Press encounter after meeting with Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik(unofficial transcript)

SG: Once again, let me say how happy I am to be back in Oslo with my team from the UN and my wife and family.

We have had a very good discussion this morning. I'm grateful, Mr. Prime Minister, for your words of congratulations to me and the UN team. And I would also want to thank you, and through you the Norwegian people, for the strong support you have always given to the UN, to the activities of the Organization, for your leadership role and for the support you have given to me personally.

I think this morning, as the Prime Minister has indicated, we had the opportunity to discuss many important issues. In addition to what the Prime Minister has raised, we did discuss the question of development and the alleviation of poverty. We discussed the issue of the Conference on the Financing for Development, which is an important one coming up in March next year in Monterrey, Mexico. And of course the Sustainable Development Conference in Johannesburg in [September]. These are essential efforts, essential conferences in our attempts to implement the Millennium goals. To do that, we are going to need additional resources. We're going to need very firm cooperation between the developed and the developing world. And I believe that in Monterrey, Mexico, we have an opportunity to lay the basis and foundation for that cooperation and we should be able to discuss issues like increased official development assistance, more effective debt relief as well as the management of the global economy and the role of the developing world in the decisions affecting the global economy.

Thank you very much. We will take your questions.

Q: Yesterday, the Northern Alliance said they would not withdraw all their soldiers from Kabul and they would not allow the international force to patrol in the streets. Now that the Taliban have been ousted, is there a risk that the Northern Alliance might prove to be a bit difficult?

SG: There's always that possibility when you're operating in a country where there's been war for a long time and alliances have been created some of convenience, some genuine. You can have difficulties. The Security Council will be discussing the issue of an international force for Afghanistan, I hope in the course of the week or very shortly. My own Representative, Lakhdar Brahimi, will be going to Kabul, hopefully tomorrow. He will have the opportunity of discussing all these issues with the leaders on the ground and to work with them in preparing for the establishment of the new administration. The target date as of now is the 22nd of December. And I think we will have a better sense of what is going on on the ground after Mr. Brahimi has had his discussions. I am hopeful that the Afghans will cooperate with the international community to help create a secure environment that will allow aid workers to operate, will allow the new administration to establish itself and eventually lead to a stable environment that could lead to elections and the reconstruction phase.

Q: Mr. Secretary-General, it is obvious that Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida network is now quite isolated at this time and may be caught. How should the international community treat them if they are caught and brought to justice? What sort of justice?

SG: I will have to rely on the Security Council Resolution which requires that the perpetrators of the 11 September attack should be brought to justice. The question has been raised as to whether or not a special tribunal will have to be set up for them or they could be tried in a national court. I hesitate to speak in front of the President of the International Court of Justice who's in the room with us this morning and also two members of the Security Council are here with us. But what I would suspect is that so far the Council has set-up two tribunals, one for Yugoslavia and one for Rwanda. And they are thinking of one for Sierra Leone and another one for Cambodia. I'm not sure if we are ready to set up a fifth one for terrorists. My suspicion is that they could end up being tried in a national court too. If we had had an International [Criminal Court], that would have been the logical court. But even there, as the statute stands now, it doesn't actually cover terrorism. I suspect one of the first things that court will do when it is established is to try and extend its remit to cover terrorist activities of this kind. So if one were to catch bin Laden, I cannot give you the precise information as to how he will be treated. One option as I said would be a special court, the other would be by a national tribunal.

Q: When you say national tribunal do you mean a military, a tribunal in the United States?

SG: No I'm not referring to a military tribunal. It could be any criminal court. I was talking in terms of a criminal court. I wasn't thinking of a military tribunal. I'm not an advocate for that.

Q: Mr. General-Secretary, did you discuss with the Prime Minister the possibility of Norwegian participation in the peace force in Afghanistan?

SG: We did discuss the peace force in Afghanistan but we did not discuss specifically Norwegian participation. But Norway has always been a good international citizen and I am sure that it will participate in our activities in Afghanistan in one way or another. But I didn't get into details of that participation.

Q: Mr. Secretary-General, just to follow-up on the question of the justice for bin Laden and other terrorists, the US has clearly proposed plans for a military court. Do you see any problems with that in relation to the status of the international court already under the UN system?

SG: I am not sure. Obviously the US is acting in accordance with its own national legislation and even there, there is a debate regarding the establishment of this military court. The UN has demonstrated through its own actions, in the establishment of various tribunals, and our own emphasis on the rule of law and our human rights conventions. I think we made clear the kind and type of court that we would like to see. I think I have said enough on that.*****