Press encounter with the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Amre Moussa (unofficial transcript)

Q: How long do you think that the UN will continue to be unable to provide Palestinians an international protection?

SG: I think this is an issue that has been placed before the Council, and as you know it was not successful then. And the Council has not taken it up again and so I am not in a position to tell you if and when the observer force will go.

Q: Excuse me, do you have any updates on Jerusalem? It appears that Director Tenet has run into some kind of block?

SG: I think they are still talking and I hope that they will continue their discussions and come to a successful conclusion.

Q: [inaudible]

SG: Monsieur Baker est en contact avec les deux Parties et on va soumettre un rapport au Conseil de SecuritT au cours de ce mois, au mois de Juin, et je vous demande d'Otre patient parce que le rapport expliquera tout. En tous cas, Monsieur Baker est en contact avec les deux Parties. On ne cherche pas a imposer quoi que ce soit sur l'une ou l'autre des Parties.

Q: (translated from the Arabic) During the past eight months, more than 600 Palestinians were killed and more than 25,000 to 30,000 were injured, and there was no big international reaction on this level. But when only a few Israelis were killed, we noticed the whole world moved. How do you explain this? This question is asked by everyone.

SG: Let me say that I have said time and time again how much I feel for the people of Palestine and Israel and all the problems and the killings that have gone on and the tragedy and the suffering of the people which has to be stopped. So we have been concerned about any loss of life. Yes, most of them have been Palestinians and you have heard my voice when these incidents have taken place. And I think this is one of the reasonq why we all have to fight and do whatever we can to bring the violence to an end and move the parties back to the negotiating table. There is a genuine international effort going on to move the parties forward and stop this killing. And I feel very sorry for those who've lost their loved ones. We cannot bring them back, but we have to make sure that there will be no more bloodshed.

Q: (BBC) Mr. Secretary-General, What do you hope your visit will achieve, what more will it achieve other than all the other recent visits by high profile visitors to the region in the last two weeks?

SG: I think when you look back a couple of weeks ago, you see a difference in the situation. There is some violence but it is considerably lower than it had been for some time ago. We also have another qualitative difference: the parties have both accepted the Mitchell recommendations. The parties have agreed to a cease-fire. Mr. Tenet is there with them trying to firm up the cease-fire. We have another team on the ground working the political angle. There is my own Special Representative [Terje Roed] Larsen is very active on the ground with them. And I indicated that there is some international effort, including Arab leaders, the UN, the European Union, the Russian Federation and the United States, working as a team. We don't have different proposals on the table. There is one proposal on the table that we want implementing, in its entirety, by the parties, and we are going to work and press them to do that. It is in their interest, it is in the interest of their people and I hope that they will make the right decision.

Q: Excuse me, none of the resolutions concerning the Palestinian Rights has been implemented up till now, concerning the last answer, yours, and a second question when do we expect ...

SG: ...one question, one question...

Q: ...excuse me, when do we expect the sanctions to be lifted from Iraq?

SG: First of all, let me say that the UN has been on the ground in this region perhaps much more actively than some people realize. We are the only ones with soldiers on the Lebanese-Israeli border. We are the only ones with soldiers in Syria, dealing with the Syrian-Israeli shooting. The resolutions of the UN are the basis for the peace talks that are going on. The resolutions are very crucial and helpful instruments when it comes to discussing peace...

Q: ...excuse me....

SG: ...wait, wait, wait, do you want me to answer or do you want to answer for me? Peace cannot be imposed. Peace has to be worked out with the parties concerned and I think this is what is happening. In some cases it goes faster than others. After twenty years or so we saw the withdrawal from Lebanon. Israeli troops left Lebanon and I hope we'll see other progress elsewhere. The question of sanctions is in the hands of the Security Council, thank you. *****