DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19960709
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Sylvana Foa, Spokesman for Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, began today's noon briefing by announcing that the Secretary-General was still in Yaoundé in connection with the Summit of the Heads of State of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). She said that his schedule for yesterday was received very late, but that he had met with the Prime Ministers of Zaire and Ethiopia, as well as with the Presidents of Botswana, Eritrea and Senegal. Those meetings dealt mostly with conflict resolution in Africa and with development issues.
"Today, he had a really full day", Ms. Foa said. It began with meetings with the Presidents of Togo, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau and Benin. Their discussions focused on the United Nations System-wide Initiative on Africa and on conflict resolution, especially in Liberia, Angola and Burundi. The Secretary-General said the United Nations would continue its efforts to resolve those crises peacefully.
The Secretary-General also met with the President of Mauritania and they discussed Western Sahara, Ms. Foa said. Later, he met separately with the Foreign Minister of Nigeria, who is heading the Nigerian delegation to the OAU Summit, and with the President of Cameroon. They discussed the problem of the Bakassi Peninsula and United Nations efforts to find a peaceful solution there.
"Today, we finally got a hold of the declaration -- which I only got 12 billion phone calls asking for -- on the African candidature for a second term as Secretary-General, and that is out in my office", Ms. Foa said. There had been some corrections to the initial copy, and the corrected version was now available.
Ms. Foa drew attention to a statement issued on behalf of the Secretary- General which states that "as an African, Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, has been personally touched by the support of Africa, which encourages him to pursue his efforts for peace and development and for a strong and great Africa".
Ms. Foa then announced that Fiji today paid $108,770, thus, becoming the seventy-seventh Member State to pay its assessment in full. "So thank you very much, Fiji."
The Security Council was still discussing the draft resolution on Angola, Ms. Foa said. They would hold consultations again on Wednesday, with a formal meeting expected on Thursday afternoon.
Following issuance of the Secretary-General's report on Angola, the two parties had taken several steps to meet the agreed time-table, Ms. Foa added. Representatives of the Government and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) had begun talks on constitutional amendments necessary for the formation of a government of unity and national reconciliation. In addition, discussions for another meeting between Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos and Jonas Savimbi, leader of UNITA, were now taking place. "So, we hope to see both of them getting together and talking soon."
Out of a declared strength of 62,500 UNITA troops, the United Nations had quartered and registered 52,857 as of yesterday, Ms. Foa announced. "Of those, 5,889 have deserted. We also have approximately 62,000 family members being accommodated in satellite camps near the quartering sites. So, the families are also being taken care of."
There had been some improvements in the quality of surrendered weapons, Ms. Foa said. "In the last few weeks, we've gotten three tanks, four APCs and 83 broken radios. So, we are starting to see some of the big stuff. But we feel that UNITA is still withholding heavy weapons and probably the best military units."
"Notwithstanding these problems, the United Nations Angola Verification Mission (UNAVEM III) is actively encouraging the parties to finalize their plans for demobilization and social re-integration of ex-combatants. And we also need money for it", Ms. Foa said.
With respect to implementation of the memorandum of understanding for the oil-for-food talks between the United Nations and Iraq, Ms. Foa said the Sanctions Committee would hold a formal meeting at 3:30 p.m. Tono Eitel, its Chairman, would then brief the press in room 226 at around 4:30 p.m. or 5 p.m. The Spokesman's Office would make an announcement when it looked like the meeting was breaking up.
"We understand that at about 11 a.m., Ambassador Al-Anbari, the chief Iraqi negotiator, saw Yasushi Akashi, Under-Secretary-General for the Department of Humanitarian Affairs", Ms. Foa said. "We also understand that at some time late this afternoon, he will be meeting with Under-Secretary- General Chinmaya Gharekhan, Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the Multilateral Negotiations on the Middle East Peace Talks." At 12 noon, there would be a meeting of the steering committee set up by the Secretary- General to keep implementation of the memorandum moving along at a quick pace, under the chairmanship of Mr. Gharekhan.
Responding to a question asked yesterday regarding whether the Secretary-General sent a congratulatory message to the new President of the Dominican Republic, Ms. Foa said a cable had gone out. It was a private cable of congratulations. "We don't always make all of these public."
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Today, the American Library Association was visiting the United Nations, Ms. Foa announced. One reason for the visit was that the Association's Journal had chosen the United Nations "Blue Books" series, two other United Nations publications, and the United Nations home page as among the 57 best government documents of 1995.
"Now, who says the United Nations can't produce anything readable?", Ms. Foa said. "The American Library Association has put us in there with the 57 best. They say our Blue Books series is terrific and they love reading it. Anybody who would like Blue Books just come on to us. We are all very happy. Also, the two international web sites listed are the United Nations home page and the World Bank home page. And I might add that the United Nations home page in 1995 was one thing -- it is much improved now and undergoing another face-lift very soon. Just tune in and see what we've got in there."
Ms. Foa then announced that Anatoli Zlenko, Permanent Representative of Ukraine, would hold a press conference at 11 a.m. tomorrow in room 226, on the adoption of Ukraine's new Constitution.
What exactly had the OAU said about the Secretary-General? a correspondent asked. Some wire service reports had described the OAU declaration as a tepid endorsement. Ms. Foa said the operative paragraph of the declaration "wishes to underscore Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali's actions at the head of the United Nations General Secretariat since his election in 1991; recalls the tradition and the practice at the United Nations which consist in re-electing the incumbent Secretary-General for a second term; and, in this regard, it recommends that the necessary steps be taken by the current Chairman of the OAU with all the partners, Members of the United Nations, to give Africa a second mandate for the next five years; and recommends the candidature of Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali for a second term as Secretary- General of the United Nations".
"I think it is pretty strong", Ms. Foa said.
Another correspondent said the declaration's emphasis was clearly on Africa, rather than on Boutros Boutros-Ghali. Ms. Foa said that depended on what kind of a spin one wanted to put on it. "Obviously, I know that there are some people who are putting a 'tepid support' spin on this. I think it was quite strong and quite clear on what they are saying."
"It recommends a second mandate and it recommends the candidacy of Boutros Boutros-Ghali", Ms. Foa went on to say. "I don't see what else they could do under the circumstances. Anyway, for us, considering the amount of pressure that's been going on out there, I think this was quite good, and he is very, very happy. He is very pleased and, as he said, he was touched."
Wasn't it significant that the declaration used the word "recommend" instead of "endorse"? a correspondent suggested. Ms. Foa said the original
Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 9 July 1996
declaration was in French. "Actually, I am not sure what the French for 'endorse' is. The English is clearly a translation from the French. It is a matter of semantics. I am quite happy with 'recommend'."
A correspondent drew attention to a statement by Nicholas Burns, spokesman for the United States State Department, in which he referred to United Nations failures in Srebrenica and Zepa. Asked for her reaction, Ms. Foa said, "I think we should all remember what happened in Srebrenica. We should remember that the Department of Peace-keeping Operations here asked very, very clearly for about 35,000 troops in order to implement the Security Council resolution on 'safe areas'. I don't think we ever saw more than 6,500 on the ground. And to ask us to protect that many people in six very, very widely separated areas with one fifth of the troops that we asked for was a major failure. Yes, it was a major failure. But on whose part?"
Asked why she was not wearing her cap when announcing payments to the United Nations by Member States, as had been her practice, Ms. Foa said she decided at the beginning of June that she would only put on the hat for States which got their payments in within the first six months of the year.
"It is not that I am not grateful for these checks", Ms. Foa said. "But it was getting to be a question of 'Does everybody get a hat, even if you are six months late?' I am trying to think of a new gimmick. Something for 'better late than never'."
Asked if the Sanctions Committee was definitely going to approve the draft procedures plan for Iraq, Ms. Foa said she did not know. "They are going to look at what they have now. From what I understand, whatever is decided today will then have to go back to governments and then come back with comments."
In the light of the success of the film "Independence Day", did the United Nations have a secret plan should visitors arrive from outer space? a correspondent asked. The United Nations did have an Outer Space Committee. Ms. Foa said members of that Committee might have to be invited to give a briefing. "I also would like to know. You know, I have never been able to find the secret submarine base in the sub-basement." She would check on whether any secret plan existed and get back to correspondent first thing tomorrow morning.
A correspondent asked for comment on a story that the United States and some Western countries were working on a compromise for a two-year extension of the Secretary-General's mandate. Had the Secretary-General's position changed on whether he would accept two years? Ms. Foa said that she had not spoken with him about that. Over the past few days, he had been more concerned about the flood toll in China. She said she would ask him.
Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 9 July 1996
Asked if she had any information on the meeting yesterday between Mr. Gharekhan and Mr. Al-Anbari, Ms. Foa said she had not received anything, but would make another effort.
Did the fact that the escalator was not working violate New York City's fire code? a correspondent asked. Ms. Foa said the United Nations had gotten a chunk of money yesterday, and it was hoped that some of that money would be used to make the repair. A lot of repairs in the building had not been carried out. Only repairs that were urgently needed to meet fire code requirements were being done.
Juan Carlos Brandt, of the Spokesman's Office, added that in the event of a fire, the escalator was not the recommended escape route.
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