SG: Let me start by thanking Your Royal Highness for your reception and the discussions that we had today since my arrival. I want to thank the King, and you and the people of the Kingdom for your hospitality and I would like to express my deep appreciation both for myself and my team for being here and being able to exchange views on the important developments in the region. We at the United Nations have always greatly appreciated the strong support we have received from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, particularly when it comes to dealing with crises in this region. And I come here at a crucial time of the history of the region. And of course I am here to seek strong support for resolution 1701 and to urge that we all join our efforts in implementing it fully in order to help the government and the people of Lebanon.

My trip has taken me to various locations. It started out in Brussels, then Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Iran, Qatar and now I am here. And I move on tomorrow to Egypt and then Turkey. On the whole, I have been very encouraged by the discussions I have had in the region where I have sensed that the governments realized that this is not only an opportunity to help Lebanon and to stabilize the situation, but to build on it in an attempt to achieve the broader peace that His Royal Highness has referred to. And I think that it is important that the region plays its role. Saudi Arabia is an important power in the region and has a role to play and I have had very good discussions with the King, and they have already been supportive of Lebanon, giving them a strong contribution and support and we look forward to continue this collaboration.

I think what is important is that the cessation of hostilities, which was declared on the 14th of August, has, on the whole, held very well. But it is fragile and we need to move on as rapidly as we can to consolidate it, and this is why we are pressing ahead with the rapid deployment of the international troops to assist the government and the Lebanese army to extend its authority throughout the south. I expect that by mid-September, we'll have about 5,000 international troops on the ground, and they will be deployed to the south with the 16,000 Lebanese troops. And with that credible force on the ground at that time, Israel should be able to withdraw its forces completely.

I share what the Foreign Minister has said to us today, in the fact that the King indicated the key issue and the root cause that we should deal with is Palestine, the lifting of the air, sea, and land blockade, and the issue of the borders of Lebanon and the question of Shabaa Farms. And as you know, I myself have urged consistently that Israel lifts the embargo, and I hope that it will be done sooner rather than later, because it is necessary for a country that is undergoing recovery and reconstruction, there has to be free movement of people and goods for it to be able to handle this urgent task.

Thank you very much.

Q: Your Excellency, as part of your trip you have been to Damascus and Tehran. Did you get anything from Iran out of your talks on the nuclear weapons and also do you expect Syrian cooperation with 1701? And how do you view the unsettling matters in the Middle East?

SG: Yes, I did have discussion in Tehran on the nuclear issue even though that was not the main purpose of my visit. My purpose is more or less, if you wish, a peace mission –really trying to work with the region to attain peace. But let me say on the nuclear issue the Iranian position has not shifted. They are prepared to negotiate. They feel that they have a right to nuclear technology and that they will not suspend before negotiations. But they are prepared to discuss everything at the negotiating table. And they do not want any preconditions. So their position has not shifted. On the question of the seven point agreement, the Syrian authorities have assured me that they support the Lebanese decision and that they will support its implementation and I myself pressed them that it was important that we all work together to implement the resolution fully. And the resolution was cognizant of the Lebanese consensus. So all of us accepted the resolution should support the Lebanese and help them do that.

I think that Saudi Arabia is an important power in this region and has considerable influence in the region and around the world. And when it comes to resolving conflicts, whether it is Lebanon or the Palestinian one, or for that matter Iraq, their views and their weight is important and we need to factor that into whatever scheme we have for resolving it. And as I have said, I have had very fruitful discussions here with the King and with Prince Saud, the Foreign Minister, and we will continue to work closely with Saudi Arabia.

Q: (in Arabic, on the question of the release of the abducted Israeli soldiers).

SG: I wouldn't want to refer to it as an agreement, but I would want to say that both parties have accepted the good offices of the Secretary-General to help resolve this problem. And I will designate someone discretely and quietly to work with them to find a solution. And I won't even tell you the name of the person either today or tomorrow because I want him to be able to work discretely. The only thing that I insisted on was that if I am going to use my good offices then my mediator should be the only mediator. If others get involved he will pull out because you will get wires crossed. It will be very confusing and it will not be effective so there must be one mediator and effective channels of communications with both parties.

Q: Did you get any guarantee that Syria will cooperate with the implementation of 1701?

SG: “Guarantee” is a rather strong word. What I will say is that I did get confirmation that they will cooperate and will support 1701 and they will work with Lebanon and the international community to implement it. And we are going to proceed on that basis.

Q: Mr. Secretary-General, in Tehran you said that the United Nations wants to avoid any confrontation with Iran. And from its side, the United States said Friday that it was consulting with the Arabian Government about possible sanctions against Iran. My question is: does this reflect a sort of disagreement between the United Nations on one hand and the United States and Europe on the other? And are we going to witness another independent decision from the US side?

SG: Obviously, I cannot speak for Washington or the US administration, but let me say on this issue you have the Security Council very much engaged and fully seized. You have the Ƌ plus 1' who have been discussing this issue with Iran. I have urged Iran and the Five plus Six to find a way of getting back to a negotiating table. And I believe the only viable solution is a negotiated one. So when I say that we should find a way to negotiate and find a viable solution rather than going the confrontational route this is what I mean and I believe in that. I don't know what the intention of the US Government is but this is the advice that I offered to both sides and I stand by it.

Q: So there is disagreement?

SG: My position is very clear; I don't speak for Washington.

Q: (In Arabic) Israel always makes excuses not to implement UN resolutions. This time it says there are troop-contributing countries which are not acceptable to it. What is the UN position on this?

SG: As to the first question, let me say that the resolution is quite clear on the sequence of withdrawal. The resolution states that, as the international forces deploy to the south and the Lebanese forces move to the south, Israel will withdraw. Israel has withdrawn some of its forces and should continue to withdraw. We need to have a credible force on the ground and that is why I indicated that I expect that if we have 5,000 international troops out of 15,000 to be deployed, if we have one third, 5,000 on the ground, in addition to the Lebanese soldiers who are able to deploy, that force should be credible enough for the Israelis to withdraw completely. And I discussed this with them also when I was in Israel. And as I have indicated, I expect us to reach that level in the course of this month and Israel should withdraw by then. And it is important that the withdrawal goes on and a credible force is put in place. Because as long as they are in southern Lebanon some Lebanese will rightly see that as an occupation and there could be miscalculation an accident could occur so we need to have a clear situation where the Israelis fully withdraw and international and Lebanese forces taking over that territory.

Q: (in Arabic) on Guantanamo Bay.

SG: I think the UN position on Guantanamo Bay is very clear. And the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Human Rights Commission has been very clear on this and in fact the recommendation coming from the UN is that Guantanamo Bay should be closed. Subsequently, President Bush himself has indicated he would want to close it and I think the sooner it is done the better.

Q: (in Arabic)

SG: As you may know, here again the Human Rights Council did pass a resolution condemning the use of the bombs and has requested an investigation and set up an investigative team that will be looking into the matter and reporting back to the United Nations.

Q: (in Arabic, on the land, air and sea blockade.)

SG: I think that I have said a lot about this, not only from Europe but also in this region. And besides that, I have been in touch with the Israeli Prime Minister as well as the American administration to press for the lifting of the blockade. And I think it is important that we get effective action and my interest is seeing it is effectively lifted and I am working very hard on that. Thank you.

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