Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

 

And 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.

Good afternoon.

**Guest at Noon Briefing

Joining us today is Jan Egeland, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, who will brief you on emergency assistance to tsunami-affected areas one month after the disaster.  His talking points will be made available in my office following his briefing.

**Iraq

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, today met with the President of the Iraqi Islamic Party, Muhsen Abdul Hamid, for talks on the political process in Iraq.

The meeting, which was also attended by the Party’s Secretary-General, Tareq Al Hashemi, addressed means through which the United Nations can further contribute to advancing the political process in Iraq in the post-election period.

Qazi said that the United Nations will continue to work towards meeting its obligations under resolution 1546 and will stand by the Iraqis as they move forward in the political process.

He outlined United Nations efforts to provide humanitarian and political assistance to the Iraqi people.  He explained that, while the United Nations has no role in organizing the polls, it has been providing essential support to the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, which has the sole authority over all decisions pertaining to the elections.

We have more details in a press release upstairs.

**Iraq-Compensation Commission

The Governing Council of the United Nations Compensation Commission held a special session today to elect a new president and one of two vice-presidents to serve two-year terms on the Council.

The Council elected Greece as President, and Japan as the new Vice-President of the Governing Council, joining current Vice-President Romania.  Greece and Japan replace Germany and Angola, which held the presidency and vice-presidency of the Governing Council through 2003 and 2004.

**Democratic Republic of Congo

Peacekeepers from the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo yesterday dismantled four camps belonging to armed militias in the Ituri district, in the country’s east.

Both of the camps were located around the town of Bunia.  Two of them were identified as belonging to the militia known as the “Union of Patriots” and the other two belonged to an unknown group.

Peacekeepers seized uniforms, machetes, drugs and a large quantity of female clothing -– this is because one of the militias involved has a tendency to disguise its members as women before launching their attacks.

Also yesterday, UN peacekeepers shot dead a militia officer in the central market of Fataki, near the town of Bunia.  The officer was sought because of alleged human rights violations, and he was shot after firing at the peacekeepers.

**Sudan

The United Nations Mission in the Sudan today provided more details of a series of recent attacks on villages in Darfur.  The Mission also notes a serious deterioration in the security of at least one camp housing people displaced by the fighting in Darfur.

There’s an update with details available upstairs.

**Security Council

The Security Council held consultations today on Lebanon, with Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hédi Annabi briefing the Council on the Secretary-General’s recent report on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.

In that report, the Secretary-General requested a six-month extension of the Interim Force, until the end of July.

In today’s consultations, France circulated a draft resolution on the Force’s mandate to other Council members.

**Nepal

High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour today called on the Nepalese Government and Maoist insurgents to sign an agreement on human rights as an important step to achieve peace in the country.

Speaking in Kathmandu at the end of a three-day visit to Nepal, the High Commissioner said the Nepalese people were being subjected to violence and brutality on a staggering scale as a result of the armed conflict.

She said widespread disappearances, executions and torture must come to an end immediately.  She urged effective and credible measures to bring to account those responsible for such acts.

**Counter-Terrorism Committee

The fourth special meeting of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee opened this morning in Almaty, Kazakhstan.  The two-day meeting was opened by the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev.  Committee Chairman Andrey Denisov also addressed the meeting.

**HIV/AIDS

By the end of 2004, 700,000 people living with AIDS in developing countries were receiving antiretroviral treatment thanks to the efforts of national governments, donors and other partners.  That is an increase of approximately 75 per cent from a year ago.

Those findings were announced today by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), and their partners, at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Switzerland.

But the agencies also warned that major, continued efforts are needed to ensure access to treatment for all who need it.

And we have more information in a press release on that upstairs.

**UNICEF

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today appealed for $763 million to help millions of children in forgotten emergencies around the world.  The appeal was part of the agency’s annual Humanitarian Action Report, which was launched today in Geneva.  It includes countries that were not covered in the United Nations 2004 Consolidated Appeals Process.

And we have more information on that upstairs.

**Press Conferences

Press conference -- at 1 p.m. in this room, Ambassador Revaz Adamia of Georgia will be here to talk about the Security Council consultations held yesterday on the situation in Abkhazia, Georgia.

And a heads-up that we’ll have guests here at the noon briefing tomorrow.  Rosario Manalo, the current Chair of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women or CEDAW, and Committee member, Maria Regina Tavares da Silva.

They’ll brief you on the Committee’s final report on its inquiry –- the first of its kind -– carried out in response to a claim made against a State party and submitted by an individual or group, of grave or systematic violations of rights contained in the CEDAW Convention.

The claim concerns allegations of abduction, rape and murder of hundreds of women over the last 12 years in the Ciudad Juarez area of Chihuahua, Mexico.

That’s all I have for you.  Any questions before we bring up Jan Egeland?

**Questions and Answers

Question:  Can you give us any readout of the Secretary-General’s latest meeting with Paul Volker on “oil-for-food”?

Spokesman:  No, I cannot, simply because that meeting was part of Mr. Volker’s investigation.  As I reported to you yesterday, it was the third such meeting that Mr. Volker and his investigators had with the Secretary-General.  So, it’s confidential, and the results will, I guess, be seen in his report -- either his next one or his final report.  But we will say nothing about its contents.

Question:  Do you expect that report to be in the hands of the Secretary-General before it’s released to the public or media, and if so, was any date set for that delivery?

Spokesman:  You would have to ask Mr. Volker that.  I don’t know how he intends to arrange the release of his report.  On the timing, he did say something to you and other reporters as he walked out of the building yesterday indicating it might be delayed until -- I think he said “very early February”.  But no specific date.

Question:  Maybe I’m wrong but on the second meeting between Volker and Annan in December, why was it, then, characterized as just a meeting, and it was not disclosed that it was an interview, while yesterday, it was disclosed as an interview?

Spokesman:  I just gave you yesterday the information I was authorized to release.  I did not know at the time of the second meeting exactly what the nature of the meeting was.  So that was perhaps a failure on my part to report to you fully.  But I reported to you what I knew at the time.

Question:  Any elaboration or update on the Colombia statement delivered two days ago about Mr. LeMoyne and his good offices, and news to report?

Spokesman:  No, we have nothing beyond that statement.

Question:  Do you have any information on the new envoy for the Middle East since Mr. Larsen is being replaced?  Do you have any information on that? Anybody new being considered for that appointment?

Spokesman:  There is a search for a replacement.  I have nothing to announce today, though.

Question:  Do you believe it’s a coincidence that Volker’s report will come out at the time of the Iraq election, when it might not have gotten the same kind of attention that it may have gotten at another time?

Spokesman:  It’s really a question to pose to Mr. Volker.  I have no reason why he decided to release his report at this time.  And I have no reason -– I have no understanding of why there might have been a delay.

Question:  This is just on the Secretary-General’s side.  Was he represented by an attorney?  Did he sit in the room himself answering questions?

Spokesman:  We are not providing any details as to who attended these meetings.  The Secretary-General is getting some legal advice from a close personal friend.

Question:  Former United Nations person?

Spokesman:  No.

Question:  Hans Corell?

Spokesman:  No.  Okay.  Jan, do you want to come up?

[Mr. Egeland’s briefing issued separately.]

Spokesman for General Assembly President:

Good afternoon.  General Assembly President Jean Ping convened at 11 a.m. a meeting with all facilitators for a brain-storming session.  You may recall that the facilitators are a team of about 20 ambassadors selected after consultations among MemberStates and whose task is to assist the President of the General Assembly in the conduct of the current session.

And as you may recall, as well, some of those facilitators deal with the revitalization of the work of the General Assembly, others focus on the reform of the Security Council within the framework of the Open-Ended Working Group on the subject.  Others still focus on modalities for the organization of the high-level segment in September 2005.

Tomorrow, Thursday, 27 January, the fourth informal meeting of the Plenary will be held at 10 a.m. in the Trusteeship Council Chamber to continue the exchange of views on the recommendations of the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change.  It will be the second such meeting among Member States, the first meeting having taken place on 8 December, following the issuance of the report on 2 December.

During the first meeting, Member States had preliminary views on the report, and they have since had the opportunity to review the report in-depth, to consult their capitals and to conduct consultations among themselves on a regional basis.

Tomorrow’s meeting will, therefore, hear more substantive views on the report.  Those Member States that do not give their views tomorrow will have further opportunity when a meeting is convened on 22 February.  At that date, there will be a joint review of two reports.  One, the report of the High-Level Panel, the other, the report of the United Nations Millennium Project led by Professor Jeffrey Sachs.

After that meeting, of 22 February, President Jean Ping will share with the United Nations Secretary-General the views of Member States on the two reports.  And that will assist the Secretary-General in putting together his own overall report with the specific proposals to Member States.  That report of the Secretary-General, which is expected to come out in March 2005, will serve as a basis of consultation for the preparation of the high-level meeting in September 2005.

Other meetings for your time tables.  One is the fifth session of the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignities of Persons with Disabilities.  This fifth session is going on in Conference Room 4.  And the Committee is reviewing proposed revisions and amendments to the draft text of the working group, as well as proposals received by the Secretariat from the fourth session.  The document number of the report of the fourth session is A/59/360 Annex IV.

Another meeting taking place, this time in Conference Room 1 from this morning at 10 a.m., is the second substantive session of the Open-Ended Working Group to Negotiate an International Instrument to Enable States to Identify and Trace in a Timely and Reliable Manner Illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons – quite a mouth full as a title.

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

Questions and Answers

Question:  Are the findings, the opinions of the facilitators ever available to us, or to anybody outside Ping’s purview?  Or is it just for Ping’s consumption?

Spokesman for the General Assembly President:  It’s much more –- it takes the form of a brain-storming session just to review where the preparations of the General Assembly are and how to move forward on them.  It’s much more of an informal meeting.

Question:  Do you know if any one compelling opinion or if a compelling opinion had found its way into some outcome.  It’s just kind of lost to history...

Spokesman for the General Assembly President:  I think if there are some compelling conclusions, I’ll share them with you, because the meeting started at 11 a.m. and was still going on when the noon briefing started.  But it’s a very important process to just keep in touch with the preparations of the current session.

Question:  Is Ping the first President to have this advisory group?

Spokesman for the General Assembly President:  No, I think this is a process that goes on around the President.  In fact, some of the facilitators were confirmed after having served in previous sessions.  It provides continuity, as well as adding experiences among the members of the international community.

Question:  Do participants represent all regions?

Spokesman for the General Assembly President:  Facilitators are selected after consultations among Member States.  So, there is concern about regional balance, definitely yes.

Question:  Djibril, welcome back, Happy New Year.  Would you be willing to consider a proposal through the General Assembly converting the efforts from around the world for the tsunami disaster to, perhaps, allow the President and the General Assembly to assume some sort of event that would draw global awareness to our global community and perhaps form some sort of body around the General Assembly to take its rightful leadership here in the United Nations -– to have that kind of effort become a worldwide involvement?  Would you be willing to present a proposal that I would present to you at another time?

Spokesman for the General Assembly President:  I will definitely share the proposal with the President because this is an unprecedented tragedy that calls for an unprecedented response on the part of the international community, individually and collectively.  And obviously any ideas that come forward would be examined by the Office of the President.

Thank you very much.

* *** *