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.

Hi.

**Secretary-General/1559

The Secretary-General has instructed his Special Envoy for the implementation of Security Council resolution 1559, Mr. Terje Roed-Larsen, to travel as soon as possible to Syria to meet with President Bashar Al-Assad.

The Secretary-General expects that the United Nations and the Government of Syria will continue to work closely together to ensure the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559.  The full statement is available upstairs.

**Secretary-General/Nepal

I have another statement on Nepal:

“The Secretary-General condemns the senseless deaths of dozens of people in the explosion that tore through a passenger bus travelling on a road in southern Nepal on Monday.  The Secretary-General calls for an immediate end to such utterly reprehensible tactics that expose civilians to danger in the conflict in Nepal.  He expresses his condolences to the bereaved families and to those injured in the incident.”

**Secretary-General/Mexican Diplomat’s Death

I also have a statement on the death of the former Mexican Permanent Representative, Adolfo Aguilar Zinser:

“The Secretary-General was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Adolfo Aguilar Zinser, who served as Mexico’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations from February 2002 through November 2003.  The Secretary-General extends his profound condolences to Mr. Aguilar Zinser’s family, as well as to the Government of Mexico.

“He notes that Mr. Aguilar Zinser served his country with dedication, wit and independence of spirit at a crucial time for the multilateral system.  He will be remembered with respect and affection by many colleagues and friends around the world.”  And we have the full text of the statement upstairs.

**Sudan/ICC

Turning to the Sudan, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has decided to open an investigation into the situation in Darfur.  The investigation will be impartial and independent, and will focus on the individuals who bear the greatest criminal responsibility for crimes committed in Darfur.

Moreno-Ocampo said that the investigation will require sustained cooperation from national and international authorities.  He added that traditional African mechanisms can be an important tool to complement these efforts.  And, we have a full press release from the ICC available upstairs.

**Sudan

Also on Sudan, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sudan, Jan Pronk, left Khartoum for Dar es Salaam today to meet with the newly appointed African Union mediator for the Abuja peace talks on Darfur, Salim Ahmed Salim.

Mr. Pronk will discuss with the AU mediators preparations for the forthcoming round of Abuja talks between the Government of Sudan and the two rebel groups for Darfur, which is scheduled to start on June 10th.

The UN mission, meanwhile, reported a number of security related incidents over the past week in the Darfurs, as well as in Southern and Eastern Sudan.  In one incident on May 31st, suspected members of the rebel SLA detained members conducting a UN mortality survey near Nyala in South Darfur.  Their vehicles were searched and staff were interrogated and released three hours later.  And, there’s an update from the UN Mission available upstairs.

**Security Council

The Security Council has scheduled a morning meeting of its working group on peacekeeping operations.  Otherwise, there are no consultations or open meetings on its agenda for today.

**General Assembly

Turning to the General Assembly, the Assembly will elect next Monday on June 13th the President of its sixtieth session.  The other members of the Bureau, the Assembly’s General Committee -- which include the Assembly’s 21 Vice-Presidents and the Chairpersons of its six Main Committees -- will also be elected on that day.

And also, on Friday afternoon, we released a statement on behalf of the Secretary-General concerning the draft outcome document released by the General Assembly President.  The statement read, as follows:

“The draft outcome produced by the President of the General Assembly is an important step towards decisive action for halving poverty by 2015, reducing the threat of war, terrorism, and proliferation, and promoting human dignity in every corner of the world.

“The document, which captures important points raised by Member States during months of deliberations, is a valuable guidepost for advancing development, security, and human rights.

“The world’s leaders will need to move forward on all fronts to ensure an outcome that reflects the needs of all Member States.  In the coming weeks, under the leadership of the President of the General Assembly, Member States will begin the next round of discussions.

“Much is at stake, and I am confident that when world leaders will meet in New York this coming September, they will agree on the most far-ranging and ambitious reforms of the United Nations in its 60-year history.

“I pledge my best efforts to assist the membership and the President in reaching that goal”, said the Secretary-General.

And, the statement is also upstairs.

**Iraq

Turning to Iraq, on Saturday, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, addressed the inaugural session of the Kurdish National Assembly.  He congratulated the lawmakers and told them that they, and the people of Kurdistan, should be proud of their achievements in the face of great adversity.  He added that the extraordinary diversity of people living in Kurdistan is a priceless national asset.  The Assembly, Qazi said, has an opportunity and capability of providing a beacon and example to the rest of Iraq.

His full speech is available upstairs, as is a press release on a meeting between the Deputy Special Representative, Steffan di Mistura, and Kurdish leaders, which took place in Erbil, yesterday.

**Burundi

Turning to Burundi, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Burundi, Carolyn McAskie, announced that a decision had been made by the Independent National Electoral Commission to organize a re-vote in six communes, where violence disrupted the elections last Friday.

Tight security measures have been taken to secure the areas around the communes where the re-vote will take place Tuesday.  More than 2,000 UN peacekeepers will be deployed.  With a rate of participation around 72 per cent in last Friday’s election, Ms. McAskie congratulated Burundians, saying they had shown the world they were ready for democracy and peace.

**Afghanistan

From Afghanistan, the UN Mission in that country today condemned any type of violence that aims to derail the electoral process in Afghanistan.  Last Friday, an Afghan election worker was killed in the province of Uruzgan.  Responding to that killing, the first to involve election workers this year, the UN Mission noted that the Afghan people demonstrated last year the importance of voting and rebuilding a democratic Afghanistan through elections.

We have details in the press release available from Kabul.

**SG Remarks to Staff Unions

The Secretary-General met earlier today with the Coordinating Committee for the UN staff unions, thanking them for their unflagging commitment to the United Nations.  During the private meeting, the Secretary-General had a chance to take questions from staff representatives on management issues.

**Deputy Secretary-General

Turning to the Deputy Secretary-General, Louise Fréchette, she arrived today in Kosovo, where she is meeting with senior officials and peacekeepers to reinforce the Secretary-General’s zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse for UN personnel.

While outlining guidelines for UN staff members in Kosovo during a town hall meeting this morning, she stressed that the demanding standards regarding sexual exploitation and abuse to which UN peacekeepers were required to adhere were a necessity because of the fragile conditions of the countries to which they are deployed.  Those standards, she said, often are in excess of legislation in the countries in which UN peacekeepers are deployed, she added.

**SG Launches MDG Progress Report

On Thursday, the Secretary-General will launch the progress report on reaching the Millennium Development Goals.  Prepared by 25 UN agencies and international organizations, the report presents the most comprehensive and up-to-date statistics available on all eight of the MDGs.

The Secretary-General will speak to you this Thursday at 11:45 a.m. in this room, followed by a briefing from Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, José Antonio Ocampo, and possibly a number of other UN agency chiefs.  And, the report will be under embargo until noon Thursday.  And, it will be circulated to UN correspondents, ahead of the embargo, obviously, along with a press release.  Due to the timing of that launch, the regular briefing will take place at 12:30 on Thursday.

**ECOSOC Meeting

Also look ahead, an event on the “Critical Role of Nutrition for Reaching the Millennium Development Goals” will be held in the ECOSOC Chamber tomorrow, between 10 a.m. to 12 noon.  It’s co-sponsored by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the UN System Standing Committee on Nutrition.  And, we have a press release available upstairs.

**US Senator Leahy

Also, this afternoon at 1:15, at the UN Security stakeout, US Senator Patrick Leahy will be available to take some of your questions, following his meeting with the Secretary-General.

**Upcoming Press Conferences

And tomorrow, two press conferences.  At 11 in this room, the UN Environment Programme will be sponsoring a press conference by the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition of the General Assembly.

And, at 3:30, Ambassador Aldo Mantovani, the Deputy Representative of Italy, and Rima Salah, the UN Children’s Fund Deputy Executive Director will be here to brief you on the World Youth Orchestra Concert, taking place in the GA Hall tomorrow evening.

And, lastly, in the GA Hall, tomorrow afternoon, will also be the graduation ceremonies for the UN International School, and the programme is available there for any of you who are interested.  And I think that is it for me.  Any questions?

**Questions and Answers

Question:  Steph, two questions.  On Terje Roed-Larsen’s trip to Syria, why the urgency and which part of 1559 specifically is he going to talk to the President of Syria about?

Associate Spokesman:  The implementation of 1559 in its many facets is still ongoing, and there are bound to be regular contacts between the UN and the Syrian leadership on this, but I have no other, no further details on what’s on the agenda, more specific details on their agenda.

Question:  And, on another issue, on the Secretary-General’s meeting with the staff this morning, did he have any prepared remarks, and if he did, is it possible to get hold of them?

Associate Spokesman:  I’ll check.  Yes, Warren?  [The Associate Spokesman later said that the remarks would not be made public.]

Question:  Stéphane, AFP is reporting out of Sofia today that the UN has asked Bulgaria to send 120 troops, infantry troops, to Iraq to protect one of the UN’s offices there -- it doesn’t say which one.  Couple of questions.  One is, can you confirm that, and the second question is, where does the effort to get individual countries to offer troops to protect UN offices stand?  The last time we checked, which is now months ago, the Secretary-General was having no success in persuading anybody.

Associate Spokesman:  I cannot confirm the Bulgarian report, but I will check and get you an update early this afternoon on where we stand on the different requests to protect UN staff in Iraq.

Question:  And just one last question on that same point.  Is it the UN that’s seeking to persuade countries, or is it, in fact, the US?

Associate Spokesman:  There are different rings of protection for the UN staff in Iraq.  There are close protection units and static guard units provided directly by Member States, in this case, Fiji, which we’ve acknowledged, protect the UN premises in Baghdad.  And, there are also, to be on a more outer ring, dedicated units of the Multinational Force, which are there to protect UN personnel as they move about the country, where more protection is required.

And those discussions are being led by the Multinational Force, obviously in consultation with the UN.  But, these will be dedicated units serving under the Multinational Force.  Yes, Richard?

Question:  The Secretary-General spoke recently about the dangers of nuclear war.  Does he feel that it would be a good idea for the issue to be referred to the Security Council regarding North Korea?  Now, how does he feel about comments made over the weekend that that process may finally come here?

Associate Spokesman:  I think the Secretary-General has spoken quite a bit on this issue and six-party talks are to be supported by the United Nations.  And, that’s it.

Question:  Senator Leahy, is there any particular reason for him to come –- I think it’s the second time in the last month or so...?

Associate Spokesman:  He’s had a number of contacts with the Secretary-General.  He requested this meeting, and I know he’ll be happy to answer your questions.

Question:  I just want to ask two questions on the ICC investigation in Darfur.  The first thing is, it says that the prosecutor received a document archive.  Were those the names that Annan, the sealed names that the Secretary-General had?  Is that what they’re referring to here?

Associate Spokesman:  He did receive from the Secretary-General, at the request of the Security Council, the sealed list.  And, this announcement is as a result of studying those documents.

Question:  And, the second thing is –- do you have any sort of time frame when Moreno is going to ... does he have a staff already?

Associate Spokesman:  They have a staff in The Hague, and I can give you the number for their spokesman in The Hague.

Question:  Does the Secretary-General have any comment on the elections in southern Lebanon?  And also, what specific issues have the representatives of the Staff Union raised concerning management, with the Secretary-General?

Associate Spokesman:  On the Staff Union, it was a private meeting.  It was a chance for the Secretary-General to exchange views with the Staff Union representatives, and for them to speak directly to him.  But, it was a private meeting, and I don’t have more of a read-out on it.

As for the elections in Lebanon, we’re obviously pleased that this latest round took place in a peaceful atmosphere.  And, as we’ve said in the past, the elections constitute a major opportunity for the Lebanese people to shape their own future.  And, we stand by and support them.  In fact, as you know, we have an electoral unit in Lebanon doing just that.

Question:  It wasn’t clear to me whether you’re going to try and find out why the Secretary-General asked Terje Roed-Larsen to go to meet with the Syrian President?

Associate Spokesman:  No, I said I had nothing further to add, that the Secretary, obviously Mr. Roed-Larsen remains his Special Representative on 1559 and it would only be normal that he would travel to the region.

Question:  My impression was that he was dispatched to the region...

Associate Spokesman:  He was sent to the region.  I have nothing further.  If I can get something further, I will.

Question:  What was your first and second reaction to the US call to widen the investigation from Hariri to the journalist assassinated last week?

Associate Spokesman:  It’s obviously a decision for the Council to make.  They decided on the terms of reference of Mr. Mehlis’ investigation, and it would be for them to change those orders.

Question:  I would like to repeat the North Korea question because the audio, as we heard it here, went out.  So, if you could perform as well as you did and even expand on your answer about the issue coming here... unless you want to cite technical difficulties.  What does the SG think about the issue coming here?  Obviously he always favours diplomacy, but it may be too late to get something going, should things get out of control.

Associate Spokesman:  I don’t want to say whether or not it’s too late.  I think the important thing for the Secretary-General is for the international community to support the six-party talks, which are currently, he feels, a very good way of trying to solve this issue.

Question:  What’s up with the UN and Brooklyn?  Wasn’t that supposed to come in a matter of days or weeks?

Associate Spokesman:  I haven’t sold my apartment in Manhattan yet.  That discussion... the Fifth Committee continues its discussions on the issue of the loan and the Capital Master Plan, and it has not been resolved.  Yes?

Question:  If there’s nothing else, I have a housekeeping matter.  The Security Council wing on the third floor -- no one has turned on the air conditioning yet, and it’s about 95 in that area.  Several of us had made personal pleas to the engineering department, without result.

Associate Spokesman:  We will check, but if we’re making you sweat, it’s not a bad thing.  Thank you.

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