In progress at UNHQ

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

1 July 1996



Press Briefing

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

19960701 FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY

At the start of today's noon briefing, Sylvana Foa, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, introduced the Under-Secretary-General for Administration and Management, Joseph Connor, to correspondents. Mr. Connor had attended the "Group of Seven" summit in Lyon along with the Secretary-General, and would speak to correspondents after the Spokesman's briefing. (Mr. Connor's briefing notes are issued separately.) Ms. Foa told correspondents that the Secretary-General was in Geneva and had spent most of the day on the Advisory Board on Disarmament. The Secretary-General had extended his sympathy today to the people and Government of Yemen, where floods had recently caused the death of more than 300 people, with another 100 still missing, the Spokesman said. The cable was available in the Spokesman's office. Iraq's plan for the distribution of humanitarian supplies under the Security Council "oil-for-food" resolution 986 (1995) was submitted last Thursday, 27 June, Ms. Foa continued. The document was 47 pages long and contained more than 500 pages of annexes; various departments within the Secretariat were now scrutinizing it, but the process of "digesting the whole thing" would take some time. Once the in-house review was over, the plan would go to the Secretary-General. "On the draft procedures", she added, "we were told this morning that the Sanctions Committee was still working intensively on those procedures, but we still have no date for a formal meeting."

Several correspondents had asked today if the head of the Iraqi delegation for the food-for-oil talks, Abdul Amir Al-Anbari, was coming to Headquarters. "We checked everywhere and so far he is not on anyone's appointment schedule, so we don't know if he's coming in. We haven't heard anything."

No Member State had paid its dues today, Ms. Foa said, and so a total of 110 countries still owed their assessed contributions to the United Nations. However, a group of 136 Franciscan nuns from Wheaton, Illinois, had sent "a heart-warming letter" saying they had instructed their treasurer to send a check for $598.40 for their share of the dues outstanding [owed by the United States to the United Nations]. In the letter, the nuns said that "our goals, which are building community, are congruent with the mission of the United Nations, and we hope that our witness will encourage others to do the same". Ms. Foa thanked the Wheaton Franciscan sisters for their heartfelt contribution to the United Nations.

The delivery of the report from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to the Secretary-General on the Cuban incident was expected today, Ms. Foa told correspondents. The Secretary-General would then pass it on to the Security Council. However, the report would have to be translated into Chinese first, so the Council would probably take it up early next week.

A note from the International Court of Justice in The Hague said it would hold a public sitting on 8 July, at the request of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the General Assembly, to deliver its advisory opinions on the legality of the use, and threat of use, of nuclear weapons. Ms. Foa, describing the note as "an intriguing tidbit", said that, hopefully, there would be more information on it by tomorrow. An addendum to the Secretary-General's report on the new United Nations Support Mission to Haiti (UNSMIH) was out today, the Spokesman continued. The text dealt with the financial implications of UNSMIH. Ms. Foa told correspondents that UNSMIH's five-month mandate (1 July-30 November), including a military contingent of 600 and 300 civilian police officers, would cost a total of $29.7 million. Today at 2:30 p.m., a press conference would be held in room 226 in connection with the second United Nations International Day of Cooperatives. A press release and media advisory were available in the Spokesman's office.

Had United States officials met with the Secretary-General or his staff on the Iraqi food-for-oil distribution plan? a correspondent asked, and had the United States rejected the plan? And finally, would the American position and views on the issue be taken into consideration by the Secretariat? "The Secretary-General has not yet received the distribution plan", Ms. Foa said. "The plan is now with various departments within the Secretariat, and it's under scrutiny. Specifically, I know it's with the Legal Department, and with the Department of Humanitarian Affairs. Until they take a look at it, and give their assessment, it will not go to the Secretary-General", Ms. Foa said. She said she had not heard that the United States had expressed any opinion as of the briefing time.

There had been some talks about an amnesty between the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG) and the Government of Guatemala, a correspondent said. Where did the United Nations stand on the issue of whether there were any limits to an amnesty to resolve that conflict? Ms. Foa referred the question to Juan Carlos Brandt, of the Spokesman's Office, who said that the talks in Mexico City were continuing, and that the United Nations Moderator for the Peace Process in Guatemala, Jean Arnault, was in town for the next few days, before the next round of talks took place. Ms. Foa, after consulting correspondents, said that she would try to arrange a press briefing with Mr. Arnault.

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For information media. Not an official record.