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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING

UN HEADQUARTERS,  NEW YORK

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

[There was no noon briefing today because
the Secretary-General held a press conference with the other participants of
a meeting of the
Middle East Quartet that took place today at UN headquarters.]

Secretary-General Kofi Annan read the
following summary of the Quartet statement:

"The Quartet met today to
discuss the Israeli withdrawal and the prospects for movement towards peace in
the Middle East. The Quartet welcomed the successful conclusion of the
withdrawal, and the opportunity it brings to renew efforts on the Roadmap. The
Quartet paid tribute to the political courage of Prime Minister Sharon, and
expressed its appreciation for the responsible behavior of the Palestinians. The
withdrawal is an important step towards achieving the vision of two democratic
states, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side in peace and security.

The Quartet applauded the
close coordination between the Israeli and Palestinian security services and
their cooperation with the U.S. Security Coordinator, General Ward. While noting
that the Palestinian Authority has condemned violence, the Quartet further urges
it to maintain law and order and dismantle terrorist capabilities and
infrastructure, and reaffirms the continued importance of comprehensive security
sector reform.

The Quartet encouraged the
work of James Wolfensohn, the Quartet Special Envoy for disengagement, to
facilitate discussion between the parties to build on the success so far. The
Quartet will continue to lead international efforts to support the sustainable
growth of the Palestinian economy and to help strengthen the capacity of the
Palestinian Authority to assume its responsibilities through an aggressive
pursuit of state building and democratic reform efforts. The Quartet urges an
easing of the system of movement restrictions that prevent Palestinian economic
recovery, consistent with Israel's security needs.

Beyond disengagement, the
Quartet calls for renewed action in parallel by both parties on their
obligations under the Roadmap. The Quartet urged both sides to return to the
cooperative agenda reached at Sharm el-Sheikh. Contacts between the parties
should be intensified at all levels.

The Quartet discussed armed
groups and the political process. The PA leadership has condemned violence and
has sought to encourage Palestinian groups who have engaged in terrorism to
abandon this course and engage in the democratic process.

Ultimately, those who want
to be part of the political process should not engage in armed group or militia
activities, for there is a fundamental contradiction between such activities and
the building of a democratic state.

The Quartet reaffirms that
any agreement on final status issues must be reached through negotiations and
that a new Palestinian state must be truly viable, with contiguity in the West
Bank and connectivity to Gaza. The
Quartet believes that settlement expansion elsewhere must stop, and Israel must
remove unauthorized outposts. The Quartet continues to note with concern the
route of the barrier, particularly as it results in the confiscation of
Palestinian land, and undermines Palestinians' trust in the Roadmap.

The Quartet reiterates its
commitment to the principles outlined in previous statements, including those of
May 4, 2004, May 9, 2005, and June 23, 2005, and reaffirms its commitment to a
just, comprehensive, and lasting settlement to the Arab-Israeli conflict based
upon resolutions 242 and 338.

We will now take your
questions."

Q: I'd like to thank you all
for this briefing and to welcome you on behalf of the United Nations
Correspondents' Association.

My first question will be in
Russian, because I am asking it as a reporter for the Russian News Agency, TASS.
And I address is to both the United States Secretary of State and the Russian
Foreign Minister.

[Interpretation from
Russian] How do you evaluate the prospects for the proclamation of the Middle
East as a zone free of nuclear weapons, in view of the Egyptian initiative?
Do you not believe that this issue - with regard to various Governments in the
region - is an approach that is based on a dual standard?

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice:
Well, the question of weapons of mass destruction or nuclear weapons in the
Middle East, I think, is a long-standing question. But our perspective is that this
is a region where, as the peace process goes forward and as security is assured
for all of the participants, that there should be a circumstance in which the
security is based on political circumstances in which there are two States
living side by side. And we have generally believed that such a
Middle East should not need, certainly, weapons of mass destruction.

But I think the primary
question here is to deal with getting to a circumstance in which you have a
Middle East in which there is confidence, in which there is security and in
which the parties - all of the parties, not just the Israelis and Palestinians
but the Israelis also with their Arab neighbours - are living in a state of
peace. This is really an issue of politics. And I think the questions of the
actual security arrangements are secondary to that.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov: [Interpretation from Russian] I, for my part, would like add that Russia
supports the proposal to declare the Middle East a nuclear-weapon-free zone, or
free of weapons of mass destruction. That, in fact, is the position of the
Security Council of the United Nations, because that support, in fact, was to be
found in a resolution that took stock of the war in Iraq in 1991, namely,
resolution 667 (1991), which clearly states that it supports the idea of
proclaiming the Middle East a zone that is free of nuclear weapons.

I agree with my American
colleague, the Secretary of State of the United States, that in order to achieve
this initiative, of course, we have to build up trust in the region. And only in
that context will we be able to make progress with regard to the whole series of
issues in the Middle East. And I think that the complexity of the situation in the
Middle East is such that we should not over-dramatize the situation if we are to
consistently make progress in the direction of a settlement. That way we will
achieve our goal.

I would like to emphasize
that a good additional condition for such work is the Arab initiative with
regard to relations between the Arabs and Israel. And, of course, in that
context we could have some practical steps taken in connection with the proposal
to establish the area as one free of weapons of mass destruction.

Q: As you well know, the
economic and social situation in Gaza remains dire, in spite of the recent
Israeli withdrawal. Gaza has no air or sea ports. Its border with Egypt remains
closed. In fact, many would argue that Prime Minister Sharon's withdrawal from
Gaza is tantamount to giving the Palestinian Authority a powder keg.

How concerned are you that,
if the situation is allowed to continue, it could undermine the authority of the
Palestinian Authority and strengthen the hand of Hamas? And what is the United
States doing to ensure that Prime Minister Sharon complies with the recent
Supreme Court ruling in Israel with regard to the Separation Wall, which is
creating facts on the ground and further complicating negotiations?

Ms. Rice: First of all, I
believe that the Quartet's assessment of the Gaza withdrawal is that, in fact,
it has been a successful withdrawal; that it demonstrated that the Israelis and
the Palestinians can work together in the most detailed circumstances and the
most difficult circumstances. I think there has been excellent security
coordination and cooperation that allowed the withdrawal to take place
peacefully and effectively.

Our task now is to build on
the momentum of that withdrawal, to help the Palestinians create in Gaza a model
for a Palestinian Authority that can indeed govern.

The international community
is very actively involved in that. We talked today about security reform and the
Ward mission that has been trying to improve the capabilities of the Palestinian
security forces. We did discuss the need for freedom of movement, not just in
Gaza, where the Israeli forces have gone, but also in the West Bank, and we are working on that issue. We talked also about the plans of
Special Envoy James Wolfensohn for projects that will improve the economic
prospects of the Palestinian people – so-called quick-action projects – to which
all of us have contributed substantial sums of money so that job activity can be
created rather quickly in the Gaza.

As to Rafah and the passage
between Egypt and the Palestinian territories, it's a somewhat more complicated
issue, but Egypt, Israel and the Palestinians have been working towards a
solution for Rafah. I believe there will be a solution for Rafah. It is
extremely important that the Palestinians be able, with the Egyptians, to
control that international border so that movement of people and goods is not a
security risk for anybody in the region. But they are well under way to try to
come to that conclusion.

As to Israeli activities
that might try and prejudge a final status, we have been very clear. President
Bush has been very clear that we do not expect Israel to engage in activities
that will prejudge a final status, because questions about the final border are
indeed final status issues. We have been clear that activity in the settlements
– for instance, at E1 or with the separation barrier – that has an effect on
Palestinian livelihood, that the international community expects Israel to live
up to its road map obligations and to its obligations not to engage in that
activity.

So I think the messages are
clear, but this meeting was very focused on how to move ahead, how to take the
momentum of what has been a successful disengagement from the Gaza to build the
institutions that will form the foundation of a Palestinian State and to make
the lives of the Palestinian people better.

Q: You said this meeting was
very focused on how to move ahead and that there was some specific discussion of
ways to improve the economy in Gaza, but how does that momentum translate beyond
Gaza? Was there specific discussion and what is your current view of how fast
there could be dismantlement or changes in settlements in the West Bank?

SG: We did discuss that, and
obviously we have a series of events on the ground. The Palestinian election is
coming up. There is political development on the Israeli side – we are not sure
whether it leads to elections or not. Obviously, we are monitoring these events
very closely and we would want to see that settled before one takes any other
bold initiatives. But what happens in the West Bank is very much on our mind.

For us, the Quartet, it's
Gaza first, and then the next stage will be West Bank – not Gaza first and Gaza last.
And so, prospectively, we are looking forward. We realize that the Palestinians
have to be given hope and a sense of horizon, and that is very much our
approach, too.

Ms. Rice: If I may just add,
we did also talk about, for instance, the Sharm el-Sheikh understanding, which
could improve substantially movement in the West Bank. That is a programme that was laid out when the Prime Minister met with
President Abbas, and so we would encourage that those understandings be put into
place. But we also talked about the fact that the security situation simply has
to improve, that you cannot have a sense of lawlessness, that the Palestinians
have to do a better job on the security front and in beginning to deal with
terrorism. We talked about that. I believe we think that, between the road map
obligations and the Sharm el-Sheikh understanding, there is plenty to do to
sustain momentum.

Q: First of all, Secretary
Rice, we just got the statement, but basically you said in the statement
something about militias, about militias not being candidates for elections. So
let me put it another way. Prime Minister Sharon said last week that Israel will
not help if Hamas is part of the election. What is your view on that? And also,
for the Europeans, what is there… Maybe Foreign Minister Straw… since the EU
said yesterday that it is about to… I think €250 million was the number to
Gaza… What do we do to assure
that money that goes into the Palestinian territories will not go into failed
projects that might go to waste?

Ms. Rice: Before turning to
my European colleague, let me just say that I think the Secretary-General has
said very well that there is concern that any democratic process must observe
that you cannot have an armed option within the democratic process. But we
understand that the Palestinian political system is in transition, that it is in
transition towards a democratic system, and that that has to be a Palestinian
process. We would hope that the elections can go forward and that everyone will
cooperate to make those elections go forward, because elections are fundamental
to the continued evolution and development of the Palestinian process.

That said, again, we have
noted that, ultimately, it is the case that there is a fundamental contradiction
between armed activities and the political process. Armed activities are outside
the monopoly of the State on violence and the political process. And so that is
a matter of principle, ultimately. We understand that this is a transition, and
I think everybody understands this transitional process. This is going to be a
Palestinian process, and I think we have to give the Palestinians some room for
the evolution of their political process.

U.K. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw
(representing the EU presidency): I am asked whether money put in by the
European Union and other donors might end up as “failed projects which might go
to waste”. I say this: In recent years, not least thanks to the work of Salam
Fayed, the Finance Minister of the Palestinian Authority, there have been higher
and higher levels of accountability for the spending which has been financed by
external donors, including the European Union. For the European Union's part,
there has been intensive scrutiny, too, to ensure that the money is spent for
the purpose intended. We are always alive to complaints that it is not being
spent in the way intended, but Commissioner Patten and Commissioner
Ferrero-Waldner, his successor, are very tough in ensuring that the money that
is allocated is spent properly.

Q: We are talking about
movement towards peace in the Middle East. Yesterday, you met to discuss the
international conference on Lebanon. The main conditions were the issues of
political, economic and institutional reforms, and also the implementation of
resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1595 (2005). Are there hidden requests, such as the
implementation [sic] of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, and also, the
signing of an agreement or a peace treaty between
Israel and Lebanon?

SG: The dismantling of
Palestinian militia in Lebanon does come under resolution 1559 (2004). But this
is something that the Lebanese authorities will have to handle. And of course we
have discussed this issue with them, and they will do it their way, in time, and
organize themselves to do that. The other aspects of resolution 1559 (2004) that
we have implemented we've discussed here in this House and in this room.

As to the signing of a peace
agreement between Lebanon and Israel, that is a
matter that the two countries will have to discuss. I'm not sure that on the
Lebanese side they are ready to do that, as long as they believe that Shaba'a
Farms is still under contention. And I think, in time, that may happen. But I
don't see it in the cards today.

Q: This question is for
Secretary Rice and for Foreign Minister Lavrov.

Just one day after North
Korea, during six-party talks, agreed to suspend, and eventually dismantle, its
nuclear programme, it's coming out and saying that it expects this agreement …
first they expect to get the light-water reactor for a civil nuclear programme.
Does this mean that the deal is sort of null and void as it stands right now? Do
you have to start from scratch?

Ms. Rice: Well, I think
we'll just stick with the text of the Beijing agreement to which the North
Koreans signed on. The text of the agreement says that we'll discuss a
light-water reactor at an appropriate time. There were several statements
afterwards that made clear what that sequence is.

This issue doesn't really
arise, because, let's remember, that North Korea is not a member of the NPT.
North Korea is not in good standing in the NPT. They have not agreed to IAEA
safeguards, and they are running a military programme that is clearly outside of
the international obligations that they undertook when they were a member of the
NPT.

So I think that we will not
get hung up on this statement. We will stick to the text of the Beijing
statement. And I believe that we can make progress if everybody sticks to what
was actually agreed to.

Mr. Lavrov: [Interpretation
from Russian] I also think that we have to be guided by the text of the
agreement. The text was very carefully agreed upon, and it was the subject of
very difficult compromises. But it clearly sets forth the consistency of the
steps that have to be taken so that we might talk about cooperation in the
development of nuclear energy in North Korea.

I think that we shouldn't
rely on oral statements that could in fact be interpreted differently. But we
need the text of the agreement itself. The most important thing now is to see to
it that this agreement is carried out in practice. And this involves a great
deal of work ahead, and we hope that it will begin soon.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS IN THE UN SYSTEM

Security Council
this morning began an open debate on the role of civil society in conflict
prevention and the peaceful settlement of disputes. Delivering a message on
behalf of the Secretary-General, Assistant Secretary-General for Political
Affairs Tuliameni Kalomoh
said that civil society’s role in
conflict prevention needs to be fully recognized. Both the United Nations and
regional organizations have to do more to tap into civil society’s comparative
advantages. He said that civil society is often far out in front in identifying
new threats and concerns, which is one of its most important roles. Before the
open debate began, Council members held consultations to discuss the possibility
of issuing a Presidential Statement at the end of today’s meeting.

AL-QAIDA MONITORING GROUP MAKES RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE SANCTIONS:
The latest report
by the group monitoring sanctions against Al-Qaida and the Taliban and
associated individuals and entities is out as a document today. It says: "Al-Qaida continues to evolve and adapt to the pressures and
opportunities of the world around it, and the threat of a significant attack
remains real in all areas. At the same time, there has been a revival of the
threat from the Taliban." The key elements of the Security Council sanctions —
the Consolidated List, the assets freeze, the arms embargo and the travel ban —
continue to provide the basis for an effective regime, it says, butt there is
scope to improve implementation of the measures and to make them more powerful.
A Security Council committee is considering the recommendations.

U.N. FIGHTS PREEMPTIVE WAR AGAINST MALARIA IN NIGER:
Seeking to avert a second wave of deaths among Niger’s undernourished children,
the World Health Organization (WHO) is

dispatching 100,000 antimalarial treatments to the west African country,
where peak malaria season has begun in the midst of a humanitarian crisis. WHO
will provide artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), the most effective
available treatment for falciparum malaria, the deadliest form of the disease
and the type found in Niger.

INTERNET GOVERNANCE AMONG TOPICS OF GENEVA MEETING:
The final preparatory meeting for the forthcoming Tunis Phase of the World
Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)

opened yesterday morning. The two-week meeting, which is taking place at the
UN Office in Geneva from 19-30 September 2005, represents the last chance for
more than 130 national delegations and over 150 other stakeholders comprising
international organizations, non-governmental organizations and business
entities, to arrive at an accord on key agenda items including Internet
governance ahead of the second phase of WSIS, which begins on November 16.

TRADE LIBERALIZATION COULD
HARM ENVIRONMENT: Environmentally-insensitive trade liberalization can lead
to economically costly soil degradation, water pollution, loss of biodiversity
and destruction of forests, the

UN Environmental Programme (UNEP)

said today. The warning follows the release of six new reports on the
environmental impact of trade liberalization in the rice sector in China,
Colombia, Indonesia, Nigeria, Senegal and Vietnam, and three months before a
critical World Trade Organization meeting in Hong Kong where trade ministers
will push for further liberalization under the round of negotiations agreed to
in Doha, Qatar.

UNESCO RE-APPOINTS DIRECTOR-GENERAL MATSUURA OF
JAPAN: The Executive Board of the

UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, (UNESCO) today

announced that it had reappointed
Director-General, Koïchiro Matsuura, for a four year term. The appointment is
expected to be confirmed during next month’s annual UNESCO general conference.

MILLIONS AT RISK IN MALAWI:
The

UN Children’s Fund, (UNICEF), reports today that due to inadequate rainfall
and a poor harvest, about a third of the population of Malawi will not be able
to meet minimum food needs before the next harvest, which is six months away.
The agency said that the hunger problem will affect 4.2 million people, of which
some one million are children or pregnant women.

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE TO BE MARKED ON WEDNESDAY: The
International Day of Peace
will be observed at UN Headquarters and around the world on Wednesday, 21
September.  The
Secretary-General, who will ring the peace bell at UN Headquarters at
9:30 a.m. Wednesday, has called in a statement for a global ceasefire on
Wednesday, and for a minute of silence at noon on the same day.

ANNAN RECALLS IMPORTANT WORK OF SIMON WIESENTHAL: The
Secretary-General was saddened to learn of the death of Simon Wiesenthal. Mr.
Wiesenthal’s efforts to pursue justice for the victims of the Holocaust sent an
important message to the world that there should be no impunity for genocide and
crimes against humanity. His work through the Wiesenthal Center – an NGO
accredited to both the United Nations and UNESCO – to promote tolerance and
fight anti-Semitism made significant contributions to the United Nations’ own
efforts in this area. The Secretary-General sends his condolences to Mr.
Wiesenthal’s daughter and to all others who have been touched by this loss.

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