DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19970103
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Fred Eckhard, Acting Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan, began today's noon briefing by informing correspondents that the Secretary-General was finalizing letters to senior staff members at the Secretariat announcing new procedures to empower the heads of substantive departments. The procedures related to access to the Secretary-General, access to meetings the Secretary-General convened with others and briefings of the Security Council. Mr. Eckhard said that correspondents would be informed of the details of those procedures after the letters had been sent to the relevant personnel, either later today or Monday. On other matters, Mr. Eckhard said that the inter-Tajik talks between the Government of Tajikistan and opposition forces would resume in Tehran on Monday, 6 January. They would focus on the composition of the Commission on National Reconciliation. The Secretary-General's Special Representative and Head of Mission of the United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan (UNMOT), Gerd Merrem, would be present. He then informed correspondents of a number of documents that were available today. Among them was the Secretary-General's report on the United Nations Mission of Observers in Prevlaka (UNMOP) (document S/1996/1075). The report recommended the extension of the Mission's mandate for six months after the current mandate expired on 15 January. Another document issued today was a letter from the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 748 (1992) concerning Libya, which reported on that Committee's activities on the implementation of sanctions against Libya during 1996 (document S/1996/1079). The Committee had approved 63 emergency MEDEVAC flights (medical evacuation by air) during the year -- 21 more than in 1995 -- and 45 round-trip flights to transport Libyan pilgrims to perform the Hajj. Mr. Eckhard said that a letter from the Security Council established pursuant to resolution 985 (1995) concerning Liberia had also been issued. That committee had reported that no violations of the arms embargo on Liberia had been reported to it to date. The Acting Spokesman then announced that the President of the Security Council for the month of January Hisashi Owada (Japan) was holding bilateral consultations with Council members today. As was customary at the beginning of the year, the Council would elect the chairmen and vice-chairmen of its various sanctions committees. Six such committees presently existed and concerned Iraq, established pursuant to resolution 661 (1990); Libya, established pursuant to resolution 748 (1992); Somalia, established pursuant
Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 3 January 1997
to resolution 751 (1992); Angola, established pursuant to resolution 864 (1993); Rwanda, established pursuant to resolution 918 (1994); and Liberia, established pursuant to resolution 985 (1992). The sanctions committee concerning Yugoslavia -- established pursuant to resolution 724 (1991) -- had completed its work last November and had been dissolved. Reporting on developments related to the peace process in Guatemala, Mr. Eckhard said that the Permanent Representative of Guatemala, Julio Armando Martini Herrera, was meeting today with the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Marrack Goulding. In addition, the "Friends of the Guatemalan Peace Process" (Colombia, Mexico, Norway, Spain, United States and Venezuela) were meeting with the Permanent Representative of China on related matters. Security Council action on the matter was expected to get under way next week. Correspondents were then informed that today's schedule of the Secretary-General's appointments was available. At 11 a.m., he had met with the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Italy, Senator Giangiacomo Migone. At noon, he met with the Permanent Representative of France, Alain Dejammet. This afternoon, he would meet with the Permanent Representative of Cote d'Ivoire, Jean-Marie Kacou Gervais, and at 4 p.m. he would meet with the Permanent Representative of Angola, Afonso Van Dunem "Mbinda". Regarding Member States' payments of their assessments for 1997, Mr. Eckhard announced that Finland had become the second Member State (after the Federated States of Micronesia) to pay its contribution in full for 1997, in the amount of approximately $6.6 million. A correspondent asked whether the Secretary-General was considering the appointment of women at higher levels in the Organization. Mr. Eckhard said gender equality at the senior levels of staff was one of the Secretary- General's goals. Although it would not be possible to attain it immediately, all senior positions were being reviewed with that in mind. Asked if any complaints had been made to the Secretariat following the arrest of two diplomats by the New York City Police, Mr. Eckhard said that the incident had not been brought to the Secretary-General's attention. It was a matter to be resolved by the Government of the host country and the Governments of the concerned diplomats. The United States' State Department would be the body to deal with the situation. When asked for details about the procedures that would be announced in the letters to the heads of departments in the Secretariat, Mr. Eckhard said he was not able to share the information until the letters were sent to the relevant personnel. He would brief correspondents later today on the specific aspects of those procedures, if the letters went out today. Asked if the procedures would include access of the media to the Secretary-General, Mr. Eckhard said media access would be dealt with separately. He reminded correspondents that the Secretary-General had said that he intended to be more open to the media and to spend more time with them. However, as the new procedures were implemented, the Secretariat "would breathe with information" that would benefit correspondents as well.
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