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 Marie Okabe, Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.  I’m sorry I’m a little late.  Ms. Rosario Manalo, the Chairperson of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, is here already today and she will join us shortly to brief on the work of the Committee’s current session.

**Zimbabwe

Just to update you on the situation about the report on Zimbabwe drafted by UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) Executive Director Anna Tibaijuka, after a two-week fact-finding mission to that country, as requested by the Secretary-General.  That report is scheduled to be made public tomorrow.

Ms. Tibaijuka will hold a press conference here in room S-226 at 11 a.m. to release the report.

Embargoed copies will be made available to journalists attending the press conference at 9 a.m.

**Security Council

Today at UN Headquarters.  Israel’s forthcoming withdrawal from Gaza and parts of the northern West Bank continues to overshadow all other issues, Alvaro de Soto, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, told the Security Council.  It is a moment pregnant with hope, but also fraught with peril, he says.

Addressing today’s Security Council public meeting on the Middle East, he said that Israel’s domestic preparations for the withdrawal continue at a rapid pace.  He said that the Israeli authorities have given clear evidence that they will not allow Israeli extremists to prevent the plan from being carried out.

At the same time, he noted, there is considerable evidence that settlement activity continues, and Israel has also continued and accelerated construction of its barrier in the West Bank.  He added that, while the deterioration of the informal ceasefire is profoundly disquieting, there have been encouraging developments since last week, consisting of the actions of the Palestinian security forces to take vigorous action to restore law and order, and particularly to intercept militants preparing to attack Israelis.

We have copies of his statement upstairs.

The Security Council is now proceeding with a debate on the Middle East, following a request by the Arab Group to discuss recent developments, including settlement activities and the construction of the barrier.

**Security Council – Wednesday

And just to recap, yesterday afternoon, the Security Council wrapped up its open meeting on terrorism by adopting a presidential statement reiterating its call on all Member States to become parties to all 12 international conventions against terrorism.  In that context, the Council drew attention to this September’s treaty event in New York and encouraged Member States also to sign the Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism.

The Council also urged all States to cooperate to bring to justice the perpetrators, organizers and sponsors of acts of terrorism.

**Sudan

The latest monthly report on Darfur has gone to Security Council members, but is not out yet as a document.

Jan Pronk, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sudan, will be here in room 226 tomorrow to brief you on the report in person following an open briefing and consultations on Sudan.

He is aware of the competing news events tomorrow, but told me he would nonetheless want the opportunity to brief journalists who are interested in Sudan as this is the only opportunity he has to do so while he is in New York.

**General Assembly

Turning to the General Assembly (GA), the closed informal meeting of the plenary scheduled for tomorrow afternoon to introduce the revised version of GA President Ping’s draft outcome document for the September summit has been cancelled, as the President’s return to New York has been delayed by one day.  This is according to the General Assembly spokesman’s office.

However, the revised outcome document will still be submitted to Member States tomorrow, and we will be making available copies of that to you as early as we can in the morning.  Ambassador Dirk Jan van den Berg of the Netherlands, one of President Ping’s facilitators who have been leading the discussions among Member States in the General Assembly on the reform process, will be available to answer questions from journalists.

**Iraq

And on Iraq, Staffan de Mistura, the Secretary General’s Deputy Special Representative for Iraq, met with Mr. Dindar Zebari, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Coordinator for the United Nations, to discuss future UN activities in northern Iraq.

They agreed that Dr. Zebari will help formulate two pilot programmes in collaboration with the Kurdistan Regional Government in order to ensure that the United Nations addresses the key priorities of the people of Kurdistan.

**Afghanistan

And on Afghanistan, the UN Mission there reports that the number of Afghan refugees who have returned from Pakistan has now passed 2.5 million.  And that brings the total of people who have come back to Afghanistan from Iran and Pakistan since 2002 to more than 3.7 million.

**UNHCR

On the subject of refugees, High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres today gave his first press conference at the UN’s Palais des Nations in Geneva, since taking office just over one month ago.

In his opening statement, he said he was concerned by how difficult it was to preserve rights, asylum rights, and to protect refugees in an environment of growing intolerance and extremism.  Saying that nothing could justify terrorism, he added that we would only be able to defeat terror if we stuck to our values.  In short, he said, the institution of asylum was an essential part of democracy and human rights.

We have the summary of his press conference upstairs for you.

**UNIC Washington

And a couple of answers to questions some of you asked yesterday about the appointment of the new director of the UN Office in Washington.  The Secretary-General has appointed William K. Davis as the new director of the UN Office in Washington.  Mr. Davis is an expert in international economic matters, human rights, development assistance and peacekeeping.  Having worked in every administration since U.S. President Reagan, Mr. Davis comes to the post with a distinguished record of public service and extensive working experience with individuals across the political spectrum in Washington, D.C. 

There will be a press release as is the normal practice in announcing UNIC directors around the world.

**Capital Master Plan

We also were asked yesterday about plans for a UN official to go to Washington, D.C., today to participate in hearings about the Capital Master Plan/UN renovations. The Under-Secretary-General for Management, Christopher Burnham, is in Washington, D.C., and he will provide a briefing to a Senate subcommittee that is today holding a hearing about the Capital Master Plan.

I believe that’s around 2:30 and we hope to get his remarks later.

Yes?

**Questions and Answers

Question:  Just one question, Marie.  In a Washington Post article today, Mr. Burnham said that his primary loyalty remained to the United States.  Is that appropriate for a UN official?

Deputy Spokesperson:  Mr. Burnham -- on that subject, Mr. Burnham has just called to ask me to issue the following clarification on his behalf:

As with all UN officials, Mr. Burnham took the oath of office upon joining the United Nations and understands that his professional obligation is to the United Nations and the Secretary-General.  He is fully committed to help implement the Secretary-General’s reform agenda and improve the management of the United Nations.

That’s from him.

Question:  But what’s the Secretariat’s point?  Is it appropriate for a UN official to say that their primary loyalty is to their national government?

Deputy Spokesperson:  The status of international civil servants is absolutely clear.  Their professional loyalty is to the United Nations and the loyalty to their national government is put aside.  And every UN official signs an oath of office, or recites the oath of office when joining the United Nations and is bound by Article 100 of the UN Charter. 

Yes?

Question:  On the day of this appointment, UNIC Washington’s been vacant for about a year.  Why did it take so long?

Deputy Spokesperson:  I don’t know the details behind this process, sorry.  But I just wanted to let you know that the decision has been made. 

Question:  Is he already on the job?  Has he already started?

Deputy Spokesperson:  I’ll find out for you.  I don’t think he’s started already.  This is an appointment we just announced today.  [After the meeting, she announced that his start date will be 22 August.]

Yes?

Question:  Does Mr. Burnham intend to come to the briefing over here and address the journalists?

Deputy Spokesperson:  We’ll have to put that request to him.  As I said, today he’s in Washington, D.C., and he said he would be travelling and away for about a week.  But we certainly will put the request to him.

Question:  He’s been making those statements over and over again. (inaudible)

Deputy Spokesperson:  We’ll put that request to him.

If there are no other questions, let’s have our guest.  Ms. Manalo.

Question:  I have another question.  Where is Benon Sevan?

Deputy Spokesperson:  I’m sorry, I have nothing further on that, no further guidance. 

Ms. Manalo?

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