Secretary-General's press encounter following Liberia Reconstruction Conference
Press events | Kofi Annan, Former Secretary-General
We are determined to do whatever we can to help the Liberian people pick up the pieces and build a peaceful future, and we would like to see a Liberia that is at peace with itself and with its neighbours.
I also had the chance this morning to talk to the French Foreign Minister [Dominique de Villepin] who is attending this meeting. We reviewed the situation in Iraq, Afghanistan and several of the African conflicts. I am also happy that he is able to attend this meeting with the other West African ministers who are here with Liberian Chairman Bryant. I think this gives us an opportunity to support a country that is trying to pick itself up and we don't want another failed state in that region. We know the risks we run if we allow failed states to fester.
I will take your questions. Yes, Andrea.
Q: Mr. Secretary-General, on the subject of proliferation, if I may. Mr. [Mohamed] El Baradei has expressed concern, as have you, over the years with what has happened. Now with this confession by Mr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, are you concerned about the pardon and the signal it sends to other proliferators, given the record that has now been admitted to of the Pakistani involvement in proliferation to other countries?
SG: I think it indicates that proliferation is alive and that there has been quite a lot of black market activities that we have not been aware of, or have not been able to contain. El Baradei indicates that what we have seen in Pakistan is the tip of the iceberg. So his agency is going to do as much as possible to discover what other loopholes exist. But of course, he cannot do it alone. He needs support, and exchange of information from governments who have them, for all of us to try and take steps to ensure that we contain the problem or nip it before it spreads.
Q: Given what has happened with this pardon, do you have any belief that the government of Pakistan is really committed to cracking down on this kind of rogue operation?
SG: That is what President Musharraf has said. Obviously it is a very difficult situation that he has to deal with. He is dealing with a national hero, who has found himself in this situation. He has given the assurances, and I saw him last month in Davos, where he assured me that they are going to take every measure to ensure that this sort of trafficking does not take place, and [that he] will deal very firmly with those involved. The current situation, I know it sounds rather odd, if you are going to deal firmly with that issue, but obviously the President of the country has to manage his own national situation, but what is important is the commitment that they are going to plug the loopholes and deal with everyone involved severely - that it's respected.
Q: Mr. Secretary-General, yesterday there was an assassination attempt against Ayatollah Sistani. Your team is arriving in Baghdad, has arrived maybe - is this going to impact negatively on the mission that you have embarked on, and do you think the presence of Mr. de Villepin and Mr. Powell together here at the UN is about damage control of the relationships, bilateral and with the UN?
SG: Let me say that I have heard the rumours about the attack on Ayatollah Sistani. The information is a bit confusing. I don't have all the details. We have heard statements that he had been attacked. We have heard denials. I need to get a bit more information on that. Obviously my team is going into a very difficult situation and those kinds of rumours, whether they are factual or not, do not help matters. But I hope they will be able to get their work done, [that] they will be talk to as many Iraqis as possible, and come back with very solid recommendations that will help move us forward as we search for a way to establish a provisional government in Iraq.
I am happy that Minister de Villepin is here. I know that he and Secretary Powell will be meeting each other and having lunch together. I think it's positive. As I have indicated to some of you, governments are putting the divisions over Iraq behind them. Everyone understands that we have many issues to cooperate on besides Iraq. When I was in Washington on Tuesday the President [George W. Bush] and I discussed these issues over a long time, and determined that not only do we have to cooperate on Iraq, but we need to cooperate in other on other conflicts in Africa, on the fight against poverty, HIV/AIDS, and a whole range of issues.
I was in Europe recently and I sensed that European leaders were also ready to put the issue behind them, and I was very encouraged by the discussions I had in Brussels with the European Union commissioners and with other leaders. So, to see Secretary Powell and Minister de Villepin here talking together, having lunch, is not surprising at all –it's an evolution in the right direction, and it's natural in the scheme of things. I think we should all pool our efforts and work together [to] stabilize Iraq and confront our other challenges.
Q: Mr. Secretary-General, you have welcomed the Israeli proposal to dismantle settlements in the Gaza Strip, but now the Israelis are considering relocating some of those people in the West Bank. Is that also a move that you would welcome?
SG: I think we need to get all the details on that. In fact, I have just spoken to Prime Minister [Ariel] Sharon this morning on this issue and on developments in the Middle East. We had a very frank and long conversation and I will await details of how they intend to implement [inaudible]. You know, I have indicated that if the Quartet can help with the implementation we will be happy to do that. He will be coming to the [United] States early next month, and I have suggested to him that it would be good if we met here in New York to continue our discussions.
Q: Do you consider what Israel is doing in Gaza a unilateral effort? The U.S. is pleased with anything along these lines, but of course wants a negotiated settlement. Do you think there is something awry here?
SG: I think the issue really is land for peace and eventually Israel will have to give up land to make that peace possible. We need to ensure that there is no terrorism or violence. We need to ensure the parties honour their commitments under the Roadmap which they have both embraced. And if Israel were to decide to withdraw from Gaza, as a necessary first step, as I indicated in my earlier statement, one will also have to consider when the next steps on the West Bank are going to be taken, because the land for peace is not just Gaza, it also embraces the West Bank. We need to get more details from the Israelis as to how they are going to proceed. I have indicated that we will be prepared to have, but that does not exclude negotiations because the parties have to sit and negotiate and come to an agreed settlement, and this is why the Quartet has put forward a Roadmap. And we are prepared to support their effort.
Q: Did you seek or get, please, assurances from the Prime Minister that this is not unilateralism, that he still has the Roadmap in mind, that he still has negotiations in mind?
SG: He did tell me that he fully respects the Roadmap, and that they expect the Quartet members also to play their role in working with the parties and in taking steps to ensure that there is an end to terror. But he assured me that he stood by the Roadmap. And let's also be clear here, the question of the withdrawal is under discussions and it has not been approved by the Knesset. There is even talk of a referendum. So let's see how it evolves. But I think we should take it seriously. As someone who worked with the Israeli government and with the Lebanese government on the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Lebanese border - people did not believe it at the time –but it happened. We have to have positive expectations and work with them and refine these things as we go forward. So I am encouraged.
Q: It's a year ago yesterday that Secretary Powell made his presentation here before the UN on Iraq. How have those divisions on the war and the aftermath hurt America diplomatically in relations with the international community and what needs to be done to repair that damage?
And if I can also ask you, in terms of your team that is going to Iraq, are you open to seeing that date, or make that June 30th transition date have to be pushed back?
SG: I had hoped nobody would bring that question back. It is ironic that Secretary of State Powell is in the building. Let me say that we went through lots of divisions, and I think in my first answer I have given you an indication that the international community is coming back. Of course, there has been some damage. Damage that will probably take some time to heal. People are going to be very suspicious when one talks to them about intelligence. And they are going to be very suspicious when we try to use intelligence to justify certain actions. But we need to be careful not to throw everything out of the window. Because intelligence is going to be necessary for governmental work. But one has to be very, very careful as to the quality of the intelligence and perhaps be extra careful to check with other sources to make sure that it is solid. So the damage in that sense is that people would need to be really convinced that the information is solid, that there is a real threat, so the bar has been raised as to how to you convince people, whether your own nationals or the international community. But the kind of committees that both Washington and London intend to set up, I think is a step in the right direction.
On your second question as to my team in Baghdad, I think you wondered if they would be able to...
Q: Would you be open to pushing back the date?
SG: I have indicated that we are going with an open mind. My team is going to Iraq with an open mind. They are supposed to look at the options on the table –election or caucuses - if they are viable. If they are not, they are to propose other options. And I will be able to answer your question once they have done that work. And since they are going to be consulting quite a lot of people, if they were to come to the conclusion, then everybody concerned accepted there should be some shift in the dates, I don't think we would be able to resist that.
Q: Mr. Secretary-General, are you confident that noone connected with the Oil-for-Food programme was receiving any oil from the Saddam Hussein government, as alleged in these documents? Benon Sevan said that he and everyone knew about it. Did you know about it?
SG: I have no evidence that anyone on our staff has taken any money or any advantage of the oil-for-food [programme]. The [Security] Council, the Iraq Sanctions Committee, the 661 Committee which was overseeing the programme, had all the available information, in fact they were concerned that prices may be manipulated and you will recall at one stage they even changed the mechanism. For commercial purposes it was even rather awkward, but they did it to try and deal with this problem of so-called additional percentages being put on. And it turned out that people who bought oil in Iraq were not even going to know the price until they had bought it. So the Council itself tried to deal with it. As far as I know, nobody in the Secretariat has committed any wrongdoing. If there is evidence, we would investigate it very seriously, and I want those who are making the charges to give the material they have to me so that we can follow up to determine if there has been any wrongdoing and I would take necessary action. So far statements are being made but we need to get facts.
Q: Back to the conference on Liberia, Sir. The conference seems to have obviously focused on Liberia. Why not focus on the whole region of West Africa?
SG: I think obviously we did refer to the regional dimension. But the needs assessment which was done was specifically for Liberia –it was Liberia-specific. And today we are focusing on Liberia, trying to raise about five hundred million dollars to assist them. But we are not ignoring the other regions. We have our operations in Sierra Leone moving ahead fairly smoothly and we are looking at possible deployment of UN peacekeeping forces - 6,000 of them - to Cote d'Ivoire to assist in pacifying that country. But we will coordinate our efforts on a sub-regional basis, but for the specific event of this morning, it is focused on Liberia because there is a desperate need and the needs assessment was also country-specific.
Q: Are you worried that the US will be the ones blocking, at this point, the Ivory Coast peacekeeping force at a critical juncture?
SG: I hope the U.S. will not block it. There has been a delay, and they have some problems on their side –I think mainly budgetary –to sort out. But I don't think they are against the deployment of forces to Cote d'Ivoire as such. So I would expect them to come on board fairly shortly, and I hope once the mandate comes up for renewal on 27 [February] everyone will be ready to approve the Cote d'Ivoire mission.
Q: Staying with Liberia for just a moment, in September the UN promised that 15,000 peacekeeping troops were going to be deployed there. You just said that 10,000 are there right now. Can you just elaborate on that a little bit, with regard to how meaningful disarmament can take place there and the troops have been a little slower than promised.
SG: First of all, you have to understand that the UN has no troops. We borrow troops from governments and we can move as fast as governments want to move. We are taking disarmament very seriously and we did start disarmament before troops came and they got a bit overwhelmed so we have slowed it down and we are deploying throughout the country and we expect to be fully deployed by the end of the month. I don't think it is too bad given the pace of usual deployment. To deploy 15,000 troops in about four months is pretty good for UN peacekeeping operations. We will pursue disarmament, not just for Liberia. Because if we do not disarm, these weapons can get into neighbouring countries as well and continue destabilization of the sub-region. So disarmament will resume fairly soon, when our troops are arriving. In fact Jacques Klein and General [Daniel] Opande have all the plans ready to go. Thank you very much.