Source: http://www.un.org/apps/sg/offthecuff.asp http://www.un.org/apps/sg/offthecuff.asp
Date: February 27, 2006

Geneva, Switzerland, 27 February 2006 - Secretary-General's press encounter after hosting a mini-summit between President El-Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba of Gabon and President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea
SG: Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I understand you've had the chance to speak to the two Presidents. I can confirm that we had a very good meeting and they have agreed to press ahead with immediate negotiations on the delimitation of their maritime and land borders. They showed incredible flexibility, good will and determination to press ahead and resolve this issue in the next few months and definitely before the end of the year. We have agreed that technical teams will meet here in Geneva on the fifteenth of March to continue the work and I intend to meet with the leaders again sometime in the course of next month in Africa to pursue our efforts. I think it will be important for them to resolve this issue as quickly as possible and it will also be a good message for the continent, a continent wracked by conflicts and tensions, that two leaders come together and resolve their differences very, very peacefully. I will take your questions. 
Q: Vous pouvez nous définir les termes sur lesquels vous êtes tombés d'accord aujourd'hui par rapport à cette réunion et est-ce que vous êtes confiant ? 
SG: Je suis confiant et les deux chefs d'État sont confiants. Ils ont pris la décision stratégique pour la paix et ils ont demandé à leurs ministres et aux experts de les aider à les mettre en application. Auparavant, on avait essayé d'établir ce qu'on appelle en anglais des «confidence building measures», mais on a décidé qu'il fallait aller vraiment directement dans des négociations. Tous les deux prêts. Donc, je suis confiant que l'on peut le faire, c'est faisable. 
Q: Donc, c'est pour l'exploitation en commun des ressources pétrolières ? 
SG: Non, j'ai dit : démarcation des frontières maritimes et terrestres. 
Q: Est-ce que cela veut dire que les deux accords - qui ont été signés en 1974 et ensuite en 2004 à Addis Abeba - vous n'en tenez plus compte? 
SG: Ces deux accords nous ont aidé à préparer le terrain. Évidemment, cela fait quelque temps que les chefs d'État se parlent. Aujourd'hui, nous sommes dans une autre phase: on va aller directement délimiter les frontières terrestres et maritimes. Donc on ne va pas insister sur l'accord d'Addis Abeba et tout ça. On ne parle pas de déploiement à Mbanié on ne parle pas de co-déploiement à Mbanié ni de co-exploitation. On va focaliser sur les délimitations. 
Est ce que l'ONU va faire venir des groupes d'experts qui vont aider à résoudre les problèmes territoriaux et quels sont les délais pour leur mise en place ? 
SG: Nous sommes déjà impliqués. On va travailler avec eux. Le 15 mars, des experts de l'ONU seront là avec eux. On va les accompagner jusqu'à la fin. Donc on va faire aussi vite que possible mais au plus tard avant la fin de l'année. 
Q: Mr. Secretary-General, on another subject if I may. What is your assessment of where we stand now with the Human Rights Council? 
SG: I thought you weren't going to ask that question. No, we've had very serious negotiations in New York over the months and as you know, the President of the General Assembly, Mr. Jan Eliasson, put forward a President's document and a text which I think is balanced, and given the circumstances, is the best that we could get. Obviously, it does not contain everything that I asked for in my report “In larger freedom”, but it is very rare that in a group like the United Nations or in any parliament, you put a proposal before the group, and it is approved in total, without changes, without anything. I think President Eliasson is to be congratulated for the great effort that he has made. Not everyone is happy, but I do hope that at the end of the day, the Member States will realize that they do have a credible basis to move forward. They should realize that the proposal before them will strengthen the human rights machinery. It allows the Human Rights [Council] to convene as required if there is a developing crisis somewhere. It allows them to do peer review and look into the human rights record of any country, including the large countries. I don't think any of us is perfect in human rights. And they would also help countries strengthen their human rights institutions. There is also a clause for suspending members who do not respect their human rights engagements. I think overall, we do have a solid basis to move forward. As you know, I have recommended the approval of the President's package and so has the High Commissioner for Human Rights, whom I'll be meeting later this afternoon. 
Q: Secretary-General, are you preparing any contingency meeting in New York, given the increased risk of a global pandemic with the spread of the bird flu virus, not only in Europe, but in many countries in Asia and Africa as well? 
SG: Yes, this is a very serious issue where the World Health Organization and FAO are working very closely together, and I have my own advisor on the avian flu, David Nabarro, who is working with civil society, with governments, with the two organizations. You will recall that about two weeks or 10 days ago, there was a meeting in China, in Beijing, where $ 1.9 billion was pledged, and we hope that part of that money would also be used to assist poorer countries who are also confronted with this phenomena. I think it is important that we prepare all around, in every country, for this pandemic because if we are not prepared and it hits, we will have maybe a few weeks to knock it down. In my discussions with governments, and I also met the president of the pharmaceutical company Roche, to discuss their capacity to produce the Tamiflu, and the capacity to stock it up in other regions to be able to help. So we are doing all that we can, but I would urge governments to really take this very, very seriously. We, as an organization, are also coming up with plans for our own staff, and we are very well advanced to be able to protect our staff and their families, and of course, we are working with the larger community as well. 
Q: Secretary-General, today the European Union has approved money for the Palestinian Authority. What is your recommendation to other donors, and what are your hopes for the new Palestinian Government, namely that Hamas is the majority in the Government? 
SG: The Quartet envoy, Mr. Jim Wolfensohn, is working very hard to ensure that we receive enough money to support the Palestinian Authority. I just came from Doha last night and in my contacts in the region, I also encouraged the governments to make financial resources available to the Palestinian Authority. Of course, with Hamas, there are three requirements that the Quartet has made: that they should transform themselves into a political party, they should honour the commitments undertaken by the Palestinian Authority, including Oslo and the Road Map, and they should denounce the use of force. Obviously, we did not expect them to do it in day one, but you have three months of transition period which I think was fortuitous, because I think Hamas, I suspect, was as surprised as many people that they won, and won so massively, and they needed a bit of time also to organize themselves to govern. But the fact that they are being asked to transform themselves into a political party should not surprise anyone. History is replete with armed movements that have transformed themselves into political parties and are governing democratic countries today. Hamas should aim to join those groups of movements which have gone through that transformation. They won the elections, and we have to respect the choice of the Palestinian people. 
Q: Secretary-General, on the question of the Human Rights Council. As you know, the United States though is not happy, and it is talking about the possibility of reopening negotiations between governments. Is this in your opinion a dangerous move which could actually bring the whole house down? 
SG: I think we have gone through intensive months of negotiations. The President of the General Assembly, in his wisdom, has concluded that after months of negotiations, he had put forward a document, which takes into consideration views of all concerned. If at this stage we get into line-by-line negotiations or discussions, I am afraid it will lead to major delays and can cause a serious problem. I would appeal to Member States to understand that it is not a perfect world. I am the one who put forward those proposals and would have liked to get everything I put forward. But the world doesn't work like that. So we end up, I think there is an American word, “satisfyzing”, as they put it, and I think we should not let the better be the enemy of the good. There are enough good elements in the proposal of the President for all of us to be able to say: this is not old wine in [a]new bottle. There are enough positive elements for us to move with it and I hope the Americans will look at it in this spirit and join the vast majority of governments who seem ready to accept the Chairman's proposal. And as I said, the Chairman is to be congratulated for the serious way he has worked day and night, and I know because I was in constant touch with him and with other delegations. 
Q: Just a quick follow-up on human rights. How soon do you think the vote can take place, this week, next week, or what? 
SG: Last week, I said I hope they will approve it in a few days. My hope is that they will do it this week. I think the longer you let this sort of thing slide, the more precarious it gets, you know. So I would want them, I would urge them to approve it as quickly as possible. The issues are not new. My proposal was given to the Member States in March last year. They've had about one year to discuss this. They've had about six months of negotiations and discussions, if not a year. So I really hope that they will take the decision, preferably by the end of this week. 
Q: Après la mort du Président Rugova, on a un nouveau Président au Kosovo; les membres du Conseil de sécurité ont discuté de l'indépendance du Kosovo; à Vienne ont commencé des négociations entre Belgrade et Pristina. Après toutes ces négociations et activités, pensez-vous qu'il va y avoir un succès dans les négociations à Vienne et est-ce que le Conseil de sécurité est prêt à reconnaître l'indépendance du Kosovo ? 
SG: On vient de commencer les négociations. La première réunion était à Vienne. On a un très bon médiateur, M. Ahtisaari. Mais je crois que ça prendra du temps. Évidemment, c'est une négociation, et on ne peut pas dire avant la fin des négociations quels seront les résultats. Mais en tous cas, M. Ahtisaari est prêt à tout faire pour travailler avec les deux parties pour trouver une solution qui sera solide et qui peut tenir; une solution qui sera acceptable aux deux parties, mais sans déstabiliser la sous-région. Et donc, il a commencé son travail, on doit lui donner un peu de temps. Est-ce qu'on peut avoir un succès ? Je l'espère. Il le faut. 
Q: Mr. Secretary-General, do you have any comment on the development on the Iranian issue that we hear today about an agreement between Iran and Russia? 
SG: I haven't got a direct report on the meeting between the Iranians and the Russians, but I've also heard the report that it has gone well and I think it will be good news for everyone if indeed they have come to an agreement with the Russians. As you know, the Director-General of IAEA is supposed to produce a report which will be a basis for a meeting of the Atomic Agency board on the sixth of March. A lot is riding on that report. If he is able to report progress and positive action by the Iranian authorities, I think the Atomic Agency will be able to continue its work, its inspectors will be able to continue their work on the ground. And I think it will be in everyone's interest. I have said time and again that the best solution would be a negotiated one, and what is important is that steps and initiatives are taken that establish an atmosphere of confidence and trust so that we can move ahead and negotiate an agreed settlement. So I am encouraged if indeed they have reached an agreement with the Russians by that decision. Thank you very much. Until next time.