FINAL PRESS CONFERENCE BY PRESIDENT OF FIFTY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Outgoing General Assembly President Harri Holkeri (Finland) had just declared closed the fifty-fifth session of the Assembly, when he briefed correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon on his hopes for the future of the Assembly.

HEADQUARTERS PRESS CONFERENCE BY UNWRA COMMISSIONER-GENERAL

A worsened humanitarian and political situation would result from the decline in donations to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA), Peter Hansen, Commissioner-General of that agency, told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon.

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

AND BY THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

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

Good afternoon.  

**Jan Fischer

PRESS BRIEFING BY SECRETARY-GENERAL’S SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE

FOR ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA

The situation between Ethiopia and Eritrea continued to be terribly polarized with a lot of bitterness between the parties, Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), told correspondents this afternoon at a Headquarters press briefing.

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, and Jan Fischer, Spokesman for the President of the General Assembly.

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 President of the General Assembly.

**Spokesman for the Secretary-General

**Secretary-General Visits Firehouse

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 President of the General Assembly.

PRESS BRIEFING ON 2001 WORLD INVESTMENT REPORT

The World Investment Report 2001 – Promoting Linkages forecasts a significant drop in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the current year, Georg Kell, Economic Advisor, Executive Office of the Secretary-General, told correspondents at a Headquarters press briefing yesterday.

PRESS CONFERENCE BY AFGHANISTAN

Ravan Farhadi, the Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to the United Nations, called on the Security Council to adopt a resolution asking Pakistan to "withdraw its armed nationals and patronized religious extremist groups from Afghanistan" during a press conference held at Headquarters this morning.

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 President of the General Assembly.

**Secretary-General visits World Trade Center site

Good afternoon.