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.

**SG Address on Terrorism

Terrorism is a direct attack on the core values of the United Nations, and the UN must be at the forefront in fighting it, the Secretary-General told the International Summit on Democracy, Terrorism and Security in Madrid just a short while ago. 

He set out the main elements of a principled, comprehensive strategy against terrorism, outlined by his High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change.  He highlighted the need to dissuade disaffected groups from terrorism; to deny terrorists the means to carry out attacks; to deter States from supporting terrorists; to develop State capacity to fight terrorism; and to defend human rights during that fight.

The Secretary-General noted that the Panel called for a definition of terrorism, which would make it clear that any action constitutes terrorism if it is intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants with the purpose of intimidating a population or compelling a government or organization into action.  He said, “I believe this proposal has clear moral force, and I strongly urge world leaders to unite behind it.”

He said that we must respect and listen to the victims of terrorism around the world and do what we can to help them, and to spare others from meeting their fate.

We have copies of this speech and an accompanying press release upstairs.

Before he addressed the closing plenary, the Secretary-General this morning met with a group of organizations representing victims of terror, accompanied by King Juan Carlos of Spain and former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso.  The Summit is being held a year after the terrorist bombings that took place last March 11^th in Madrid.

The Secretary-General is meeting with other leaders attending today’s Summit this afternoon, including the President of Portugal, the Prime Minister of Norway and the Foreign Minister of Germany.

**Lebanon

The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the implementation of resolution 1559, Terje Roed-Larsen, met today in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, to exchange views on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1559.  They discussed the withdrawal of Syrian troops and intelligence from Lebanon.

Other subjects of conversation included the upcoming parliamentary elections in Lebanon, the militias operating in Lebanon and the wider stability of the region.  Following the meeting, Roed-Larsen stated that the President and himself saw eye-to-eye on the issues and that they would stay in full contact.

Roed-Larsen thanked the Government of Egypt for the constructive role it is playing in safeguarding the stability of the region.  He will travel next to Jordan.

The Secretary-General, in response to a question from a reporter in Madrid yesterday, said that he hopes to have a sense of how quickly a withdrawal can take place when Roed-Larsen reports back to him.  He added, “I hope he will be able to come back with a timetable.”

**Iraq

The outcome of Iraq’s January elections offers a new opportunity for Iraqis to cast off the legacy of war and dictatorship and build the foundations for a democratic and prosperous country, the Secretary-General says in his latest report to the Security Council on Iraq, which is out on the web site today.

Yet elections, he adds, are but a first step for achieving these goals.  The key to a successful transition is that it be as inclusive, participatory and transparent as possible.  This means creating a sustainable political process that all Iraqis feel they have a stake in.

The report says that failure to engage now in national dialogue and reconciliation could bring strife far more damaging than the compromises necessary for reaching a national consensus achieved through peaceful means.  The Secretary-General says that full Iraqi ownership of the constitution-making process will be particularly important.  Special Representative Ashraf Qazi is already consulting with a wide range of Iraqi representatives to promote dialogue and consensus-building in support of the political transition, including the writing of the constitution.

Meanwhile, the report says, the United Nations is equally committed to assisting the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq in the preparations for the national referendum on the constitution and the elections that are to follow.  Mr. Qazi is scheduled to brief the Security Council on this report on the 16^th, next week.

**Security Council

Today in the Security Council, at 3 p.m., the Council is scheduled to hold consultations on Sudan with a view to holding a formal meeting afterwards.  A draft resolution has been turned into “blue” -- which is the form that it can be voted on.

**Sudan

And in continued reports of incidents illustrating the state of insecurity from Darfur, the UN mission today said that a humanitarian convoy was ambushed by armed tribesmen on camels on a road in south Darfur.  The attack caused one of the vehicles to lose control and overturn.  It was the second incident on the same road in two days.

**Security Council/New MONUC Commander

And in a letter to the Secretary-General today, the Security Council has noted the Secretary-General’s intention to appoint Lieutenant-General Babacar Gaye of Senegal as the new Force Commander for UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC). 

**Ethiopia-Eritrea

Also out as a Security Council document today is the Secretary-General’s report on Ethiopia and Eritrea.  In it, the Secretary-General says the Security Council may find it opportune to reaffirm and demonstrate its commitment to support the peace process, including demarcation of the boundary, by returning to Ethiopia and Eritrea.  He recommends the timing of such a mission to be no later than this summer.  The Council is scheduled to discuss the report tomorrow afternoon in consultations.

**Yemen Refugees

The UN refugee agency, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, fears that more than 100 people may have died at sea in the past week while attempting to reach Yemen aboard smugglers' boats from Somalia.

In one of the incidents, a vessel carrying 93 passengers sank on 3 March in the Gulf of Aden after developing a technical problem, according to witnesses.  UNHCR commented on the events, saying that these deaths highlight the urgent need for a concerted international effort to deal with human traffickers and address the root causes that push people to take such risks.  We have more on this in a press release.

**Afghanistan

And from Afghanistan, the mission there and the Environment Programme are saying that they’re supporting an initiative to clean up the Kabul riverbed to prepare for potential flooding, as the snow melts in the country.  The cleaning of the riverbed, which is being carried out by the municipality of Kabul, will also reduce water pollution, given the amount of garbage and silt that is there.

Meanwhile, UN assessment teams have been deployed in various provinces to deal with questions of flood preparedness, as the snows melt following an unusually severe winter.  We have more details in the briefing notes from Kabul.

**Tsunami Relief

Turning to tsunami relief activities in Aceh, Indonesia, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says it has distributed educational supplies to some 240,000 primary school students over the past two and a half months.  And UNHCR says it has delivered close to 7,000 tents to some 20 locations along Aceh’s west coast.  For its part, the International Labour Organization is helping to provide vocational skills to displaced children between the ages of 15 and 17.

And in other news, the UN’s tourism agency reports that, due to reconstruction throughout the Indian Ocean region, tourist arrivals for next winter might even exceed pre-tsunami figures.  We have more information on these items in the office upstairs.

**Cyclone Percy

We told you last week that the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) was sending emergency teams to the Cook Islands and Tokelau, in the Pacific Ocean, to assess damage from tropical cyclone Percy.  The teams have now arrived, with their first stop being Samoa, for consultations with the UN team there.  We have a press release on that.

**Book Launch

Shashi Tharoor, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, will launch “The Turbulent Decade”, a new book by Sadako Ogata, the former UN High Commissioner for Refugees, in Conference Room 8, at 1 this afternoon.  Following the discussion, Mrs. Ogata will sign copies of her book at the UN Bookshop, from 2:00 until 3:00.

**Press Conferences

At 12:30 here, Vice-President José Miguel Insulza of Chile, Nobel Peace Laureate and Foreign Minister of Timor-Leste José Ramos-Horta, and Mark Malloch Brown, in his capacity as Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), will brief on “The state of democracy in the world”, which is the theme of the Community of Democracies seminar taking place today at UN Headquarters in Conference Room 1.

Tomorrow, at 12:30, William Kalema, Chairman of the Board of the Uganda Investment Authority, and Baroness Valerie Amos, representing Prime Minister Tony Blair, will brief on the final report of the Commission for Africa.  You will recall that the Commission was launched by Mr. Blair in February 2004 to take a fresh and independent look at the challenges facing Africa, and the role of the international community in helping Africa meet them.

**Philippe Bolopion

Finally, we have some positive news from our resident press corps.  We have learned that Philippe Bolopion of Radio France International is now a proud father of a healthy baby girl.  Congratulations to Philippe and his family.

That’s what I have for you.  Mark Malloch Brown and company will be here at 12:30 for their press conference.  Do you have any questions for me? 

**Questions and Answers

Question:  What’s the official position of the SG on Hezbollah, is it a party, is it still a terrorist..?

Associate Spokesperson:  As you know, the only list the United Nations currently has, in terms of organizations against which there are sanctions, is the one on Al-Qaida, and that’s the Al-Qaida Committee’s sanctions list.  I believe the new secretariat and the Committee on Counter-Terrorism may also possibly be coming up with a list.  But as of now, the only list we have is the comprehensive list of individuals and organizations linked with Al-Qaida and the Taliban.  And Hezbollah is not on that list.

Question:  Marie, would you have any response to an article in today’s Washington Post that US Secretary of State informed the SG on March 7^th that the US is withdrawing from the Optional Protocol to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations?

Associate Spokesperson:  I saw the news report.  I checked upstairs whether we had received the letter, and as of now, we have not.

Question:  Marie, would Mr. Qazi be interested in meeting the press here after he briefs the Security Council?

Associate Spokesperson:  We are working on that.  As I said, he will be briefing the Council next week on this report.  We’re trying to set up a press opportunity with you.

If there are no other questions for me, have a good afternoon.

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