DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19961217
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Sylvana Foa, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, told correspondents at today's noon briefing that he had learned this morning with shock of the attack on seven members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) who were working near Grozny in the Republic of Chechnya of the Russian Federation. "I condemn this act of violence upon people who sought only to alleviate suffering and protect the vulnerable. I offer my most sincere condolences to the families and governments of those who were killed and wounded in this savage attack", the Secretary-General said.
Ms. Foa said the Secretary-General would also send a cable of condolences to the ICRC in Geneva. Six Red Cross workers -- five of them women -- "were cold-bloodedly murdered in their beds". A seventh was injured, she added.
This morning at 10:30 a.m., the Secretary-General had met with members of the Security Council at their request and they had presented him with a really beautiful present -- a scroll inscribed with resolution 1091 (1996). The resolution expresses deep appreciation to the Secretary-General for his dedication to the purposes and principles inscribed in the United Nations Charter, Ms. Foa said.
At 11 a.m., he met with the Group of Arab States who expressed their gratitude to the Secretary-General for his work, and he expressed gratitude to them for their support. At the time of the briefing, he was meeting with the African Group. At 3 p.m., the Secretary-General would address the General Assembly. It would be a "pretty hard-hitting speech" Ms. Foa said and urged correspondents to read it. (See Press Release SG/SM/6133.)
As of 12:30, local time, the total number of arrivals in Rwanda from Tanzania today was 45,766, Ms. Foa said. The rate of influx was 100 persons per minute, or about 6,000 an hour. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the current rate of entry was expected to continue throughout the day. Since 14 December, when the massive exodus back to Rwanda began, the refugees who had returned numbered some 182,770.
United Nations field workers had described the influx as "smooth and orderly", she said. The 18 kilometres of road from the Tanzanian border into Rwanda was jammed with people. They were using 177 trucks to transport old people, children, other vulnerable people and returnees whose villages or communes were far from the border. Registration was already under way in the communes and water points had been set up every five kilometres along the road. The World Food Programme (WFP) had reported that high energy biscuits
were being distributed along the road. Full rations were not being distributed along the road so that people did not stop and build fires to cook. However, the WFP was beginning to distribute food in the different provinces today and would reach an estimated 100,000 people very quickly. "Things are going quite well", Ms. Foa added.
On Sunday, there was another serious incident involving the security of United Nations observers in Tajikistan. At around 3:30 p.m. a United Nations convoy travelling between Dushambe and Garm, carrying six military observers, one interpreter, the Deputy Minister of the Interior of Tajikistan, two members of the Joint Commission and a British journalist were stopped at a check point in a place near Saripul. The first three vehicles passed the check point, but the last two were stopped and the occupants were subjected to "blatant physical and verbal abuse" by government soldiers. Four of the United Nations military observers and the British journalist were ordered out of the vehicle and were lined up for "execution". The local commander fired shots around them to scare them. Their communications equipment was taken. But when another vehicle strayed into the area, the soldiers were diverted and when they fired on it and chased it "our guys jumped into their vehicles" and escaped, Ms. Foa added.
The United Nations condemned the incident in the strongest possible terms, and the United Nations mission of observers in Tajikistan was suspending any further deployment of military observer teams until further notice, Ms. Foa continued. Another accord had just been signed restoring the cease-fire.
Meanwhile, the Moscow meeting between the President of Tajikistan, President Rakhmonov and opposition leader Dr. Nuri was scheduled to take place in order to sign the cease-fire and the other accords, she added.
The Secretary-General had transmitted to the Security Council two letters from the President of Sierra Leone and the leader of the Revolutionary United Front requesting the United Nations to provide, in accordance with the terms of the peace agreement, neutral international observers to monitor the peace in the country. The United Nations would shortly send a technical team to assess the needs of such a mission and the Secretary-General was waiting for the concurrence of the Security Council for the assessment mission. The Council was preparing a response this morning.
On Security Council resolution 986 (1995) relating to Iraqi oil sales, seven contracts had now been approved and none were pending, Ms. Foa said. In that regard, the WFP had asked for $54 million to feed hungry Iraqis until the oil-for-food formula was fully operational. It had received about 19 per cent of that amount to cover humanitarian needs in central and southern Iraq. The needs of the northern part of the country had been fully funded.
Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 17 December 1996
The coming winter was expected to be "incredibly harsh", Ms. Foa continued. The agency needed to feed 2.1 million Iraqis, including pregnant women, children under 5 years of age, the destitute, homeless and refugees. But it only had enough money to feed about 700,000 people, she said.
The Council also took up the situation in Nagorny Karabakh and was briefed by the co-chairman of the Minsk Conference. It would also hold consultations on Cyprus and Croatia. The Council had decided to postpone discussions on resolution 661 which had been scheduled this afternoon because of events in the Assembly.
She said the Department of Peace-keeping Operations had just published its Year in Review which included a section on dispatches of personnel in the field and lots of interesting information on lessons learned. It was available at the documents counter.
Tomorrow at 11 a.m. the Secretary-General designate, Kofi Annan, would brief correspondents in room 226, Ms. Foa said, and reminded everyone to be on time or even half an hour early if they really wanted a seat. Only accredited correspondents would be allowed to attend the press conference.
On Thursday, at 11:30 in room 226, the Permanent Representative of Belarus, in his capacity as Chairman of the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), would hold a press conference.
A correspondent asked if Ms. Foa knew if any French would be getting high-level posts in the new administration. Ms. Foa replied that she did not know, but she had been asking about it, too. "Everyone's got a different story", she said, adding that she was sure nothing had been settled yet.
Samsiah Abdul-Majid, spokeswoman for General Assembly President Razali Ismail (Malaysia), said that by now most correspondents would have seen the draft resolutions that would be tabled this afternoon in the plenary regarding the appointment of Mr. Annan and the tribute to Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, copies of which had been made available through the Spokesman's office yesterday.
Draft resolution A/51/L.66 reads as follows:
"The General Assembly, having considered the recommendation contained in Security Council resolution 1090 (1996) of 13 December 1996, appoints Mr. Kofi Annan Secretary-General of the United Nations for a term of office beginning on 1 January 1997 and ending on 31 December 2001."
Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 17 December 1996
Draft resolution (A/51/L.67) on tribute to the Secretary-General states:
"The General Assembly,
"Welcoming Security Council resolution 1091 (1996) of 13 December 1996, acknowledging with deep gratitude the indefatigable efforts and dedicated service provided to the Organization during the past five years by Secretary- General Boutros Boutros-Ghali,
"Recognizing the high professional and personal qualities he brought to the performance of his duties and responsibilities,
"Places on special record the many achievements -- political, diplomatic, organizational, as well as reforms -- of Secretary-General Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali in leading the Organization during a period of profound change in international relations;
"Appreciates deeply the contributions of the Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali to international peace and security and development, his services in the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all and his commitment towards a just and peaceful world."
The programme (revision 2) for agenda item 16 -- the appointment of the Secretary-General -- was also available in the Spokesman's office.
Ms. Majid said the Assembly had a great deal on its plate, and was trying to finish all of its work today. This morning it had adopted a draft resolution on the report of the Security Council by a vote of 111 in favour to 4 against with 41 abstentions. The text concerns the reporting of the Council to the Assembly and it identified a number of measures. For example, it encourages the Council to provide a substantial, analytical account of its work in a timely manner and suggests measures on the report's content. The text was sponsored by Colombia on behalf of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries.
Another draft resolution on emergency assistance to Sudan calls on the international community to contribute generously to emergency needs, recovery and development in that country. It also calls on the donor community and United Nations organizations to provide financial, technical and medical assistance, and urges the international community to support rehabilitation and resettlement programmes for returnees. It urges parties to the conflict to stop using land-mines. A two-part draft resolution on Afghanistan (A/51/L.49) calls on leaders there to emphasize national reconciliation. All parties are urged not to hamper humanitarian deliveries. The text appeals urgently for continued assistance to restore basic services as well as for reconstruction, and it denounces discrimination against women and girls, and other human rights violations.
Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 17 December 1996
The second part of the draft stresses that the Afghan parties are mainly responsible for finding political solutions to the conflict and calls on them to immediately end the fighting. The text also calls on the parties to cooperate with the United Nations Special Mission and asks the Secretary- General to authorize the Mission to continue facilitating national reconciliation. A series of measures that the Mission should take are identified in the text.
The Assembly was expected to adopt a resolution extending the mandate of the United Nations component of the International Civilian Mission to Haiti (MICIVIH) to 31 July 1997, as well as a text renewing the mandate of the United Nations Human Rights Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) in Guatemala until 31 March 1997.
The plenary would also probably take action on a number of draft resolutions from the Sixth Committee (Legal) this afternoon, including ones on land-mines and on the international criminal court. They had programme budget implications.
In reply to a question on whether the resolution on the appointment of the new Secretary-General would be adopted by secret ballot, Ms. Majid said it was expected to be adopted by acclamation since the general feeling in the house was that a candidate from the African region should serve the next five years as Secretary-General and an African had in fact been recommended.
In reply to another question, she said that she would make available a list of all the former General Assembly Presidents who would be attending the ceremony this afternoon.
Ms. Foa said there might be a surprise regarding the attendance of former Secretaries-General.
In reply to a question about Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali's immediate plans, Ms. Foa said he would first attend to a "huge mountain of papers" in New York and then go on to Cairo before taking a vacation.
Ms. Foa said there were many non-refundable airline tickets out there.
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