In progress at UNHQ

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

2 August 1996



Press Briefing

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

19960802 FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY

Sylvana Foa, Spokesman for Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, began today's noon press briefing by announcing that the Secretary-General and his colleagues were following closely developments in Somalia. This morning, they were in touch with the United Nations Political Office for Somalia, based in Nairobi, as well as with Somali leaders. Assistant Secretary-General Lansana Kouyate had been on the phone with various Somali leaders since 5 a.m. today. The United Nations would continue to monitor the situation closely, "and we're keeping our fingers crossed".

The United Nations remained ready to assist the Somali people in all efforts to further national reconciliation, if they so request, Ms. Foa said. "We hope the Somali people, who have really suffered so much over the past five years, will now give peace a real chance and work together to end this horrifying conflict." She reminded correspondents that 136 United Nations peace-keepers had died in Somalia, 99 of them in hostile action. Another 423 had been wounded.

At 10 a.m. today, Nizar Hamdoon, Permanent Representative of Iraq, met with Under-Secretary-General Chinmaya R. Gharekhan and handed him a letter from the Iraqi Government regarding paragraphs 8 (f) and 9 of Security Council resolution 986 (1995), Ms. Foa said. Those paragraphs relate to "the export by Iraq of petroleum and petroleum products", and to "the export to Iraq of the parts and equipment which are essential to the safe operation of the Kirkuk-Yumultalik pipeline system in Iraq". The letter, written in Arab, was now being translated so it might be studied.

Ms. Foa drew attention to confusion reflected in wire reports concerning the United Nations action on the recent letter from the Solomon Islands to the Secretary-General. Recapping the situation, she said he had received a letter of 26 June from Prime Minister Solomon S. Mamaloni of the Solomon Islands requesting assistance with respect to some problems that had arisen between that country and Papua New Guinea.

On 1 July, the Secretary-General had responded to Prime Minister Mamaloni, stating he would study the matter, conduct talks with the parties, and subsequently write another letter to the Prime Minister on the matter, Ms. Foa said. The Department of Political Affairs went on to hold talks with the Permanent Representatives of the two countries. Meetings had been held over the past month and certain ideas were discussed.

"Nothing formal was submitted to either side, contrary to the reports which have been circulating, and nothing formal will be presented unless it has the agreement of both parties", Ms. Foa said. Consultations would continue before a more substantive reply was sent to the Prime Minister. "So, we're still talking."

The non-aligned caucus of the Security Council was currently working on a draft resolution on the Sudan, in response to the Secretary-General's 10 July report on resolution 1054 (1996), Ms. Foa said. The Council was expected to take up the draft resolution next week.

Ms. Foa drew attention to reports on Burundi, Georgia and Eastern Slavonia, which the Secretary-General would be submitting this month to the Security Council. The Council had also requested reports on the United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia (UNOMIL) -- whose mandate expires on 31 August -- and on the Western Sahara, which it would also like to have by the end of the month.

Ms. Foa also drew attention to a report on Liberia by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), which was made public yesterday. They found that the level of malnutrition among the children of Monrovia had more than doubled over the past two months. The study found that 15.3 per cent of all children under five years of age showed signs of malnutrition, while nearly 5 per cent suffered from grave malnutrition. "It's really outrageous", she said.

When one considered the children among the 650,000 displaced persons in Monrovia, the rates rose to 24.7 per cent suffering from malnutrition and 7.1 per cent suffering from grave malnutrition, Ms. Foa said. "So the rates are really high." The UNICEF survey was carried out during July by UNICEF, the Liberian Health Ministry, the World Health Organization (WHO), and other humanitarian organizations.

The Secretary-General's Special Envoy, James Jonah, had recently attended the Non-Aligned Summit in Abuja, where a number of important decisions were taken regarding the peace process in Liberia, Ms. Foa said. He was expected to return to New York next week to report to the Secretary- General. "We will try to get him in here, because I think he could add a lot -- we don't get an awful lot of information from Liberia."

"Last night, we had a marathon maritime session", with the parties to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea electing 21 judges to the Tribunal which rules on all disputes under that Convention, Ms. Foa said. The Convention had now been signed by 104 countries. A full list should be available shortly in the Spokesman's Office.

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 2 August 1996

At the request of the Department of General Assembly Affairs, Ms. Foa drew attention to a note to correspondents, now available at the documents counter, which provides an update on progress made this year by the Assembly's five working groups. Of particular interest was the information on the high- level, open-ended working group on the United Nations financial situation, and that on the strengthening of the United Nations system. Both of those bodies had completed their reports, while the other three were expected to do so soon.

Just for the record, whatever happened with the bomb scare on Monday? a correspondent asked. "The last thing I told you was, 'The robot has the package'", Ms. Foa said. "Well, the robot chomped on the package, spit it out. It was then picked up by a police officer, who discovered that it contained -- as we put politely -- 'soiled baby wipes'. The soiled baby wipes were then disposed of in a litter basket and, hopefully, will not be seen again up against the gate of the United Nations."

A correspondent drew attention to a WHO circular on the latest recommendation for safe food handling. Might it be possible to bring that to the attention of the United Nations cafeteria? the correspondent asked, adding, "because the place is full of mice. I mean, they're cute little things", but they did carry viruses. Also, "there are cockroaches in your Coca Cola -- there was in mine".

"Cockroaches in Coca Cola, that is really un-American", Ms. Foa said. Queries would be made on the matter, but the mice were not only in the cafeteria. "It happens that the Spokesman's Office is inundated with little mice. They're very cute. In fact, Papa Menon saved the life of one just the other day by taking him out to live among the cherry trees instead of in our office. But we also have the problem. It seems this building is old, it's not being maintained the way it should be because of our financial problems, and I think mice are an ongoing problem."

Asked whether the United States Government was responsible for cockroaches in Coca Cola, Ms. Foa said, "I'm afraid that's a bilateral issue; you'll have to take it up with the United States Mission."

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For information media. Not an official record.