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 a statement on the situation in Northern Ireland.

**Statement on Northern Ireland

“The Secretary-General welcomes the announcement by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) that it has decided to end armed actions in Northern Ireland and to disarm.  This decision, if fully implemented, will be a watershed in the history of Northern Ireland.

“The Secretary-General hopes the IRA will commit fully to the obligation it has just undertaken.  He calls on all parties concerned to seize this unique opportunity to consolidate the Good Friday Agreement.”

And the statement is, of course, available upstairs.

**Security Council

The Security Council is holding consultations on a number of issues today.  It began with a discussion of sanctions on the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Côte d’Ivoire, with briefings by the chairs of the Council’s sanctions committees for those two countries -- respectively, the Permanent Representative of Algeria and the Permanent Representative of Greece.

A draft resolution on maintaining the sanctions on the Democratic Republic of the Congo was circulated.  The members of the expert panel for the Democratic Republic of the Congo are available here in New York, if you’re interested in interviewing them.  And if so, you should contact Jane Gaffney in my office.

On Côte d’Ivoire, meanwhile, the Council studied the report of an experts’ panel which recommended a tighter definition of the arms embargo and also asked for the Council committee on Côte d'Ivoire to visit the region.

After those briefings, the Security Council heard from Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Marie Guéhenno, about developments in Haiti.  Under-Secretary-General Guéhenno is currently briefing outside at the Security Council stakeout.

And last, under “other matters”, the Council will hear from the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, who will discuss the human rights dimension of issues on the Council’s agenda.  Arbour will be the guest at the noon briefing tomorrow.

And yesterday afternoon, in addition to its presidential statement on Iraq, the Council also adopted a presidential statement condemning the 23 July terrorist attacks in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

** Zimbabwe

Turning to Zimbabwe, United Nations agencies on the ground have completed the assessment of current needs in Zimbabwe, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.  The two greatest requirements are for shelter and food.

These needs arise in a country already experiencing a humanitarian crisis, which is marked by high HIV infection rates, fuel shortages, a growing food emergency, and, according to UNICEF, the sharpest rises in child mortality in the world.  The United Nations and its partners are now discussing how to get those resources to meet these new needs, and are also discussing possibilities of either expanding existing programs or issuing a new appeal.

The Secretary-General has underscored the need for action to be taken to help the people affected, to stop the clearances and to ensure that those affected are not only looked after, but they are given adequate housing. He has also stressed the need for dialogue between the Government, domestic constituencies and the international community, with a view to working together to address Zimbabwe’s serious social, economic and political problems.

** Iraq

On Iraq, in comments to reporters yesterday afternoon, the Secretary-General condemned what he called the “senseless and brutal killing of innocent diplomats”, as Algerian officials Ali Belaroussi and Azzedine Belkadi were reported to have been murdered in Iraq.

The Secretary-General added that “these kinds of barbaric acts really should press us to define terrorism and to come up with the 13^th convention -- the comprehensive convention against terrorism.  We have the transcript of his comments available upstairs.

The Security Council, in a presidential statement also yesterday afternoon, condemned the assassination in the strongest possible terms, saying there was no justification for such terrorist acts.  And also today, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, also issued a statement condemning the murders.

**Statement on Guinea-Bissau

And I have a statement here on Guinea-Bissau.

“The Secretary-General has taken note of the provisional results announced today by the national electoral authorities of the second round of the presidential elections on 24 July 2005 in Guinea-Bissau.  He appeals for calm, as the counting process continues before the announcement of the final results and the full restoration of constitutional rule.

“The Secretary-General stresses the need to employ legal means to address any electoral grievances.  He reaffirms the United Nations support for the country’s efforts to consolidate democracy and to promote sustainable peace and development.”

**Appointment of John Ruggie

Today the Secretary-General has appointed Professor John Ruggie as his Special Representative on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises.

The creation of the mandate was requested by the United Nations Commission for Human Rights and approved by the Economic and Social Council on 25 July, and includes identifying and clarifying standards of corporate responsibility and accountability with regards to human rights.  And we have a press release available upstairs.

**Climate Change

On the issue of climate change, from Nairobi, a statement was issued by Klaus Toepfer, the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), welcoming a plan by the United States to work with Australia and Asian countries to reduce greenhouse emissions.

In the statement, Mr. Toepfer notes that countries like the United States now recognise that a more diversified fuel supply “makes economic, as well as environmental sense”, but he cautions that this new initiative is not a substitute for the Kyoto Protocol.  “We must look to how we tackle climate change beyond 2012”, Toepfer said in his statement.

**General Assembly

And lastly -- General Assembly, we’re told, is holding all-day closed informal consultations on the revised draft outcome document for the September Summit.  And consultations are likely to continue tomorrow.

That is it for me.  Any questions?

**Questions and Answers

Question:  I wonder if the Secretary-General is going to reconsider visiting Zimbabwe after it’s become apparent that the demolitions are continuing despite Government protestations and claims that they’re not going.  It looks like President Mugabe could twist the Secretary-General’s decision as something in his favour that he could use to cast the demolitions in a favourable light.  What’s the Secretary-General’s stance on that?

Spokesman:  I think it would be very difficult to cast these demolitions in a favourable light [interruption] -- if I could finish my sentence.  I think, as we said yesterday and the day before, the Secretary-General accepted the invitation in principle.  No date was set.  He has made it clear that a number of things would have to happen on the ground before a visit could even be scheduled, and that would, of course, include the complete cessation of the demolitions, the start of a meaningful political dialogue between the Government and others -- and opposition groups -- and civil society in Zimbabwe, in order to address the long-term political and development problems in Zimbabwe. 

The Secretary-General would not want to visit Zimbabwe in a way that he would have to substitute himself for Ms. Tibaijuka.  Her report was clear and hard-hitting and there is no visit, no schedule at this time.

Question:  Will he call for a formal investigation along the lines of the Hariri probe, for example, to investigate who’s to blame for this?  The Tibaijuka report was extraordinarily vague on that subject.

Spokesman:  I think Ms. Tibaijuka’s report clearly stated the collective responsibility of the Government in these matters and the demolitions.  What we want to see immediately is the humanitarian aid reaching those in need, accompanied by the start of a political dialogue.

Question:  On the same topic, first of all, following the Zimbabwean Government claims and opposition counter-claims about whether the demolitions have been stopped or not, does the United Nations have a view -- does the United Nations accept the Government’s claims that they’ve been stopped?

A couple of other questions.  The Zimbabwean Ambassador yesterday rejected calls for dialogue between the Government and the opposition, saying that was happening in the National Assembly, rejected suggestions that colonial-era laws might be repealed, as suggested in the Tibaijuka report and also claimed that the 700,000 figure was a gross exaggeration. In reality, he said, it was 3,000 households.  I wonder if the United Nations has any response to his rejection.

Final question is, is Secretary-General Annan in any way disappointed that all three African members on the Security Council opposed raising the question of Zimbabwe at the Security Council yesterday?

Spokesman:  Remind me of your first question again.  Oh the -- 

Correspondent:  It would help if you took notes.

Spokesman:  It’s also sometimes good to ask one question at a time.  Our country team is actively trying to verify whether or not these demolitions have, in fact, stopped.  We want to be able to see these things for ourselves, and we are in the process of doing that.

It is clear and evident that, if Zimbabwe is going to get over this current crisis, this humanitarian, political and development crisis, there will need to be a serious and sustained dialogue between the Government, the opposition and civil society.  That needs to happen.  It’s difficult to imagine how the country can move forward without such a dialogue.

Question:  So, sorry, who is verifying it and when are we going to get a verification or any kind of United Nations indication --

Spokesman:  Well, our country team, I mean, I spoke to people just before we came down to the briefing, we are trying to verify with the staff that we have on the ground that, in fact, these things have stopped.  And once we’re able to say that they have stopped, we’ll let you know.

Question:  Just a final question, is the Secretary-General disappointed that all three African members of the Security Council rejected discussions of Zimbabwe at the Security Council?

Spokesman:  Their vote was their own decision.  In order to help Zimbabwe to get out of this crisis there will need to be assistance from the international community, but especially from neighbouring, and other African countries will have -- have a role to play -- and we hope they will play a role in this.

Question:  On Iraq, what is the UN’s position?  Who is responsible for the protection of diplomats and other national agencies, because basically should it be the coalition of the willing at this point in time, but the dysfunctional Iraqi Government --

[Phone rings.]

Spokesman:  Phone -- no question, no answer.

Question:  -- the Iraqi Government --

Spokesman:  The response -- the security of diplomats is that of the host country and the multinational force does have a role to play in there.

Yes? 

[Phone rings again.]

Come on, Massoud.  Just turn it off.  

Question: When you talk about United Nations staff on the ground in Zimbabwe, who does the United Nations have on the ground, like which agencies have staff over there, who are these people?

Spokesman:  United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) -- those are the three -- and World Food Programme (WFP) obviously have staff.  I will try to get you an exact number of international staff that we have.  But in Zimbabwe, as in a number of developing countries, we have what we call a United Nations country team, which is led by a resident coordinator, which is usually a UNDP official who leads the United Nations humanitarian team on the ground.

Question:  What I’m trying to get at here is like, are you confident that the people that are there have the expertise to indeed do the kind of verification that we’re talking about?

Spokesman:  Yes, I mean they engage with the Government and civil society and they’re able to see things for themselves.  Obviously, as the humanitarian effort increase, we will need to ramp up our staffing in Zimbabwe.

Question:  And just a quick other question on the imminent release of the Volcker report, the third interim report.  Does the United Nations, do you, guys, plan to have some kind of rebuttal, and who will be giving it?

Spokesman:  I think we’re a little too early from that date for me to give you an answer.  When we’re sure on the date, we can probably talk a couple days beforehand.

Question:  On Mr. Ruggie, is he going to be here full time and not be the dean?

Spokesman:  No, he will remain at Harvard.  He will work for the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva and do a couple of missions, or how many he needs to do, a year.  But he will step down from the current United Nations role that he has, which is the Special Advisor on the Global Compact.  So that activity will cease, but he will continue to be at Harvard and travel to Geneva and other things, as needed.

Question:  That was my last question.  I thought the Global Compact, that was the whole purpose of it?

Spokesman:  Well, this is an appointment made at the request of the Commission on Human Rights. 

Thank you very much.

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For information media • not an official record