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. 

**Guests at Noon

My guest today will be Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai, as well as Professor Manuel Rodriguez-Becerra, who are here to brief you on the ongoing UN Forum on Forests.

**Under-Secretary-General for Management

I am pleased to announce today the decision by the Secretary-General to appoint Christopher Bancroft Burnham of the United States as the new Under-Secretary-General for Management.  He will be succeeding Catherine Bertini.  And Mr. Burnham is expected to take up his duties on 1 June. Mr. Burnham comes to us from the US Department of State, and he brings with him extensive experience in management.  And you can find out more about him in his biography, which is available upstairs.

**Sudan

Turning to the Sudan, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Marie Guéhenno, as well as the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sudan, Jan Pronk, today travelled from Khartoum to the southern Sudanese town of Rumbek, where they met with John Garang, the Chairman of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement.

Meanwhile, the Secretary-General’s Special Advisor, Lakhdar Brahimi, who is also in Sudan, today remained in Khartoum, where he is scheduled to have meetings with Sudanese Government officials.

The UN mission in Khartoum reports the security situation in Darfur over the week was reported to be fairly calm in terms of clashes between the Government and rebel groups and armed tribesmen, although some reports were received of attacks and clashes.

Widespread banditry continues to prevail in the Darfurs.  Hijacking and detention of humanitarian staff has been reported in south and north Darfur.

**Security Council

The Security Council is holding consultations this morning on Sierra Leone.

Briefing the Council on the Secretary-General’s latest report on Sierra Leone is Special Representative Daudi Mwakawago.  And the report is already out on the racks.

**Security Council - Monday

Yesterday afternoon, Council members heard a briefing on Timor-Leste from Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hédi Annabi, who talked about the peaceful holding of local elections in March and the improving relations between Timor-Leste and Indonesia.

He said some of the current military officers with the UN peacekeeping mission in Timor-Leste would remain in the country beyond 20 May, to ensure a smooth transition to the UN Office in Timor-Leste (UNOTIL).  Annabi said that further generous support for the country would remain indispensable, to consolidate the remarkable gains made so far.

**Statements Attributable to Spokesman for Secretary-General

Late yesterday afternoon we issued two statements, and I’ll just read them into the record.  The first was on the Democratic Republic of the Congo:

“The Secretary-General welcomes the adoption on 13 May of the draft constitution by the National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  He looks forward to the draft being put to a popular referendum in the shortest time possible, and notes with satisfaction the progress made recently in technical preparations for the upcoming presidential, parliamentary, and local elections.

“In this connection, he urges the transitional institutions to continue to take concrete steps towards the holding of free and fair elections, including by adopting all necessary laws as quickly as possible.

“The Secretary-General reiterates the commitment of the United Nations to assist the transitional authorities, with the support of regional leaders, as well as bilateral and multilateral donors, in completing the transitional process, facilitating the further development of democratic governance, and promoting other necessary political and economic reforms.”

And the statement is available upstairs.

We also issued a statement yesterday welcoming the decision taken by the Kuwaiti Parliament to grant women the right to vote for the first time in Kuwait.

**Uzbekistan

Turning to Uzbekistan, following the violent events in Andijan on Friday, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees is urging both the Uzbek and Kyrgyz Governments to leave the border open to all civilians at every crossing point.

A UNHCR emergency team, to support staff already on the ground, is also on the way to the region, and aid supplies from various UNHCR warehouses in the nearby regional centre of Osh have been sent to the border area and are now being distributed.

Additional supplies, including tents, are being sent by road from the UNHCR stockpiles in Tajikistan.

And we have more information upstairs available from UNHCR.

**Colombia

Turning to Colombia, the UN Refugee agency also reports that it was concerned about reports of violence and intimidation against young internally displaced persons in Colombian cities.

Those reports include accounts of irregular armed groups forcibly recruiting young men in several regions.

There are over 1.5 million registered internally displaced persons in Colombia, although estimates of the total number range between 2 million and 3.5 million.  And more information is also available upstairs.

**Africa Crime Report

Antonio Maria Costa, the head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, today launched the Office’s first report on crime in Africa at a ceremony in Abuja, Nigeria.

The report says that crime is a factor that is often overlooked when explaining Africa’s persistent underdevelopment.  But it also notes that, despite significant challenges, the continent seems to have entered a period of hope, with military coups becoming rare and democratically elected governments on the rise.

And we have more available upstairs.

**Tsunami Envoy

The UN’s Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery, former US President William  Jefferson Clinton, today met with the Disasters Emergency Committee -- an umbrella group of 13 leading UK-based humanitarian agencies -- for talks aimed at ensuring the swift delivery of aid to the hardest-hit tsunami survivors.

During the meeting, Clinton said that, as we move from “relief to recovery, it is imperative that local communities participate in the decision-making process and that the needs of families, and especially children, are at the heart of the recovery agenda.”  And we have a press release available on that upstairs.

**NPT Review Conference

The Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, which is going on here, as you know, met formally yesterday afternoon, for the first time since its agenda was adopted last week, and completed the election of its Bureau.

The President of the Conference, Ambassador Duarte of Brazil, reported that consultations with regional groups, concerning the allocation of substantive items to the three Main Committees, had so far not produced the expected results.  He said that the current situation could not continue indefinitely.

**Telecommunication Day

And today is World Telecommunication Day, and the Secretary-General has issued a message, attaching importance to efforts to build an equitable and accessible information society for all the world’s people.  The Secretary-General also notes that today marks the 140^th anniversary of the founding of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).  And we have the full text of his message available upstairs.

**DPI

A couple of more items. This weekend, the Department of Public Information, together with the Media Communications Association and the New School, right here in Manhattan, will present “Stories from the Field”, a set of documentaries produced by the United Nations and its agencies around the world.

And DPI has a press release which is available upstairs.

**Indigenous Exhibit

And later this evening, at 6:10 p.m., in the Visitor's Lobby, there will be a “cultural event” to open the DPI exhibit for the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.  There will be traditional indigenous music from North America, Philippines, Hawaii, and Ecuador.  The new Chairperson of the Forum, as well as the UN’s Director of the Division for Social Policy and Development of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs will speak, and you’re all invited to attend this event.

**Chief of Staff

Just two clarifications from yesterday, in answer to a question raised, I think by you, Massoud, about Mark Malloch Brown’s position:  He’s currently serving as the Secretary-General’s Chef de Cabinet, at the Under-Secretary-General level, and there are no plans for him to be elevated to the pay scale of Deputy Secretary-General.

**Iran

And also, I think Edie, you had a question on Iran regarding the Secretary-General’s interview in USA Today:  In the interview, the Secretary-General was making the point, as he has done in the past, that on issues where a dialogue is already taking place, such as the discussions between Iran and the three European nations knows as the E3, attention should remain on the existing negotiating process until it produces results.  Changing forums will not solve the problem.  However, it is not the intention of the Secretary-General to prejudice the role to be played by the Security Council, should the issue come to the Council.

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

Yes, Mohammad?

**Questions and Answers

Question:  Stéphane, any reaction to the possible insult on the Koran by American soldiers in Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan and elsewhere?

Associate Spokesman:  No.  I have no reaction.  I think you’ve seen the news reports that apparently the agency which first published the report has now retracted the item.  Yes, sir?

Question:  Do you have any statement or information from Mr. Prendergast’s office on the Cyprus meetings?

Associate Spokesman:  As you know, yesterday there were some preliminary discussions for just a bit over an hour, which focused more on process issues.  More substantive discussions are going to take place later this afternoon with Mr. Prendergast and the visiting delegation.  Yes, Linda?

Question:  Steph, can you give us an update on the -- or a status report on the Hariri investigation?

Associate Spokesman:  The Hariri investigation -- the gentleman who is going to lead the investigation is expected to be here in New York, I think early next week.  So, he will have a chance to read in on the Organization, and how we work and look towards his mission in Beirut.  And we expect him to go to Beirut probably later on next week with a small team as an initial first step.  Yes, Massoud?

Question:  I don’t know if you announced this before.  There was a request made to the DSG earlier that her press conference should be put on the record.

Associate Spokesman:  Yes, it is being put on the record.  We’re getting it.  Sorry, I should have reiterated that the Deputy Secretary-General’s briefing on UN reform is now being put on the record.  And UN TV will also play that back, as soon as we’re done here.  Yes, Mr. Abbadi?

Question:  Stéphane, an important conference is taking place in Tripoli, Libya, on Darfur and is attended by six African Heads of State, including Egypt and Nigeria.  And they will be discussing, presumably, among other things, the resolution on Darfur.  Is the UN represented at that conference and at what level?

Associate Spokesman:  I will check for you on that. [The Associate Spokesman later said that no one from the UN is attending the summit meeting in Tripoli.]

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