DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

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, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.  I’ll start off with two statements, one on Korea and the other on Iraq.

**Statement on Resumption of Six-Party Talks on KoreanPeninsula

“The Secretary-General warmly welcomes the resumption of the six-party talks in Beijing.  He has written to the foreign ministers of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the United States and the four other participants in the talks, to commend them for breaking the impasse and for creating the current positive momentum.

“The Secretary-General hopes that the resumed session will achieve substantive progress towards a nuclear-free KoreanPeninsula that is stable, secure and prosperous.  He maintains that a negotiated solution based on dialogue and goodwill is the right way to achieve these goals.

“The Secretary-General will continue to work closely with the parties on this challenging set of issues.”

**Statement on Constitutional Process in Iraq

Now a statement, as I mentioned, on Iraq.

“The Secretary-General is encouraged by the agreement between the Government of Iraq and the Sunni Conference enabling the return of their Conference representatives to Iraq’s constitutional drafting committee.

“The Secretary-General also commends the decision of the Transitional Government of Iraq to conduct an independent criminal investigation into the recent assassinations of two representatives of the Sunni Conference to the constitutional commission, Mr. Mijbil Sheikh al-Issa and Mr. Dhaman al-Jabouri.  Those responsible should be apprehended and prosecuted.

“The Secretary-General urges all Iraqi parties to continue working together to achieve consensus around a new permanent constitution within the established time frame.  He assures them that his Special Representative in Iraq, as well as the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) will continue, in accordance with Security Council resolution 1546, to assist the Transitional Government, the Transitional National Assembly, and the Iraqi people in this important stage of the country’s political transition.”

**Western Sahara

Turning to Western Sahara, the Secretary-General, in a letter, has informed the Security Council President of his decision to appoint Ambassador Peter van Walsum of the Netherlands as his Personal Envoy for Western Sahara to help assess the situation and to explore with the parties, neighbouring States and other stakeholders how best to overcome the present political impasse.

As a first step, the Secretary-General says he has requested the ambassador to establish contacts with the parties and neighbouring States to ascertain their views on the best way forward.

**Security Council

The Security Council this morning unanimously adopted a resolution requesting the Secretary-General to implement a monitoring and reporting mechanism concerning the recruitment of child soldiers and other abuses committed against children during armed conflict.

And our guest, as soon as I’m done, will be Olara Otunnu, the head of the Office of Children and Armed Conflict, and he will be accompanied by Anna Cataldi, a Messenger of Peace of the United Nations.  They will be here to discuss this landmark resolution.

The Council also adopted a resolution transmitting to the General Assembly the names of 34 nominees to serve as “ad litem”, or short-term, judges on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

The Security Council is currently holding consultations on Lebanon.  Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Hédi Annabi, is briefing the Council on the Secretary-General’s recent report on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).  A draft resolution on Lebanon extending the mandate of the Force has also been introduced in the Council.

**Zimbabwe

Turning to Zimbabwe, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) issued a press release today calling for full humanitarian access to the people who have been made homeless in that country.  UNICEF said it was horrified at reports of children dying of easily treatable respiratory infections and of women being forced to give birth in the open.

UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman said that, “More than 220,000 children are homeless, without access to food, water or health care.  Tens of thousands of children are no longer in schools”.  The agency said the crisis deepens a humanitarian nightmare that includes the world’s fourth-highest rate of HIV infection, fuel shortages, a growing food emergency, declining economic performance and the sharpest rise in child mortality in the world.  And UNICEF’s press release is available upstairs.

**Sudan

The United Nations Mission in Sudan reports from Khartoum today that the African Union is investigating a number of weekend incidents in Darfur, including reported armed clashes between government and rebel forces, and a reported ambush on the military.  As for the security situation in general in Darfur, some banditry acts, including by the rebel groups, were reported to have taken place, according to the United Nations Mission.  It said that armed banditry persists in the three states of Darfur, including the killing of civilians, attacks on and the looting of commercial trucks, as well as non-governmental organizations.

**Côte d’Ivoire

From Côte d’Ivoire, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in that country said they have been trying to enter the town of Agboville since it came under attack by unidentified assailants on Saturday, or, excuse me, the United Nations mission says its peacekeeping troops are now about to enter the town.

In response to a request from the Ivorian authorities, the United Nations mission has been trying to deploy its troops to the town to restore calm since Sunday.  And after 48 hours of obstruction, the United Nations mission says they are about to do so.

**Human Rights

Turning to human rights, Louise Arbour, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, spoke to the press today in Geneva, one year since she’s taken office, and she discussed her recent mission to West Africa.

She said that, after visiting the massacre sites of Gitrozon and Duékoué in Côte d’Ivoire, it was obvious that people living in the region were terrorized and not forthcoming.  She called for full accountability for the events that took place there last month.

During her visit to West Africa, Arbour said she called for former Liberian President Charles Taylor to be surrendered to the jurisdiction of the Special Court for Sierra Leone.  The time has come for Taylor to stand trial, she said.  And we have the full text of her notes upstairs.

**World Food Programme - Sahel

Turning to Niger, the World Food Programme (WFP) reports that, despite severe funding shortfalls, it has distributed food to some 273,000 people.  In addition, it is planning this week to send nearly 80 tons of energy biscuits to the capital, Niamey.  And WFP also plans to hand out 23,000 tons of food in 19 districts of Niger by September.

Meanwhile, WFP’s operation in Mali, which began last February, has aimed to provide assistance to 450,000 people considered to be the most vulnerable.  But, because of a lack of donations, the Agency has only been able to help some 86,000 people.  And we have more information on that upstairs.

Just a couple more items.

**South Asia Report

The United Nations Development Programme’s South Asian Human Development Report for 2004 will be launched tomorrow morning at 10, at the UNICEF building across the street.  The report examines health in South Asia and its link to poverty reduction and economic growth.  Speakers at the launch will include Rima Salah, the Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, and Khadija Haq of the Mahbub ul Haq Human Development Centre.  And we have a media advisory available on that upstairs.

**General Assembly

General Assembly update.  The draft resolution on Security Council reform introduced by the Uniting for Consensus Group will be officially introduced at the General Assembly plenary meeting this afternoon at 3 p.m.

**Press Conference

And lastly, at 1 p.m. today, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, and Mr. Amre Moussa, the Secretary-General of the Arab League, will speak to you about the results of the high-level meeting between the United Nations and regional and other inter-governmental organizations.

**Computer

And just one last in-house update.  The computer that one of your colleagues reported lost yesterday with the only copy of his novel has been found.  Relief.

Anyway, on that note, before we turn to Mr. Otunnu, any questions?

**Questions and Answers

Question:  I wanted to ask you about the appointment of Mr. van Walsum to the Western Sahara.  Does that mean that he’s going to open up dialogue and going to start issuing reports to the Secretary-General, or is this just a preliminary stage?

Spokesman:  He, I think, in the way the Secretary-General outlines in the letter, he will consult with the parties on the ground and other stakeholders on how to break the political impasse and how to move the process forward, so it is a political mission to see if we can actually move this process forward.

Question:  Two questions.  Do you have the names of these ICC judges that have been recommended, and from which country do they belong?

Spokesman:  That we can get for you right after the briefing.  That’s not difficult.

Question:  Also, The New York Times today reported that the Secretary-General is going to be interviewed soon by the Commission.  Do you know when it’s going to take place?

Spokesman:  Mr. Volcker will set the schedule for those interviews, and I think, as we’ve done in the past, once they’ve occurred, we will be able to confirm that they have.

Question:  It’s just a matter of housekeeping.  I’d like to say that we really appreciate the Week Ahead every Friday.  Is it possible for you guys to make a bit more of an effort to flag certain things?  For example, we’re hearing about [inaudible] -- he’s going to be here toward the end of the week meeting the Security Council.  There is the resolution that Mr. Otunnu is going to be talking about today.  And none of those were flagged on the Week Ahead.  Those are the kinds of things that...

Spokesman:  We’ll make a greater effort.  Sometimes, unfortunately, by close of business on Friday some of these things have not been officially inscribed in the Council calendar, but we’ll redouble our efforts.

Question:  Could you please clarify, there seems to be some confusion, has the Secretary-General indeed accepted an invitation from President Mugabe to visit Zimbabwe?  If so, or in any case, what plans are there for the Secretary-General to do that?

Spokesman:  Yes he has accepted, in principle, a visit to Zimbabwe, and that was following a phone conversation he recently had with President Mugabe.  No date has been set, as I said.  Obviously the Secretary-General would not want to substitute himself for his Special Envoy, for Anna Tibaijuka, who has, as you know, drafted a very comprehensive and full report.  Regardless of the date of an eventual visit by the Secretary-General, it’s clear that a number of things need to happen.  One of them is that the evictions must cease and that humanitarian access, humanitarian aid, must be provided to the people in need.

So, yes, he’s accepted in principle, but no date has been set, and it’s obviously something that would have to happen further down the road.  And we would have to see a number of improvements of the situation on the ground before he would go.

Question:  Somewhat further down the road meaning not this year?

Spokesman:  No, it’s not a ... it’s not imminent.  But the important factors are what happen on the ground.  A number of things need to happen on the ground, including the cessation of the evictions, humanitarian aid needs to reach those in need.  And obviously, as Ms. Tibaijuka pointed out in her report, there would need to be a start of a political process, political dialogue, between the Government and other stakeholders in Zimbabwe.  All these things would need to happen, or at least get under way, in a meaningful manner before the Secretary-General would go.

Thank you very much.  Mr. Otunnu?

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