Secretary-General upon arrival at UNHQ (unofficial transcript)

SG: I think it was a very good session. You shouldn't forget that this was the first time since the war that the permanent five have sat in one room to discuss this crucial issue of Iraq. And right from the beginning we had issued a statement that we had not gone to Geneva to settle the resolution; besides, it will require the entire Council to settle that resolution.

But it was a very constructive and frank discussion, where the members had the chance to put their views forward. There were areas of convergence and there are areas where additional work has to be done. As you know, most of them will be here towards the end of this week and I will have my usual annual lunch with the Foreign Ministers again and we will have the chance to continue the discussion. This morning I am meeting the elected members, the ten elected members, to pursue our discussions on Iraq.

Q: Does the UN want to take over as much and as quickly as France wants it to?

SG: I don't think it is a question of the UN taking over. As I have indicated, we believe that we can assist the Iraqis in administering their own territory. It is not a question of the UN running Iraq. Obviously, the UN can play a role, but as I have indicated that role has to be clearly defined by the [Security] Council. It has to be achievable and of course the security environment should also permit us to play our role.

Q: Mr. Secretary-General, there has been some talk from Washington that perhaps the UN doesn't have the boots on the ground right now, might not be capable of playing the kind of role you are talking about. What would you say to people who say that?

SG: I think it depends on the role. Some people, when they talk about UN role, seem to think the UN is going to take over the country and run it. That has never been the issue. Nor is the UN interested in taking over the security aspects and putting UN blue helmets on the ground. So we have to be very clear what it is that the UN is being asked to do. We have had very good experience in facilitating political processes, helping countries that have been in difficulties to re-establish democratically elected governments, helping them draft a constitution and a whole range of activities that we have had experience doing and would be able to do. But we are not going to go in and run Iraq.

Q: Mr. Secretary-General. Just following up, a quick question on Iraq. One of the big issues was the issue of a timetable –should there be some kind of a timetable. Could you give us some sense of how you come out of these talks, seeing that, and also we all know that you staked a tremendous amount on the World Trade Organization's meeting in Cancun. I assume that you yourself must be terribly disappointed at the outcome. What do you see as the possibilities for next steps?

SG: I think the question of timetable has always been on the table, and even the Council in its own discussions and resolutions did refer to a timetable. The debate or the question now is what kind of a timetable. There are those who believe that perhaps one should establish an interim Iraqi government in the medium term, or shorter to the medium term, to whom governmental power can be entrusted and in whom sovereignty can be vested, and then eventually move on to the longer term government where you have elections and then you have a democratically elected government which is going to take a much longer time. So are you talking one timetable, two timetables, one for the medium term, and one for the longer term? Everybody agrees that we should try and hand over power to the Iraqis as soon as possible. All five in Geneva agree. I think that disagreements have been overplayed in the press, quite frankly. I think there are objectives which are shared. The question is, how do you get there, and how best do we organize ourselves to get it done.

On Cancun, I must admit, I knew it was going to be a difficult session. I had expected it to achieve much more than they achieved. I had hoped all along that we would try to retain some of the spirit of Doha and really try and come up with an agreement that would be beneficial to developing countries as they try to improve their own situation. Well, the talks have ended. Not much was achieved, but I hope that is not the end of the road and that the parties will go back and reflect and then come back in a determined fashion to try and fashion an agreement within the next year or so.