Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Farhan Haq, the Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon, everyone.

**Secretary-General Travels

The Secretary‑General is currently in Seoul, where he will attend a number of events, including the DPI‑NGO Conference on Monday.  Prior to that, he was in Ise‑Shima, Japan, earlier today, where he attended the two outreach sessions of the G7 summit.

In the first session, dedicated to stability and prosperity in Asia, the Secretary‑General noted the urgent regional challenge posed by the fact that several Asian countries are claiming the same territory and maritime areas.

The Secretary‑General called on all concerned to resolve disputes through dialogue in a peaceful and amicable manner, in accordance with universally recognized principles of international law — such as the UN Charter and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

He also underscored the worrying situation on the Korean Peninsula.  The Secretary‑General thanked the G7 for their firm stance against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s continuing nuclear activities and called for the full implementation of all relevant Security Council resolutions and sanction measures.

In a separate outreach session, the Secretary‑General detailed the priorities ahead for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

On the sidelines of the session, the Secretary‑General met with the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea and welcomed the discussions on referendum preparations on Bougainville’s future status and the target date of 15 June 2019 for the referendum.

The Secretary‑General spoke by phone with President Nicos Anastasiades of Cyprus.  With reference to recent events in Istanbul, the Secretary‑General reiterated that the UN’s policy on Cyprus has not changed.  The Republic of Cyprus is the Member State of the UN.  The bi‑communal dialogue that takes place under UN auspices aims at reaching a settlement of the Cyprus issue based on relevant UN Security Council resolutions.  The full readout is online.

**Iraq

The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, has begun delivering emergency relief aid to families who recently escaped the besieged Iraqi city of Falluja.  More than 800 people have fled Falluja in recent days as Iraqi Government forces continue their offensive.  Some 50,000 civilians remain trapped inside, prevented from escaping by militants as the city continues to come under heavy bombardment by Iraqi forces.

UNHCR and its partner, Muslim Aid, began distributing emergency relief items today to families who have escaped the city and are sheltering in a camp it has helped to set up in Amiriyat al‑Falluja, in Anbar Governorate.  The agency will also open two new camps next week in Habbaniyah Tourist City that will able to accommodate 500 newly‑displaced families.

Meanwhile, the past month has seen a spike in numbers of Iraqi refugees risking the dangerous crossing into Syria in a desperate bid to escape Mosul, which is held by Da’esh, and fighting in surrounding areas.  Since the beginning of May, a total of 4,266 refugees have arrived at the Al‑Hol camp located 14 kilometres from the Iraqi border in Syria’s north‑eastern Hasakah Governorate.

In anticipation of further arrivals in the coming weeks, the first of five UNHCR airlifts of emergency items such as tents and blankets arrived from Jordan to Qamishli in the far north of Hasakah Governorate on Thursday. The total amount of aid arriving will be enough to provide support for up to 50,000 people, including refugees and the immediate host community.

**Syria

The Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, briefed the Security Council on the current situation in Syria yesterday afternoon, and he reiterated the need to see progress on the ground — particularly in reference to the cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access.  He informed the Council members of his intention to start the next round of intra‑Syrian talks as soon as feasible, but certainly not within the next two to three weeks.

Meanwhile, the Special Envoy will maintain close and continuous contact with the Syrian parties, as well as the members of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG), before determining the “appropriate time” to reconvene the parties in Geneva.

**Greece

The UN refugee Agency, UNHCR, says it is seriously concerned about sub‑standard conditions at several sites in northern Greece where refugees and migrants were evacuated this week from the makeshift site at Idomeni.  It is urging the Greek authorities, with the financial support provided by the European Union, to find better alternatives quickly.

UNHCR says it agrees that the makeshift site at Idomeni where refugees had been staying in abysmal conditions, needed to be evacuated but it adds that the conditions of some of the sites to which the refugees and migrants were transferred fall well below minimum standards.

UNHCR will continue to assist the Greek authorities to provide emergency assistance and urgently improve conditions at these sites where possible.  But it says that where it is not possible to bring conditions up to minimal humanitarian standards, alternatives need to be found and made ready to accommodate refugees.

There is more information online.

**Senior Personnel Appointment

I have an appointment to announce ‑ the Secretary‑General is announcing today the appointment of Major General Michael Beary of Ireland as his new Head of Mission and Force Commander of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL.

Major General Beary succeeds Major General Luciano Portolano of Italy, who will complete his assignment on 24 July 2016.  The Secretary‑General is grateful to Major General Portolano for his exemplary service and leadership of UNIFIL over the past two years.

Major General Beary has had a long and distinguished career in the Irish Army since entering as an Infantry Corps Officer in 1975.  We have more details about his career in my office.

**Central America

According to UN agencies, NGOs and Governments, more than 3.5 million people are food insecure and in need of health care and livelihood recovery support in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua — these countries are experiencing their worst drought in decades due to the El Niño weather phenomenon.

Without sufficient emergency assistance, food shortfalls are expected to continue at least until September 2016.

Meanwhile, above‑average rains in parts of South America have continued to cause flooding, and increased diseases spread by mosquitoes, including malaria, dengue, chikungunya and the Zika virus.

**Human Rights

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is disturbed by the severe financial crisis that the Inter‑American Commission on Human Rights is facing.  Should the Commission not receive the necessary funds in the coming weeks the capacity of the regional human rights system to respond to victims of rights violations across the Americas may be seriously diminished.  Unfortunately, in recent years, the Commission has faced undue pressure from a number of States.

The Human Rights Office urges States to reaffirm their commitment to human rights by providing the Commission with the required resources to fulfil its crucial mandate and indeed to strengthen this key institution.  The Commission’s robust defence of human rights in the region should be encouraged — not punished.

**UNESCO

A new report today by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the UN Environment Programme, and the Union of Concerned Scientists, says that climate change is fast becoming one of the most significant risks for sites.

The report, which lists 31 natural and cultural World Heritage sites in 29 countries that are vulnerable to climate change, underscores the urgency to achieve the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global temperature rise to a level well below 2 °C.

A press release on this is available on UNESCO’s website.

And that is all I have for you, beyond, one more thing to say which is that on Monday, the 30^th of May, UN Headquarters will be closed; there’s no briefing and we will see you again on Tuesday.

**Questions and Answers

Deputy Spokesman:  Yes, Carol?

Question:  Farhan, I’m sure you’ve seen the reports of Donald Trump saying that he would cancel the climate deal if he makes it to the White House.  Given that it’s a very proud achievement to the Secretary‑General, perhaps you have a response to that view?

Deputy Spokesman:  I don’t have any specific response to what any politician involved in a campaign may have.  Obviously we’ll let those campaigns proceed without any particular comment from us.  What I can say about the issue of climate change is that this has been a crucial concern.  The Paris Agreement is one of the key achievements that world leaders have made in a critical fight that is designed to make sure that this planet is habitable for all of us for generations to come.

As the Secretary‑General has said, there’s no Plan B to this sort of agreement because there’s no Planet B.  We need to make a world that is safe for ourselves and our future generations, and that is why he has encouraged all leaders to follow through on their commitments.  That is why he believes then they can be proud of what they’ve achieved in the Paris Agreement and why they need to fulfill what is required.

Question:  Just to follow up. Would the Secretary‑General consider perhaps sending a letter to Donald Trump to explain his views and to encourage him to perhaps look into the deal more closely along the lines of what you just said?

Deputy Spokesman:  I think the Secretary‑General has made his views clear.  And if you have seen, even in recent weeks in the speeches he has made he has spoken about… again, very forcefully… about the need to take action on climate change.  And he’s also spoken forcefully against the idea of climate change denialism.  The science is clear, it’s well established, and it needs to be respected by everyone.

But regarding political candidates, obviously we wouldn’t speak to any of them.  They’re going about their work and their campaigns.  But our views on this matter are clear for everyone who wishes to know them.

Yes?

Question:  Yesterday the NGO Committee rejected a request by the CPJ [Committee to Protect Journalists] to have consultative status through ECOSOC [Economic and Social Council] as an NGO.  Does the Secretary‑General have a view on this?  And would he also have a view on what some people say is a trend towards a kind of anti‑NGO sentiment that is, you know, increasingly visible in some UN bodies, particularly the NGO Committee?

Deputy Spokesman:  Well, regarding the vote, I think we’ve made clear that the Secretary‑General himself has been very supportive of the work of the Committee to Protect Journalists.  He believes that they do valuable work to defend media rights around the world, and as a result, he’s deeply disappointed by this recent decision which, as you know, as it’s carried out, it would block access for the Committee to Protect Journalists for a number of UN bodies including access to the Human Rights Council.

But, yes, the Secretary‑General is concerned both that media rights need to be respected and that NGOs, non-governmental organizations, need to have sufficient access to the work of the United Nations system.

As you know, while he is in Korea, he will attend the DPI-NGO conference which takes place this coming Monday.  I would… I would ask you to pay attention to his remarks which will include a defense of the sort of work that NGOs do.  Part of the point is… in terms of the work the media is doing… is that journalists already are facing undue restrictions on their work in many, many parts of the world, and organizations that are dedicated to protecting journalists should not face restrictions at the United Nations.

Yes. Go.

Question:  Thank you, Farhan.  As you know, President [Barack] Obama after attending the G7 Summit visited Hiroshima — the first US President.  He said Hiroshima’s memory must not fade.  Does the SG have any comment on that?

Deputy Spokesman: Well, the Secretary‑General welcomes President Obama’s trip certainly.  As you know, the Secretary‑General himself was the first sitting Secretary‑General to visit Hiroshima, and he has, himself, met with the Hibakusha.  When he met with them, he saw their determination to the cause of nuclear disarmament.

The Secretary‑General hopes that President Obama’s visit and his personal interest will inspire efforts to renew concrete actions leading to a nuclear weapons free world.

Yes?

Question:  This is about the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  You put out a statement… in the protest yesterday, at least in Goma, the authorities used live fire and teargas.  A protester was killed.  Many were injured.  I’m wondering if you could just describe rather than just a reaction to it, what did MONUSCO [UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo] do during… pursuant to its protection of civilians mandate during the protest?  I have another DRC question but I would like to know this one?

Deputy Spokesman:  Okay.  Well, yesterday the Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, MONUSCO, reported the demonstrations took place in a number of cities with reports related to a tense situation in certain neighbourhoods of Goma, North Kivu.  In line with its mandate, MONUSCO did mobilize to assist.  In Kinshasa, for example, UN police units have worked closely with the Police Nationale Congolaise to advise and support them.  MINUSCA will continue to closely monitor the situation across the country.

As you’re aware, the Secretary‑General issued a statement on this and has stressed the need for all to act in strict respect of the fundamental freedoms and rights enshrined in the Constitution, and he made clear that all parties must exercise restraint and express their views peacefully and that political actors must engage in a constructive and peaceful political dialogue.

Question:  On the same country… I wanted to ask you… there’s a report that was put out yesterday, but I saw it today called… by Refugees International, it’s about Burundian refugees in South Kivu and elsewhere in the DRC.  It says basically that the authorities are mistreating the refugees, and it makes various proposals for the UN system to do more to protect them.

I wanted to know, is the UN system aware of this report?  What does the UN system believe that its duty is with respect to people that flee Burundi into DRC?

Deputy Spokesman:  The United Nations, as you know, has efforts to assist and help all refugees that cross borders wherever they may be.  And the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, does look after the needs and try to ensure that the basic rights are respected of refugees.  And they’ll do that in this case.  Beyond that, of course, yes, we are aware of this report, and we’ll study that.

Yes, Sherwin.

Question:  Thank you.  Following the… I saw the readout of the Secretary‑General’s meeting with William Ruto, the Deputy President of Kenya.  I wanted to know what the endgame from the UN’s perspective would be regarding the closure of Dadaab camp.  Are there contingency plans being made if the Kenyan Government in fact goes ahead with what it says it will do and that is to close the camp?

Deputy Spokesman:  You’ve seen what we’ve said about the need to make sure that basic human rights principles are upheld including, of course, the basic principle of non-refoulement.  We do not believe that refugees can be returned to their home countries against their will.  That is a basic fundamental principle of the Refugee Convention.

We are in dialogue with Kenya about our concerns.  The sort of concerns that we’ve reported about is this threat to close the camp which we’ve been talking about for some weeks.  Those concerns are still in place today.

And you’ve seen that we continue with these discussions.  Both at the Secretary‑General’s level, at the level of the Deputy Secretary‑General who himself was visiting Kenya over the past days.  So we’ll continue to pursue this at the highest levels.

Question:  Are there punitive measures that the UN can take against Kenya if they go ahead?

Deputy Spokesman:  I don’t want to speculate on what the future might hold.  Right now what we’re doing is making clear our concerns at the highest levels, and we’ll see how that proceeds.

Olga?

Question:  Thank you, Farhan.  After Médecins Sans Frontières evacuated the hospital in Aleppo, do you have information of how many medical facilities are still operating on the ground and what medical organizations are still working there?

Deputy Spokesman:  Well, there are some that are still working.  I don’t have a list of that, but you’ll have seen that we have implored that all parties refrain from any attacks on such facilities.  That there’s been an increasing number of them.  Not just in Syria, mind you, but Syria has been of particular concern.  And this has been raised a number of times.  Most recently you’ll have seen the comments made by Staffan de Mistura [UN Special Envoy for Syria], and I would refer you to his remarks to the press.

Question:  Thank you.  Following up on Hiroshima, on Obama’s visit to Hiroshima, you have mentioned the Secretary‑General hopes his visit inspired the new concrete action.  What is the new concrete action in your mind?

Deputy Spokesman:  This is something ultimately that Governments themselves are doing.  But you’ll have seen what we have tried to do.  We have pushed for further measures for nuclear non-proliferation across a variety of fronts.  As you know, we have urged many things we have urged, including wider adherence to the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty.  But ultimately, these are actions where Member States need to pick up the baton as it were, and we hope that this will help move the process forward.

The Secretary‑General was himself very strongly moved by his visit to Hiroshima, and he believes that for world leaders to be able to see the consequences of the use of nuclear weapons can help encourage all efforts to end their use anywhere in the world.

Yes?  Way in the back.

Question:  It seems that, according to a recent statement, that the peace agreement in Colombia is getting close.  Is the UN ready to deploy the political mission approved by the Security Council a few months ago?

Deputy Spokesman:  We don’t have an announcement to make on that yet.  As you know, we’ve been making our preparations.  Once we can do that, we’ll certainly let you know.

Yes, Nizar.

Question:  On Yemen, it seems the situation is getting worse and worse.  More air strikes today were carried out by the Saudis.  Also on the humanitarian level, there’s no improvement with the expansion of the mission, or office of [Ismail Ould] Cheik Ahmed’s mission.  How do you see that the progress achieved in Kuwait since this situation on the ground is getting worse and worse?

Deputy Spokesman:  Well, Ismail Ould Cheik Ahmed, the Special Envoy for Yemen, has said there’s been progress made, particularly in recent days if you’ll have looked at the statements he’s issued.  He’s said that this is a complex task.  There are still hurdles to overcome, but he believes that we’re moving closer to a comprehensive agreement.  He does deplore any violation of the cessation of hostilities.  But increasingly it has been holding, and there’s been a rise in the amount of humanitarian access.  So we’re hoping to make further such progress.

Question:  One question.  One on Bahrain please?

Deputy Spokesman:  Sorry.  I’ll come back to you.

Question:  Going back to Syria, I was wondering in the contingency planning for the airdrops that might happen next week, do you know if the plan is to use Russian planes [inaudible]?

Deputy Spokesman:  We’re not going to provide any details of arrangements before they’re made.  Ultimately, part of what we try to do is ensure that there’s as much security for these airdrops as possible.  These are very delicate operations.  We’ll try to provide information about them as soon as they can be shared.  But oftentimes what that means is that we’ll provide those details once the operations have been conducted.

Question:  On Yemen.  Has it been approved that the Special Envoy’s office will be enlarged?  And if so, why?

Deputy Spokesman:  Well, the Secretary‑General gave… shared his recommendations on this with the Security Council.  Ultimately, we’ll need to receive some form of reply from the members of the Council.

Question:  Do you know why he wanted it enlarged since he’s not doing so well from it?

Deputy Spokesman:  I wouldn’t agree.  Ismail Ould Cheik Ahmed has said they have made some real progress.  There are hurdles to overcome.  None of these tasks are easy.  But the parties have remained in Kuwait, they remain talking to each other, and also presenting their plans.  There’s been progress in the various working groups including the ones dealing with political issues, security issues, and the question of detainees.  We’ll have to see whether they can now result in some concrete gains because, of course, the people of Yemen have been waiting for this for a long time.

Yes, Iftikhar?

Question:  In the Secretary‑General’s view the statement by a Pakistani minister calling on 2.5 million Afghans to leave Pakistan as soon as they can following the arrest of six Afghan spies in Pakistan.

Deputy Spokesman:  Well, as I just mentioned about a different case, when it comes to refugees, the UN wants all States to observe the principle of non‑refoulement, which is the idea that people cannot be returned to their home countries against their will.  Ultimately, when it is safe for them to do so, when they are willing to do so, we encourage refugees to go back to their homes.  Up until that happen point we are and implore all countries to allow them to be safe and secure in other environments, and we appreciate the generous efforts of every country that hosts a sizable number of refugees as Pakistan has done for many years.

Question:  Farhan, these people have been there for the past 35 years.

Deputy Spokesman:  I know.  I remember since my childhood.  Yes.  But as you’re well aware, the situation in Afghanistan itself has been turbulent.  The UN is working through the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan to help restore peace and stability to larger and larger parts of Afghanistan.  But ultimately those decisions need to be made by refugees themselves once they’re assured that they can be safe and that their families can be safe in returning.

Question:  On Bahrain, Sheikh Ali Salman’s verdict will be passed tomorrow.  He has been in jail for over a year without any real crime committed.  Do you have any appeal to release him?  Also why should he be put to trial when he did not do anything?

Deputy Spokesman:  Ultimately, we’ll have to see how the legal process plays itself out.  We certainly hope that due process will be followed, and we’ll study the developments.

Question:  I asked several times about the 31 Saudis who are facing also trial just for supporting protesters, and they are facing death sentences as a result of that.  Do you have anything about that?

Deputy Spokesman:  As you’re well aware, we have tremendous concerns in all countries about the use of capital punishment, and we will echo that again in this case.

Question:  Just a follow-up on that — for someone who just supported protests, is that a crime he should be tried on?

Deputy Spokesman:  The UN encourages all Governments to respect people’s rights to peaceful protest and to freedom of assembly.

I can’t comment on the particulars of every specific case.  As you know, each legal process is different.

Question:  I want to ask you again about President [Omar] Bashir of Sudan.  Yesterday I asked Fatou Bensouda [Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court] about whether she thought the UN should make the invitation Bashir says he’s received from the UN, and she said to ask you.  I guess my question is it seems… you seem to be saying that you invite the Heads of State of all Governments but that you do believe that any leader that’s subject to indictment by the ICC should be arrested even by States that are not members of the ICC.  So the question is:  The letter, what does the letter look like?  Is there some… you carve out… you say we’re inviting Sudanese authorities other than those indicted by the ICC?  How do you square these two positions of yours?

Deputy Spokesman:  For these sorts of things, there are standard letters that go out to all Governments.  They go to the permanent missions.  And they request the attendance at the highest level possible of their Governments.  That’s what it is.  I don’t have anything new to say.  I’ve talked about this several days running.  I’ll just refer you back to what I’ve already said.

Question:  I wanted to ask you this.  I see this as kind of a UN legal question.  There’s something called the UN Fashion and Design Week.  It’s all over online.  It says that… it uses the UN logo.  It says it’s holding itself in Dubai in October 2016 and then in China.  It was raised to me because isn’t the… doesn’t the UN reach out and protect its logo?  This thing is very much recruiting people to compete in a fashion thing for the UN.  So what is Mr. [Miguel de] Serpa Soares [UN Legal Counsel] doing about this highly visible thing — has Twitter accounts, websites, the guy calling himself a UN ambassador?

Deputy Spokesman:  If there’s a false use, an errant use of the logo, we do, in fact, take legal action on that… those.  I don’t know the details about this event, whether it’s authorized or not authorized, but, yes, our Office of Legal Affairs takes care to make sure that the name of the United Nations and the logo of the United Nations are not used improperly against the interests of the Organization.

Question:  Because this thing says United Nations Ambassador Mr. Buchi George and has a picture.  I have looked into… it’s all over the place.  Have you authorized this?

Deputy Spokesman:  I don’t know the details of this.  I don’t know whether this is fake or not.  It sounds unusual, but having said that, I’d need to look into it.  I don’t know.  It’s a big world, and there’s any number of things that could be legitimate, but there are many things that are not.  There are many, many times… and the Office of Legal Affairs takes action very frequently against the abuse of the logo.

Question:  Thank you, Farhan — again on Hiroshima.  Could you remind us what’s the view of the SG on the actual nuclear disarmament stalemate especially the failure of the NPT [non-proliferation treaty] last year?  Is he disappointed or frustrated?  How does he see the actual situation?

Deputy Spokesman:  The Secretary‑General wants all Member States to make progress both in the implementation of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and of all other aspects of the nuclear disarmament regime.  What he wants and the goal we aspire to is full nuclear disarmament.

Question:  Thanks, Farhan.  I just want to go back to the resolution of the Security Council that terminated the sanctions regime against Liberia.  Later in the statement the Secretary‑General welcomed the adoption of the resolution and he emphasized the lifting of arms embargo on non‑State actors in Liberia.  But this arms embargo also covered the Government of the country.  So saying that the arms embargo against State actors sounds like such supplies are now allowed?

Deputy Spokesman:  I have some fairly precise language on this that I can share with you afterwards.  I have it in my desk.  Not here.

Masood?

Question:  Thank you, Farhan.  Today it is important that on the India‑Pakistan border, six people were killed by the Indian Defence Forces.  Do you have any comment on that at this point in time?  It is escalating the violence in Indo-Pakistan.

Deputy Spokesman:  No, I don’t have a comment.

Evelyn?

Question:  Do you have any update on humanitarian delivery in Syria.  And also to follow up Carol’s question, I assume that WFP [World Food Programme] has cleared with others roaming the skies around over Syria that not to attack whatever plane is delivering the airdrops?

Deputy Spokesman:  This is part of the complexity of the operations.  We need to make sure that any airdrops are protected from any sort of attack by any of the planes that are flying.  So these are very delicate arraignments that are worked out in advance.

Regarding the humanitarian update, I think about a day or so ago I mentioned that there was a humanitarian convoy that was able to reach Houle in Homs in Syria.  And so that was the first one to get there for a considerable amount of time.

Question:  And on the same subject, I think yesterday there was delivery to Darayaa.  On social media, there were reports that convoys managed to enter Darayaa.  Can you confirm that?

Deputy Spokesman:  I don’t have a confirmation of that.  I need an update from our humanitarian colleagues.

Question:  On a similar situation, Venezuela.  It seems looting and widespread rioting and violence is spreading across Venezuela.  Is there [anything] the United Nations can do to alleviate the shortage of food in the country?

Deputy Spokesman:  You’ve seen the concerns we’ve expressed about the situation there.  I don’t have anything beyond what we said about the situation in the statement issued over the previous weekend.

Question:  I wanted to ask about South Korea and also something on Guinea‑Bissau that came up yesterday.  I know… maybe… I think I know what you’re going to say.  I want to ask you about this trip this South Korea.  First, I mean, if you look in today’s DPI [Department of Public Information] clips, virtually all the stories are about Ban Ki‑moon running.  There’s one in particular that says the people assisting him with his run.  It names a former South Korean ambassador here, the current ambassador here, which is totally in their freedom to do it.  But it also names Mr. Kim Won-soo.  This is not something the UN is not aware of.  It’s included by DPI in the news clips.  So the question arises — has Mr. Kim sought some kind of guidance from the ethics office what the balance of his time would be, or is it his position that despite public reporting that this is what he’s working on that because you say he’s not, he’s not?

Deputy Spokesman:  He’s working as the head of the Office of Disarmament Affairs.  That’s the work that he does.  If he needs to change that at some point, he would need to let us know.  But right now, this is the work he is doing.

Question:  Again, in the clips that you have, it says that the Under-Secretary‑General Kim, one of Ban’s closest confidants, has made frequent reports about domestic situations to Ban.  Is this false?  And is he only doing this about disarmament issues or about what other?

Deputy Spokesman:  He has a range of responsibilities on disarmament work, and that is what he does for the Secretary‑General.  That’s his job.

Question:  On Guinea‑Bissau, yesterday… obviously a meeting went late in the Security Council… it seems one issue is who is going to pay for this ECOWAS [Economic Community of West African States] mission that currently expires at the end of June.  There are a lot of concerns that this would leave things even more volatile.  What is the UN’s role either through peacebuilding commission or otherwise, what is the Secretary‑General… Guinea‑Bissau has obviously been dealt with by DPA [Department of Political Affairs] for some time… in terms of trying to actually ensure that a peacekeeping or observer‑type force remain in the country by the end of June?  What steps are being taken by the UN?

Deputy Spokesman:  On Guinea‑Bissau, I was hoping that in time for this briefing we would have a statement, but it’s not ready yet.  I do think that we’ll have a statement that may have some further information about where we stand on that.  But that will have to be for later.

Question:  Today the Turkish Army has made incursions inside Syria close to Aleppo.  That coincided with another attack on [inaudible] from Da’esh.  How do you view these new developments?

Deputy Spokesman:  I don’t have any information about it.

Have a good afternoon everyone.