Secretary-General's press encounter with President of Kazakhstan -partial (unofficial transcript)

Q (Kazakh National Television - NTK, Mukhtar Zhamaikhanov): Mr. Secretary General, the question is, what is your attitude, what do you think about the resolution adopted by the US Congress that the United States can take military action against Iraq without waiting for any decision made by the Security Council of the United Nations or any results of the United Nations inspectors' trip to Iraq?

SG: I think the UN Security Council is discussing this very issue and the United States is very much part of the discussion. And the discussion in New York is to send the inspectors back, possibly with a strengthened resolution that will strengthen the hands of the inspectors and the disarmament effort. And my sense is that that resolution will be adopted by the member states. I think it is important that Iraq complies with the Security Council resolutions, which has come under tremendous pressure almost from countries all over the world asking it to comply, and I hope when the inspectors go there, they will get unfettered access and Iraq will perform. These discussions I referred to in the Security Council are taking place after the US Congress has taken its decision, which would lead me to believe that the US would prefer to work with the Council and with the international community.

[A reporter then asked a question of the President, which he answered in Kazakh.]

Q (Channel 31, Dana Rysmukhamedova): This summer in Almaty, we held a conference on interaction and confidence-building measures for the region, and my question is how the United Nations view Kazakhstan's role in providing security and stability for this part of the world?

SG: Your country plays a very important role in conflict resolution in the region. I've already had the chance to applaud the President for his role, not only on the issue of conflict prevention, but also on the whole question of disarmament and the nuclear-free zone. And I think what Kazakhstan is doing, and the President's leadership, is absolutely essential for this region. We would want to tell you how happy we were with the CICA [Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building Measures in Asia] conference in Almaty, which brought leaders from Asia and the region to that capital, and at a critical time when they also were able to help India and Pakistan discuss their problems. I think the role the President is playing, the role your country is playing in the region, is essential and something that the UN will support and continue to support, and I hope we can work closer on some of these issues. And we have already discussed ways and means of us cooperating on some of these conflict resolution initiatives.