MICHELE MONTAS is the Spokesperson for U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

The Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General and the Spokesperson for the President of the General Assembly.
TV: UN Webcast TV Video- 51 minutes

UN: UNITED NATIONS BRIEFING AND TV - QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS: TUESDAY, 15/04/2008 (MaximsNews Network)

UNITED NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network / - 15 April 2008 -- Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General and UN Webcast TV Video.

**Questions and Answers

Question: May I assume that Mr. Brown’s press conference will be in this room

Spokesperson: Yes, it is.

Question: I don’t know if you have an answer to the question I asked Marie yesterday. Has the Secretary-General received a formal request from France for the formation of an international naval protection force?

Spokesperson: No, we haven’t.

Question: President Carter is going on a mission to the Middle East. He intends to talk with Hamas, one of the organizations that is now controlling Gaza. Does the Secretary-General support the mission of Mr. Carter when he talks with one group of Palestinians which the United States and Israel don’t like?

Spokesperson: The Secretary-General has always said that he is in favour of any move to establish peace in the area. That is all I can say at this point. I don’t have anything specific on Mr. Carter’s visit.

Question: Did the Secretary-General speak with President Bush today?

Spokesperson: Yes, he did.

Question: What did they speak about?

Spokesperson: This morning, they discussed Kosovo, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Darfur.

Question: Is the Secretary-General going to meet with President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea during the dinner tonight or during the next day?

Spokesperson: At the dinner tonight, yes, he will.

[The Spokesperson later added that the Secretary-General would also meet with the President of the Republic of Korea on Wednesday, 16 April.]

Question: On that, could you either confirm or find out if South Korea has sent military advisors to Darfur with an eye towards joining the UNAMID force? Is that the case

Spokesperson: I can try to get the information for you.

[The Spokesperson later confirmed that the Republic of Korea has not sent military advisers to Darfur.]

Question: This is about Haiti and the thing that happened. There are some reports that after the death of a Nigerian peacekeeper, that there was some sort of a retaliatory action taken by the forces. Are you aware of that? Is that something that the UN is looking at?

Spokesperson: No, I know that some arrests were made by the Haitian police there at the time of the assassination.

Question: Some of the reports said that the peacekeepers -- I guess angry at the death of one of their colleagues -- were shooting tear gas and other things into the crowds.

Spokesperson: I am not aware of that.

Question: It has been suggested that United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) focus on peacekeepers that either speak French or Kreyol, and that language may have played some part in this. Is that something that the UN is thinking about?

Spokesperson: I don’t think we can say that language had anything to do with this. The man was driving a car, and was pulled out of his car, and executed.

Question: I am not trying… Because of these events, these reports have surfaced, and I was just wondering if it was something that MINUSTAH had given thought to.

Spokesperson: MINUSTAH is giving priority to French speakers, but as you know, the majority of the population does not speak French, but speaks Kreyol. It is very difficult to find Kreyol speakers around the world.

Question: A follow-up on the conversation between Bush and Ban. You say one of the topics of conversation was Zimbabwe. Does the Secretary-General favour intervention by the Security Council in Zimbabwe? Should the UN be involved in it?

Spokesperson: Well, I think the Secretary-General has already expressed his position on the situation in Zimbabwe, asking for a speedy release of the electoral results. At this point, that is all I can say. You can ask the Secretary-General this afternoon.

Question: Are there any plans to send a representative of the Department of Political Affairs to Zimbabwe?

Spokesperson: Not that I know of. As you know, we are not invited… We are not a major party in observing the elections, nor in helping for the preparations of the elections.

Question: Does Mr. Ban Ki-moon believe that getting Hamas back into the political game would help ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza?

Spokesperson: He has called before, as you know, for a dialogue between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, the Government itself. And he has been talking about the fact that Gaza and the West Bank, the Occupied Territory, are one territory. As I said, he is in favour of any approach that would help bring peace to the area.

Question: I just wanted to clarify one thing. When the Secretary-General was in Russia, there was this “flap” that the Russians have threatened him that they would not let him go beyond one term. That was verified by Ambassador Churkin. Has the Secretary-General resolved that situation?

Spokesperson: Well, there is nothing to resolve. I was there. There were very cordial meetings and there never was a threat as was written. There was never any problem in terms of the conversations that took place. No tension. Those were, as I am saying again, very cordial meetings.

Question: On this Hamas business. The Secretary-General is still a member of the Quartet, if I remember correctly…?

Spokesperson: Yes, he is.

Question: Does the Quartet still have a policy of not considering negotiations with Hamas before it recognizes Israel, agrees to previous agreements… you know, the three conditions that the Quartet has put before talking to Hamas?

Spokesperson: Well, the Quartet, yes, has that position.

Question: So, just to clarify what you said before…

Spokesperson: What I said before was that the Secretary-General is in favour of anything that will move the peace process forward. I am not saying that he is changing in any way the position of the Quartet, which he has signed.

Question: You said that anything that could move the peace forward. In the context of talking to Hamas…

Spokesperson: This is an independent initiative. It has nothing to do with the Quartet.

Question: But in the context of talking with Hamas, the question is, as part of the Quartet, does he adhere to the question…

Spokesperson: I said yes, he adheres to what the Quartet has said, yes.

Question: Russia has received members of Hamas and some Europeans have conducted consultations with Hamas. So, the position of the Quartet is not, as you said, that they don’t talk to Hamas or they maintain that they…

Spokesperson: The position of the Quartet has been made clear during the last few months.

Question: But Russia has received members of Hamas, and Europe has talked to Hamas.

Spokesperson: There are a number of individual initiatives, yes.

Question: But there is not one position on that, a collective position?

Spokesperson: Well Benny’s question was about the Quartet. And I confirm that the Quartet’s positions are what he said.

Question: I am a little bit confused here. Does he welcome talking to Hamas for finding a solution to the crisis we are having…

Spokesperson: I am not answering it this way. You asked me a question about Mr. Carter’s visit. I am saying that Mr. Carter’s visit is an individual initiative, and I said that the Secretary-General has always said that he welcomes initiatives that can bring the process of peace forward. I am not saying that the Secretary-General approves of that specific initiative, or supports that specific initiative. I am saying, he has always been supportive of efforts to bring a peaceful solution to the area.

Question: In follow-up to that: is the Secretary-General aware of that initiative? I know that a couple of weeks ago we have discussed the “Elders” initiative, and you had said that the Secretary-General was aware of it, but did not necessarily support it, but that he supports all initiatives that push towards the peace process. So, my question is, is he aware of that specific initiative?

Spokesperson: Not that I know of.

Question: How many angels can dance on a pin?

Spokesperson: You tell me. Thank you very much. I would like to invite Mr. Doss to come up, please.

Labels: United Nations,  U.N., Secretary-General

 

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