SG: Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen. It's good to see you again, after about two weeks.
I visited seven stops in the Middle East in eleven days. It has been a very hectic, but very rewarding, trip for me.
I was able to witness at first hand, and also could have very constructive, useful constructive exchanges of views with many leaders in the Middle East countries.
My priorities were mainly on four issues. First of all, to constructively contribute as United Nations Secretary-General to the ongoing peace process in the Middle East, and also to help and discuss with the Lebanese Government to help with national reconciliation there, and to discuss the early establishment of a Special Tribunal for the assassination case of former Prime Minister [Rafic] Hariri, and to discuss with the Iraqi leaders on the International Compact [for] Iraq, as well as the United Nations role there, and fourthly, to discuss with the Sudanese President on the situation in Darfur and Somalia and other African issues.
I was encouraged by the very active support and determined will of Arab leaders, and I was able to see the Arab leaders engaging on many important regional issues, particularly on the Darfur issue.
As you may know, with the formation of a National Unity Government in Palestine, the active diplomatic initiatives are on the way: Arab peace initiatives, Arab leaders who are determined to visit this issue again as a foundation for establishing a good relationship and peace between Israel and Arab countries, and particularly between Israel and the Palestinian authorities. I was also able to see their determined will to help resolve the Darfur situation.
I was very much encouraged to visit UNIFIL while visiting Lebanon –encouraged and moved by their very strong, determined will and commitment to work for peace and security in Lebanon as a member of the United Nations peacekeeping forces. I visited, I talked to many soldiers who came from Italy, Spain, France, Indonesia, India, and many other countries. I was told that thirty countries are contributing troops.
I also had a number of town hall meetings with the staff of the United Nations, and I was again very much encouraged and moved by their strong contribution, particularly those staff in Iraq and Lebanon, where circumstances were exceptionally difficult, even dangerous.
From now on, what measures should be taken? I would like to tell you that soon I am going to dispatch DPKO [Department of Peacekeeping Operations] expert level people to Addis Ababa, together with African Union, for consultation and briefing on the moving Darfur heavy support package issues. This is an agreement between me and President [Omar el-]Bashir of Sudan and [Alpha Oumar] Konaré, the Chairman of the African Union. I hope that I will be able to dispatch experts by early next week, and I am going to make an informal report to the Security Council on 5 April. On these issues, I would like to inform you that I am going to convene a high-level consultation to discuss the Darfur situation in New York with the Chairman of the African Union, Mr. Konare. He is going to visit New York on 16-17 April. On those two days I am going to engage in extensive, in-depth consultation with the African Union to make further progress on this matter, based upon the report of the technical expert-level peoples' consultation in Addis Ababa. We will continue to discuss what further measures will have to be taken to make progress.
Q: On Darfur, can you give us a little bit more sense of what concrete [measures] you received from other Arab governments in terms of trying to bring about support for a peacekeeping operation in Darfur. Also, the death of the AU peacekeepers –five of them today in Darfur –do you know anything about who did that, and also what do you think of the British-US push for sanctions on Darfur?
SG: First of all, I am very sorry for the death of African Union peacekeepers. I am not aware of who was behind it, but I would like to strongly deplore such killings against peacekeepers in Africa. That really illustrates the necessity and urgency of dispatching hybrid peacekeepers to Darfur. That is what I am going to work on.
On the future course of actions by the United Nations, I would hope that I would first of all be able to engage in technical-level consultation; at the same time the political dialogue process should continue. We have achieved some improvement and results through this political dialogue. The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Mr. John Holmes, visited Darfur, and made good progress in humanitarian assistance. That is what I also emphasized in my consultations with the Sudanese President, and we can see some further improvement in this humanitarian assistance area, so therefore my position is that I need to have some time to engage in political dialogue, as well as on this detailed consultation with the Sudanese government.
Q: What about sanctions?
SG: That is a matter to be decided by the Security Council. My position at this time is that, before we talk about sanctions, let me have some more political space to deal with this dialogue with them.
Q: We are very happy for your safe visit after Iraq, Sir. Let me ask about the Arab Summit and the issue of the Palestinians. Do you think that the time is right now to lift the embargo on the Palestinian government, and what is your policy, Sir, on contacting them? Will you meet all ministers, or just Fatah ministers? How do you see it?
SG: There was an understanding among the Quartet that we will wait and see how the National Unity Government, particularly Hamas, will perform in terms of all these international expectations. We hope that the National Unity Government will meet the expectations of the international community. When I had a brief meeting with the Foreign Minister Ziad Abu [Amr] of the National Unity Government he assured me that his government will continue to work to meet the expectations of the international community.
Q: On Lebanon, the international tribunal. Do you want to press ahead with this idea? You have seen that the situation in Lebanon is not constitutional as it stands. Are you willing to support any motion to present this government through Chapter VII?
SG: During my stay and meetings with Lebanese leaders, I emphasized the importance of establishing the special Tribunal. I was concerned that I could see a division of opinions among Lebanese Government leaders, and I strongly urged them to engage in dialogue, to promote national reconciliation. This is important. The United Nations and the international community are strongly behind the Lebanese peoples' efforts to bring peace and security. We have a strengthened UNIFIL there. There was an international donors' conference which was very successful in January in Paris. All this support by the international community should be accompanied by their own efforts to promote national unification, and I urge again that they try to bridge that gap among themselves on this matter.
Q: To keep with Lebanon, we understand that you saw evidence provided by the Israelis on arms smuggling between Syria and Lebanon. Do you have a video of that, that you could share with the public?
SG: I am not in a position to say anything officially. I read that report, and there are some allegations that there is arms smuggling on the border between Lebanon and Syria. Security Council resolution 1701 is very important for the parties. All the members, particularly in the countries in the region, should strictly abide by this. I will not comment on anything which was reported in the newspapers.
Q: On the Council's deliberations tomorrow on Kosovo, how fast can the Ahtisaari plan move along?
SG: As I said in my letter to the Security Council, I fully support the recommendations of my Special Envoy Mr. [Martti] Ahtisaari on the future of Kosovo. And at the same time, I hope that the Security Council members will constructively engage in dialogue on this issue.
Q: On Somalia, it was reported that Egyptian Foreign Minister has written to the UN, AU and Arab League, asking for immediate intervention to stop the conflict in Mogadishu. I wanted to know if you have received that, what your thinking is? And also while you were away, on Zimbabwe, the Secretariat's briefer to the Council said that the situation in Zimbabwe is not a threat to international peace and security. I am wondering if that's the Secretariat's view, or what is your view on that?
SG: On Somalia, during the Riyadh Summit meeting, we had a mini-summit to discuss this issue, which was convened by the Saudi Foreign Minister. It was very useful. We hope that the Somali government will be able to convene the national reconciliation congress, which is scheduled for April 16th. The international community should continue to encourage the Transitional Federal Government's efforts. This was some of the agreement which we had during this mini-summit meeting.
Q: The Zimbabwe question?
SG: We are also very much concerned about the situation in there. It is necessary for the leaders of the Zimbabwean Government to strictly abide by all democratic rules, to firmly establish democratic rules again.
Q: Are you worried about the escalating situation in the Gulf? And is there any motion by you regarding the Erbil diplomats –the Iranian diplomats who were kidnapped by the Americans in Erbil - to free them, similar to your initiative regarding the British sailors?
SG: I met, and had an extensive discussion with Iranian Foreign Minister Mr. [Manouchehr] Motaki in Saudi Arabia, and I discussed this matter. At the same time, I requested and appealed to him that this issue should be resolved as soon as possible through political, diplomatic consultations. At the same time, I would hope that this rhetoric should be toned down. It is not desirable in helping resolve this issue. As Secretary-General, I would again hope that we would be able to see some early release of these UK sailors. I know that there are many issues involved, but it would be desirable for the international community to see an early [resolution] on this issue, in a diplomatic and peaceful way.
Q: Sir, you tell us that the Palestinian Unity Government Foreign Minister told you that they are working to meet the expectations of the international community. Do you think that they can be convinced, or does that mean in any way that they might be convinced to recognize Israel, forsake campaign policies of violence, and honour their previous international agreements and treaties?
SG: I know they are fully aware of the expectations and principles of the international community. Realistically speaking, again, I thought from my meeting with the Foreign Minister of Palestine, and the National Unity Government, that it may take time for them to make their own positions coordinated among themselves. Therefore I would hope that while the international community encouraged them to change their positions and perform well in meeting the expectations of the international community, we would also hope to be a little bit patient on this matter.
Q: In your meeting with Mr. Motaki, did he give you any indication that this issue involving the fifteen sailors would be resolved, and that their release is in any way imminent?
SG: What he told me was that?he explained to me that the sailors were caught in Iranian waters. I was not in a position to discuss the exact location where they were caught, but my main concern, which I delivered to him, was that while the Iranian government was going through a politically sensitive period, with the Security Council's sanctions measures, it would be desirable for the international community not to see an escalation of a situation in that region, and for that I appealed to him to consider favourably to first engage in dialogue with the UK, and release the sailors, and there would be many ways to discuss on the early release of these issues. Thank you very much.
Q: On the Iranian diplomats?
SG: I didn't discuss this matter. I think this is a separate issue from the Iranian and UK issues.
Q: Do you think the time is right for the UN to put more personnel in Iraq, Sir?
SG: This is what I am going to consider, in what way, how differently the United Nations can make a contribution to Iraq. As you know very well, the United Nations has been making great contributions in the past, during the last four years, through humanitarian assistance, technical cooperation, political facilitation, such as constitution drafting, as well as monitoring elections on two occasions. The United Nations can also provide - we have some competitive edge, advantage in political facilitation, and we still can provide more humanitarian assistance. But for all these detailed matters, I am now in the process of consideration with my senior advisors.
Thank you very much, and I hope to see you again. Thank you.