The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General Ban-ki moon :
“We had been asked previously about the situation in Nepal. I can say that the Secretary-General indeed reiterates his concern over the obstruction of essential supplies on the Nepal-India border. Acute shortages in fuel supplies continue to impede planned deliveries to earthquake-affected villages in Nepal. Humanitarian organizations urgently require fuel to maintain operations and deliver food, warm clothing and shelter materials to high altitude areas that will soon be cut off by harsh winter weather. The Secretary-General underlines Nepal’s right of free transit, as a landlocked nation as well as for humanitarian reasons, and calls on all sides to lift the obstructions without further delay.”