Secretary-General's press encounter with Foreign Minister Surakiat Sathirathai

We discussed UN-ASEAN relationship, the wonderful support we do get from Thailand and the role it plays in the United Nations.

I was able to thank the Minister for the wonderful contributions Thailand made to East-Timor and its participation in the peacekeeping operations there.

We discussed Iraq, the current situation and the way ahead, and the need for the whole international community to come together to stabilize the situation in Iraq, because of the role the United Nations is going to play in it.

There were other problems in this region that I sought the Minister's help and support on, and we both agreed that the work of the Eminent Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, which could lead to the reform of the United Nations, is extremely important.

And, I'm grateful to the Government for the support that they have granted to that effort. And as you may know, the Chairman of that Panel is a former Prime Minister of Thailand.

Mr. Minister.

FM: Thank you. I would just like to add a few words to what the Secretary-General has said.

We admire the role of the Secretary-General in promoting the fight against HIV/AIDS. Thailand is very happy to be working closely with the United Nations, with UNAIDS in this matter.

I also informed the Secretary-General that as the incoming Chair of the Human Security Network, we also issued a joint statement and submitted it to the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Meeting.

We discussed Iraq, because we have our people there on a humanitarian basis. And we would be working closely with the United Nations on the next stage as how we can help the Iraqi people, especially technical training or in other aspects.

We discussed East-Timor and I already mentioned to the Secretary-General that the Thai Government has already adopted three-year technical assistance plans for East-Timor and we will encourage the enterprises in Thailand to pay more attention to East-Timor because we want to help East-Timor or Timor-Leste as a country in our region to have very progressive economic and social development.

Thailand supports the Eminent Panel set up by the Secretary-General. We support the Chair and also support the work. And if there is anything else that we can do to support the work, especially the result of the work of the Eminent Panel, Thailand is ready to do so.

Q: Did you discuss the World Court ruling on the Palestinian barrier?

SG: We didn't, but of course the report has been received and I'll pass it on the General Assembly which asked for the report.

I think the decision of the Court is clear. Whilst we all accept that the Government of Israel has a responsibility, indeed a duty, to protect its citizens, any action it takes has to be in conformity with international law and has to respect the interest of the Palestinians. And Israel as an occupying power is responsible for the welfare of the Palestinian people.

The report has been given to the General Assembly and we'll see where they go from there. I don't want to prejudge what they may decide. So we'll leave it to the General Assembly.

Thank you very much.