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SG: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and Happy New Year to all of you.

Unusually, at the [Security] Council lunch today, we had one main topic on the agenda: Darfur. Normally we discuss five or six items, but the main one was on Darfur, where we discussed the deteriorating situation in Darfur. As you know, the killings are going on, the rapes are going on. There is insecurity for the IDPs –that is the internally displaced persons - and also for the humanitarian workers. We have lost access to some of the needy people, and we have had to remove some of our own staff from the area.

It wasn't long ago that we were feeding only a million people and the whole world was focused on this. Today we are feeding three million people, and may have to do it for another year, but it is off the front pages of the newspapers. What we need to do is to find a way of improving security - immediate improvement in security –working with the African Union forces. They need support, logistical and financial support, to be able to strengthen security on the ground. We need to energize the peace process in Abuja, because the long-term solution only lies at the negotiating table. We also need to ensure that the government honours its commitment, and has the responsibility to help protect its own people, and assist the humanitarian situation.

Let me stress that both parties are contravening the ceasefire agreement. Both parties are actively attacking people in Darfur, and the rebels have to take the negotiations very seriously in Abuja. I think the [Security] Council is going to follow this issue very, very closely and where necessary will take immediate action to help redress the situation.

Q: The African Union seems to be saying that they are going to be running out of money. The US does not seem to be forthcoming with promised money. Can you get specific on what's needed, and does the African Union really need more troops?

SG: We did discuss this at the lunch. From what I know they have resources until March. There is an African Union meeting on Darfur today, where the African Union Chairman, President [Alpha Oumar] Konare, indicated that they would want to stay on for another nine to twelve months, provided the donor community gives them the necessary resources, and the logistical support. If that logistical support and financial support doesn't come, they will run out of money by March. Obviously the international community cannot allow that situation to go unaddressed, and in all likelihood will have to look at other options, including possibly the UN working with the African Union to address the situation. But, they need money; they need it quickly. It was last May that we had the donors' conference which brought everybody together in Addis Ababa, including the Secretary-General of NATO, and the European Commissioner. And probably the time has come for us to do a follow up meeting to try and see what the donors are going to do to assist the African Union in this difficult task.

Q: What is your reaction to the recent events in Iran?

SG: You are talking about the nuclear development? I am extremely concerned about it and in fact we discussed it very briefly also at lunch. I have been on the line several times with Mr. [Mohamed] ElBaradei and today I had a forty-minute conversation with Mr. [Ali] Larijani, the Iranian negotiator of the nuclear issue. Basically, I called him to urge him to avoid any escalation, to exercise restraint, to go back and give the negotiations a chance, and that the only viable solution lies in a negotiated one. He in turn affirmed to me that they are interested in serious and constructive negotiations, but within a time frame, indicating that the last time they did it for two and a half years and no result, but [he] did indicate they were also interested in negotiations and they were serious about it.

Q: Secretary-General, the Information Minister of Syria has declared that the President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, will not submit to questioning by the [International Independent Investigation] Committee, and that he has presidential immunity. Now what is the position of the United Nations and what would you say to the Syrian Government in that regard, and would written answers be acceptable?

SG: I think these are questions, quite frankly, for the Commissioner to resolve and to answer. I just appointed a new Commissioner who will be there next week, and this will be one of the issues he will have to deal with. [Detlev] Mehlis will be replaced by [Serge] Brammertz, and I'm sure Brammertz will make an early contact with the Syrian authorities and with the Syrians to try and move the process forward. And I would not want to preempt anything that he may say or come to agree with the Syrians.

Q: But would you call upon the Syrian President to adhere to the request and the demand…

SG: I think the Council resolution is very clear. The Council resolution requires cooperation by all parties, including Syria, and Syria has indicated that they will cooperate, and I urge them to cooperate and cooperate fully.

Q: Mr. Secretary-General, on Iran, can you elaborate on who he wanted negotiations with, if it's the EU3 and whether they had any intention of putting the seals back on, that they took off the other day? And on Sudan, on Darfur, it seems everything has been discussed in detail but rehatting the African Union, combining it with the UN peacekeeping force. If that's not going to happen, it looks like you are just going around the same circle for the last year. Is that going to happen?

SG: On your first question, yes, the negotiations relate to the EU3. And as I said they indicated they are serious about going back to the table.

On your second question, we did discuss eventual UN involvement, but of course it will mean we can only get involved once the African Union mandate has ended, and we are in discussions with them and I am sure [Alpha Oumar] Konare will either come to New York or we will meet somewhere to work it out in detail. There are several decisions which need to be taken, first, by the African Union: how long they are able to sustain the operation and are going to stay. If the UN should come in, when does the UN go in. At this stage we have started contingency planning to be ready, if and when a decision is taken for us to go in, and we did discuss this over lunch. The African Union is discussing this issue today at the ministerial level, and there will be a summit in two weeks' time where I expect some concrete decisions to be taken. But in any event, they will need money, they will need support, beyond March. Because even if we were to take over, we cannot do it by March, so there will be a lead time, and we should not have a gap between the two forces.

Q: If the UN are going to get more involved when the African Union mandate comes to an end, do you envisage, because things are deteriorating, do you envisage a larger force and an expanded mandate as a possibility?

SG: Let me say that we would structure the force differently. It is a large territory, and I think whichever force is there with this kind of mandate has to be mobile, has to have tactical air support, must have helicopters and ability to respond very quickly, so it would be a different type of structure. And we will need very sophisticated equipment, logistical support, and I will be turning to governments with capacity to join in that peacekeeping operation if we were to be given the mandate.

Q: More troops, as well?

SG: Yes, possibly, more troops than are now on the ground at the moment. But the emphasis will be on mobility and ability to respond and move quickly.

Q: Back to Iran please. Given your conversation with the Iranians, do you foresee any possible role for you to play as a possible go-between, and are you indicating that perhaps it is too early for the IAEA to refer the Iranian dispute to the Security Council?

SG: First of all, I think we should try and resolve it, if possible, in the IAEA context. [Mohamed] ElBaradei is working with the parties, doing his best to try and resolve it there. Once that process is exhausted, it may end up in the [Security] Council and then I would leave it to the Council, to decide what to do, if it were to come here. I wouldn't want to preempt them.

I have been talking to all the parties, doing whatever I can to encourage a negotiated settlement and really keeping people at the table and trying to discourage escalation, and I will continue to do that. My good offices are always available; if I need to do more, and the parties so wish, I will do it.

Q: When you say you are looking to countries with more capacity, are you making a specific call on, let's say Europe, or the US or other developed countries to work in Darfur? And the second question, on a slightly lighter note, do you have any plans to make Brad Pitt a UN Goodwill Ambassador?

SG: Let me say that those are the countries with the kind of capabilities we will need, so when the time comes, we will be turning to them, we will be referring to them and I think it's going to be a real challenge for all of us. We should remember that it was only in September that we passed a resolution on the Responsibility to Protect and it will be one of our first challenges when it comes to that. But of course there is one other partner in this, and we should not overlook, that is the Government of Sudan. We need to get the Government to work with us in bringing in an expanded force with troops from outside Africa, because until recently it has maintained that it will only accept African troops, but I think we have gone beyond that now. Thank you very much.

As to your second recommendation, I will consider it, and I will let him know you recommended him! [Laughter]

Thank you.

Q: What about Yo Yo Ma, whom you saw today?

SG: Yes, he will be a Peace Envoy.