DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19960628
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Sylvana Foa, Spokesman for Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, told correspondents at today's noon briefing that the Secretary-General had arrived in Lyon for the summit meeting of the "Group of Seven" most industrialized countries -- the first time a United Nations Secretary-General participated in a "Group of Seven" summit. He was accompanied by the Under-Secretary-General for Administration and Management, Joseph Connor; the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Vladimir Petrovsky; and the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Rubens Ricupero.
Tonight, the Secretary-General would attend a dinner hosted by French Foreign Minister Herve de Charette in honour of the "Group of Seven 7" Foreign Ministers, Ms. Foa continued. At 10 p.m. there would be a fireworks display for the heads of State and government. "So they are getting a little fun in there too", she added.
Tomorrow morning, the Secretary-General would participate in summit discussions on development assistance and how to increase its efficiency, Ms. Foa added. Also taking part in the discussions would be the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Michael Camdessus; the President of the World Bank; James Wolfensohn; and the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Renato Ruggiero .
Next Monday, 1 July, the Secretary-General would attend a closed meeting in Geneva of the Advisory Board on Disarmament Studies. He was expected to discuss the nuclear test-ban treaty, non-proliferation issues and the problem of land mines. The Advisory Board was created in 1978 to advise the Secretary-General on disarmament issues.
Ms. Foa then announced that the Chairman of the Commission on Human Rights had appointed Rajsoomer Lallah, from Mauritius, as the new Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. He had replaced Yoza Yokota, from Japan.
The Conference on Disarmament had concluded its current session on a comprehensive nuclear test-ban treaty, Ms. Foa said, adding that a treaty had not yet been completed because of a lack of consensus. The Chairman of the Conference's ad hoc committee was expected to present another revised text to the delegates today so they could take it back to their capitals for further
discussions. Efforts were continuing to find a compromise on the few remaining issues. Negotiations between the 61 countries would resume on 29 July, at the Conference's third session this year.
The report of the United Nations fact-finding mission to Nigeria had been published as an official document on 28 May, she continued. As part of the follow-up to the report, the Secretary-General had sent Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Lansana Kouyate on a mission to Abuja and other African capitals. Yesterday, Mr. Kouyate met with the Head of State of Nigeria General Sani Abacha and was briefed on the Nigerian Government's action in response to the recommendations of the fact-finding mission. Mr. Kouyate said the Secretary-General hoped the Nigerian authorities would proceed as quickly as possible to carry out the commitments contained in their interim response to the mission.
General Abacha had confirmed that work was proceeding both on the programme for the return to democracy and the release of detainees, she continued. Further detainees would be released soon and the process would continue in accordance with established procedures. Commissions had been established to examine the fact-finding mission's other recommendations.
General Abacha had also raised the question of Liberia, Ms. Foa said, adding that Nigeria had quite a few troops serving with the Economic Community of West African States' Monitoring Observer Group (ECOMOG) in that country. The General had said he realized the Secretary-General was doing everything possible to obtain additional resources for ECOMOG, but told Mr. Kouyate that the operation still needed more support from the international community.
Mr. Kouyate was in Benin today, where he was expected to meet with President Matthieu Kerekou. Tomorrow, he would go to Cote d'Ivoire, and then travel on to Guinea and possibly Ghana. During his meetings with West African leaders, Mr. Kouyate was expected to discuss the situation in Liberia which was of major concern to all, Ms. Foa added.
Turning to the topic of United Nations finances, Ms. Foa said there was some good news. "The seventy-fourth and seventy-fifth Member States have coughed up their dues." Chile had paid $870,162 and Mozambique had paid $108,770. That left only 110 Member States she said, adding "I am sure their cheques are in the mail".
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Sadako Ogata, had briefed the Security Council this morning on the situation in the Great Lakes region of Africa, Ms. Foa said. Later, the Council had discussed the Secretary-General's report on the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES). It would also have two formal sessions today -- one on Cyprus and the other on Haiti.
Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 28 June 1996
She said the Council was expected to renew the mandate of the United Nations Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for a further six months until 31 December. It was also expected to express its concern about the continuing modernization and upgrading of military forces and the recent military exercises in the region, including overflights in the airspace of Cyprus by military fixed-wing aircraft which had increased tension.
Approximately 1,200 personnel were currently serving with UNFICYP which was formed in 1964, Ms. Foa added. The Council was expected to reiterate that the status quo was unacceptable and call on the parties to demonstrate concretely their commitment to an overall political settlement.
The Council was also considering a draft resolution on Haiti, Ms. Foa continued. The mandate of the United Nations Mission in Haiti (UNMIH) would wind up on Sunday, 30 June and a new mission, the United Nations Support Mission in Haiti (UNSMIH), would receive a five-month mandate until 30 November. The 1,200 troops currently serving with UNMIH would be reduced to 600 soldiers and 300 civilian police officers. The new mission would aim to assist the Haitian Government with the professionalization of the police and in the maintenance of a secure and stable environment conducive to the success of current efforts to establish and train an effective national police force.
Ms. Foa said she had received "a cryptic message" from Conference Support Services. It said that talks regarding the contract for electrical and telecommunication services had continued until late last night and would continue this morning and would, if needed, continue this afternoon. It was in connection with the proposal made to the Committee on Contracts yesterday. The Assistant Secretary-General and United Nations Security Coordinator Benon Sevan had said he was very confident there would be no interruption to the services provided and that the union arrangement would be maintained.
She then announced that a press conference would be held to mark the observance of the second United Nations International Day of Cooperatives on Monday, 1 July at 2:30 p.m. in room 226. The speakers would be the president of the International Co-operative Alliance, Graham John Melmoth, and the Under-Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, Nitin Desai.
The 1994 Yearbook of the United Nations was released in June and was available in the United Nations Bookshop for $150, Ms. Foa said.
Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 28 June 1996
A correspondent asked if the text presented today by the Chairman of the ad hoc committee of the Conference on Disarmament was a new revision or the old revised version delegates had been working on. Ms. Foa said she had not seen a copy of the text but apparently it was another revision which included points discussed in the last few days. It was hoped that governments would find it easier to compromise on the most recent text before the next session of the Conference on 29 July.
Asked for comment on the reduction of troops for Haiti from 1,200 to 600, Ms. Foa replied "we all know the genesis of this number and how these things are being worked out and I have a very strong feeling in my heart that some of the `friends of Haiti' may be making arrangements to keep this operation fairly strong".
A correspondent asked about the status of Nigerian troops in ECOMOG. Ms. Foa said ECOMOG had not received all the financing or equipment support it needed to do their job in Liberia. The syndrome was well-known. "Peace- keepers go in undermanned, under-financed and under-equipped and then everyone laughs at them when they cannot do the same perfect job that a heavily armed force would be able to do." The Secretary-General had repeatedly asked countries to increase their support for ECOMOG. Some new equipment was coming into the mission and hopefully it would receive both the moral and financial support it needed. "This is a tough job", she added. Nigerian soldiers made up more than half of ECOMOG's troop strength.
Asked about the whereabouts of Under-Secretary-General for Peace-keeping Operations Kofi Annan, she replied "he did not call home today", but added he should be in southern Lebanon meeting with commanders of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and would be in Damascus on Sunday.
Responding to a question on why Mr. Connor had accompanied the Secretary-General to Lyon, Ms. Foa said many discussions with the "Group of Seven" leaders would be about administration and management and "how the United Nations could be made a leaner, meaner more efficient organization". Mr. Connor would answer a lot of the technical questions.
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