DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19960911
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Sylvana Foa, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, began today's noon briefing by saying that the Secretary-General had a full day.
This morning he had met with the President of Montenegro, Momir Bulatovic. He had also met with the Permanent Representative of Bangladesh, Reaz Rahman, who was paying him a farewell call. "We're sad to see Ambassador Rahman go", Ms. Foa said. The Secretary-General had then met with Abdelaziz Ben Dhai, Secretary-General of the Rassemblement Constitutionelle Democratique of Tunisia, who was heading a delegation of political parties from Tunisia. At the time of the briefing, the Secretary-General was meeting with Their Majesties King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden. The Secretary- General would later have lunch with the King and Queen.
This afternoon, the Secretary-General would meet with Maurice Strong, member of the High-level Advisory Board on Sustainable Development. At 5 p.m., he would meet with the Permanent Representative of Burundi, Nsanze Terence, to discuss the deteriorating situation in Burundi. He would meet at 5:30 p.m. with the Prime Minister of Yemen, Abdulaziz Abdul Ghani, to discuss matters relating to the Hannish islands.
Yesterday was a big day at the United Nations, Ms. Foa continued. The Secretary-General was delighted with the news of the adoption yesterday of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty by the General Assembly. In a statement issued yesterday, the Secretary-General said that "the prohibition of nuclear- weapon tests is an important first step towards nuclear disarmament and the future elimination of all nuclear weapons from the face of the earth". (See Press Release SG/SM/6048-DCF/279.) The Secretary-General called for the speedy ratification of the Treaty so that "our children and grandchildren can grow up without the threat of nuclear-weapon proliferation". "We've come a very long way since the partial test-ban treaty of 1963", Ms. Foa said. "But, we have a very long road ahead before we are no longer haunted by the spectre of nuclear war."
A date had not yet been set for opening the Treaty for signature, the Spokesman said. That matter was currently under discussion and it was hoped a decision would be reached by the end of the week.
In regard to the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention -- also known as the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpile and Use of Chemical Weapons and Their Destruction -- Portugal had become the sixty-third nation to ratify that Convention. Only two more countries needed to ratify the Convention. It would enter into force 180 days after the sixth- fifth country ratified. "Only two more. Come on ... there are two countries out there that can do it", Ms. Foa said. "That treaty took more than a decade to negotiate and it has been open for signature since January 1993. It just
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goes to show how long these things can take."
Continuing, the Spokesman said a report had been received from United Nations security personnel in northern Iraq. At approximately 2:10 p.m. local time today, nine United Nations staff members and United Nations guards had been driving from Sulaimaniya towards the northern Iraqi border with Iran. Among the group were five United Nations guards, one staff member from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), one staff member from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and two staff members from the World Food Programme (WFP). That group was attempting to assess the situation of displaced persons in the region and to see what supplies were needed. It was still difficult to accurately assess the number of people along the border, which was very mountainous and which had many small crossing points.
As the nine United Nations personnel had neared the border, they had been surrounded by a group of people who were very angry over what they perceived to be a lack of United Nations intervention in the recent crisis in Iraq. "Those people began hurling insults at the United Nations personnel", Ms. Foa said, adding that it was something the United Nations is quite used to, not only in northern Iraq. An unpleasant shouting match ensued. The United Nations guards radioed back to their base and an additional contingent of United Nations guards was dispatched to the scene. They were able to calm the people and the United Nations personnel returned to Sulaimaniya at about 4 p.m., local time. There was no hostage-taking situation; it was simply a very unpleasant shouting match."
News had also been received from United Nations people in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, she said. Evidently, there were 15 United Nations international staff in the city, 13 of them men. They were all safe. They had sent in a radio report stating that there was no electricity and the phones were not working, but morale was fine and they were well-equipped with flashlights. The Jalalabad airport appeared to be closed, as were all road routes into the city. A large number of displaced persons in and around Jalalabad were being cared for by the United Nations. Those internally displaced are people who had fled fighting in other parts of Afghanistan.
As had been announced, the Secretary-General had met yesterday with the Ambassador of the Sudan to the United States, Ibrahim Al Mahdi. During that meeting, convened at the Ambassador's request, they had reviewed the situation in the Sudan. The Secretary-General urged the Government of Sudan to cooperate with the humanitarian mission of Operation Lifeline Sudan, set up by the United Nations. The Secretary-General stressed the importance of abstaining from any actions which might hinder the work of Operation Lifeline Sudan.
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The Department of Humanitarian Affairs announced that the United Nations had not received enough money to support programmes in Sierra Leone. The Department had issued an appeal for another $28 million to meet the needs of approximately 1.6 million people until February 1997. Most of those people had been displaced by the recent conflict in Sierra Leone. As stability had return to the area following the elections, the United Nations was better able to assist people. "Now", Ms. Foa said, "let's get them out of the rut they're in and back on the road to recovery. So, only $28 million is needed. Not much. A collection will be taken up after the briefing."
It was true that the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Cyprus, Han Sung-Joo, had arrived in Cyprus yesterday. He would be meeting with the leaders of both the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities. He would spend several days in Cyprus and then travel to Athens and Ankara for meetings with Greek and Turkish government officials. Mr. Han was expected to return to Headquarters on Monday, 23 September. This represented Mr. Han's second visit to the region in the last two months, the first being at the end of June.
The Secretary-General's Special Representative for Burundi, Marc Faguy, was at Headquarters for consultations. "We are looking for him", Ms. Foa said. "We have a search party out. If we can capture him for a press conference tomorrow, we will."
The Security Council would be taking up a number of reports today. It would consider a draft presidential statement and a letter to the Secretary- General from the Council President, concerning the implementation of Security Council resolution 986 (1995), on "oil-for-food". The Council would also take up the progress report of the Secretary-General on Western Sahara, the report on the situation of human rights in Croatia and the report of the Secretary- General on the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES).
The Spokesman's office had compiled a update on the status of the United Nations Compensation Commission, established under Security Council resolution 687 (1991) to administer a fund to compensate those adversely affected by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Currently, the Commission had received 2.6 million claims totalling approximately $200 billion. Of those claims, 2.4 million were individual claims, which were being given priority for humanitarian reasons. So far, awards amounting to $3.7 billion had been approved. The claims had come from 89 countries. Kuwait's claim -- just over $100 billion - - was the largest. The full update was available in the Spokesman's office. The Spokesman said that the workings of the Compensation Commission were of particular importance as the implementation of resolution 986 (1995) neared.
Reviewing forthcoming press conferences, Ms. Foa said "press conferences will be held every five minutes for the next few weeks". Today, at 3 p.m, the
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Socialist International would hold a press conference in Conference Room 3 to review the outcome of its Twentieth Congress. At 4:30 p.m. today, the Permanent Representative of India, Prakash Shah, would hold a press conference in room 226 to discuss the General Assembly's adoption of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. Tomorrow at 1 p.m., the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for the Elaboration of an International Convention to Combat Desertification, Bo Kjellen, would hold a press conference. That press conference would be held in room 226 and Ambassador Kjellen would be joined by the Executive Secretary of the Interim Secretariat of the Convention, Hama Arba Diallo.
The President of the General Assembly, Diogo Freitas do Amaral, had scheduled a press conference for Monday, 16 September, at 11 a.m. in room 226.
A correspondent asked for information on the reported disappearance of the Archbishop of Bujumbura. Ms. Foa said that beyond press reports, she had received no information.
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