Press encounter after meeting with President Thomas Klestil of Austria, (unofficial transcript)

SG: Thank you very much, Mr. President. As you heard from the President, we've had a very good round of discussions. And in Afghanistan, I was encouraged by what I saw. I think we've started well. We have major hurdles ahead of us, not least in the area of trying to strengthen the Interim Administration and help it expand its authority throughout the country and, of course, the question of security, which should also include the development of a national Afghan army and national police.

I was very grateful to have been in Tokyo and to see how generous the international community was in terms of contributions to the Afghan reconstruction. But we need resources quickly to be able to strengthen the new Administration and I hope that would be forthcoming.

We discussed the grave situation in the Middle East and our concern for urgent action to ensure that we can pull the protagonists back from the precipice. Lots of efforts are being made to find a way out and we will continue those efforts.

And I was able to thank the President for the generous hospitality Austria, the Government and the Austrian people, have extended to the UN agencies here in Vienna. And we consider this an important UN headquarters and I make it a point of coming here at least once a year to talk to the Austrian authorities and also visit our own operations here.

So thank you very much.

Q: Mr. Secretary, may I ask you a question about the Middle East? I'm Eugen Freund with Austrian Television. You've just described the situation as very grave. Do you see any way out of this quagmire? And how do you respond to the intent of the United States to sever its relations with the Palestinian Authority?

SG: I hope that will not happen, because we need to engage with both sides and the US, as the country that both parties are looking to for mediation, I hope, would retain its contacts with both parties, because that's the only way the mediator could be most effective.

Thank you. *****