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 Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon,

**Haiti

We have the following statement attributable to the Spokesman regarding an incident in Haiti yesterday:

“The Secretary-General learned with great dismay and sadness of the death of one member of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) yesterday, the third combat fatality sustained since the mission’s deployment in June 2004.

“At about 4:15 yesterday afternoon, while supervising the setting up of a checkpoint in the shanty town of Cité Soleil in Port-au-Prince, the UN troops came under fire from unidentified gunmen.  During this attack, a UN soldier from the Philippines was shot and later died from his injuries.

“The Secretary-General shares the indignation expressed yesterday in Haiti by Security Council members, and vigorously condemns all violence against UN personnel.  The Secretary-General expresses his sincere condolences to the soldier’s family, the Philippine contingent and the Government of the Philippines and reiterates the UN’s resolve to continue to work towards the establishment of a peaceful environment in Haiti.”

**Haiti - Security Council

The Security Council mission in Haiti was marred by yesterday’s killing of this peacekeeper.

A ceremony -- originally scheduled to honour the Philippine contingent’s completion of six months of service to the UN Mission -- was held to honour the peacekeeper, who was also from the Philippines.

Lauro Baja, the Philippines’ Permanent Representative, in addition to expressing great sorrow over his countryman’s death, praised the peacekeepers for their courage, calling them “the best ambassadors of goodwill”.  He was accompanied by the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Haiti, Juan Valdes, among others.

This morning, the Security Council mission held private meetings with Haitian political and civil society leaders and representatives.  And it is now splitting into two groups, one is being flown to the city of Cap Haitien, and the other to Gonaïves.

The mission will hold an end-of-visit press conference tomorrow, before returning to New York. 

And the Council has no consultations or meetings scheduled today because of this mission to Haiti.

**Secretary-General

On Saturday the Secretary-General will be in Washington, D.C., to attend a working dinner of the International Monetary and Financial Committee of the International Monetary Fund and the Development Committee of the World Bank.

The Secretary-General will be delivering remarks at the dinner.  He is expected to tell the audience of international finance officials that their development agenda fits into, and has a better chance of being adopted as part of the broader agenda that he has put before Member States for this September’s summit.

The Secretary-General will be back in the office on Monday.  He has no other appointments in Washington.

**ECOSOC

On Monday, the UN Economic and Social Council will host a full-day meeting with finance and development ministers, central bankers and executive directors of the Bretton Woods institutions, who will be departing from the weekend Spring Meeting of the World Bank and IMF, as well as with representatives of UNCTAD --UN Conference on Trade and Development -- and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The Monday meeting constitutes a key opportunity for finance decision makers to consider foreign aid outlays in a multilateral and inter-institutional context, prior to the Summit taking place in the UN in September.

We have a press kit upstairs with more.

**Sudan

The Acting High Commissioner for Refugees, Wendy Chamberlin, leaves Sunday on a five-day mission to the Sudan and Chad following this week's Oslo donors' conference on the Sudan.

The continuing insecurity and massive displacement in the Darfur region make it one of the most difficult protection environments UNHCR faces anywhere.  The two-year conflict has uprooted over two million people -- 1.8 million of them displaced within Darfur and 200,000 others now across the border in our camps in neighbouring Chad.  You can read more about UNHCR’s work in the Sudan and Chad in the agency’s briefing notes from Geneva today.

**UN Flag – Rainier

The UN flag is flying at half mast today in observance of the official mourning of His Serene Highness, Prince Rainier of Monaco, whose funeral is being held today.

**Press Conference Monday

In a press conference on Monday, 3:30 p.m., the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany, Ms. Wieczorek-Zeul, will brief the press on Germany’s contribution to the Millennium Development Goals, and on preparations for the high-level plenary meeting of the 60^th session of the General Assembly, which we call the September summit.

**The Week Ahead

And we have the Week Ahead for you to help you with your coverage of the UN next week.

Any questions? Edie?

**Questions and Answers

Question:  Fred, two questions.  The Secretary-General said yesterday that the United Nations is outgunned and outmanned and the UN needs to be more aggressive in responding to critics.  Are we going to be seeing a tougher, more critical Secretary-General in the week and days ahead?

And, as a second question, could you confirm that the Secretary-General thought that his remarks yesterday morning were off the record?

Spokesman:  As for what we’re going to see in the days and weeks ahead, let’s just wait and see.  But, yes, it was my fault.  I didn’t tell him that the UN TV camera was on and everyone in the building was listening to his remarks. 

So, he thought that he was talking to a private seminar.

Yes, James?

Question:  Fred, what is the Secretary-General’s reaction to the allegations contained in the indictment handed down yesterday by US authorities suggesting two high-ranking UN officials may have received bribes in the ”oil-for-food” scandal?

Spokesman:  I did not discuss this with him specifically, but it is consistent with the position he’s been taking all along, that he wants to see us get to the bottom of this and anyone who might have done anything wrong to be prosecuted.  I think he is happy to see this process go forward.  This is now, of course, in the hands of US judicial authorities.  We’ll see what actually comes out of this judicial action.  But if justice is served, he is pleased.

Yes, go ahead.

Question:  Fred, who is the UN official?  Is it Boutros Boutros-Ghali?

Spokesman:  I wish I knew.  I don’t think anyone in this building knows.  You have to ask the prosecutor.

Yes?

Question:  Fred, has the Secretary-General ever met TongsunPark, the man indicted?

Spokesman:  I am not sure.  I’d have to check for you.

Question:  Can you check for us and give us a definitive answer on that?

Spokesman:  I’ll try, yes.  [The Secretary-General later said that he had never met TongsunPark.]

Yes, sir?

Question:  Jack Straw’s reactions to these off-the-record remarks yesterday, saying well, actually the UN never made any representations to the UK about sanctions busting.  I mean, what time was it?  Can you clarify this to me whether any representations were made, internationally from the UN, as to sanctions busting, the selling of oil to Turkey and Jordan by the Iraq regime?

Spokesman:  All of this is going to be covered in the final Volcker report.  So, I don’t what to comment on who said what to whom.

Yes, sir?

Question:  (Inaudible)... say what the Secretary-General’s reaction to the work of the Human Rights Commission in Geneva?

Spokesman:  Say it again?

Question:  What is the Secretary-General’s reaction to the work of the Human Rights Commission in Geneva?

Spokesman:  What specifically do you want?

Question:  They passed a resolution this morning on... Interrupted).

Spokesman:  That’s a Geneva story.  I don’t know what... Interrupted).  Sorry, I don’t know what resolution was adopted this morning and I have no guidance from the Secretary-General on what might have happened in Geneva today.

Question:  Back to the US-UK comment yesterday, even though you thought it was off the record, it was out publicly today.  Was this indeed the first time that the Secretary-General went and said this?  Or had he said it before publicly, do you know?

Spokesman:  He’s always been saying that he shares responsibility for the management of the oil-for-food programme with the 661 Committee.  So, let’s see what Volcker’s final call is.

James?

Question:  Just to be clear, the Secretary-General doesn’t believe that because the major powers somehow turned a blind eye to food smuggling that would excuse UN officials taking bribes, as they were later taken, does he?

Spokesman:  He would never try to excuse any officials taking bribes.  He’s made that very clear from the beginning.

Jonathan?

Question:  Fred, is it possible for us to get a look at Boutros Boutros-Ghali’s schedule at the time that is cited in the indictment and the complaints to determine whether in fact, he was the one who was probably meeting with the Korean and with the chief witness?

Spokesman:  Any public appointments of any Secretary-General is a matter of public record so, we can probably dig that out for you.  [All the public records of his meetings are available in the UN Library.]

Yes, Mark?

Question:  Yesterday, the attorney said that he hadn’t met with any UN officials.  Are you making UN officials available to the Southern District or not?

Spokesman:  I’d have to get guidance on that.  I don’t know.  [He later said that the Assistant District Attorney’s office had not contacted the UN.]

Question:  Actually, I have another separate question.  One-time staff buyout, a couple of days ago I asked what plans were, what the ideas were on that.  You said you’d get back to me.  I was wondering if you had any; asked as to what the plan is to buy out... (Interrupted)?

Spokesman:  I think the Secretary-General has put that proposal on the table and it’s up to the General Assembly to react.  So, I think you need... (Interrupted).

Question:  I thought it was a UN management issue?

Spokesman:  It involves money.  James?

Question:  Fred, in the Volcker report, it says that Kojo Annan received money into his account from a firm called SOCOTEC International Inspection.  It seems that that firm is listed as an approved UN contractor.

Can you check for us what business that firm has been doing with the UN?  And also, who the procurement officer responsible for awarding those contracts was?

Spokesman:  Delighted to.  [He later said that SOCOTEC is registered with UN procurement, but the UN has never done business with the company.]

Yes, Massoud?

Question:  This figure of $8.9 billion.  Where, I mean, the figure was... (Interrupted).

Spokesman:  Regarding?

Question:  The oil-for-food.  The $9 billion is a handover to the United States Coalition Authority.  Does that come under the purview of the Volcker Commission?  Because the United States’ own internal auditors now say that that money has not been accounted for.

Spokesman:  Well, I think that the mechanism that we set up to audit those funds was the IAMB.  Yes?

Question:  Yes, Just back again to... (Interrupted).

Spokesman:  I am not going to give you any satisfaction on this.

Question:  No, I just wanted to know whether there was anything on the public record from this period of the United Nations publicly flagging the fact that sanctions busting was taking place and that oil was being sold to Jordan and Turkey?

Spokesman:  Well, you can review the public records, can’t you?

Yes, Mark?

Question:  I am just wondering, with all due respect, are you going to say anything that has anything to do with that period, the UN is now refusing to answer because it’s being dealt with in the Volcker Commission, because that seems to be a rather bizarre information policy?

Spokesman:  Why would you say that?  I mean, I just said I was going... (Interrupted)

Question:  We’re asking very basic questions about what happened, when, which is our job as journalists.  And you’re saying we can’t ask for anything because it’s being looked at by Volcker.  And that’s what strikes me as rather unacceptable... (Interrupted).

Spokesman:  I know.  You’ve found this unacceptable from the beginning, Mark.  But the fact is Mr. Volcker has asked us not to conduct a parallel inquiry through the press while his work is ongoing.

Question:   But we’re asking... (inaudible) questions about what happened during certain periods?

Spokesman:  I have already said I’d look into the question that James asked me.  I mean, we’ll help you to the extent that we can.  But we don’t want to step on the official inquiry’s toes.

Question:  I had a second question which still hasn’t been answered.  It results from something that is in the completed interim Volcker report, which is this letter that the Secretary-General forwarded to the Ghanaian ambassador.  I am still trying to find out if the Secretary-General has any legitimate explanation for why he apparently helped this company Cotecna lobby for its contract in Ghana.  Is there a legitimate explanation for that?

Spokesman:  I don’t think that there is anything to suggest that the Secretary-General helped lobby for a company.  I think Stéphane, in my absence, answered your question about how this letter was handled in a routine way.  It was just passed on down the line.

Question:  It wasn’t actually the answer that Stéphane gave me that it wasn’t handled in a routine way.  He didn’t say that.  Actually it seems it was not handled in a routine way that the Secretary-General should forward a letter from a private company to an ambassador, then speak to the ambassador about it on the phone.  And then instruct another UN official, Patrick Hayford, in the Africa Division, to write back to the company telling the company what he’d done?  Is that routine? 

That was my original question.  I never got an answer back to if that was routine.  In fact, I got an answer back, very vague answer, not saying anything, really.

Spokesman:  Patrick Hayford is on the Secretary-General’s staff.  He is not in the Africa Division.  And... (Interrupted).

Question:  (Inaudible interruption).

Spokesman:  We’ll see if we get anything more.

Last question.  Jonathan?

Question:  Fred, can you explain how diplomatic immunity would apply to the two individuals cited in the Southern District indictment?  How the Secretary-General would handle that... (Interrupted)?

Spokesman:  If you don’t know who they are, I can’t answer the question.

Question:  But if they are no longer employed by the UN, they’re on pensions or if they’re part of the system still, how does it work out?

Spokesman:  If it involves actions taken while they were UN staff members, the immunity stays in place for as long as they are alive.

Question:  Fred, there is a comment made by the US attorney who lodged the indictments yesterday.  He said that he understood that, in some cases, it wasn’t even a question of lifting diplomatic immunity.  There also had to be the consent of the person whose immunity was lifted. 

Can you tell us if it’s true in any cases, and particularly whether that might be true in cases where the Secretary-General or former Secretary-General ...  Is the consent of the Secretary-General or former Secretary-General needed for their diplomatic immunity to be lifted?

Spokesman:  I’ll double-check that for you.  In the case of Secretaries-General it’s the Security Council that lifts the immunity.  And I’ll have to see if the individual involved has any say in it.

It doesn’t seem that they should.  [He later said the consent of the person accused is not need for diplomatic immunity to be lifted of any staff member or for a Secretary-General.]

Thank you very much.

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