DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19960819
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Ahmad Fawzi, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General, began today's noon briefing by saying that the Secretary-General welcomed the fact that the tension which had arisen between Yemen and Eritrea during the past week had been diffused. The Secretary-General wished to express his gratitude to Francis Gutmann, former Secretary-General of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of France, for his mediation efforts. Mr. Gutmann's efforts, along with those of Egypt, Ethiopia, the Security Council and the Secretariat, had led to Yemen refraining from the use of force and to Eritrea making a commitment to withdraw from Lesser Hanish Island. The Secretary-General hoped that the agreement between Yemen and Eritrea signed in Paris on 21 May would continue to guide the two parties in the settlement of their dispute. The Secretary- General was continuing to follow the situation closely.
The Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Lansana Kouyate, had returned to Headquarters after paying a visit to Nigeria last week, the Deputy Spokesman continued. The Secretary-General was glad to note that Nigeria had agreed to the idea of a goodwill mission from the United Nations in order to consider solutions to the question of the Bakassi Peninsula.
Over the weekend, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Committee of Nine had held a meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, and had appointed Ruth Perry, a former Liberian Senator, as the new Chairman of the Council of State, Mr. Fawzi said. The Secretary-General was following the situation closely. The results of the meeting were arrived at in part thanks to the cooperation of the United Nations and the countries of the region, and it was hoped that such cooperation would lead to further results and to final peace and national reconciliation in Liberia.
The Deputy Spokesman said Syria had paid the balance of its contribution to the United Nations regular budget, thus bringing its full payment to $543,851. A total of 85 Member States had now honoured their financial commitment under the Charter in 1996 by paying their contributions to the regular budget in full.
The fifth report of the director of the United Nations Human Rights Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA), Leonardo Franco, was expected to be issued later today, as document A/50/1006. A background note -- the most recent update on United Nations Peace-Keeping Operations from 1948 to the present -- was also available at the Documents Counter. Dated 15 August, it was a most useful document, providing at a glance the number of peace-keeping operations, personnel, financial aspects, number of troops, mission names and other pertinent information.
Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 19 August 1996
The Spokesman's Office had also updated the list of sanctions invoked under Chapter VII of the Charter. The list was an unofficial background note for the correspondents' information. It had been updated following the Security Council's decision on Friday, 16 August, to impose sanctions on Sudanese aircraft.
Mr. Fawzi said that 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 findings contained in a report of the Council on Foreign Relations' independent task force on United Nations reform. On Wednesday, 21 August, Burundian opposition Members of Parliament would appear at the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) Club at 1:30 p.m.
Asked if the United Nations was playing a role in the resolution of the Liberian conflict, the Deputy Spokesman said the Organization had had observers in Liberia working with ECOWAS. "This is a perfect example of the United Nations cooperating with a regional organization." The United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia (UNOMIL) worked closely with the Economic Community of West African States' Monitoring Observer Group (ECOMOG). The United Nations had been represented at the Abuja meeting by the Secretary- General's Special Envoy, James Jonah.
A correspondent asked if anything had been put out in writing by the United Nations -- any kind of point-by-point rebuttal to the complaints put forth at the Republican Party Convention and in that party's platform. Mr. Fawzi said, "there is no point-by-point rebuttal; in fact, as I said on Friday, it is not for this Organization to comment on the internal affairs of a Member State. They are entirely within their rights to take any position they feel they wish to take. We haven't put out a rebuttal and we don't intend to. There were no accusations, incidentally. A rebuttal implies accusations; there were no accusations."
A correspondent added that the "accusations" were perhaps better described as "inaccuracies". Mr. Fawzi added that those "inaccuracies were contained in other publications and we had in the past responded to those. In this particular instance, I do not think it is appropriate for the United Nations to make any comment on the position of the GOP [Republican Party] or any other party. It is an internal affair of a Member State and it's not our place to comment."
Asked about the state of the United Nations peace-keeping budget, Mr. Fawzi said the Organization was still owed $2.1 billion for peace-keeping operations.
A correspondent said that National Public Radio of the United States had just reported that there was shooting in Haiti and that United Nations forces had intervened. The Deputy Spokesman said he had heard those reports but had no further details at the present time.
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