The following is the U.N. Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary- GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

MARIE OKABE, DEPUTY SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

NEW YORK, U.N. HEADQUARTERS, 17 July 2007 - Asked whether the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, Francois Lonseny Fall, had been discouraging European and other officials from attending Somalia’s National Reconciliation Congress, the Spokeswoman said that it was unimaginable that he would do so, given the Secretary-General’s stated encouragement for that Congress.

She noted that, in a statement issued last Friday, the Secretary-General had wished the people of Somalia a successful beginning to the National Reconciliation Congress.

He had stressed that the Congress is the beginning of the process of rebuilding consensus in Somali society and expressed the commitment of the United Nations to continue supporting all-inclusive efforts at national reconciliation and greater international assistance to help bring peace and stability to Somalia, she added.

Source: U.N.