{"id":201569,"date":"2004-05-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T18:11:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?p=201569"},"modified":"2019-03-12T18:11:55","modified_gmt":"2019-03-12T18:11:55","slug":"auto-insert-201569","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/auto-insert-201569\/","title":{"rendered":"Transcript of press briefing by SecGen Spokesman (5 May 2004) – Press transcript (excerpts)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Press Briefing<\/strong><\/span>
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DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL<\/u><\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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Following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.<\/p><\/div>\n

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**Lebanon<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n

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The Secretary-General’s Personal Representative for Southern Lebanon, Staffan de Mistura, expressed his great dismay that the relative calm along the Blue Line was disrupted today.<\/p><\/div>\n

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This morning, there were numerous Israeli air violations of the Blue Line and of Lebanese airspace.  Shortly afterwards, anti-aircraft fire from the Lebanese side of the Line was reported, and some anti-aircraft shells may have led to some damage on the ground in Israel.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Subsequently, Israeli jets attacked two suspected Hezbollah positions in Southern Lebanon.  No casualties have been reported so far on either side.<\/p><\/div>\n

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De Mistura called on Israel to halt its overflights, and on the Lebanese side to halt the ensuing and dangerous anti-aircraft fire.  He reminded all parties that one violation cannot justify another.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Questions and Answers<\/u><\/p><\/div>\n

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Question<\/u>:  Yes, Mr. Eckhard, concerning the statement of the Quartet yesterday, it seems that the Quartet stands ready to deal with the humanitarian situation in Palestine, provided that there is a new leadership or reformed leadership.  Is that the precondition?  And what is going on in the General Assembly concerning this issue this week?<\/p><\/div>\n

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Spokesman<\/u>:  I can’t give you an answer on the General Assembly.  But, no, that is not a precondition.  The Secretary-General said that the humanitarian situation in Palestine cannot wait another day.  So, I think he hopes that this issue can be dealt with immediately.  The point about an empowered Prime Minister was a political point and it should be kept separate from the humanitarian points in the statement.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Question<\/u>:  Who is taking the lead now?  Is it the United States or the UN in dealing with the World Bank and other organizations to do just that?<\/p><\/div>\n

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Spokesman<\/u>:  I don’t know the specifics of that.  So, why don’t you see me after the briefing?  I’ll see if I can clarify that for you.  Edie?  [The Quartet is inviting contributions to the World Bank Trust Fund.]<\/p><\/div>\n

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Question<\/u>:  Another Quartet follow-up.  Is the Secretary-General planning to, or has he contacted the Israelis and the Palestinians about the results of the Quartet meeting?<\/p><\/div>\n

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Spokesman<\/u>:  I have not seen anything on his phone log for today and I’ll have to ask him what his intentions are.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Thank you very much.<\/p><\/div>\n

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