DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19960910
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Sylvana Foa, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, began today's noon briefing saying that happily today was another busy day at the United Nations. "Thank goodness boring August is over", she said.
The first official appointment of the Secretary-General today had been an address to the forty-ninth annual NGO Conference organized by the Department of Public Information (DPI), Ms. Foa said, adding, "These organizations are our new international actors." In his speech, the Secretary-General had underlined his commitment to work with NGOs to address common problems and common objectives. The Secretary-General said, "I am personally committed to finding new ways of deepening and widening our partnership. Already a great deal has been achieved. The NGOs have a vital role to play at the United Nations, both at the policy making level and at the operational level." The Secretary-General had also underlined that "we all have a responsibility to encourage and support the activities of developing world NGOs, so that we don't fall into the trap of encouraging an 'international NGO dependency-syndrome' in the world's least developed nations".
The Secretary-General would attend this afternoon's General Assembly meeting for the vote on the draft resolution currently under consideration regarding a comprehensive nuclear-test-ban treaty, Ms. Foa said. Also this afternoon, the Secretary-General would meet with the Ambassador of the Sudan to the United States, Mahdi Ibrahim.
"Then, at 5 p.m., we have something fun", Ms. Foa said. "We are getting a present and we love presents. It's a gift from Portugal and it will be presented by the Prime Minister of Portugal, Antonio Guterres. We had our spies out to find out what the gift is, because the Secretary-General has not unwrapped it yet. Evidently, it is a beautiful scene of the city of Lisbon made of blue and white ceramic tiles. We're told that it is an antique and that it has great historical and artistic value. It's the first gift to the United Nations from Portugal. Evidently, the President of the General Assembly, Diogo Freitas do Amaral (Portugal), was very, very instrumental in getting this present for us. At 5 p.m. today it will be placed at the entrance of the Delegates Dining Room. So, everybody who goes up there to eat will get to see it. But it does not get unwrapped until 5 p.m., so don't tell anyone I told you what it is. It's suppose to be a surprise."
Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 10 September 1996
Also today, the Secretary-General would meet at 5:45 p.m. with the Belgian Minister of State, Willy Claes. Mr. Claes was in New York to participate in the Congress of the Socialist International being held at the United Nations and was also stopping by to see the Secretary-General.
The Spokesman said that this evening the Secretary-General would address the annual dinner for United Nations Ambassadors sponsored by the Business Council for the United Nations. The dinner would honour Nelson Mandela, President of South Africa. The Secretary-General would tell those at the dinner that President Mandela's vision for South Africa was an inspiration to Africans and to the peoples of the United Nations. He also would state that the "Business Council for the United Nations can do much to help the United Nations on African issues. The contribution of the business community to African development will be crucial as Africans proceed on their march to political stability and economic empowerment". "So, let's invest in Africa", Ms. Foa said.
Turning to information from the Department of Political Affairs, Ms. Foa said that the Government of Guatemala and the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG) would sign an agreement on "strengthening civil society and the role of the military in a democratic society" on 19 September. She noted that that was an important step by the parties. The United Nations moderator of the peace negotiations, Jean Arnault, announced the agreement in Mexico City. It was expected that the current round of talks, which had begun last Friday, 6 September, would continue until the end of this week. She said "they're moving along. So, let's not break up. What have the parties signed? They have signed agreements on human rights; the rights of indigenous peoples; socio-economic issues; and agrarian reform. What's left is an agreement on the reintegration of members of the URNG into civil society and, of course, the comprehensive peace agreement they have promised to sign before the end of the year. So, we're moving along on Guatemala."
Ms. Foa said the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Marrack Goulding, was in Islamabad, Pakistan, today. He was en route to Afghanistan for an official mission. Mr. Goulding would be travelling to a number of cities in Afghanistan to hold talks with different Afghan leaders. The purpose of his mission was to assess the prevailing political situation in Afghanistan and the prospects for a negotiated peace in that country. Mr. Goulding would meet with Norbert Heinrich Holl, the dynamic Head of the United Nations Special Mission for Afghanistan. Mr. Goulding was expected to return to New York on 19 September.
Also today, Chinmaya Gharekan, Special Political Adviser to the Secretary-General, would brief the Security Council on Angola, Somalia and Burundi, Ms. Foa said. It was also expected that he would address the situation in Cyprus, specifically the incident of 8 September, in which a Turkish Cypriot soldier was shot and another wounded. Both the Turkish Government and the Turkish Cypriot authorities had protested to the United Nations over that incident.
Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 10 September 1996
Following those briefings, the Council would take up the consideration of a draft presidential statement and a draft letter from the President of the Council to the Secretary-General, she said. Both the statement and the letter concerned the implementation of Security Council resolution 986 (1995).
With the a vote expected in the Assembly this afternoon, Ms. Foa said that "you are all going to have to do corrections on all of your stories today. There is more good news with one more country -- Bosnia and Herzegovina -- coming off the list of countries restricted under Article 19. They made a partial payment from a prior year of $235,644. So, they are off Article 19 and they will be able to vote again. Now, there are only 12 countries left under Article 19. So there are 173 countries who are eligible to vote in the General Assembly; 173 up from 172."
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was contacted this morning for news from northern Iraq, Ms. Foa continued. The UNHCR estimated that approximately 75,000 people had left Sulaimaniya and were heading toward the Iranian border. The UNHCR said that numbers were "really, really iffy and it was almost impossible to do an accurate count". Also, UNHCR estimated that between 10,000 and 20,000 people had reached the border early this morning. However, now it appeared that some of those people were turning back towards Sulaimaniya. It was obviously a very fluid situation.
The Spokesman said the UNHCR had a team which had been sent from Sulaimaniya to the border to attempt to determine what the current needs were. The UNHCR said they had held talks with Iranian Government officials in Geneva and in the Iranian capital. The UNHCR said those talks were very successful and that Iran has told UNHCR that it was prepared to accept and help refugees, if needed. Yesterday, there had been some reports estimating that up to 80 per cent of the inhabitants of Sulaimaniya -- meaning hundreds of thousands of people -- had left the city. If that estimate was true, most people seemed to have gone to villages nearby where they had family or friends. "We'll see if they start going home soon", Ms. Foa said.
Regarding Angola, Ms. Foa reminded correspondents that Jonas Savimbi, the leader of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), had met with the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Angola, Alioune Blondin Beye, on 5 September. During that meeting, Mr. Savimbi had promised that five UNITA generals would join the staff of the Angolan Armed Forces. The five UNITA generals had arrived in Luanda yesterday to join the General Staff of the Angolan Armed Forces. Among them was General Ben Ben, who had served as Chief of Staff and the most senior military leader of UNITA. He was to assume the post of Deputy Chief of Staff of the Angolan Armed Forces. The arrival of General Ben Ben was a significant development. "To underline the significance of this, he arrived with his wife and two children. We consider it very, very encouraging that UNITA is going to fulfil its promises in regard to the integration of armed forces."
Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 10 September 1996
It had been announced earlier that the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia was expected to begin exhumation at a fourth mass grave site near Srebrenica, he said. That work had begun today. The grave was located at Pilice. The existence of the mass grave site was brought out in testimony provided to the Tribunal in The Hague by Drazen Erdemovic, a soldier in the Bosnian Serb army.
Regarding the future elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ms. Foa said that the Ministries of Interior for both the Federation and the Republika Srpska yesterday had finalized an agreement on security arrangements for the elections. Those agreements were reached following discussions with the United Nations International Police Task Force (IPTF), the multinational Implementation Force (IFOR) and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The agreement identified a series of "voter routes" which gave access to all municipalities which cross the Inter-Entity Boundary Lines. Demonstrations and gatherings along those routes would be prohibited on election day, 14 September. The OSCE, which would supervise the elections, would establish polling stations on the routes. Only vehicles equipped to carry eight or more passengers would be allowed to use the voter routes. Searches prior to crossing the Inter-Entity Boundary Lines would be allowed in the presence of the IPTF and IFOR. Weapons, banners, photographs and slogans would be removed. Only those individuals already indicted by the International Tribunal would be arrested for war crimes. Copies of the agreement were available in the Spokesman's office.
She said several countries had informed the Spokesman that they were interested in holding press conferences following the General Assembly decision regarding the draft resolution on the nuclear-test-ban treaty, possibly to be made today. Already, the Permanent Representative of Australia, Richard Butler, had scheduled a press conference following the conclusion of the Assembly plenary. It was expected that other countries would also hold press conferences. That information would be announced.
Tomorrow, at 11:20 a.m., there would be a press conference in room 226 sponsored by the Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, she said. The President of the Republic of Montenegro, Momir Bulatovic, would speak on the situation in the former Yugoslavia, particularly on the issue of the Prevlaka peninsula. "So, it's Prevlaka tomorrow at 11:20 in 226." At 3 p.m. tomorrow, Pierre Mauroy, President of the Socialist International, and Luis Ayala, Secretary-General of the Socialist International, would brief the press on the outcome of the Twentieth Congress being held at Headquarters.
A correspondent asked if Massoud Barzani, the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, had sent a letter to the Steering Committee on the Implementation of Security Council resolution 986 (1995). Ms. Foa said she had not heard of such a letter being sent to the Steering Committee. Replying to a question on yesterday's meeting of the Steering Committee, Ms. Foa said the Committee was reviewing the current state of United Nations preparations regarding the implementation of that resolution.
Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 10 September 1996
She added that besides the deployment of oil inspectors and goods inspectors, which had been delayed until the security situation in Iraq stabilized, there were many technical aspects of the "oil-for-food" agreement which needed to be addressed. For example, work was still ongoing on the pricing formula and that seemed to be on track and moving along quite well. Also, the Committee was still working on the bank contract relating to the account to be established. That issue was taking a bit longer than had been expected. "But again, we are moving along. There are no snags; nothing really serious is holding us up. The contract is hundreds and hundreds of pages long and if you give lawyers something that is hundreds of pages long, it does not get done in an hour. There still are technical matters that can be addressed while we watch the security situation."
Asked by a correspondent if the Socialist International was paying the United Nations for holding its Congress at Headquarters, Ms. Foa said that it was and that $75,000 had been put into a bank account "up front" to pay the bills. The Socialist International was paying for everything, as did other organizations that used the premises of the United Nations. "You could have a bar mitzvah here", Ms. Foa said.
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