In progress at UNHQ

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

26 July 1996



Press Briefing

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

19960726 FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY

Sylvana Foa, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, began today's noon briefing by stating that the Secretary-General had in the morning received the former President of Mexico, Luis Echevarria, who was on his way to Washington, D.C. The Secretary-General had then gone on to the Security Council, which had been discussing Burundi for the last couple of hours.

She understood that the Council might break up its discussions on Burundi to take up the draft resolution on the report of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in a formal session in the afternoon. It would thereafter resume its consultations on the situation in Burundi.

The Spokesman said that in the afternoon the Secretary-General would go to Glen Cove, New York, for a senior management training programme -- a seminar specially organized for most of the Under-Secretaries-General and the Assistant Secretaries-General in the Secretariat. The seminar was aimed at strengthening managerial skills and promoting strategic thinking. It aimed also to improve communications at the Under-Secretary-General and the Assistant Secretary-General level, sharing experiences and improving collaboration, as well as ensuring the success of the overall reform effort of the Organization.

On Burundi, the Spokesman said the Under-Secretary-General for Peace- keeping Operations, Kofi Annan, this afternoon would meet with 22 African States and seven of the traditional troop-contributing countries from Asia and the Middle East to further consult on the contingency planning for that country. The seven countries were India, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan and the Republic of Korea. The Spokesman said she would try "and keep an eye" on the meeting to let correspondents know what was going on.

Further on Burundi, she said the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Department of Humanitarian Affairs were also working on contingency planning. The UNHCR was seeking funds for up to 300,000 refugees from Burundi. A note from the UNHCR today said that since the beginning of the year there had been 113,000 new arrivals from Burundi in neighbouring countries because of the unrest there. The agency was seeking funds to care for possibly up to 300,000. The Department of Humanitarian Affairs was also sending a mission to the area to ensure that everything was in place should the need arise.

On the former Yugoslavia, the Spokesman said the mandate for the 100 United Nations military observers in the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slovenia (UNTAES) would expire on 31 July. The

Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 26 July 1996

Security Council had a draft resolution before it extending the mandate for six months. She expected the Council to take up the question next Monday.

On the International Police Task Force (IPTF), the Spokesman said it was continuing the exhumation of bodies at Nova Kasaba. So far, work had been completed at two of the four small sites around Nova Kasaba. Thirty-one bodies had been exhumed so far, of which 25 had their hands tied behind their backs.

The general situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina remained calm, Ms. Foa said. Some violent incidents had been reported yesterday. In the town of Prozor a mosque had been set on fire. The local police were investigating the case and the IPTF was monitoring it. There had also been a bomb explosion at the Saint Anton Catholic Church at Bugojno, causing some damage to part of the wall.

A correspondent asked for her comment on reports that the United States had resumed the sale of F-16 fighter planes to Argentina and some other Latin American countries. Ms. Foa said she had not seen those reports.

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For information media. Not an official record.