DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19961119
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Sylvana Foa, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, began today's noon briefing by saying that there was some news from the Security Council. There was a vote, by secret ballot, on the "obscure mandate" renewal that she had discussed yesterday.
Despite rumours to the contrary, it was a secret ballot, she said. There were little, white ballot papers that indicated at the top, permanent or non-permanent member status, followed by yes, no, abstain. The permanent members got white papers that said they were a permanent member. So, their "no" was a definitive no. The vote was 14 to 1. The Secretary-General said that he was gratified, and really appreciated the overwhelming support of the Member States of the United Nations.
Continuing, she said that someone had told her this morning that when the score was 14 to 1 in a soccer game, the team with 14 could expect to win. Certainly, in any democratic process, a score of 14 to 1 was a rather conclusive vote. To a number of follow-up questions on the action of the Council, Ms. Foa said that the Secretary-General had said many times that he will be Secretary-General until the stroke of midnight on 31 December, unless the Security Council decided to bring him in for a second term.
Why did he want to be re-elected? a correspondent asked. The Secretary- General had spent a lot of his time working on the reform of the United Nations system, she said. That process was now gathering steam, with the first zero-growth budget in the history of the Organization, and with a serious downsizing of the bureaucracy -- "meaning, that we all have to work harder". Things were starting to happen, and he would like to see the process through.
Asked what has gone wrong between the Secretary-General and the United States, she suggested that the correspondent ask the United States Mission, adding "I have never understood it myself".
Another correspondent asked if, given that the Americans might favour someone outside of Africa if things failed to progress, the Secretary-General was willing to jeopardize that by sticking it out until the end. Ms. Foa said that the Secretary-General was in constant contact with the Africans, and they were the ones who had told him that they supported his candidacy.
Turning to a question about what came next, Ms. Foa said that the process was not being done out in the open, but behind closed doors. It was, therefore, very difficult for her to get information. But, she believed that a discussion on what would happen next was going to take place this afternoon.
Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 19 November 1996
The African group was meeting this afternoon. The members of the Security Council were all having lunch, since today was the monthly Security Council luncheon. It was hosted by the Indonesian Ambassador who was President of the Council, and the Secretary-General would, of course, be there. They might have a chance at the lunch to discuss the next step.
Turning to events in Afghanistan, Ms. Foa said there was a meeting yesterday of 19 Member States and the Organization of the Islamic Conference on the crisis there. The Secretary-General had said that the meeting sent a resounding message to the Afghan factions. The group of countries in attendance had included those with the greatest knowledge of, and influence in, Afghanistan. They all expressed their conviction that there was no military solution to the conflict there. They wanted an immediate cease-fire, and most of them said they wanted the demilitarization of Kabul. They also wanted the Afghan parties to join in a "genuine effort" to find a political settlement to the conflict.
The delegations said that the present situation could not be allowed to continue because of the intolerable suffering it imposed on the Afghan people, and because of the intolerable threat it presented to the region and the world, Ms. Foa continued. Those threats included regional destabilization, drugs, illegal arms flows and terrorism. The delegations indicated that they would use their influence with the various factions to persuade them to give up the military option and join in the common search for negotiated peace. They also showed a keen interest in collective action to curb or halt the flow of arms and ammunition into Afghanistan. Some suggested that the Wassenaar regime for the point of origin control of conventional weapons transfers would be useful. Others favoured a formal arms embargo by the Security Council.
"Michigan militia -- you can sleep easy. I want you to know that it is now official that the National Rifle Association (NRA) has gotten NGO (non- governmental organization) accreditation", she said. That meant that they had consultative status in the Economic and Social Council, permitting its representatives to participate in meetings of some of the subsidiary bodies of the Council, including various United Nations bodies dealing with disarmament.
She said that the NRA, in applying for that accreditation, had said that they hoped to make a valuable contribution to the safe and responsible use of firearms. Their interest in NGO accreditation was apparently sparked by a May 1995 report by an arm of the Council on civilian firearm ownership. They also said in an interview that the desire to attain such status was to discover precisely what the various United Nations Member States and United Nations Committees were contemplating, and to determine how the initiatives might impact on the rights of law-abiding Americans. "So, Michigan Militia -- don't worry. The NRA's in here."
In a quick note on Angola, Ms. Foa said that the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and the Angolan Government had a list of
Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 19 November 1996
outstanding tasks to be completed by 20 November. Those tasks included completion of the quartering of UNITA soldiers and police, the selection of UNITA soldiers for incorporation into a new Angolan army, dismantling of UNITA command posts, and so forth. The UNITA initially said it was ready to complete those tasks by last Friday, 15 November. But they were behind schedule. Now, they were saying they would complete those tasks by tomorrow. A joint commission composed of both parties and chaired by the United Nations Angola Verification Mission (UNAVEM) would meet on Thursday to discuss compliance with that timetable.
Samsiah Abdul-Majid, spokeswoman for General Assembly President Razali Ismail (Malaysia), said that the Assembly President had been informed by the Security Council President of the Council's decision regarding the appointment of the Secretary-General. The Assembly President said now that the first part of the process was over, it was up to the African States to respond. He believed that the integrity of the United Nations as a viable institution depended on orderly and constructive consideration of the issue of the appointment of the Secretary-General, where both the Security Council and the General Assembly fulfilled their roles.
This morning, the Assembly observed a minute of silence in memory of the Permanent Representative of Maldives to the United Nations, Ahmed Zaki, and to the President of the thirty-ninth session of the General Assembly, Paul Lusaka. Statements were made by the Secretary-General and by representatives of regional groups. The President, on behalf of the Assembly, expressed condolences to the Government of Maldives, the family of Ambassador Zaki, the Zambian delegation, and the family of Mr. Lusaka.
The plenary, this morning, also began considering the third annual report of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The President of the Tribunal made a statement, copies of which were available on the third floor. The Assembly would most likely meet this afternoon to consider items carried over from the morning -- situation in Central America and cooperation with the League of Arab States.
The report of the Secretary-General on the situation in Central America covered developments relating to progress achieved by Central American countries in the areas of peace, freedom, democracy and development since his last report on 3 October 1995. In the current report, the Secretary-General urged countries of Central America and the international community to remain fully engaged in the consolidation of peace throughout the region and expressed his readiness to play an active role.
The Assembly was also expected to adopt a draft resolution requesting the Secretary-General to continue his effort to strengthen cooperation and coordination between the United Nations and the League of Arab States. The draft notes the desire of both organizations to consolidate and enhance existing ties, including in the political, economic and social fields.
Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 19 November 1996
To a question directed to Ms. Foa about whether the Secretary-General would favour a decision by the African group to go to the Assembly to override Security Council vetoes, she said that was very hypothetical, adding "we are not at that point at all". It was not the first time that there had been a situation like this one.
Ms. Foa introduced the head of the Special Mission to Afghanistan, Norbert Heinrich Holl -- "the guy we've been hearing about; the guy who has more frequent flyer miles on airlines that don't give them, than anyone else in the UN system". (Press briefing of Mr. Holl issued separately.)
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