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

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

Good afternoon.

**SG to visit Ukraine, Russia

The Secretary-General will leave a week from tomorrow on a trip that will take him on his first visit to the Ukraine. From there, he will travel to Moscow, Geneva and Rome.

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

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

Good Afternoon.

**Statement Attributable to Spokesman for Secretary-General

"We’ll start with a statement attributable to the Spokesman concerning the situation between India and Pakistan:

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

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, and Jan Fischer, Spokesman for the General Assembly President.

Good afternoon.

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

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

Good afternoon.

[Guest was Special Adviser on Africa Ibrahim Gambari, who discussed recent developments in Angola.]

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

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

Good Afternoon.

**East Timor Declared Independent at Midnight

Early this morning, as midnight struck in East Timor, tens of thousands of East Timorese gathered at a massive site near the capital, Dili, to celebrate the birth of their new nation.

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

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

Good afternoon.

Welcome to the visiting journalists from Asia and two from Argentina, is that correct?  Nice to have you here.

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 Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.

**Noon Guest

The guest at today’s briefing will be the Special Envoy for Myanmar, Razali Ismail, and as soon as he comes in I think we’ll probably invite him to begin.

**Secretary-General Leaves Cyprus

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 Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.

Guest at Noon Briefing

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 Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good Afternoon.

**Statement Attributable to Spokesman

We’ll start with a statement attributable to the Spokesman concerning the incident in Kashmir.

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 Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General and Jan Fischer, Spokesman for the General Assembly President.

Secretary-General’s Spokesman

Good afternoon.

**Srebrenica/Guests