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 Stéphane Dujarric, Associate Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.

**Secretary-General - Indonesia

Starting off with the Secretary-General’s current visit to Indonesia.

On the eve of the opening of the two-day Asian-African Summit in Jakarta, the Secretary-General began his programme with a briefing on UN reform to Heads of State and delegations.

The briefing lasted more than two-and-a-half hours, with more than a dozen delegates taking the floor and asking questions of the Secretary-General. 

Saying that the world isn’t paying enough attention to the challenges of development, the Secretary-General outlined key features of the proposals contained in the report he presented to the General Assembly last month.

He emphasized that a functioning, effective United Nations is important for everyone -- but perhaps it’s most important for the developing world.

He again stressed the importance for concrete commitments to meet the target for official development assistance amounting to 0.7 per cent of gross national income by 2015.

General Assembly President Jean Ping joined the Secretary-General on the podium and briefed on how the report was being discussed by Member States, here at UN Headquarters in New York.

In the evening, the Secretary-General held a meeting with Natwar Singh, the External Affairs Minister of India.

And tomorrow, he will address the opening of the Asian-African Summit, and he also will hold at least 10 bilateral meetings with visiting heads of State and government.

And we have copies upstairs of his statement.

**Statement Attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

Late yesterday, we released a statement on the situation in Ecuador, which I will read into the record:

“The Secretary-General has learned that the Vice-President of Ecuador, Alfredo Palacio, has assumed the functions of the presidency.

“The Secretary-General remains concerned about the violence in the country, which has already claimed victims.  He reiterates his call on all parties to show restraint and to initiate an urgent dialogue towards the full restoration of the rule of law, as the basis for the achievement of political, social and economic stability in the country.

“The Secretary-General emphasizes that the United Nations will continue to support all Ecuadoreans in their efforts to achieve that end.”

**Security Council – Middle East

Turning to the Security Council, the Council today held an open meeting on the situation in the Middle East and received a briefing from Under-Secretary-General Kieran Prendergast.  Kieran Prendergast told Council members that the revived peace process there is still fragile and that “doubts and suspicions” still need to be dispelled about both Israeli intentions and Palestinian resolve and capabilities. 

Prendergast said Israel’s planned disengagement from Gaza and the northern West Bank will be a landmark in Israeli-Palestinian relations -- and he urged both sides to ensure that it happens in a coordinated way, and that it doesn’t become a dead end, but contributes to the momentum for peace.

Prendergast also touched on the situation in Lebanon, noting that the work of the International Independent Investigation Commission into the assassination of Rafik Hariri is expected to begin “very shortly”.

After the meeting, the Council proceeded to hold consultations, which are still ongoing, on the Middle East.  We have copies of Kieran Prendergast’s statement available upstairs.

**Côte d’Ivoire – Weapons Withdrawal

Turning to Côte d’Ivoire, the UN Mission in that country says that the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front line -- by Government soldiers and the armed forces of the main rebel group, Forces nouvelles, began today.

The withdrawal is proceeding smoothly, with no reports of major hiccups; and it is scheduled to continue until the 24 of this month.

Yesterday, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Côte d’Ivoire, Pierre Schori, held separate meetings with representatives of the opposition Group of Seven and the Ivorian Popular Front.

The meetings focused on the follow-up to the Pretoria Agreement and the parties’ commitment to the peace process.

Schori reaffirmed his determination to continue the cooperation between UN Mission there and Ivorian political parties.

**Côte d’Ivoire – Humanitarian

Also on the same country, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that water has become dangerously scarce for some 150,000 people in and around the northern city of Korhogo.

OCHA says that the national water company has been rationing water to stretch out the limited resources, which will only last until the first week of May.

The water crisis, which began over two months ago, is primarily due to poor infrastructure and low rainfall.

**Iraq – Qazi Activities

We received today an update from our UN Mission in Iraq.  They say the Secretary-General’s Special Representative there, Ashraf Qazi, met yesterday with President Jalal Talabani for talks on the current political situation.

Qazi said he hoped that the formation of the Government would proceed as quickly as possible in order to allow adequate time for the constitution-making process. 

We have more details of Mr. Qazi’s meetings in Baghdad available for you upstairs.

**Democratic Republic of the Congo – OCHA - Cholera

Turning to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that an outbreak of cholera in camps for displaced people in the Ituri district is likely to worsen in the Tché camp, where the lives of about 25,000 people are at risk, due to lack of access by aid workers for more than a week.

Tché had recorded 165 cases of cholera with four deaths before the area became inaccessible.

**Niger

Just a couple of more notes, the World Food Programme has warned that approximately 350,000 children under five in Niger could be suffering from malnutrition, with stunted growth already a fact of life for some 61 per cent of children in the southern regions of Zinder and Maradi.

Despite the worrying trend, WFP’s emergency operation in Niger currently has a shortfall of $2.5 million.  And we have more in a press release upstairs.

**Nepal

Last item, from Nepal, a joint UN team -- headed by Walter Kalin, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, and Dennis McNamara, the Director of the UN’s Internal Displacement Division -- left Nepal yesterday after identifying the needs of an expanded UN human rights office in that country.

The UN’s goal is to set up regional field offices to ensure rapid responses to violations reports, and to have an advance team of human rights monitors in Nepal by early May.

Immediately following the noon briefing tomorrow, Dennis McNamara, will be here in this room to brief you on his recent mission.

**Guest at Noon Tomorrow

Also tomorrow, Ambassador John Ashe, who chairs the thirteenth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development, will be joining us at noon to brief on the outcome of the session, which ends tomorrow.

**Press Conference this Afternoon

And shortly, at 12:45 in this room, Mikhail Gorbachev, will return to this room as the Chairman of Green Cross International.  And he will be joined by Ambassador John Ashe as well.  And the press conference will be here.

I think that’s it from me.  Any questions?

Yes, Massoud?

**Questions and Answers

Question:  I have two questions about Mr. Strong.  Can you check and find out whether Mr. Strong was employed by the United Nations in the 50s or 60s and that he was removed from here?

And also, in 2003, Mr. Eliot Spitzer, NewYorkState’s attorney general, files, I mean investigated the Strong financial corporation, in the year 2003?  Did that corporation belong to Mr. Maurice Strong?  And in 1997,  -- in ’96-’97 -- when he was employed at the United Nations, at that point in time he headed a corporation which was based somewhere in Central America.  And when it went down, the shareholders of that corporation sued Mr. Maurice Strong in a class action suit.  Can you check on that?

Associate Spokesman:  Most of those questions you’d have to address to Mr. Strong.  As you know, the issue of financial disclosure forms which people at the ASG or Under-Secretary-General level would have had to fill out -- were only put in place in 1999. 

So, for his other appointments prior to 1999, he did not have to fill out these forms.  And on his appointments on as on exactly when employed basis or dollar-a-year envoy, it had been the prior policy to waive the requirement to fill out that form.

Question:  No.  I was saying that when he was hired in 1992, I think ’96, as a reformist, as a United Nations reformer and so forth.  And then he headed the Rio Summit also.  The thing is that this particular case is rather troubling, wherein he was implicated that he may have sold, in an insider’s deal, his corporation’s shares.

Associate Spokesman:  What I am telling you is that you should address those questions to him.  We would not have been aware of his...(interrupted).

Question:  (Inaudible interruption)?

Associate Spokesman:  No.  What I am saying to you is that he would not have had to file a financial disclosure form because that requirement only began in 1999.

Louis?

Question:  Steph, on Maurice Strong; in an interview with a Toronto newspaper that was published this morning, Maurice Strong essentially says that TongsunPark did invest a million dollars in a company that was run by his son and later went bankrupt.  In the light of those revelations, is it the UN’s opinion now that this unnamed official No 2, cited in the criminal complaint last week, is indeed Maurice Strong?

Associate Spokesman:  Again, that’s an issue that’s being looked at by the Federal District Attorney of the Southern District of New York.  We have no information at this point who that UN official No. 2 is.

Question:  The information that Mr. Strong’s given is that, you know, Mr. Park did invest a million dollars, like the criminal complaint says, and that a million dollars went into a company that was run by his son, like the criminal complaint says.  And the company later went bankrupt.  And in light of those revelations, are you now, is it the UN’s opinion that official No. 2 is Mr. Strong?

Associate Spokesman:  We don’t have any hard facts as to who No. 1 and No. 2 are.  What we do know is that Mr. Strong decided to step aside while investigations are ongoing.

Yes?

Question:  The Commission in charge of the implementation of resolution 1559, is scheduled to arrive in Lebanon at the end of the month.  Could you comment -- of the week, this week.  Can you confirm it?

Associate Spokesman:  I know this team that will go to verify the Syrian withdrawal is expected to travel to Lebanon by the end of the month.  This will...(interrupted).

Question:  The week.

Associate Spokesman:  What I have is that they will be there by the end of the month.  It doesn’t mean that they won’t be there earlier.  But, they will be there at the latest by the end of the month.  This will be a small technical team put together by our Peacekeeping Department.  It will be, basically, military officers who are used to this kind of work.  And they will do the technical verification that Syrian uniformed troops have withdrawn, as well as intelligence assets, as well as military hardware.

Question:  I have another question.

Associate Spokesman:  Sure.

Question:  Several questions, actually.  The Secretary-General is now in Jakarta.  Is he going to meet with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad?

Associate Spokesman:  No, he’s not, because it’s my understanding that President Assad is not going to Jarkata.

Question:  The investigation of the Commission, the investigative commission [into the murder of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri] is supposed to be sent shortly.  Does it mean that the investigative commission has already been formed?

Associate Spokesman:  No.  We’ve been told that it is not yet fully formed.  And as soon as it is, we will be able to announce who will lead that team.  This is the one into Hariri’s assassination.  We will be able to announce who is leading that team and who composes the team.

Question:  And also on the Annan report, the report is scheduled to be released on 26.  The Syrian withdrawal is supposed to be done also on 26 instead of 30 April.  Does it mean that the report will maybe be expected to be released on 27 instead of 26?

Associate Spokesman:  I have been told 26.  The report may include the official confirmation from Syria and Lebanon that Syria has withdrawn.  However, the verification of that withdrawal, which will be done by a UN team, their report will not be, obviously, available till later, until they’ve completed their work on the ground verifying the withdrawal.

Yes?

Question:  This is confused.  There is a team going out to verify the withdrawal after a report saying they have withdrawn?

Associate Spokesman:  No.

Question:  Is the reason for delaying it to ensure that they have withdrawn?

Associate Spokesman:  The report that we expected to be issued on the 26will include, obviously, the latest developments on the ground.  It may include the official announcement from Syria and Lebanon that they have withdrawn.  That is their official announcement.  That is separate from the verification by a team of UN military experts that in fact, that has been done.

Question:  Okay.  And the Hariri people go this week, or when?

Associate Spokesman:  The Hariri people will go, as Mr. Prendergast said, very shortly.

Question:  But how can a small technical team verify plainclothesmen that are all over the place?  They’re just going to...(interrupted)?

Associate Spokesman:  Let’s see who is exactly on the team and what their...(interrupted).

Question:  It’s not the numbers, you know.  It’s not...(interrupted)?

Associate Spokesman:  Well, as soon as we have the team put together, we’ll come back with more information on how they will work.

Question:  And are you also going to give an embargo on Annan’s speech in Indonesia?  For tomorrow?  Are you...?

Associate Spokesman:  See me afterwards; we’ll see what we can do. [The speech was later released on embargoed basis.]

Question:  And there is one more question.

Associate Spokesman:  Let me go to Benny and then I’ll come back to you.

Question:  Right.

Associate Spokesman:  Yes, Benny?

Question:  Two quick questions, one to follow up on this Lebanon issue.  There is a letter today by Senators Hyde and Lantos, pretty much attacking the Secretary-General for delaying the report.  Do you have any response to that?

Associate Spokesman:  I have not seen the letter.

Question:  And secondly, I don’t know, perhaps you answered it.  I just want to make sure.  As far as you know, is the Volcker team investigating this whole Maurice Strong issue?

Associate Spokesman:  I think I commented on that three days ago, that Mr. Strong told us that he’d been contacted by them.  But that’s all I have.

Question:  Despite the fact that there might be some conflict of interest between Volcker and Maurice Strong?

Associate Spokesman:  That’s all I have to say.  I don’t know anything else.

Yes, Mark?

Question:  Steph, if Maurice Strong is absolutely cleared, is the Secretary-General prepared to say, now you can go (inaudible)...if you stand by I might return you as UN envoy to Korea?  And secondly, to follow up on Massoud’s question, it has come out, I suppose it was known at the time, that Mr. Strong apparently sold off at $31 a share, you know, his holdings in his company that later did not fare so well. 

This was why (inaudible)... been known at the time does the Secretary-General still think that in light of that he was a good choice to head the UN reform?

Associate Spokesman:  We do not have, as far as I know, we did not have any information as to his financial dealings.  And it was my understanding that he was not appointed by this Secretary-General on UN reform.

Question:  [Several correspondents] Yes, he was.  Yes, he was.

Associate Spokesman:  I’ll check.

Question:  And the first question?

Associate Spokesman:  I think we’ll take things one step at a time.  He has stepped aside, ...(interrupted).

Question:  But you are not prepared to say that actually he will return as a UN envoy if he’s cleared?  You’re not prepared to say that?

Associate Spokesman:  I am not saying one way or another.  I am just saying he’s stepped aside, and let’s let this investigation go on.

Yes, Mohammad?

Question:  When will Mr. Qazi brief the Security Council?

Associate Spokesman:  I’ll have to check for you on that.

Yes, Massoud?

Question:  Given the charges report, do you think it’s wise for Mr. Strong to stay on or the Secretary-General to retain him?

Associate Spokesman:  He’s not being retained.  He’s stepping aside.

Question:  He’s stepped aside, but I’m sure that things as they stand, I think it’s better that he, don’t you think?  The Secretary-General...

Associate Spokesman:  Well, he’s stepped aside.  By stepping aside, he’s not working for us, since he only works for us as employed.

Question:  Was it his decision or yours?

Associate Spokesman:  It was his decision.

Question:  Can you get back to me on whether he was employed in 1950 and the ‘60s and...?

Associate Spokesman:  Yes.

Question:  What about the potential replacement, in the meantime, of Mr. Strong while he steps aside, Stéphane, given the importance of the North Korea dossier and the UN’s involvement?  I mean, how’s that going to play out?

Associate Spokesman:  At this point, Mr. Strong was backed by the Department of Political Affairs.  The people there are going to continue to monitor the situation, maintain the file, keep contacts and travel to the region as necessary in the short term.

Question:  (inaudible question)?

Associate Spokesman:  Staffers in the Political Affairs Department.

Thank you very much.

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