Press conference by SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT

 

At a Headquarters press conference this afternoon, the current President of the Security Council, Andrey Denisov ( Russian Federation), described a programme of work for November that would touch on issues ranging from the critical situation in the Sudan, to the future status of Kosovo, to the tense atmosphere in the Middle East.

Mr. Denisov said the Council would focus heavily on Africa.  A Council mission would travel to Central Africa from 4 to 11 November.  Its outcome would be presented at an open briefing on 15 November.  Regular reports on Somalia and the Central African Republic would be reviewed.

The tense situations in Côte d’Ivoire, Sudan, and Ethiopia and Eritrea also remained priorities on the agenda.  The Council would have to make a decision on the extension of the United Nations mission in Burundi.  It was currently preparing a resolution on Ethiopia and Eritrea, because of the difficulties facing the Mission there.

The Council’s monthly briefing on the Middle East was scheduled for 23 November, he said.  Issues related to Iraq, such as the extension of the mandate of multinational forces and the upcoming elections, would be discussed.  Also on the agenda were developments in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

On Kosovo, all the issues related to final status will be on the agenda.  The Secretary-General appointed a new Special Envoy, and the Council was drafting a letter to offer some guiding principles.  Other upcoming issues expected to be considered by the Council in November included Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a public meeting scheduled for 15 November.  Also, he noted that elections for the International Court of Justice would take place on 7 November.  And he would present the annual report of the Security Council to the General Assembly on 10 November.

When asked what kind of action the Security Council would undertake as a follow-up to resolution 1636, which called on Syria to cooperate fully with the United Nations investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, Mr. Denisov said if Syrian authorities were not compliant with the requirements of the resolution, that would be addressed in the future.  The Council would receive the report of the Commission in mid-December, and if it indicated Syria was not cooperating, then the full range of measure would be considered.

Responding to question on how much of a challenge the United States initiative to discuss the Iranian nuclear programme would be to the unity of the Security Council, Mr. Denisov said it was important to reach a consensus, especially when it came to international peace and security.  But, he preferred to wait until the Board of Governor’s IAEA meeting in mid-November, to see if the issue was even referred to the Council.

And when questioned about the oil-for-food report and the Russian Federation citizens and companies who were implicated, Mr. Denisov said there was clear evidence that at least one of the documents was falsified, and a lot of the material was based on papers in Iraqi archives, so it was one sided.  But he said more verification was needed, and he did not reject the Volcker report completely.

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For information media • not an official record