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.

**Guest at Noon

I hope you’re all here to see Carol Bellamy, and not me, who will join us right after the noon briefing to talk about her tenure as the head of the UN Children’s Fund.

**Secretary-General - India

Starting off with the Secretary-General’s travels, he began his activities in India today with a visit to the Rajghat -- the memorial to Mahatma Gandhi -- where he and Mrs. Annan laid a wreath.  Afterwards, the Secretary-General had a series of meetings with political leaders.

He met the Minister of External Relations, Natwar Singh, President Abdul Kalam, opposition leader L.K. Advani, as well as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and Sonia Gandhi, the Chairperson of the Indian National Congress Party.

The topics discussed during his meetings ranged from UN reform to regional security -- with particular emphasis on relations between India and Pakistan, and India and China, as well as the situation in Nepal.

In the afternoon, the Secretary-General chaired a round table on HIV/AIDS, the main focus of the discussion being the stigma and discrimination faced by people living with HIV.  And we have more upstairs on the Secretary-General’s programme.

**Security Council

There are no meetings of the Security Council today.

Yesterday afternoon, the Council was briefed by Jean Marie Guéhenno, the head of the UN’s Department of Peacekeeping Operations, on recent political developments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In a statement to the press afterwards, Council President Wang Guangya said Council members encouraged the Congolese parties to carry through their political process in full respect of the principles set out in the Global and All-Inclusive Agreement.

The Council also discussed sending some of its ambassadors on a mission to Kinshasa in the DRC.  And we have copies of Ambassador Wang’s statement available upstairs.  And we have also put in a request to the Department of Peacekeeping Operations to brief you on the situation in the DRC.

**Sudan - Deployment

Turning to Sudan, the UN Mission in Sudan says that the first contingents of peacekeepers have begun to arrive in that country.  An advance party of 12 Nepalese soldiers is now on the ground.  Also, predeployment training for around 40 UN senior staff officers and military observers started in Nairobi yesterday.  The training covers all aspects of living and working in Sudan.

Meanwhile, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sudan, Jan Pronk, will go to Addis Ababa tomorrow for discussions on the expansion of African Union activities in Darfur.  And we have more upstairs on the briefing note from the UN mission in Sudan.

**Djibouti

In Djibouti, the UN has issued a flash appeal for that country, in response to the severe food crisis threatening Djibouti.  The appeal amounts to $7.5 million, and aims to provide food aid to nearly 30,000 people.  Additional immediate needs include water for 18,000 people and mobile health services for 5,000.  Caused by three consecutive failed rainy seasons, the crisis has also given rise to concerns about child malnutrition.  And we have a press release available upstairs.

**UN Television

The UN TV programme, World Chronicle, will air today.  The guest is Javier Rupérez, who heads the UN Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate and he will talk about international cooperation in the fight against terrorism.  And you can watch the show at 3:30 this afternoon on in-house television channel 3 or 31.

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

James?

**Questions and Answers

Question:  One from yesterday, Stéphane.  I asked whether either James Wolfonsohn or Maurice Strong were involved in any way in the Secretary-General’s selection of Mr. Volcker to head the Volcker commission.

Associate Spokesman:  Prior to making the appointment, the Secretary-General consulted with a wide variety of people who could offer him advice on the issue.  I don’t know of all the people he may have spoken to on the appointment, but Mr. Volcker is a man of unquestionable reputation, wide experience, who has led enquiries on even more complicated matters.  And I think he would have been on anyone’s priority list.

Question:  That was not the question.  And you’ve had 24 hours to take it up.  I specifically asked not for all the people he consulted.  I specifically asked whether he did consult Maurice Strong and James Wolfonsohn.

Associate Spokesman:  I am not going to answer to that.  You may want to ask the Secretary-General when he comes in and has a press encounter probably early next week.  Evelyn?

Question:  Housekeeping.  There is an excellent press kit on the NPT conference.  What I think we need, and we had five years ago, is a crib sheet with all the alphabet soup on it of the different weapons and the agreements and so forth, which people refer to in shorthand, as it takes too long to read through everything to find it.

Secondly, I have just spoken to the Media Accreditation, but if you could use your influence, the office is opening at normal times and there will be a lot more journalists coming in on Monday.  The new director is here for the first time and he will try to do something about it.  But...(Interrupted).

Associate Spokesman:  He is in the back of the room.  We will introduce him to you officially soon.  But, I am sure he has taken note, and I have taken note of the others.

Question:  I was just trying to make it public, you know, that this is, you know.  Everybody is trying to go up late.  But with the changeover coming so late, there are no special arrangements made for instance to...

Associate Spokesman:  Yes Mark?

Question:  Steph, does Maurice Strong have any other financial connections to the United Nations at this point?  Any companies, perhaps, that he’s involved with ...(Inaudible)...to the United Nations or to affiliate NGOs?

Associate Spokesman:  Not that I am aware of.  Whatever financial associations he may have with NGOs, I think you’d have to ask him.

Question:  Stéphane, following the coming out of the letter from Mr. Annan’s lawyer to the Volcker commission, in which he accepts that he was not, as we were told by many spokesmen for him, if not him himself, exonerated by the Volcker commission.  I want to ask you a question that we have asked a number of times here, which is:  does the Secretary-General now concede he was at fault when he effectively lobbied for Cotecna by forwarding a letter from the Cotecna founder to the Ghanaian Ambassador in 2002?

Associate Spokesman:  That’s a question I have answered as best as I can many times, I am not going to re-open that issue now.

Question:  You haven’t answered it.  You’ve said...(Interrupted).

Associate Spokesman:  You’ve asked the question and the Secretary-General’s statement is clear on what is in the second Volcker report and I have nothing to add to that.

Question:  The second Volcker report found that on one issue, as the lawyer said, he was exonerated of rigging the contract.  But there were other issues where, as the Secretary-General admits, he was now, there was severe criticism.  I was asking on this one issue of the letter.  Does he concede that he was at fault or does he...(Interrupted).

Associate Spokesman:  I have nothing to add.  Yes?

Question:  Stéphane, the United Nations is a member of the Quartet on the Middle East.  Today, President Putin came out with a proposal of holding an international conference on the Middle East in Moscow next autumn.  Do you have any response to this idea?

Associate Spokesman:  No, not here.  But’ I’ll get you something after the briefing.  Yes, Mark?  [The Associate Spokesman later said that the Secretary-General would be in Moscow in two weeks.  While there, he would meet with his Quartet partners and, no doubt, the issue of the conference would be raised.]

Question:  Just on, sort of broad issues of conflict of interest.  Since the revelations about Maurice Strong, is the UN, in any way, looking at the business activities of its other special envoys, special representatives to see if there are any other potential conflicts of interest in terms of them having business interests or business dealings with national or companies of the place to which they are envoys?

Associate Spokesman:  It’s part of the overall reform process internal to the Secretariat.  We’re reviewing the issue of conflict of interest.  We’re also reviewing the issue of financial disclosure forms that I think you brought up yesterday.  What we’re looking at is not only what the forms, the questions that are asked on the forms.  Who is required to fill out these forms?  Whether it is full-time or, you know, just part-time and full-time staff as well.  And of course, who reviews the information that’s on the form.

As part of that process, we’re currently reviewing the best practices that exist in other international organizations.  And we do hope to have somebody come down to here either later this week or early next week to give you sort of a broad presentation on what is going on.

Question:  In the meantime, is the UN having another look?  I mean, is it that this form process has to be completed first or is there a sense in which the UN is also having, perhaps a second look at some of its existing envoys even before this process is finished, so that there aren’t any more horrific revelations about to be, you know, in terms of so and so has business interests in the country to which they are an envoy?

Associate Spokesman:  The focus is right now on the future.  Almost all these envoys, if I am not mistaken, are renewable every year.  And obviously, as they come up for renewal, they would have to face the new financial disclosures.  Yes, Massoud?

Question:  Yesterday I also asked:  can we get the list of exactly how many people Mr. Annan appointed as special envoys and envoys?

Associate Spokesman:  Massoud, I mean, I am very happy to help you.  But that is all very publicly available.  I will show you where it is and we can try to help you out and put together that list.  But all the appointments are public and can be found on the web, and I’m happy to go with you and show you where to find that.  Yes?

Question:  Steph, can we get an update on where things stand on Benon Sevan and this Organization?

Associate Spokesman:  I will try to have something for you tomorrow on that.

Question:  Is there anything else that you could share with us?

Associate Spokesman:  Not at this point.  Yes?

Question:  Another question from yesterday.  I asked yesterday if you could tell us what the status is of Mr. Riza, whether he is going to face any disciplinary action for shredding documents.

Associate Spokesman:  I have also asked about that and I am waiting to get some guidance on that issue.  Yes, Mark?

Question:  Steph, there is an IPS story that I saw today talking about media relations between the United Nations and the press and there was a (Inaudible)...in there of the negative stories coming out of the US media.  Is it the Secretary-General’s opinion that negative coverage of the oil-for-food is being driven particularly by the US media?

And secondly, I wondered if you could explain the Secretary-General’s comments in the New York Magazine that a lynch mob is out to destroy him?  Is this also directed at the US media?

Associate Spokesman:  No.  I think the Secretary-General’s quotes in New York Magazine are what they are.  I think he has in fact used that word; he used the word “lynching” in a public encounter.  I have nothing to add to what he said.  Yes?

Question:  And the first question about the US media?

Associate Spokesman:  The coverage is what it is.  What motivates people to cover a story one way or another, I don’t know.

Question:  Did the Secretary-General sent a letter to Volcker explaining his use of the word “exonerate”?

Associate Spokesman:  Did he send a letter?

Question:  Did he send a letter to Volcker?

Associate Spokesman:  No.

Question:  So, he gave no explanation?

Associate Spokesman:  His attorney may have sent a letter.  But he did not send the letter.

Question:  Can you tell us about that letter?  Why that was necessary?

Associate Spokesman:  No.  I think you’d have to ask his attorney.  I think I was very clear on the explanation yesterday about his use of the word “exonerated” and how that reflected only one specific charge in the second Volcker report, and that he accepted the criticism on the other parts.

Ms. Bellamy, please?

Question:  I am so sorry, I have one more question.

Associate Spokesman:  Yes?

Question:  Is Annan having trouble finding a leader for this Lebanon, the Hariri investigation?  Is he actually having trouble finding one?

Associate Spokesman:  We’re trying to find someone as quickly as possible because we would like to get this commission under way.

Question:  But has he been encountering problems in trying to find the right person?

Associate Spokesman:  No.  Unfortunately, I am just told when they find someone.  So, I have nothing else.

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