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 Manoel De Almeida e Silva, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.  I apologize for this delay.  And welcome to the group of journalists from Georgia, who are visiting us here today.  You are most welcome here.

**Secretary-General's Message to the People of East Timor

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 Manoel De Almeida e Silva, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

**Secretary-General Arrives in South Africa

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 Marie Okabe, Associate Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.  I'm sorry I'm a little late today.

**Secretary-General Concludes Austria Visit

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 Marie Okabe, Associate Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.  I first would like to welcome the group of Indonesian journalists who are touring the facilities and who are joining us today.  I would also hope that all of you have had a decent August so far.

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.

**Security Council

The Security Council began its closed consultations this morning with a briefing by Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Danilo Türk, on developments over the past month in Burundi.

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.

**East Timor/SECCO

Good afternoon.

This morning, the Security Council held a private meeting to hear a briefing on East Timor from Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hédi Annabi.

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.

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.

**Security Council     

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 Russia.

**Security Council

This morning at about 10:45 the Security Council began an open meeting on the Middle East, including the question of Palestine.

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 Manoel de Almeida e Silva, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon.  Thank you for coming.  We have a short but good briefing for you to begin your weekend.

**Statement on Afghanistan

I'll start with a statement attributable to the Spokesman on Afghanistan.