DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

29 March 1996

Press Briefing

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

19960329 FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY

Ahmad Fawzi, Deputy Spokesman for Secretary-General Boutros Boutros- Ghali, began today's noon briefing by saying that the Secretary-General was in Seoul, where he conferred at length with President Kim Young Sam on the situation on the Korean Peninsula. President Kim received the Secretary- General, who was on a five-day mission to the Republic of Korea, at Chong Wa Dae or Blue House, and told him that there were currently 1.7 million armed troops, an unprecedented number, facing one another on the Korean Peninsula. The Secretary-General said he regretted that on his trip to Asia he was not able to visit Pyongyang to pursue the dialogue begun before the death of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea leader Kim Il-Sung. He said that the United Nations remained ready to assist rapprochement between the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, particularly through the implementation of projects that would encourage dialogue -- such as the Tumen Area Development Program, which involved major investment in rail, road and port infrastructure in the region.

The two leaders also discussed the global dimensions of terrorism and the growing links between terrorists and international narcotics traffickers, Mr. Fawzi said. They conferred on United Nations efforts towards a comprehensive ban on the anti-personnel land-mines, tens of millions of which now littered the world. President Kim said that 40 years after the end of the Korean conflict, buried land-mines still explode from time to time. The Secretary-General agreed that land-mines remained a major burden long after hostilities had ceased.

Later, in a luncheon toast, the Secretary-General thanked the Republic of Korea for its contribution to peace-keeping efforts in Somalia, Angola, Georgia and along the border between India and Pakistan, the Deputy Spokesman said. He also said, "A reunified Korea will have an even greater impact on the world. It is my hope that one day the two Korean States will be represented in the United Nations as one."

According to Mr. Fawzi, President Kim, in his toast, said "the industrialization and democratization that the Republic of Korea has achieved are the fruits of the ideals of the United Nations". Copies of the Secretary- General's toast were available in the Spokesman's Office, along with a full report of the Secretary-General's visit to the Republic of Korea. (See Press Release SG/SM/5941.)

In the evening, the Secretary-General had been honoured at Kyung Hee University where had received the Great World Peace Award from the Oughtopia

Peace Foundation, Mr. Fawzi said. Tomorrow he would meet Foreign Minister Ro- Myung Gong.

The Deputy Spokesman said he had a message from the Secretary-General regarding the departure on 31 March of Francois Giuliani, the Director of the Media Division of the Department of Public Information (DPI) after a distinguished career, spanning 25 years, which included service as Spokesman to three Secretaries-General. Mr. Giuliani, a native of France, had joined the United Nations in 1971 as an information officer at the P-2 level. Prior to that, he had spent 10 years as a journalist with Reuters. In 1976, he became a spokesman to Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim, in which capacity he also served Secretaries-General Javier Perez de Cuellar and Boutros Boutros- Ghali until 1992, when he became Director of the Media Division in DPI. The Secretary-General extended warm thanks to Mr. Giuliani for his important contribution to the work of the United Nations, and sent him good wishes in the new career he had chosen.

There was also a press release available announcing the Secretary- General's decision to establish a trust fund to finance activities aimed at promoting confidence-building measures and preventing further armed conflicts in one of Africa's most turbulent subregions. (See Press Release SG/SM/5942 issued today.) Known formally as the Trust Fund for the United Nations Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa, it had been set up at the request of the General Assembly, under its resolution 50/71B of 12 December 1995, to raise additional resources on a voluntary basis for the implementation of the programme of work of the Committee. The Standing Advisory Committee on Security Questions in Central Africa was established by the Secretary-General in May 1992. Its 11 members were Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe and Zaire.

The newly elected President of Sierra Leone, Ahmed Gejan Tejan Kabba, was inaugurated in Freetown today, Mr. Fawzi said. In his inaugural address, the President said he appreciated the efforts made by the United Nations in support of the process of democratization and peace in Sierra Leone. The outgoing Head of State, Brigadier-General Julius Maada Bio, stepped down today as commander chief of the armed forces and launched the United Nations consolidated inter-agency appeal for Sierra Leone, which is seeking $57 million from donors to address that country's serious humanitarian crisis. The Chairman of the Sierra Leone Electoral Commission, James Jonah, was expected to visit New York next week to brief donors on the successful conclusion of the electoral process.

Mr. Fawzi said that Under-Secretary General Chinmaya R. Gharekhan, Senior Political Adviser to the Secretary-General, was today briefing the Security Council on the recent events in Sierra Leone. Yesterday he briefed the Council on Burundi. He said that the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Burundi, Marc Faguy, was placing great hopes in the

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 29 March 1996

efforts of Julius Nyerere, the former Tanzanian President, who was expected to return to Bujumbura around 5 April and meet with all the sides to the conflict, including the leaders of the political parties which had signed the Convention of Government. The Council was expected to adopt a presidential statement today on the situation in Tajikistan.

Next Wednesday, 3 April, the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Carl Bildt, would be coming to Headquarters, the Deputy Spokesman said. Mr. Bildt would be meeting officials in the morning and briefing the Security Council in the afternoon. It was hoped that around 4:30 p.m. or 5 p.m. he would be able to meet with correspondents in room 226. Prior to coming to New York, he would be visiting in Washington, D.C., with United States Government officials and with officials of the international financial institutions. After coming to the United Nations, he would go to Tokyo for talks with the Japanese Government. The purpose of the trip was to discuss the Bosnian peace process, including prospects for economic reconstruction.

The President of Italy, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, also would be visiting Headquarters on Wednesday, Mr. Fawzi said. At 11 a.m. President Scalfaro would be addressing the General Assembly and would later meet with Security Council members.

The Secretary-General's report on Chechnya, requested by the Commission on Human Rights, would be released in Geneva on Monday, Mr. Fawzi continued. The Spokesman's Office would try to have copies of it available in New York on Monday morning as well.

World Chronicle Television today would feature Guido Bertucci, Director of the Division of Public Administration and Development Management, Department for Development Support and Management Services. The programme was being shown on in-house channels 6, 23 or 38 at 2:30 p.m.

A correspondent asked if Under-Secretary-General for Administration and Management Joseph E. Connor was going to release a statement regarding the number of staff jobs that had been eliminated. Mr. Fawzi said the Secretary- General had promised to report on that matter by the end of March, which was Sunday. Mr. Connor was scheduled to address the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) on Tuesday afternoon, 2 April. The complete progress report on what had been done so far to confront the financial crisis would be released some time on Monday, 1 April.

Asked if any United Nations trust fund for Africa was fully funded, the Deputy Spokesman said he was not sure, but he doubted it very much. That was why the Secretary-General was strongly appealing to the international community to give as much assistance to Africa as possible.

A correspondent suggested that the new Central Africa trust fund might be creating confusion with the existing funds for Burundi and Rwanda. The

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Deputy Spokesman said the purpose was rather to concentrate attention on the more turbulent regions of the African continent. Rwanda, Burundi and human rights monitoring represented one set of issues; promoting confidence-building measures and preventing further armed conflicts in the region represented another.

Asked if the purpose of the trust fund was to stabilize the situation in Rwanda and Burundi, the Deputy Spokesman said no. "This was not something that the Secretary-General came up with out of the blue." The trust fund had been set up as of the request of the General Assembly's 12 December 1995 resolution to raise additional resources on a voluntary basis for the implementation of their programme of work, which was established in 1992.

A correspondent said that lately the Department of Public Information's "Daily Highlights" press release had not been available on-line, and he wished to know if that represented a permanent change. The Deputy Spokesman said that given the United Nations current staffing problems, it was possible that the person who updated the Highlights was no longer available. He would look into it.

Asked about reductions in the personnel of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), he said that, to economize, it was down-sizing its non-military staff. The MINURSO was reducing the size of the Identification Commission by about 30 per cent. Thirty-four out of 88 staff members would be leaving shortly.

A correspondent said today's Financial Times contained a story in which World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn complained that the Bank's senior staff was cynical, lacked enthusiasm and was not results oriented. He asked if such problems existed among senior staff at other United Nations agencies or at Headquarter. "I can't really speak for the other United Nations agencies", Mr. Fawzi said, "but I certainly hope that such problems don't exist at the agencies. I can assure you that at Headquarters there is a great deal of enthusiasm."

A correspondent said that the information provided regarding the Secretary-General's activities when he went on trips was too extensive, and he wanted to know why so much detail was provided. The Deputy Spokesman said, "I can assure you that if we didn't, you would be demanding to know what the Secretary-General was doing in the Far East, who he was meeting, who he was talking to and why the information was not forthcoming." The Office tried not to give the information at great length if it had already been on the news wires. There was another reason for being precise, however, which was that the activities reports issued by the Spokesman's Office were the only formal record of what the Secretary-General was doing on a given day and where. "It's important to keep a record of what such an important public official is doing. We share it with you in the hope that it will be of use to you. If it's not, just put it aside."

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