DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19960816
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
The Deputy Spokesman for Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Ahmad Fawzi, began today's noon briefing by reminding correspondents that the Security Council would be meeting at 3 p.m. to consider a draft resolution on the Sudan which dealt with the denial of permission for any aircraft emanating from that country to overfly or land in the territories of Member States. Should that draft be adopted, then 90 days from the date of adoption the Council would determine when it would come into force. So far, 60 countries had sent their approval of that form of sanctions on air traffic -- which was a limited form of sanctions -- to the Secretariat. The Council also had unspecified other matters on its agenda.
Mr. Fawzi said that he had spoken this morning with the Secretary- General's Deputy Special Representative in Cyprus, Gustave Feissel, who was expected to report "any minute now" on the incidents of Wednesday. Mr. Feissel had met again today, separately, with the leaders of the two communities in order to try and find ways to diffuse the situation. Also today, a funeral had been held for the young man who had been killed on Wednesday, and the United Nations Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) had been on a high state of alert. "I have no reports of any incidents yet." As soon as Mr. Feissel's report on the incidents of Wednesday became available it would be put out in the form of a press release for correspondents.
The Secretary-General's Special Representative in Sarajevo, Syed Iqbal Riza, had been coordinating, along with the Deputy Commissioner of the International Police Task Force (IPTF), the guidance for all police officers on ensuring conditions for free and fair elections next month, specifically to ensure that all voters could vote without fear and intimidation, to ensure freedom of legal association, and to ensure freedom of movement. "So the United Nations is playing a role through the IPTF in those elections", the Deputy Spokesman said.
Responding to questions posed previously on the subject of Somalia, Mr. Fawzi said the head of the United Nations Political Office on Somalia, which was based in Nairobi, had met with the Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), Salim A. Salim, to discuss the next steps in the efforts of the United Nations and the OAU to promote peace in Somalia. They had agreed to continue to consult closely on that matter.
Making an announcement for the Department of Humanitarian Affairs, Mr. Fawzi said it was approaching all States to alert them to the damage caused by new floods in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and to urge them to support the United Nations Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal for Flood-related Emergency Assistance to that country which had been launched in June. That would allow United Nations agencies to address the most urgent problems caused
Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 16 August 1996
by the devastation which had been wreaked by the floods. So far, the response to the June appeal had been only slightly more than 40 per cent, "so we need a lot more help from the international community to deal with the devastating floods in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea".
He then announced that on Monday at 1 p.m. the United States would sponsor a press conference featuring Morton Halperin, Senior Fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations, and John Whitehead, Chairman of the United Nations Association of the United States (UNA-USA). They would be discussing the major findings contained in an official statement of a Council on Foreign Relations independent task force on United Nations reform. A background paper on that subject, including a telephone contact for further information, was available in the Spokesman's office.
A correspondent then asked Mr. Fawzi for more information on the work of the IPTF in preparing for the elections in Bosnia. He replied that the IPTF was there to train and monitor the work of the police force throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina. In anticipation of the elections, a meeting had been held yesterday with the participation of the Secretary-General's Special Representative, the Deputy Police Commissioner, and the Ministers of the Interior of the Federation and the Republika Srpska, as well as the Deputy Minister of the Interior of the Federation. The aim of the meeting was to agree on principles governing guidance for all police officers to ensure conditions of free and fair elections. As mentioned earlier, the elements of free and fair elections included that all voters could vote without fear or intimidation; that anyone threatening to use or using intimidation or force against voters must be arrested immediately; and that anyone threatening to use or using force to interrupt a legal meeting would be arrested immediately. "And there are a few other guidelines that I would be happy to share with you after the briefing", he added.
Mr. Fawzi was subsequently asked to respond to the remarks made by United States presidential candidate Robert Dole about the Secretary-General's leadership. He replied that the Secretary-General had the "highest regard and admiration for Senator Dole and congratulated him on his nomination". It was not for the Secretary-General or for the United Nations to comment on any position that the candidate or his party may choose to take.
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