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

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.

**Secretary-General meets with NGOs on Darfur, Sudan

At 3:30 this afternoon, the Secretary-General will meet with representatives of leading non-governmental organizations, to hear their views and discuss how better to focus attention and generate action on Darfur.

Today’s meeting follows one he held three weeks ago with the members of the Security Council, in which he discussed his worries that we are not moving fast enough to deal with Darfur.

**Sudan Update

Jan Pronk, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sudan, met yesterday with Sudanese Vice-President Ali Osman Taha, and they discussed, among other subjects, the mandate for the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) and the need for further talks on Darfur.  Pronk also raised his concerns about the communities of displaced persons around Khartoum.

Incidents of looting and banditry continue to be reported in Darfur, the United Nations Advance Mission in Sudan (UNAMIS) says, and the African Union is investigating.  There also are reports that rebel groups attacked some villages in South Darfur on Saturday.

**Security Council Approves 10,000-Strong UN Mission in Sudan

On Thursday afternoon, the Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution establishing a UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), which would consist of up to 10,000 military personnel and up to 715 civilian police.  The Mission’s initial mandate is for six months.

The Mission is to support the implementation of the recent Comprehensive Peace Agreement, investigating any violations of that agreement, while assisting in the disarmament process, among other tasks.

The Sudan Mission is to have a close and continuous liaison with the African Union Mission in Sudan, with a view towards expeditiously reinforcing the effort to foster peace in Darfur.

**Lebanon - Statement

We issued the following statement yesterday regarding the bombing in Lebanon:

“The Secretary-General condemns the continued bombings in Lebanon, where an explosion in Beirut late Saturday killed two people and injured at least eight others.  He is especially saddened that this latest attack, the third in Lebanon in only a week, was carried out on the eve of Easter, just as many of the nation’s Christians were preparing to attend Mass.

“The Secretary-General believes this latest violence must stop, and that Lebanese should be allowed to decide the future of their country free of violence and intimidation.  He calls upon the Government of Lebanon to act rapidly to prevent the security situation from deteriorating.  And he urges all concerned parties to do their utmost to safeguard Lebanon’s stability and national unity.”

**Lebanon Inquiry Update

Late Thursday, the Secretary-General transmitted to the Security Council the report of the Mission of Inquiry, headed by Peter Fitzgerald, on the circumstances, causes and consequences of the February 14 bombing in Beirut.

That report, the Secretary-General noted, raises some very serious and troubling allegations.  The Mission concludes that an independent, international investigation is needed, and the Secretary-General, in a letter to the Security Council, endorsed that recommendation.

Meanwhile, Special Envoy Terje Roed-Larsen will return to the region in April to continue his efforts, working with both Syria and Lebanon, to bring about a smooth implementation of Security Council resolution 1559 (2004).  He will also want to sound out the people of both countries, to get their sense of progress.  He is grateful to all sides for the cooperation he has received.

**Security Council

At 3 this afternoon, the Security Council will hold a public meeting on Côte d’Ivoire to discuss the Secretary-General’s recent report, which we flagged for you last week.

Alan Doss, the Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative for Côte d’Ivoire, will brief on the work of the UN Operation in that country. Also, Aziz Pahad, the Deputy Foreign Minister of South Africa, will discuss the mediation efforts for Côte d’Ivoire that are being led by South African President Thabo Mbeki.

**Iraq

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, met yesterday in Najaf with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to discuss the political transition in Iraq.  In his talks, Qazi stressed the importance of increasing mutual confidence through dialogue.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, Qazi said that Ayatollah al-Sistani said that he was a religious man, and not a political one, and that he did not get involved except when necessary, such as in periods of crisis.  The Special Representative added that he had come to Najaf to seek al-Sistani’s advice.

**‘Oil-for-Food’ Update

I can tell you that it has been decided that it is not appropriate to reimburse Benon Sevan’s legal bills for his appearances before the Volcker Commission (Independent Inquiry Committee).  This would be reviewed, however, if he is later cleared of both internal breaches of UN rules and regulations and of any criminal wrongdoing.

**Khmer Rouge Tribunals

From 3 to 6 this afternoon, we will hold a pledging conference here at UN Headquarters, so that interested countries can make pledges to fund the Extraordinary Chambers set up in Cambodia to try Khmer Rouge leaders.  The three-year budget for those trials is about $56.3 million dollars, of which $43 million dollars are to be paid by the United Nations and $13.3 million by the Government of Cambodia.

In setting up the Chambers, the Security Council established that the UN funding would come from voluntary contributions.  But the Secretary-General made it clear that, before we get started, he wants cash contributions in hand sufficient to meet the first year’s costs, as well as pledges for the subsequent two years.

**Afghanistan

Afghan farmers are growing fewer opium poppies this year than they did in 2004, according to a survey released yesterday by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).  This is expected to result in a drop in the country’s opium output for the first time since 2001.  We have more information on this in the briefing notes from Kabul, upstairs.

**Regional Group Briefings Begin on “In Larger Freedom” Report

Today, the Deputy Secretary-General, Louise Fréchette, and Robert Orr, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Strategic Planning, will start briefing the regional groups on the proposals contained in the Secretary-General’s recent report, “In Larger Freedom”.

The Asian and African groups will receive briefings today, followed by the Eastern European and the Western European and Other States tomorrow.  The Latin American and CaribbeanStates will be briefed on Wednesday.

**Secretary-General’s Message on Detained/Missing Staff Members

Last year, at least eight UN staff members were taken hostage in separate incidents.  So far this year, at least 12 peacekeepers have been killed, and at least 26 UN staff members remain under arrest, missing or detained.

Those statistics are included in a message by the Secretary-General to mark the International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members, which was observed last Friday.

The message was delivered this morning in the UN Correspondents Association Club by Jan Egeland, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, and it calls upon countries -- especially those that host peacekeepers -- to join the Convention on the Safety of UN and Associated Personnel.  We have the full text of the Secretary-General’s message upstairs.

Secretary-General’s Message to Asia - Pacific Development Meeting

And finally, in a message today to the Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development in Asia and the Pacific, the Secretary-General noted that economic growth in the region must continue in order to fight poverty.  He added, however, that the prevailing model of “grow first and clean up later” is not sustainable, and that we need a paradigm shift towards “green growth”.  We have the full text of that message upstairs.

Questions and Answers

Question:  Now that Dileep Nair has had a chance to respond to the charges, are you prepared to tell us what the outcome of that investigation was?  If you can’t tell us now, when can you tell us?

Spokesman:  On Mr. Nair, I’m afraid I have nothing new for you today, and I’ll have to get back to you if I can get any update on my instructions.

Question:  What are tomorrow’s plans for the UN’s response to the latest Volcker Commission report?

Spokesman:  We understand that Mr. Volcker, and possibly the other members of his panel, will be coming here to deliver to the Secretary-General an advanced copy of the report at 9 a.m., I believe.  We’ll have the same arrangements we had the last time, where there will be a photo opportunity in the lobby as Mr. Volcker comes in but not one in his office.

I understand that Mr. Volcker has scheduled a press conference at around noon.  The Secretary-General has a luncheon meeting with European Union ambassadors and after that -- 3 or 3:30 p.m. -- he would come here to Room 226 to read a statement and take a few questions.  Mark Malloch Brown would then stay behind to take more questions from you on the contents of this latest Volcker report.

So that’s our plan for now: 9 a.m., as he comes in -– I believe last time he might have even said a few words on his way out, so we’ll keep the stakeout in place for when he comes in and for after his meeting with the Secretary-General.

Question:  I would protest that there would be no photo opportunity of the report being handed over since this is a Security Council-authorized report very similar to Peter Fitzgerald’s and others.  It is obviously a unique photo opportunity:  a man given a job by the Secretary-General and the report is on the Secretary-General.  We’re not even asking to ask questions, but using United Nations TV or still photos seems like some sort of cover-up.

Spokesman:  It’s an interim report.  This is how the Secretary-General did it last time.  It’s how he wants to do it this time.

Question:  But last time, the report was not about him.

Spokesman:  We never know what the reports will be about.  But as I said:  interim reports, no photo op in his office.  That’s how he wants it.

Question:  I wonder if you could clear up the question of the Secretary-General’s state of mind.  Some of you are telling us he’s “relaxed and confident”, some of you are telling us he’s “depressed and on the point of resignation”.  Is he happy?  Is he sad?  Is he miserable?  Or is he veering wildly between the two as he awaits Volcker’s verdict?

Spokesman:  I think you saw him stand before you here in this room for almost an hour a week ago when he launched his report.  I think you could tell from that that he was strong in his commitment to the reform agenda he was presenting that day, and, I think, feels rather positive about the prospects of getting many of those recommendations approved by the General Assembly in September.

He’s been very active travelling.  He’s made two trips to the Middle East recently; put in a very strong performance in Algiers at the Arab League Summit.  I don’t think there are any signs of weakness, or, as it was reported by a couple of Murdoch papers, of “depression”.

Question:  An Arab newspaper is reporting today that an investigation into the United Nations Electoral Division has accused Carina Perelli of sexual harassment, cronyism and mismanagement of funds.  Can you confirm that report?

Spokesman:  No I’d have to look into that.  I know that the Department of Political Affairs, at a retreat, decided to invite a consulting group to critique its management practices, but I don’t know about those findings.

Question:  Can you give us a little more information on the decision to reverse course on Benon Sevan’s legal fees?  Why, after several days of heatedly defending the decision to reimburse those fees, was the change made?  Who made that decision?  What was the reasoning?

Spokesman:  I can’t really.  The note was given to me by Mark Malloch Brown just before I came down here.  He told me that the decision had been taken after consultation with the Legal Department, but that’s all I have on it.

Question:  Well, could we get more of an explanation as to what’s changed between this week and last week on that decision?

Spokesman:  I think Mr. Malloch Brown told you last week that this matter was under review.  All I know is what I read and I have nothing further as guidance for now.

Question:  Could we please have further guidance then?  What I’m asking for is transparency on how the United Nations takes decision because it’s rather confusing at the moment.

Spokesman:  I’ll see if I can get any more for you.

Question:  A follow-up on the audit into the Electoral Division.  Could you also confirm for us that this is the first time that a female UN official has been accused of sexual harassment?  As in the case with the oil-for-food investigation, some of the audit reports were made public.  Can we expect the same here?

Spokesman:  I don’t know about charges of sexual harassment, so let me please look into that.  What audit are you talking about?

Question:  The audit mentioned before on the Electoral Division that made it into the press.

Spokesman:  As I said, this was a consultant’s report for internal use by the Department of Political Affairs, so it doesn’t sound to me like the kind of thing we’d make public because it’s a management tool.  But I’ll ask for you, of course.

Question:  The lawyers for Andrew Thomson (co-author of the book “Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures”) released a statement Friday saying that he had been reinstated this past Monday.  He is claiming that he had used the “whistleblower defence” and that was the reason for his reinstatement.  I know you had said last year that “all the whistles had been blown” in that case and that didn’t have anything to do with it.  Do you have any comment on his reinstatement?

Spokesman:  First of all, I’d have to confirm that he’s been reinstated, although that doesn’t surprise me because I knew that that was in train.  Second, I’d have to see what he said, so let me see if I can confirm whether he made any reference to whistle blowing.  I would like to think that he got this job because he was the best qualified for it.  I don’t think he would want to undermine his own credibility as a candidate by saying it had to do with whistle blowing, but let me look into it and get back to you.  [He later confirmed Thomson had received an appointment.]

Question:  What was the reasoning behind the decision, as far as you understand, to terminate him and then reinstate him?

Spokesman:  He was not terminated.  His contract expired, and, if I’m correct, he was under consideration for this job, which he may now have gotten -- as well as possibly another one, which I don’t think he got.  So it’s just all in the process of applying for fresh jobs.  He was under consideration for something -- I take it he got that job, but I’ll confirm it for you after the briefing.

Question: So the fact that he’d written this book had nothing to do with the fact that his contract was not renewed after many years of positive evaluations?  And the controversy surrounding that had nothing to do with his reinstatement?

Spokesman:  To my knowledge, no.  Because I believe that the personnel department, the Office of Human Resources Management (OHRM), ruled that his not informing us in advance that he was publishing the book, and when he belatedly showed us the manuscript and we said we don’t think its in the United Nations’ interest to publish this book, and he published it anyway, that neither of those were justifications for firing him.  So, I believe it was the natural course of things.  His contract expired.  The job he was against wasn’t available, so that job ended on that date. With the expiration of that contract, he no longer had a job, but he was in the process of applying for other jobs.

Question:  Mr. Thomson claims that he did inform the Secretary-General and the United Nations well in advance that there were problems and that he had plans to write a book, but that he never got a response from the Secretary-General or anyone else.

Spokesman:  Well, this is the first time I’ve heard that.  So, I mean, I’d have to put that question to the Secretary-General’s Office or the personnel department’s office.  But my understanding was that when we informed him that he was under obligation under the Staff Rules to seek permission to publish while on staff, he seemed surprised, and that he subsequently offered the manuscript for review.  That was my understanding of how it happened.

Question:  I know it was breaking as you came in, but is the United Nations doing anything in the wake of the possible tsunami-like conditions caused by a major earthquake off the coast of Indonesia?

Spokesman:  I’m sorry.  This is the first I’ve heard of it.

Question:  Just to clarify, nothing is being paid for Benon Sevan’s defence, even prior to the first Volcker report?

Spokesman:  Yes.  You’ll recall that the last we told you was that because the bills he submitted to us were being disputed by us, nothing had been paid to him.

Question:  Lebanon says that someone is coming from the Foreign Ministry to possibly talk about the international investigation into the bombing that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.  Has anything been set up?

Spokesman’s Response:  I’ll have to check for you.  [Not yet.]

Question:  What is the reaction in the wake of printed reports that the Secretary-General will be accused of not being aware of potential conflicts of interest with his son, and failing to take management action?  This is based on comments from people who have seen the Volcker report on the eve of the document being released.

Spokesman:  Well, I don’t think we want to comment until we see what the actual report is.  But you know what Mark Malloch Brown said last week:  that the Secretary-General expects to be cleared of any wrongdoing.

Question:  What is the status of Iqbal Riza?  Is he on a “dollar-a-year” contract?

Spokesman:  He officially retired at the end of February.  The Secretary-General wanted to retain him as an adviser, so, as of 1 March, he was on a dollar-a-year contract.

Question:  So, does that allow him to come and go as he wants?  Can he go into United Nations buildings?  What does a dollar get him?

Spokesman’s Response:  Certainly, he can circulate through the premises as a staff member.

Question:  What is he advising on?

Spokesman:  The first assignment the Secretary-General gave him came out of the Secretary-General’s visit to Madrid, where the Government had a project under way following up the dialogue among civilizations.  I don’t quite know the details.  I think it’s something called the “Alliance among Civilizations”, and they wanted some help from the Secretary-General, and the Secretary-General asked Mr. Riza to follow that up.

Question:  On sex and peacekeepers, is there any other follow-up report about Jordanian peacekeepers in Timor-Leste, or actions that may not have been included in the Jordanian Ambassador’s (Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein) report, which, I confess, I have not read in all that great detail?

Spokesman:  Not that I’m aware.  I’ll have to look into it for you.

Question:  Would it be possible for someone in United Nations management to give us a briefing on how this “dollar-a-day” thing works?  What are the privileges that go with it?  Are there tax exemptions?  Visa concerns?

Spokesman:  It’s a dollar a year, and it is at the discretion of the Secretary-General.  It’s basically a way for him to get the services of people who he feels have something to offer at limited expense to the Organization.

Question:  Does it have any implication on getting a United Nations visa into the country?  What about tax status?

Spokesman:  I’ll have to look into that for you.

Question:  You say that the Secretary-General is confident of being cleared on any “wrongdoing”.  That’s a very specific word.  So, is he confident of being cleared of blindness to conflicts of interest and managerial incompetence?

Spokesman:  What we’ve been saying from the beginning is that the contract for Cotecna was issued according to standard United Nations procurement practices, and that the Secretary-General’s son’s connection with the company had no impact or influence on the awarding of that contract.  That is what his internal investigation found.  It’s what he in his heart believes is true and it’s what he expects to come out tomorrow.

The leaking of some elements of the Volcker report to some media suggests that there will be more details on his son, Kojo.  But until we know what they are, I don’t think I’d want to comment.

Question:  Does the UN feel it appropriate that leading members of the Volcker Commission, and perhaps even Mr. Volcker himself, are leaking selected details of the report to one or two American newspapers?

Spokesman:  We don’t know that that’s so, but someone is leaking, and it’s resulting in “death by a thousand cuts” for us and we’d prefer that that not happen.

Question:  With the decision not to reimburse Benon Sevan’s legal fees from the so-called “2.2 account”, is the Secretary-General considering reviewing the decision to fund the Volcker investigation from that account?

Spokesman:  No.  That decision was made, I think, with the support of the Security Council.  So, I think that’s the way the Volcker Commission would have to be funded.  I’m not aware of any re-thinking on that subject.

Question:  Well, how was that decision made, because the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) was not consulted first?  Don’t financial issues usually go before that Committee?

Spokesman:  I’m not sure on the procedure, so I’ll have to check for you.  [After discussion the matter with the Security Council, the Secretary-General informed the Council in a letter that he intended to fund Volcker out of the 2.2 account.  It was not a matter for the General Assembly.]

Question:  Who told Benon Sevan or his attorney about the decision?

Spokesman:  As I said, I found out about it right before I came down here, so I don’t know who else might have been told or how that might be handled.

Question:  When is the deadline for Mr. Sevan’s rebuttal of the allegations?

Spokesman:  I believe his first extension was for three weeks, which expired sometime last week.  Then, I believe, he’s been given another three weeks.  I’ll try to firm that up, but that’s my impression.  [That’s accurate.]

Question:  Can you give us any more detail on the amount of the legal fees?  It was reportedly somewhere around $300,000.  But now that you’re not paying it, can you give us a figure?

Spokesman:  Last week we did not want to give that figure.  In fact, I’m not sure we had totalled up the receipts he had submitted to us.  But I’ll have to see whether there is any change in that position now.

Question:  Fred, you keep focusing on the Cotecna deal.  Is that a strategic decision made by the communications people and, one would assume, Mark Malloch Brown, to keep saying that [the Secretary-General] did nothing legally wrong in the Cotecna deal, and to try and ignore the rest of the Volcker report, which will presumably focus on managerial lapses overseen by Mr. Annan and the blindness to a conflict of interest?  This seems to be a strategy that you’re following now.

Spokesman:  First of all, I’m not going to discuss our strategy.  But these other details came out over the weekend in two press reports.  We really will not know what Mr. Volcker’s report says until it comes out tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. So, let us get it first, study it, and then decide what our communications strategy is.  And we’ll talk to you in the afternoon.

Question:  Has anyone in the UN system been told what’s in the report by people on the Volcker Commission?

Spokesman:  Not that I’m aware.  When charges are brought or allegations are made by the Volcker Commission against individuals, I believe that the Commission informs the people that are going to be charged in order to get a reaction from them.  So, I think that details do get out in that way, but you’d have to really ask Mr. Volcker about his practices there.

Question:  So you don’t know if the Secretary-General has received an “adverse findings” notice?

Spokesman:  I don’t know that, no.

Question:  I just want to put on the record that, although the final outcome of Mr. Volcker’s investigation may not have anything ultimately to do with the Secretary-General, the real interest is on tomorrow’s report.  It will look bad for the UN to use old misleading pictures or video.  There should be some recording of that moment.

Spokesman:  Ok.  I’ll relay that for you.

Question:  Given this “death by a thousand cuts” that you mentioned, is the Secretary-General giving any new thought to resigning?

Spokesman:  The Secretary-General has no intention, no intention, of resigning.  He expects to be cleared of wrongdoing by Mr. Volcker.  He has put forward an ambitious reform programme that he expects will culminate this September.  That, I think, is going to be his legacy for the United Nations, and he’s committed to going ahead with that.  That’s his agenda.

Thank you very much.

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