Secretary-General's Press Encounter at the Security Council stakeout following his address to the General Assembly debate on development

SG: We are being vigilant and working with the Government and the national troops, to maintain law and order. My Special Representative is in constant touch with both leaders and the inauguration of the new President will take place early next month. And I have had the opportunity of speaking to both the President and the opposition leader,

Mr. [Jean Pierre] Bemba, urging them to play by the rules, accept the results of the elections and work together for national unity and for the sake of the people.

Q: Did you get the letter back from the President of Sudan and what is going on with letting UN peacekeepers come in, with that agreement?

SG: I haven't received the letter yet, but I expect it either today or tomorrow. The letter has to be available before the African Union Summit, which is taking place in Abuja on 29 November, where the leaders will be discussing the situation in Darfur, the deployment of troops, and hopefully endorse the agreement that we reached in Addis Ababa. And so the Government's response is urgent.

Q: Syria objects to the international court for Hariri. What's your reaction to that and the movement over the weekend on it in Lebanon?

SG: We are proceeding with our plans. We've had the response of the Lebanese Government and we are moving ahead with our plans. Obviously, there can be no trials until the investigations are concluded, and then they will be put before the trials, and if you look at the document that we put before the Security Council, there are various steps one has to go through. This is an important stage and we will press ahead with the others.

Q: [There has been opposition in Lebanon] including the President and the Speaker of the Parliament.

SG: I accept that there are internal issues that the Prime Minister will have to work out with the political forces in Lebanon. But that is the responsibility of the Lebanese, not that of the UN.

Q: It is not constitutional in Lebanon, as you will know, probably. This Government does not represent the people of Lebanon anymore and we have seen that in the vast demonstrations where they could not raise more than 35,000 people, and they claim to be the majority, when they are not even minority.

SG: I think that is debate you should take up in Lebanon, not with me.

Q: On Somalia. The monitoring group's report about ten countries violating the arms embargo –what do you think the UN can or should do to try to hold off a war that seems to be brewing between the Islamic Courts and the Ethiopians and others?

SG: I think we have encouraged both parties to resume their talks in Khartoum. They've made various attempts to talk together and find a way of working together. It is important that they do find a way of coming together, not escalate the situation, which may draw neighbouring countries into the conflict in Somalia, and make matters much worse. So we will continue our efforts. My own Special Representative on the ground is working quite actively with both parties. It is not any easy situation, but we should not abandon the people of Somalia.

Q: Is Iraq in a civil war right now?

SG: Well, I think, given the developments on the ground, unless something is done drastically and urgently to arrest the deteriorating situation, we could be there. In fact, we are almost there.