DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19960416
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
At today's noon briefing, the Spokesman for Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Sylvana Foa, said the General Assembly Hall had sprung a major leak and today's meetings, particularly the one on Public Administration and Development, would be moved to Conference Room 4. The leak was not in the same place where the General Assembly Hall had literally "blown its top" a couple of months ago at the state of payments to the United Nations regular budget, she said, referring to the time when a section of the Assembly dome had been blown off. Buckets of water were pouring in through the dome on anyone who dared enter. When she had asked, "Why don't you fix it?", she had received the reply, "Why don't they pay? We don't have any money".
The Secretary-General had a full day today, she continued. He had met this morning with the Minister for Public Administration of France, Dominique Perben. This afternoon, he would meet with: Faisal Husseini, a Minister in the Palestinian Authority; the Permanent Representative for Brazil, Celso Luiz Nunes Amorim; and Luiz Alberto Lacalle, former head of State for Uruguay.
The "oil-for-food" talks between the United Nations and Iraq resumed today at 11:45 a.m., Ms. Foa continued. There were plenty of difficulties, but the Secretary-General was still optimistic and everyone was hopeful they would not have to spend another weekend haunting the United Nations corridors, she added, noting that last weekend had been hard for a lot of the correspondents. She hoped to be able to get some good statistics on the different ways the money from the oil sales would be used once discussions were wrapped up and there was something to implement.
She said that Security Council resolution 986 (1995) would permit Iraq to sell $1 billion worth of oil every three months in exchange for urgently needed food and medicine. About 30 per cent of that amount would go to the United Nations Compensation Fund, which would leave $700 million. From that amount, funds would be taken to cover administration expenses, inspectors, the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) operation, accountants and distributors, and so forth. Between $130 million and $150 million would go to the three northern governorates in Iraq -- about $45 million a month. As there were an estimated 3 million people in northern Iraq, the amount came out to about $15 per person per month, or 50 cents a day for food, medicine, utilities and clean water.
"We are not talking mega bucks here", Ms. Foa added. The population in southern Iraq was estimated to be 17 million, so a per capita amount of $9.80 a month, or about 32 cents per day, would go to cover their needs. She said that later in the week she would try and get more details on the Compensation
Fund, including how many people had put their bids in, who they were and how much money was at stake.
The Security Council was holding consultations on Nagorny Karabakh, she continued. The Co-Chairmen of the Minsk Conference on the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) from Finland and the Russian Federation had briefed the Council. The Council was expected to express its support for the OSCE and the work of the Co-Chairman later today. In their report on efforts to bring about a peaceful settlement in Nagorny Karabakh, the Co-Chairmen said on the whole the parties had been observing the cease- fire established on 12 May 1994, and there had been progress during several rounds of talks. A document entitled "Framework for a Package Solution" had been presented to the parties on 29 February. The Co-Chairmen reported that the outlines for a settlement were emerging, and they intended to use the document to press the parties for a compromise solution. There was a ray of hope in Nagorny Karabakh, Ms. Foa added.
The Security Council was also expected to hold consultations on Iraq and a draft resolution on Rwanda on the flow of arms, she continued. The Secretary-General's report on the general situation in Rwanda and his efforts to set up a United Nations political office would be out in a few days. The Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Marrack Goulding, was leaving for the region tomorrow, and more on the situation was expected when he returned. The Commission of Inquiry on Arms Flow, established last year to investigate illegal arms sales, had reported on 14 March.
She said the draft resolution before the Council asked the Secretary- General to maintain the Commission, which should follow up its earlier investigations and stand ready to investigate any further allegations of violations, especially current and future shipments of arms. The draft calls on States in the region to make sure their territory was not used as a base for armed groups to launch incursions or attacks against any other State. The draft also expresses determination to continue the prohibition on the sale or supply of arms or related matériel to non-governmental forces for use in Rwanda.
Ms. Foa noted news reports of the more than 300 people -- the vast majority of them civilians -- who had been killed over the past two weeks in Burundi and said the situation there was getting uglier and uglier. There was, however, a small ray of hope. Former Tanzanian President Julius Nyere had managed to get the parties to agree to meet in Mwansa, United Republic of Tanzania, on 22 April. United Nations people in Burundi had described the meeting as "very encouraging" because the process of dialogue was engaged. If it had not been for the "insistence, zest, influence and personality" of President Nyere, the meeting would never have come about, Ms. Foa added.
Ms. Foa said she was not wearing her United Nations blue beret, but she did have one piece of good news. Vanuatu had made a payment to the United
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Nations regular budget, taking it off the list of countries who came under Article 19 of the Charter. To date, 53 Member States had paid their 1996 dues and only 29 countries remained under Article 19.
Last night, the Security Council had a marathon session on the situation in southern Lebanon and 32 Members had spoken, Ms. Foa continued. At the end to the session, Council President Juan Somavía told the press that all those who had spoken were concerned that the fighting, violence and bloodshed should cease once and for all, and that the humanitarian needs of the civilian population should be addressed and the peace process sustained.
The United Nations considered the humanitarian situation in Lebanon as dangerous, Ms. Foa continued. An estimated 100,000 people were in need of immediate assistance. Yesterday, the Department of Humanitarian Affairs held an inter-agency meeting and a "flash appeal" should be issued within 24 hours. The Department would also send a specialist to Lebanon to track the distribution of supplies. Just about every United Nations department or agency was moving into Lebanon to help. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and a lot of non-governmental organizations, particularly the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, were bringing in food and drugs.
About 5,000 people or 600 families were still sheltering at the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) positions in the south, she said. There were 4,568 troops from 14 different countries serving with UNIFIL. Yesterday, an officer from the Fijian battalion was shot in the chest during a confrontation with armed elements who were launching rockets towards Israel. The officer was in stable condition.
Ms. Foa said the situation in Liberia was somewhat improved, with people appearing in the streets and the markets, particularly around the Economic Community of West African States' Monitoring Observer Group (ECOMOG) base. There were still a lot of fighters, although the numbers had diminished, and the Government had given orders that looters were to be executed on the spot. The United Nations was particularly concerned with the situation in the Barkley Base, where between 300 to 400 hostages were being held, including 30 to 40 ECOMOG troops. The United Nations would attempt to distribute six truck loads of food again today to displaced persons in different parts of the city. It did manage to get to several hospitals and a children's centre yesterday, but it was not enough, she added.
She said an estimated 800,000 people were really affected by the fighting, "and we are talking about people who are really affected. These are people who are really in bad shape". Food, water and medicine were in extremely short supply. The Secretary-General was watching the situation very
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closely and was trying to impress on Member States that everything should be done to strengthen ECOMOG, which was out there on the front line. It was an African multinational force with troops from Nigeria, Ghana and Guinea. They were out there with very, very little support and did not have enough equipment or vehicles. "They have not had many pats on the back either", she added. If ECOMOG failed in its mission or if it was forced to leave in disgust, there would be chaos and a humanitarian disaster.
Ms. Foa said a new detailed map of Monrovia was now available.
As of today, 3,179 troops, out of an authorized strength of 5,000, were deployed in Eastern Slavonia with the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES), she said. Late last week, a Ukrainian helicopter unit began arriving, and more were expected shortly. The Pakistani and Jordanian infantry battalions were on their way, and the Argentine contingent was getting ready in Buenos Aires but still did not have transportation. The UNTAES was expected to be fully deployed some time in May.
In reply to a question asked yesterday, Ms. Foa said a meeting of the five permanent members of the Security Council -- China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and the United States -- was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon on Cyprus. It would be chaired by the United States, who was the current P-5 coordinator on Cyprus, and the Secretary-General would be represented by his Deputy Special Representative, Gustav Feissel.
She said the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Under Secretary-General Elizabeth Dowdswell, would speak on the occasion of Earth Day 1996, 11 a.m. Sunday, 21 April, at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City.
The report of the Secretary-General on Georgia was expected to be issued this afternoon, she said.
General Rashid Dostum, the leader of the National Front of Afghanistan, would meet with correspondents at 12:40 p.m. today in either the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) Club or the Delegates Lounge at United Nations Headquarters.
In reply to a question, Ms. Foa said she would check on when the Security Council was expected to act on the Sudan.
Another correspondent asked if the Minsk Co-Chairmen had discussed with the Security Council the possible deployment of an OSCE peace-keeping force in Nagorny Karabakh. Ms. Foa said they had discussed it, but no decisions had been reached.
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A correspondent asked if the "drill" in the office of the United Nations Legal Counsel, Hans Corell, could be tightened up. A lot of specialist financial reporters, many of them on overtime, were covering the "oil-for- food" talks and information had been inefficient and sloppy. She asked if the office could make announcements when the talks were finished and not 15 minutes after the Iraqis had left the building, so that correspondents had to chase them. She added that over the weekend, the United Nations had given out information that had contradicted that of the Iraqi delegation, which, in fact, had been correct. Many news organizations depended on the United Nations and understood the need for confidentiality about content, but it was not fair when the format of announcements was misleading.
Ms. Foa said she would raise the matter with Mr. Corell's office. As correspondents knew, the amount of information her office received -- never mind what it could give out -- had been the subject of several lengthy discussions since the talks had started. She did not want correspondents to think she was insinuating that there were any machiavellian tendencies in the building, but she had a feeling that the information came out 15 minutes after the delegations left, specifically so the correspondents would not know it was time to chase the delegates.
The correspondent replied that the delegations would be chased by correspondents anyway, and the official announcements should come from the United Nations first. If that was the reason announcements about the end of the meetings were coming late, then the United Nations was living in a different country. Ms. Foa said she would try and get a better format for the announcements, but even getting them had been like "pulling teeth".
Another correspondent asked if any United Nations official would be at the meeting on Burundi. Ms. Foa replied that she did not have any information on that yet. The meeting was basically President Nyere sitting down with the leaders from all sides to get them to talk, and it took an extraordinary effort to get them to do that.
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