DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19960417
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Sylvana Foa, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, told correspondents at today's noon briefing that Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali had met this morning with the Foreign Minister of Argentina, Guido di Tella, and they had discussed the country's rather substantial contributions to United Nations peace-keeping efforts. Argentina has 477 military and civilian police personnel in eight different peace-keeping operations around the world, she said.
At noon, the Secretary-General was scheduled to receive a delegation of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, she continued. At 4:30 p.m., he would then receive Yossi Beilin, Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister of Israel. Ms. Foa reminded correspondents that Mr. Beilin would be at the Delegates Entrance at 5 p.m. The Secretary-General would meet with the Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs of the United Arab Emirates, Saeed Al-Ghaith, at 5:30 p.m.
The Security Council had just finished consultations on a draft resolution on Rwanda which dealt with the flow of arms in the Great Lakes region of Africa, she continued, adding that the salient points of the draft had been outlined during yesterday's briefing. It called for Member States to make voluntary contributions to finance the Commission of Inquiry into the arms flow in the region. "We hope those voluntary contributions will be coming in, because there really is nothing left in our piggy bank to take on another operation", she added.
The Council was holding consultations on the Secretary-General's letter on Somalia and the possibility of sending a joint United Nations/Organization of African Unity (OAU) fact-finding mission to the region, she said. The difficulty of moving the United Nations political office back to the divided capital of Mogadishu was also on the Council's agenda.
Meanwhile, the situation in the country was not very encouraging, she said. There were reports of sporadic fire exchanges, on an almost daily basis, between forces loyal to Osman Atto and General Aidid. According to recent reports, up to 80 people had been killed and 250 wounded in a gun battle on 4 and 5 April. Both sides were reportedly regrouping to retain their strongholds in Mogadishu, and it was feared that a major clash might erupt again unless the clan elders succeeded in mediating between the parties.
Continuing, she said later in the afternoon the Council would take up the draft resolution on the Sudan dealing with measures contained in
resolution 1044 (1996). That resolution called for the Sudan to extradite three men wanted in connection with the June 1995 assassination attempt on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Addis Ababa. The Council was also expected to discuss Liberia, Lebanon and Libya.
Ms. Foa said talks between Greece and The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia were expected to resume today under the auspices of the Secretary- General's Special Representative, Cyrus Vance.
The Secretary-General's three-month report on the situation in Abkhazia, Georgia, was now available, she said. According to the report, the peace process remained stalled. During the last three months, the Russian Federation had intensified its efforts to bring the Georgia/Abkhazia sides closer to a compromise solution. However, neither side had signed the draft protocol on the principle elements of a settlement, mainly because of disagreement over the political status of Abkazia. The United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) had 136 observers from 23 countries, she added.
The Department of Humanitarian Affairs was issuing a consolidated inter- agency appeal today for $13 million to address the needs of people displaced as a result of the conflict in Chechnya, Ms. Foa said. Approximately 500,000 people -- about half of Chechnya's population -- had been forced from their homes, and many of those had fled to the neighbouring republics of Daghestan, Ingushetia and North Ossetia. The total number of internally displaced people was about 150,000, and more were expected to seek refuge in those areas. The inter-agency appeal covers food aid, health, shelter, water and sanitation. (See Press Release IHA/592 issued today.)
Turning to the situation in Liberia, Ms. Foa said a hostage from the Economic Community of West African States' Monitoring Observer Group (ECOMOG) had escaped yesterday from the Barkley Training Centre in Monrovia. He reported that approximately 1,500 hostages were still being held in the Centre and described their condition as "pathetic". An estimated 50 of the hostages being held in the Centre had died as a result of abuse and lack of food and water. There were unconfirmed reports that the elements inside the camp had enough food and water to last about a month.
The World Food Programme (WFP) had received an armoured escort from the American embassy and had distributed about 165 tons of food to 45,000 people in Monrovia over the last few days, she conintued. However, the agency was still very worried about the fate of some 1.5 million people who had relied on food aid since the civil war in Liberia broke out in 1990. The WFP would try and deliver food to some 30,000 people at an IDP centre, 15 miles outside Monrovia. However, the road was "iffy" and they might not make it. At 8 a.m. today, the United Nations office reported that the security situation was calm, but tense. A United Nations ship had arrived with 100 tons of much- needed fuel, as well as a satellite phone fax. She would make the fax number available to correspondents.
Ms. Foa said she was not wearing her blue beret, as there had been no new payments to the United Nations regular budget and, to date, only 53 nations had paid their 1996 dues. However, the Organization's "wonderful friends from all over the United States" -- referring to donations sent by private citizens to help offset the American debt -- had now sent donations totally $11,665.15. In the first half of April, the United Nations had received 245 letters with contributions from 542 people -- and some cats, she added. The total number of cheques received was 911, containing payments from 1,963 people.
Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 17 April 1996
In reply to a question on how the amounts were determined, Ms. Foa said that depended on when people calculated the United States debt. Some organizations had asked their members to send $4.40 each, based on the United States debt of $1.1 billion last September and other organizations had updated the amount to reflect the current amount owed. Therefore, people were sending cheques for amounts ranging from $4.40 up to $7. Others were doing their own math and sending $25. Most of the letters had been generated by stories in the Christian Science Monitor and on National Public Radio.
Ms. Foa then read out two letters from United States citizens. The first one read:
"Please accept this contribution towards the USA's UN dues in memory of my 19 year-old daughter Shannon who was murdered in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103. I support the United Nations actions to prevent terrorism and I support programmes that demonstrate our caring for one another the world over."
She added that Pan Am flight 103 was downed in December 1988. She then read the second letter fro Newtown, Pennsylvania:
"I have just heard about the reaction by some American citizens to our country's withholding of our dues to the United Nations. This avoidance of our duty and promises to the UN has long been troubling. My wife and I would like to join the Americans who had made a symbolic effort to express our shame at our country's malfeasance. Enclosed is a cheque for $25 to what we are sure is an overdue appreciation for the United Nations. We are a retired couple in our 80s, so we can remember what went on when there was no United Nations."
Turning to other matters, she said the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Marrack Goulding, was leaving today for Rwanda for consultations with the Government on the future United Nations office in that country and security arrangements for people working with the International
Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 17 April 1996
Tribunal for Rwanda. The Secretary-General had also authorized Mr. Goulding to visit Burundi, time permitting, to look into United Nations efforts in that country.
Ms. Foa said there had been a number of questions on "a brewing controversy" over "junk". The Security Council, in authorizing the end of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR), had asked the United Nations to be flexible and give the Rwanda Government any equipment it could under existing regulations. Those regulations stipulate that the United Nations must take everything, except equipment it could not use elsewhere or could not sell, Ms. Foa said.
The UNAMIR had tried to be flexible and did not try and sell anything commercially, Ms. Foa continued. Some equipment had been left with other United Nations agencies that were continuing operations in Rwanda. However, the Rwandan Government had termed some 2,000 items the United Nations had left as "pure junk". She said the problem was that the United Nations did not have a lot of "spanking new equipment". Of the total United Nations inventory of 11,000 vehicles all over the world, only about 15 per cent had been purchased in the last three years. Some of the 150 vehicles being left in Rwanda were old, but a lot of them were 1992 and 1994 model all-terrain vehicles. The United Nations was also leaving a lot of equipment which could be cannibalized for spare parts, but that was not listed on the inventory list, which was valued at approximately $8.7 million.
The Rwandan Government was also upset that the computers being left were 386 models when the 486 model was now on the commercial market, she continued. However, model 386 was still being used at United Nations Headquarters and was the model used in Rwanda.
In reply to a correspondent's question, she said the 386 computer models worked. The United Nations had put together an inventory of things that worked, another inventory of things that needed some repair -- there was always a flat tire on something and a whole stack of stuff that could be cannibalized. That was why the United Nations tried to have same model vehicles on one operation so spare parts could be cannibalized, she added.
Ms. Foa then made two announcements. On Thursday, 18 April, at 2 p.m., the Permanent Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Muhammed Sacirbey, would address the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA). Also, The President of the Security Council, Juan Somavia (Chile), would be the guest speaker at a celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the first Council meetings in the United States. The celebration would be on Monday, 22 April, from 1:15 p.m. to 2:35 p.m in the Old Gymnasium at Lehman College, where the first Council meetings took place from March to August 1946.
Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 17 April 1996
A correspondent asked for the Secretary-General's reaction to a proposed Security Council resolution regarding Israel's push into southern Lebanon. Ms. Foa said she would get back to him when she had more information on the resolution.
The correspondent also asked what the Secretary-General hoped to get out of his meetings today with Jewish leaders and with Mr. Beilin. Ms. Foa said he would be talking with Mr. Beilin about the humanitarian dimensions of what was happening now, and the meeting with the Jewish leaders had been scheduled a long time before recent events in the Middle East.
In reply to another question, Ms. Foa said she would check on the status of the investigation by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) of the downing in February of two civilian aircraft by the Cuban air force.
A correspondent asked for the latest on the leak in the General Assembly Hall. Ms Foa said the roof of the dome was still leaking, and there was absolutely no political significance to the fact that it was reportedly leaking over France! The United Nations had received a first estimate of $150,000 for repairs and was checking into cheaper bids and how long repairs would take. In the meantime, meetings were being held in Conference Room 4.
Ms. Foa said that when the plates blew off the dome some months ago, a "cheapie repair was done with superglue" and now the price was being paid with leaks springing up in other parts of the roof. There was a need for a complete overhaul. Some were saying there was enough in the kitty for the overhaul. Others were saying there was not.
In reply to another question, the "oil-for-food" talks between Iraq and the United Nations started today at noon. Ms. Foa said she had spoken to the United Nations Legal Counsel, Hans Corell, about the announcements of meetings. He fully understood correspondents' frustration, but by not giving a specific time for the talks last weekend, he had been trying to save journalists' time. He had been trying to tell them in a quiet way there was no point in lurking in the United Nations corridors and dashing around from one door to another, because there would be no announcements. He was trying to give as much information as he could, and he hoped that journalists understood the sensitive nature of the talks.
A correspondent asked if there had been any comment from the Iraqi delegation on future comments to the press. Ms. Foa said she understood that the head of the Iraqi delegation, Mr. Al-Anbari, had been chased into his car. Someone actually dove through the window, she joked. Mr. Al-Anbari was not pleased and used the word "molested". She appealed to journalists to please stay behind the press barricades.
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