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, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
Good afternoon. Thank you all for showing up.
**Climate Change
In remarks at the stakeout just a few minutes ago, the Secretary-General welcomed the papal encyclical released today by His Holiness Pope Francis. The Secretary-General said that he and Pope Francis agree that climate change is a moral issue that requires collective urgent action. It is an issue of social justice, human rights and fundamental ethics. The Secretary-General said that people everywhere share a responsibility to care for and protect our common home, our one and only planet Earth. We must do far more to help the poorest and most vulnerable members of society, who are suffering most from climate impacts, yet had least to do with causing the problem. And, he added, we must also show solidarity with generations that will follow ours, and bequeath to them a sustainable world.
The Secretary-General said that Pope Francis’s moral voice is part of a growing chorus of people from all faiths and all sectors of society speaking out for climate action. He urged Governments to place the global common good above national interests and to adopt an ambitious, universal climate agreement in Paris this year. We have his remarks, and an earlier statement, available in our office and online.
And still on climate change, I would like to flag a new book published today by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on what climate change implies for global food security and trade. The book entitled Climate Change and Food Systems collects the findings of a group of scientists and economists who have taken stock of climate change impacts on food and agriculture at global and regional levels over the past two decades. You can download it on FAO’s website.
**Noon Briefing Guests
And also, we will have as the guests at the Noon Briefing today Jo Scheuer, the Director of Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction, and Cassie Flynn, the Policy Specialist from UNDP's [United Nations Development Programme] Bureau for Policy and Programme Support. They will join me shortly to provide an update on the current status of negotiations, what will happen between now and Conference of Parties 21 and what countries need to be doing as they prepare for the Paris conference and beyond. Both of our guests have recently returned from the climate change negotiations in Bonn, Germany.
**Children and Armed Conflict
The Secretary-General and his Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict, Leila Zerrougui, spoke at the Security Council’s open debate this morning, and the Secretary-General told the Council that grave violations against children have been an affront to our common humanity in the Central African Republic, Iraq, Nigeria, South Sudan and the Syrian Arab Republic. He added that he was also deeply alarmed at the suffering of so many children as a result of Israeli military operations in Gaza last year. The Secretary-General noted that, in a worrying trend, abductions have increased rapidly. Groups such as the Lord’s Resistance Army have kidnapped children for many years. But, the scale and nature of this grave violation is changing. Abduction is now being used as a tactic to terrorize or target particular ethnic groups or religious communities, and children have been a particular focus.
The Secretary-General said that he is committed to ensuring that the United Nations itself does more to prevent any abuse of children in the context of conflict. He said that recent allegations concerning abuse in the Central African Republic make this all the more essential. Leila Zerrougui also spoke to the Council, saying that an estimated 230 million children live in countries and areas affected by conflict. The rise in the number and the gravity of recent crises has tested both our resolve and our ability to respond. Both remarks are available in our office, and as you’re aware, the Secretary-General and Special Representative Zerrougui both spoke to the press afterward.
**South Sudan
On the same issue, the Executive Director of UNICEF [United Nations Children’s Fund], Anthony Lake, denounced in a statement unspeakable violence against children in South Sudan. He says the violence against children in the country has reached a new level of brutality. As many as 129 children from Unity State were killed in just three weeks in May and survivors report that boys have been castrated and left to bleed to death, while girls as young as eight have been gang raped and murdered. Mr. Lake said children have been tied together before their attackers slit their throats, and others have been thrown into burning buildings.
Children are also being aggressively recruited into armed groups of both sides on an alarming scale. Mr. Lake said that in the name of humanity and common decency, this violence against the innocent must stop. A public human rights report on the violations and abuses which have taken place in Unity State in particular is to be released shortly. The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is working tirelessly to verify and report on the gross violations currently being perpetrated by both sides of the conflict in South Sudan.
**Refugees
Worldwide displacement from wars, conflict and persecution is at the highest levels ever recorded, and it is accelerating fast. That’s according to the new annual Global Trends report of the UN refugee agency, which shows a sharp escalation in the number of people forced to flee their homes, with 59.5 million people forcibly displaced at the end of 2014, compared to 51.2 million a year earlier and 37.5 million a decade ago. Worldwide, one in every 122 humans is now either a refugee, internally displaced, or seeking asylum, half of them being children. Were this the population of a country, it would be the world's 24th biggest.
Syria is the world's biggest producer of both internally displaced people and refugees, followed by Afghanistan and Somalia. Even amid such sharp growth in numbers, the global distribution of refugees remains heavily skewed away from wealthier nations. Almost 9 out of every 10 refugees are in regions and countries considered economically less developed, and a full quarter of all refugees are in countries ranking among the UN's list of least developed countries. The full report is available on UNHCR’s [Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees] website.
**Secretary-General’s Travels
I have a trip to announce: the Secretary-General will leave New York on Sunday, 21 June, for Luxembourg, to participate in a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Ministers of the European Union, and to Strasbourg, France, to address the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on three interlinked, defining challenges: restrictions on civil society, the rise of violent extremism, and the urgent need to build a sustainable future.
While in Luxembourg, the Secretary-General will also have an audience with His Royal Highness Grand Duke Henri and meet with Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, as well as with other Government officials. In Strasbourg, he will meet with the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjorn Jagland, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council, Ms. Anne Brasseur and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina and President of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, Mr. Igor Crnadak. The Secretary-General will be back in New York on the evening of 23 June.
**Yemen
Food security in Yemen continues to worsen, with 19 out of 22 governorates now classified as being in “crisis” or “emergency”, according to the latest analysis released by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Government of Yemen. The number of food-insecure people in Yemen has increased by 17 per cent since the escalation of the conflict at the end of March. There are now more than 12.9 million people without adequate access to food: that is 2.3 million more than in March. This includes 6 million people who are severely food insecure — 1 million more than in March.
Levels of acute malnutrition are also rising, with many people resorting to eating fewer meals a day, or consuming cheaper, less nutritious food. Conflict, insecurity and reductions in fuel imports are all driving up prices and pushing already struggling families to the brink. Yemen desperately needs a pause in fighting, increased access and funding for humanitarian assistance, and an immediate resumption of commercial imports.
**Ukraine
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that the number of people fleeing their homes in Ukraine continues to rise. More than 1.3 million people are now internally displaced, making it the ninth largest internally displaced population in the world. Some 890,000 people have fled to neighbouring countries.
**Appointment
And the Secretary-General is announcing the appointment of Peter de Clercq of the Netherlands as his Deputy Special Representative for the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia, known as UNSOM. He will also serve as UN Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator and UN Development Programme Resident Representative. Mr. de Clercq will succeed Philippe Lazzarini of Switzerland, who will shortly leave his post to join the Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon (UNSCOL). The Secretary-General is grateful to Mr. Lazzarini for his dedication and service in Somalia. Mr. de Clercq’s most recent assignment was that of Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General for the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). We have more details in our office.
**Sexual Violence
I mentioned that we will be having our guests from UNDP shortly. And also tomorrow, Friday, there will be a special event in the General Assembly Hall related to sexual violence in conflict. All UN staff and journalists are invited to attend; no tickets are needed. The event will follow the morning General Assembly plenary session, which is expected to approve a new resolution making 19 June the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict. The Day will focus on raising awareness, standing in solidarity with the survivors, and paying tribute to those working to end sexual violence in conflict. That's it for me and, Benny, your hand has been up constantly, so you get it first.
**Questions and Answers
Question: That doesn't always necessitate calling me, but thank you. I have a question about the report. I know that the Secretary‑General and Zerrougui addressed it… addressed the press, but this didn't come up. This is about the number that was mentioned in… of children killed in Syria, 367, which is a very exact number. Yet, in 2014 the UN… January 2014… the UN announced that it stopped counting this in Syria or advertising the numbers of deaths in Syria. How do you explain that discrepancy and also another discrepancy, a widely distributed number of deaths, overall deaths in Syria is about 200… over 200,000, right? So that quick calculation is 50,000 a year. Out of 50,000 a year, you have 367 children whereas, for instance, in Gaza the number 557 is about quarter of the overall number of deaths. How do you explain that? I mean, did they stop having kids in Syria or what's the problem here? I mean, there is a huge discrepancy here.
Deputy Spokesman: I'm aware that at least a portion of your question is rhetorical and I appreciate the rhetorical point you are trying to make.
Correspondent: I’m asking a question about numbers that appear in the report.
Deputy Spokesman: Yes, now let me get to my answer. As you're aware, and you yourself have pointed out, it's actually now extremely difficult to get accurate numbers about casualties in Syria. We stopped being able to provide them on a regular basis and the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the time, that is to say Navi Pillay, the previous one, explained the difficulties in getting an accurate methodology. And since then, even her office has tried further times under the new High Commissioner, Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein, to have an update of casualty figures, but it's difficult to do. The challenge, the methodologies that we've been using have been challenged, so we tried to use the best possible sources and to do as much double checking where we can. The Office of the Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict tries to get verified numbers just on children everywhere in the world. And they have their own methodology, some of which is detailed in the reports, but some of which you can consult with her own office about. It's very clear, given the difficulties getting information from Syria, that whatever numbers they have would be the most conservative figure possible and would in all likelihood be an undercount.
Correspondent: Yet, it is made as a rhetorical point, since you mentioned that word, in the report in comparison to Gaza. It is in the chapter on Gaza. It says there are more children — 557 — killed in Gaza than there were in Syria, 368. And it doesn't say, by the way, 367 or 369, or about 400, it says 367… 368, sorry.
Deputy Spokesman: That was the number that they could confirm. It's clear given the scale of casualties in Syria that that is an extremely conservative number and we expect that number to be…
Correspondent: That is not what the report says. The report clearly says…
Deputy Spokesman: And we expect the number to be higher. Please let me continue. You and I can go back and forth. And I think Matthew and I had a similar discussion about this about a month or two ago. We go back and forth, okay? And Matthew will have a turn because you have been very patient in raising your hand, and thank you for being patient. The easiest way to describe it is that they have to provide numbers as much as they can and they try to verify whatever numbers that they have. The numbers for Syria will be difficult and we've made clear over the years why it's difficult, given the nature of the conflict and the difficulties of verifying numbers. It's almost certain, and I've said it several times already, that this is the… that this does not get at the true scale of the violence on children. But, that is where they are.
Question: Farhan, this is a point made in the chapter on Gaza as a point of comparison; if it's so important to compare it to Gaza, wouldn't it be prudent to at least say that this is not a number that you stand behind?
Deputy Spokesman: You have a strange echo effect today, and I don't know why that is. It's very difficult for me to react to my own “ums”.
Question: This is the UN cave?
Deputy Spokesman: I'm hearing myself behind my head and makes me wonder if I'm becoming schizophrenic. The basic point though is these are the best numbers they could come up with given the constraints faced in each country. It's obvious that in one country where the conflict lasted for a short time and then ended, you were able to get a better count. Yes?
Question: Couldn’t you say that, rather than to make that point?
Deputy Spokesman: The report is written as it's written. Yes?
Question: Sure, I have questions about that stakeout that took place with Secretary‑General, but there is something that came up yesterday I want to ask about because the meeting apparently between the Secretary‑General and Abdel Wahab al… go ahead and I'll defer to others for the name… al-Humayqani, I mean, he is definitely on… he is on a US Treasury list being affiliated with Al‑Qaida. And my question is you said, you appeared to say it's up to the delegation who they brought, and who came to Geneva is entirely up to the team of [Abd Rabbuh Mansour] Hadi, and who comes into the UN and stands next to Ban Ki‑moon, I would think, is up to the UN. So, I wanted to know, and I'm staring at a photograph of them next to each other with the Special Adviser right next to them, did the Secretary‑General know that the individual he was meeting was on the US Treasury Al‑Qaida list, and did his security know? Because we have a lot of security in the UN where people’s passes are disputed, et cetera. What is the process for the UN in terms of screening people, checking existing sanctions lists before allowing them in the building and to meet with the Secretary‑General?
Deputy Spokesman: It was the responsibility of the parties to determine who their representatives were. Security is aware of the names of all of the people with whom the Secretary‑General meets. In this case, the name of this particular person was submitted by the Yemeni Government delegation, which is to say the Riyadh delegation, as one of them, and he met with that delegation as he intended to meet with the Sana’a delegation before he left Geneva.
Question: So being on, you know, the Al‑Qaida or other sanctions list is not a ban to meeting with the Secretary‑General?
Deputy Spokesman: He is not, I believe, on the list of the 1267 Sanctions Committee. This is a US list you're referring to and you need to take up with the US on that. But, in this case, he was meeting with the members of the Riyadh delegation. This was part of his effort to meet as much as he could with all the various parties. Of course, because of logistical delays he was not able to meet with the Sana’a delegation. Yes?
Question: So, this could be the case if there is not evidence that the Riyadh campaign or the Riyadh‑led coalition is not providing weapons and money to Al‑Qaida affiliated tribes in south Yemen in many areas. Doesn’t that…?
Deputy Spokesman: I don't have any way of verifying what your claim is.
Question: Sorry?
Deputy Spokesman: I don't have any way of verifying what your claim is about that.
Question: Another thing, why the Sana’a delegation was denied until now to get accreditation to go to United Nations building. They have been isolated and they remained in the hotel, and of course, they can choose who they bring in, but up to today they are not allowed in?
Deputy Spokesman: The question you are really asking is a question about who are the delegates. We are trying to determine, among both sides, to make sure that they are represented, each side, by seven representatives and three alternates. And we are still trying to get that determination for the Sana’a delegation who those ten names will be.
Question: There are very limited hours remaining for these negotiations to take place. However, yet, I mean, there are many parties, political parties, and you're restricting the number to seven. Does that make sense?
Deputy Spokesman: It makes sense that each side should be represented by an equal number of delegates. And this is what the Special Representative… the Special Envoy, rather, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed has tried to impress upon the parties. He is, by the way, meeting with each of the parties in their respective areas. So, I believe the intention today is, again, to meet both with both the delegation from Riyadh and the delegation from Sana’a.
Question: The bottom line of this issue is that the Government of Sana’a, which… the Government of Yemen is not recognized by the other political parties, and here you are trying to make them look like this rebels versus Government?
Deputy Spokesman: We are not trying to make it look as rebels versus Government. Like I said, I'm calling one of them the delegation from Riyadh and the other one the delegation from Sana’a. We are trying to meet with each of them. We are trying to accord them the same status with the same number of representatives. We are trying as best as we can to make sure that each side feels that they are represented accurately and fairly. And before we go on further, I have the following statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary‑General on the killings in Charleston, South Carolina: The Secretary‑General strongly condemns the apparently racially motivated killing of nine people in a historic African American church in the US city of Charleston on 17 June. He extends his deep condolences to the loved ones of the victims and his solidarity to the survivors. And he hopes the person or persons responsible for this hateful act of violence will be swiftly brought to justice. Yes, Abdel Hamid?
Question: Thank you, Farhan. The Malaysian Foreign Minister spoke eloquently today about atrocities committed against Palestinian children in Gaza and in his remarks he spoke about his regret that there was no accountability. However, the Secretary‑General in his remarks, he also spoke about children in Gaza and their sufferings, but he avoided the word accountability. Taking into account also that he removed Israel from the list of shame, is it enough just to speak about atrocities without talking about accountability? And also, Farhan, he avoided taking questions in the stakeout. He just gave a statement and he refused to take questions. Is he trying to avoid answering the question: Why he did remove Israel from the shame list?
Deputy Spokesman: Regarding Israel and what is the annex of the report on children and armed conflict, or what you so picturesquely describe as the list of shame, the Secretary‑General ultimately makes the call about which parties are listed and which are not. The list is as he wanted it to be and that is his list. The report, as we have said over and over again, describes even a larger set of circumstances and that full report, not merely the annex, is the work of the Secretary‑General and represents his views. And you will see from the full report his views concerning the situation in Gaza. It's not just in that report, mind you, but, as you're aware, there was also a report about a Board of Inquiry on Gaza some months back. So, I think we've done quite a bit to try to press for the cause of accountability in this particular incident. Regarding the Secretary‑General's inability to take questions this time around, as he explained, and we apologize, but what we were trying to do, honestly, is get him to the cameras with as much time as he had in his hands. He had two meetings back to back, one in the Security Council and one concerning the tenth anniversary of the Department of Safety and Security, so he had to go from one to the next, and that is as much time as he did. Yes, Luke?
Question: Thanks. On climate, after the Pope's release today, the [Secretary-General] wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal last year which he said putting a price on carbon was one powerful tool to achieve carbon neutrality. The Pope voiced a very substantially philosophical disagreement with this today, saying that he thought buying and selling carbon was a quick and easy solution under the guise of commitment to the environment and a ploy which permits maintaining excessive consumption. I know the [Secretary-General] has met with the Pope since that op-ed; does he now share the concerns and what are his views now on climate pricing… carbon pricing?
Deputy Spokesman: His views on carbon pricing are as he has expressed them. Regarding the wider points of the Pope's encyclical, of course, we have just been able to see it today when it was issued and we will continue to review the points and arguments made, as we do with all of the various other contributions to the debate. But, we are certainly glad, as the Secretary‑General made clear, that His Holiness Pope Francis has added a moral voice to this effort and has made it clear that this is a moral issue, as well, that we need to consider.
Question: He is not afraid of carbon pricing?
Deputy Spokesman: His opinions on carbon pricing have not changed. No. Yes?
Question: Thank you, Farhan, [inaudible] from Kosovo national television, RTV‑21. As you probably heard, yesterday, while coming back from Germany through airport in Slovenia, former Prime Minister of Kosovo Ramush Haradinaj, who is the opposition leader and leader of the party, and as well, a member of the Parliament, was detained by Slovenian authorities based on an international warrant issued by the State of Serbia and Montenegro dated on October 2004. A State that doesn't exist legally anymore. As we all know, Mr. Haradinaj, due to those accusations from Serbia, went to Hague twice to answer those accusations and both times was released, in 2008 and 2012. Unfortunately, this is not the only incident of this kind. It did happen to Former Prime Minister (Hashim) Thaci and (Albin) Kurti, and opposition leader Fatmir Limaj. And there are voices in Kosovo asking whether it makes any sense to have dialogue with Serbia in Brussels if Serbia continues with the logic of harassing Kosovo leaders with such arrest warrants. And you would agree that this doesn't help the stability of the region and there is a reconciliation of the process. Question: can Secretary‑General or UN do anything in this regard to make INTERPOL [International Criminal Police Organization] update their lists and warrants?
Deputy Spokesman: Well, first of all, regarding your question about Mr. Haradinaj, it's not our role to be able to update INTERPOL lists. That is an issue for INTERPOL, which, as you know, is separate from the United Nations system. You're aware of how the UN bodies dealing with justice in the former Yugoslavia have dealt with Mr. Haradinaj in the case, along with Mr. Thaci in his case. And we have no further comment on that. But, beyond that, of course, we continue to encourage dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina and we hope that the authorities in Belgrade and Pristina will continue to try to work with each other in good faith and continue their dialogue with each other. Yes?
Question: Let me just follow up on this. Since you have a mission in Kosovo, UNMIK [United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo], and representative of the Secretary‑General… can anything be done so Serbia comes to the sense that this doesn't help the dialogue and reconciliation process?
Deputy Spokesman: Ultimately, though, the only way for dialogue to work is for the parties to talk to each other and we in UNMIK, as well as other efforts, have tried to make sure that Belgrade and Pristina continue with their dialogue. And we do try to work with both parties to make sure that they will work with each other in good faith. Yes?
Question: I want to ask about Haiti and also Burundi. On Haiti I think it's, I guess, on Tuesday, I'd asked you about this planned repatriation from the Dominican Republic. And now that a variety of… the Mayor of the City of New York has spoken on it and most poignantly the President of Haiti, Mr. [Michel] Martelly, had said they won’t accept individuals that were not born in Haiti, which would stand to leave a lot of people stateless; meaning, Haitians… “Haitians that were born in Santa Domingo”. And I've also read that UN was attending meetings planning for what was to happen, so what is the UN's position on this?
Deputy Spokesman: What I can say on that is the Dominican Government has given assurances that it will apply due process standards on an individual basis and will protect individuals against unlawful deportation. The United Nations urges respect for international law and humanitarian principles. In the event of an increase in the scale of deportations, the United Nations calls for close coordination between the Haitian and Dominican Governments to ensure an orderly and transparent process open to observation by the UN and the international community. The United Nations remains commits to resolve the problems of the people who are deprived of nationality as a result of the 2013 ruling of the Dominican Constitutional Court.
Question: Thanks. Also on Haiti, I wanted… I meant to ask you this yesterday, but I'll ask today, José Ramos-Horta of the panel in this room on Tuesday, on cholera in Haiti, said that he said he would believe, you know, I'm going to paraphrase here, that the UN should have paid compensation and he brought up as two examples peacekeepers in Timor-Leste, upon knowing that death had been caused inadvertently, they just offered to pay one individual, paid his salary over his remaining deployment there. I wanted to know, given he is a highly respected person to be the head of the panel, you know, not as a “gotcha”, but is there some response to the approach, the way that he laid it out, that making victims whole comes before any kind of legal argumentation?
Deputy Spokesman: Basically, of course, as you're aware well aware, he is essentially expressing his personal opinion on this. His panel's work was not on the question of Haiti. We have heard, as you know, a wide range of opinions over the years and have respected a wide range of views on this. The Secretary‑General has tried as hard as he can to make sure that the situation of cholera in Haiti is resolved. As you have seen from the efforts of Pedro Medrano, what we are trying to do is coordinate efforts with the Government of Haiti and the international community to see what can be done to bring this cholera epidemic to an end. And so, we will continue with those efforts and we respect the views of people around. On the legal question, our position remains as it was. Yes, Majeed?
Question: Thank you, Farhan. I have a question regarding the Syrian refugee crisis in Turkey. The Turkish ambassador sent a letter to the Security Council, basically complained about the lack of UN help to Turkey in managing the crisis with more than 2 million refugees there, and there are now reports that even the Turkish authorities, with the recent flow of Syrian refugees, they can't manage it at the border and manage all these refugees there. Is the United Nations… will the United Nations have any plans to expand its programme in Turkey? And what does the UN do last week for the thousands of new Syrian refugees crossing border to Turkey?
Deputy Spokesman: Yes, we are certainly aware of the new refugee influx in Turkey. I believe I mentioned this a few days ago, the refugees coming, both Iraqis and Syrians, by the way, coming into Turkey and the burden that this has borne. The UN refugee agency has been trying to deal with the matter and earlier today, in fact, the Secretary‑General spoke by phone to the Foreign Minister of Turkey to discuss the refugee situation in Turkey and see what can be done. And so, we are in contact and we are trying to do what we can, both through his efforts, the effort of UNHCR and the humanitarian system as a whole. Yes?
Question: I just wanted to ask on Burundi, today there was a grenade attack in the capital that injured three and also a deadly grenade attack, I believe, yesterday. And I'm wondering it doesn't seem like things are whatever the UNOCA [United Nations Office in Central Africa] individual is doing… calming down. So, I'm just wondering is there any… what is the UN, what is the current status of the UN and other efforts to bridge the gap prior to an election that will have the current president on the ballot?
Deputy Spokesman: We are continuing with our efforts. As you know, our representative from the UN Office from Central Africa, Abdoulaye Bathily, is in touch with the various parties and he is continuing with these efforts. We are concerned about the violence, including the various incidents that you just mentioned, and we are worried about the situation on the ground, which is why we are continuing to work with the parties and see what can be done to make sure that if elections are held that they will be safe, that they will be inclusive, that people can vote without fear and that the elections will be fair.
Question: And on the panel about the allegations in the Central African Republic, I just heard from a Member State that some thought that there might be on the panel current UN individuals. And I said, if it's independent, I just wanted to clarify this or ask you, independent means no current UN person on the panel, correct?
Deputy Spokesman: I believe it's an independent panel and I believe that hopefully before too long we will be able to announce to you who the panel is. It's not ready yet. And now let me get to our guests.