ÉñÂíÎçÒ¹¸£ÀûÍø

SG: Ladies and Gentlemen, I've been very pleased that I could come to Brazil, to Rio, to join the families of Sergio de Mello, the families in the broad sense –his own family and the broader family of Brazilian peoples –to mourn him. He was a great man, a great international civil servant and a truly great leader.

As I said yesterday, we will continue the work he and the colleagues in Iraq began. The Security Council, in approving Resolution 1483, ordered us to respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Iraq, to ensure that the Iraqis are in charge of their own political destiny and in control of their natural resources, and that the day that the Iraqis govern themselves must come quickly.

Sergio was involved in that effort, not only in that effort but helping with the political and economic reconstruction of Iraq. The average Iraqi needs our help for them to be able to stabilize their country and build an Iraq that is peaceful, democratic and prosperous, an Iraq that is at peace with itself and with its neighbours. And we will continue that work.

And I want to thank President Lula and the people of Brazil for the support they have shown to the United Nations, their warmth and their belief in international cooperation and multilateralism. They have lost a great son, but you do not mourn him alone. We've also lost a great colleague and for me personally, a very close friend, who was more like a brother.

Q: Regarding the bombing, Sir, how are the investigations going?

SG: Well, we are at the early stages yet and I have nothing to report and I would much rather wait until we get the full report of the investigations to be able to comment.

Q: What measures must be taken to avoid danger in Iraq right now?

SG: We've taken strenuous measures to strengthen the security of our personel. We will take further measures. I also intend to meet with all the humanitarian agencies to coordinate our efforts further. Already, the coalition forces are offering greater security and we will take further steps to strengthen our security and protect ourselves.

The option of withdrawing is not something we can consider. The people of Iraq need us; they want us to stay. And the fanatics and the violent people who took Sergio and Nadia, Rick Hooper and other colleagues from us are not going to dictate what happens in Iraq.

Q: What about the possibility of multilateral forces?

SG: Well, that is an issue that is under discussion: whether the current coalition forces will be transformed into a UN-mandated multinational force, which would also allow other countries to participate and internationalize the effort and also for the UN to play a greater role.

These are issues being discussed in capitals and at the United Nations. I'm intimately involved in these discussions but it will take some time for us to come to conclusions.

Thank you very much.