq?

Associate Spokesperson:  I am not sure he was mentioning about himself. We can take a look at the transcript upstairs.  [The Spokesperson later reiterated that the Secretary-General stood ready to go to Iraq in the future, but has no immediate plans to go to Iraq at this time].  As you know, security concerns are still foremost in our minds and those conditions would have to improve before the UN can return in larger numbers.

Question:  So, he did not mean that he will go there personally some time in the future?

Associate Spokesperson:  I don’t think so.  But let me double check that for you upstairs.  Yes?

Question:  It is reported this morning that tomorrow Saddam Hussein will be transferred to the Iraqi Interim Government.  Is there any comment from the Secretary-General to this?

Associate Spokesperson:  I have not seen anything from the Secretary-General on this.  But I think we’re going to be getting in the transcript of the Secretary-General’s press conference in Doha. So, let’s take a look at that to see if he has had any questions on that.

In response to some questions regarding this UNAMSIL helicopter crash that I was getting upstairs; I’d just like to update you on that.  Shortly before I came down, I was on the telephone with the spokesperson for the UN Mission in Sierra Leone.  And she did confirm that there were at least 24 passengers on that helicopter -- 21 passengers and three crew.  She confirmed that the helicopter crashed into a hillside; in the jungle as the helicopter was going from Hastings to Yengema. 

Just to give you an idea, (Holding up map), this is not a very good map, but this is Hastings, which is near Freetown.  And this is Yengema, which is out on the eastern side, near Koidu.  And the latest information that she had is that because the area is very hilly and because of the terrain, they had to land another helicopter as part of the rescue and they had to land three kilometers away to reach the crash site.  And UNAMSIL is saying that there appears to be no survivors.  But we will get further information on the details of this incident I hope in a couple of hours.  Yes?  [The Spokesperson later announced that, according to UNAMSIL, there were no survivors.]

Question:  Do you have anything on the nationalities?

Associate Spokesperson:  No. Not anything that we can put out yet.  Yes?

Question:  Marie, the talks between India and Pakistan ended yesterday, by foreign secretaries from both countries. I am just wondering if the SG has any thoughts to the ongoing peace negotiations between India and Pakistan.

Associate Spokesperson:  Like I said, he is in the process of having a press conference now in Doha.   And as you know, I’d like to see the transcript of that press conference to see whether he’s had anything new to add to his previous comments and I’ll let you know. Yes?

Question:  About the helicopter crash, is the rescue effort still ongoing?

Associate Spokesperson:  Yes, it is.  Yes, it is.  We have a team there on the ground. I mean, this occurred at 9:20 a.m. their time.  Sierra Leone is only four hours ahead of us.  So, I am hoping to get a more thorough update soon, on which I can give you a little bit more information.  Yes, Mr. Abbadi?

Question:  On the helicopter still Marie, has it been determined whether it was definitely an accident or something else?

Associate Spokesperson:  No.  An investigation has been launched, and we’ll let you know more as we find out more. 

That’s all I have for you.  Have a good afternoon.  Thank you.

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