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.

The Deputy Secretary-General, Louise Fréchette, will join us today at about 12:30 p.m. to give you a briefing on the Secretary-General's recent discussions with regional groups on UN reform in his second term. In fact, the last of those briefings isn't happening until this afternoon at 3 o'clock. And so we'll have to embargo this briefing until 4 p.m. this afternoon. And at that time, we'll also give you the text of the Secretary-General's opening statement. The same statement was given to each of the five regional groups, and I think you'll find it interesting.

** Middle East

We have the following statement on the Middle East, attributable to the Spokesman, and we'll have copies in French and Arabic as well, shortly:

“The Secretary-General is appalled by the rising toll of carnage between Israelis and Palestinians and by the increasingly aggressive rhetoric. The situation has clearly got completely out of hand, and the risks are great. The Secretary-General's heart goes out to all those who are suffering, especially the families of the innocent civilians who have been killed or injured.

“The Secretary-General believes that at this critical juncture, the leaders of the two sides must ask themselves where the current escalating cycle of violence, reprisal and revenge is leading. In his view, the Israeli and Palestinian peoples will only lose if the present drift towards disaster is allowed to continue. The Secretary-General remains convinced that there can be no military solution.

“The Secretary-General wishes to remind Israeli and Palestinian leaders that they have a special and urgent responsibility to chart a path back to negotiations leading to a peaceful settlement of the conflict, without which there will be no security for either people. Third parties stand ready to help in any way they can. But the inspiration for peace and a settlement must come from the leaders. They have a responsibility to lead. History will judge them harshly, and their people will not absolve them, if they fail to do so.”

** UNRWA

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East -- UNRWA -- has protested in the strongest possible terms to the Israeli Government at the damage done last night to one of its schools for the blind in Gaza City.

The Al-Nour Rehabilitation Centre for the Visually Impaired was extensively damaged by flying debris and the explosive force of the air raid. The intended target was an empty Palestinian Authority police station which is adjacent to the school. 

At least 15 classrooms have been put out of action and what was a playground and garden are now twisted metal and rubble.

The school was not in session at the time of the raid.

Peter Hansen, UNRWA’s Commissioner-General, said: “Under the terms of international conventions Israel has a duty to safeguard UN installations and personnel. Such bombing raids in heavily populated civilian areas, next to a school flying a UN flag that is brightly lit at night, are totally unacceptable.”

Hansen said he would ask Israel for financial compensation for the damages.

For more information, pick up a press release upstairs.

** Afghanistan

The Secretary-General today appointed Jean Arnault as his Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan. Mr. Arnault, whose appointment at the level of Assistant Secretary-General comes into effect immediately, succeeds Francesc Vendrell who retired from the United Nations at the end of January.

Mr. Arnault, a national of France, will be based in Kabul and will act as Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi's deputy responsible for political matters. He will be the head of the political pillar of the United Nations mission in Afghanistan, as Mr. Nigel Fisher is the head of the humanitarian and developmental pillar.

Mr. Arnault was the Representative of the Secretary-General for Burundi from June 2000 to August 2001, and before that, he served since 1997 as Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of mission in Guatemala.

We have copies of his bio upstairs in my office.

Also on Afghanistan, Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi accompanied Interim Administration Chairman Hamid Karzai on a visit to the earthquake-affected area in the north, travelling to Sur Kundar in the province of Samangan. Accompanying them there were the Minister of Interior, Yunus Qanooni; the Minister of Public Health, Sohaila Siddiq; and the Governors of Samangan and Balkh. 

They flew over the affected area and spent about an hour on the ground.

Upon their return, Karzai and Brahimi held a press conference at the palace. Brahimi told the press, “We have seen people who are extremely dignified, extremely poor, affected but standing up and looking to the future. They need a lot of help.”

** Security Council

The Security Council this morning began a public meeting, chaired by Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Petersen, to consider the report of the Security Council mission that recently visited both Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Norwegian Ambassador Ole Peter Kolby, who led the mission to both countries, said the Council mission revealed that the two countries remain committed to the implementation of the Algiers Agreement, and added that the Council delegation strongly commended the work done to date by the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE). The meetings in Addis Ababa and Asmara, he said, were all held in a constructive spirit.

Kolby said the implementation of the upcoming decision by the Boundary Commission should be immediate, and he reiterated the Council mission’s message to both parties to avoid any unilateral actions.

The open debate is continuing now.

At 3:30 this afternoon in Conference Room 7, the 661 Sanctions Committee on Iraq will hold a closed meeting, which will be chaired by Ambassador Jagdish Koonjul of Mauritius.

Yesterday afternoon, the members of the Council were invited by Singapore, under the “Arria formula,” to discuss the humanitarian situation in Angola with four non-governmental organizations. Council members heard from representatives of Human Rights Watch, Médecins Sans Frontières, Oxfam and Save the Children UK about the situation in Angola.

** Council on Foreign Relations

This evening about 6:15, the Secretary-General will address the Council on Foreign Relations’ Center for Preventive Action, to discuss the United Nations determination to focus more on preventive action. The speech had originally been scheduled to take place last 11 September, a date which, the Secretary-General is to say, in a very real and indirect way, marked a failure of prevention.

In his speech, embargoed copies of which are upstairs, the Secretary-General is to highlight the steps the United Nations is taking to emphasize preventive action, from Security Council visits to areas of potential armed conflict and the increased use of UN confidence-building missions, to the development of UN regional prevention strategies that deal with the root causes of conflicts.

He is also to discuss the question of how to “drain the swamp” of terrorism by addressing those grievances which terrorists find useful to exploit for their own ends.

In addition to the text of his comments, you will also find at the Documents Counter copies of the Secretary-General’s recent report on conflict prevention, which is now available in book form.

** ICTY

Today in The Hague, the President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Judge Claude Jorda, met with United States Ambassador-at-large for War Crimes, Pierre-Richard Prosper, and with the United States ambassadors serving in The Hague, Belgrade, Sarajevo and Zagreb. Judge Jorda explained to them the Tribunal’s plans to wind down its work in a coordinated fashion.

Judge Jorda recalled that he had fixed a deadline of 2007-2008 for the completion of the Tribunal’s work, and he underlined the prerequisites for completing the Tribunal’s mandate. He especially noted the need for unwavering international cooperation in arresting the accused and turning over evidence, the implementation of reforms to expedite the Tribunal’s work and the reorientation of its mandate towards trying the high-ranking political and military leaders.

He was pleased by United States support for the Tribunal’s reforms and expressed his firm belief that its support would be demonstrated once more this week as the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly votes on its budget.  The Committee’s proceedings began today, and the registrars of the two tribunals -- Hans Holthuis for the former Yugoslavia and Adama Dieng for Rwanda -- are participating in those discussions.

** Press Releases

One press release we like to flag for you -- the United Nations Environment Programme announced today that five Caspian Sea States have launched a programme for surveying and managing sturgeon stocks.  This is for the lovers of caviar, now, so listen up.  In June of last year, the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) halted trade in caviar by Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and the Russian Federation, and gave them until the end of 2001 to conduct a survey and formulate a common management plan.  The four States, joined by Iran, which is not subject to the ban, now have until June to establish the management plan.

More details in a press release.

** Budget

And finally, payment today came from Cape Verde with just over $11,000, becoming the 53rd Member State paid in full for their regular budget dues for this year.

That's all I have.

Questions and Answers

Question: On Iraq, both the British and the Americans have seen the Secretary-General in the last couple of days and have been saying that he has very little negotiating manoeuvre; they expect him to just tell the Iraqis in the meeting tomorrow to comply with the Security Council resolutions. Is it your understanding that the Secretary-General has any freedom to manoeuvre in terms of negotiating on how to get the inspectors back into the country, or is it really just a question at this time of telling them that what they need to do is to comply with the resolutions?

Spokesman: It's very hard to predict how this meeting is going to go tomorrow. I indicated to you quite clearly that the Secretary-General hopes the discussions will be quite focused. The broad subject is implementation of resolutions. The precise subject on everyone's mind is the return of the weapons inspectors. He will do his part and then await their reaction. So I don't want to try to prejudge how the meeting is going to go. But his focus, as I said yesterday, will be the implementation of the resolutions.

Question: Any reaction from the Israeli Government about the United Nations protest about the attack on the school?

Spokesman: Not to my knowledge. Not yet.

Question: Would you say that the Secretary-General's sharpest criticisms today mean that he is probably exasperated and that there is nothing left for him to do diplomatically and that it was all up to Sharon and Arafat? Is he at the boiling point? Why this statement?

Spokesman: The shift in emphasis in today's statement is to the leaders. So he is explicitly appealing to the leaders to accept their responsibilities to do what is necessary to curtail the violence and to get back to the negotiating table.

Question: Would you comment on a story about an Austrian policeman who escaped from United Nations custody?

Spokesman: There's a limit to what I can say, but we are distressed that someone wanted for questioning by the judicial authorities in Kosovo has left the area without the permission or knowledge of the United Nations Mission there. The investigative judge and the prosecutor in Kosovo are in Prizren today interviewing witnesses to this incident. No charges have been filed yet. The case is before the court and the law must take its course. The United Nations is the government in Kosovo and we have set up an independent judiciary in the territory. We now have nothing more to say until the investigation goes forward.

Question: What court in Kosovo?

Spokesman: An international court created by the United Nations in Kosovo.

Question: (inaudible)

Spokesman: I can't comment further, beyond what I have already said.

Question: Regarding the inter-Congolese dialogue, what can the United Nations do?

Spokesman: We are pleased that at last they seem to have resolved their differences. They all sat down together today, including the rebel leader Mr. Bemba, who had been hovering on the fringes of the meeting. So, I believe everyone is now sitting together today. That is a good development. Now they have to agree to the substance of what they are debating, but it was a step forward that these talks finally got under way with full participation.

Question: Was there a formal request that women in the Congo should be participants, and it seems there are no women?

Spokesman: I think I said something on that yesterday, or the day before. Yes, we have done everything we can to urge women's participation in the dialogue. But it is not fair to say there are no women. I think there probably are not enough women. But our position on that has been clear from the beginning.

Question: There was supposed to be a discussion on both sides tomorrow. What happens, do they just go in, shake hands and start talking? 

Spokesman: My understanding is that they have sat down today in Sun City and the talking has begun.

Question: No, I mean the Iraq talks.

Spokesman: You have to be more precise in defining “they”. The plan, as I understand it now, is slightly different from the last thing I said to you. However, the starting time is still 10 a.m. I indicated that they would continue for three or three-and-a-half hours. It now looks like they would go for less than that, perhaps two-and-a-half hours. Then there would be a break and there would be a second session. The Foreign Minister of Iraq, I understand, has to catch a flight out of New York to begin a series of visits in preparation for the Arab summit. So there is a limit to the amount of time that can be spent in the afternoon. So I expect there will be a morning meeting for a couple of hours, followed by an afternoon meeting of, perhaps, an hour. So those are the broad parameters as I understand it.

Question: (inaudible).

Spokesman: There isn't a precise time. So they are going to sit down in the morning at 10 o'clock. The Secretary-General will lay out his position. The Iraqis will lay out theirs. There will be discussions; there will be a break for reflection, possibly, for consultations with Baghdad and then back for a second session.

Question: Is it [the meeting] starting at 10 o'clock, or?

Spokesman: I believe it will start at 10 o'clock. I'll double check that for you afterwards, but that's my understanding.

Question: About the Middle East statement. Has the Secretary-General consulted the leaders he is addressing? Does he expect to hear back from them about this?

Spokesman: He has put the flag down. I think he has said what he feels needs to be said, and he now leaves it to them to take action.

Question: But in the past he had issued statements on the Middle East. Has he held back on peaceful missions?

Spokesman: He has been involved in dialogue among the other three international actors -- the United States, the European Union, the Russian Federation -- and he has periodically spoken to the principals, either Prime Minister Sharon or Yassir Arafat, and on occasions, Foreign Minister Shimon Perez. He has been quite active in talking to the principals, but occasionally he sits up and he says something, using his moral authority as he has done today.

Spokesman: Do you have any information on Vietnamese fleeing to Cambodia, some of whom are reported to be missing?

Spokesman: I don't know. You have to ask the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, or we can ask for you, if you can check in my office after the briefing.

Question: Is now the time that he [Secretary-General] uses his moral authority to have a session with the two leaders face-to-face where he is the third party, neutral party?

Spokesman:  That's not his approach. His approach is to try to organize the Quartet, as he calls the four actors, to get them in a coordinated way to put pressure on the two sides to return to the negotiating table. He is not going to step out in front of those four. He is trying to coordinate them.

Question: Any estimate to the damage done to the school in the Palestinian refugee camp?

Spokesman: You should ask Stéphane what information he got from UNRWA this morning. I don't know if there is an estimate or not. [There are as yet no cost estimates.]

Question: On the question of Angola, any scenario about a post-Savimbi?

Spokesman: We are hoping, although we are not sure, that the death of Savimbi would provide an opening to reconciliation. That very much depends on the succession within UNITA. At the moment, that is a bit unclear. You might have seen a press report yesterday about the death of the initial successor, and then today a counter report about that person, Mr. [Antoio] Dembo giving a radio interview. So, apparently he's alive and well. I think we need to let the dirt settle a bit from the death of Savimbi. But our hope is, it's an opening.

Okay, it's 12:30, the Deputy Secretary-General is here, and we'll get on to the second briefing.

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