DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19970106
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Fred Eckhard, Acting Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan, told correspondents at today's noon briefing that two out of the three letters to senior staff members announcing new procedures to empower the heads of substantive departments went out late on the afternoon of Friday, 3 January. One letter concerned meetings between the Secretary-General and high-level officials and Mr. Eckhard said he would see if the text of the letter could be released. In essence, it said the Secretary-General's department would notify the heads of substantive departments of the meetings and they would be invited to attend and provide a note-taker. The Secretary-General's office would no longer provide note-takers.
Mr. Eckhard said the second letter concerned a cabinet style administration, by which the heads of departments would have primary responsibility for advising the Secretary-General on the formulation of relevant policies to be implemented under his guidance. They must ensure effective coordination among themselves. To that end, heads of departments would constitute a policy coordination group which would meet weekly and be chaired as much as possible by the Secretary-General. In his absence, the meetings would be chaired by the senior Under-Secretary-General present.
The Security Council held consultations this morning on its programme of work for January, Mr. Eckhard said. Tomorrow, the Council was expected to take up a draft resolution on Guatemala, which was circulating today. On Wednesday, it was expected to discuss the Great Lakes region of Africa and on Thursday the renewal of the mandate of the United Nations military observers in the Prevlaka Peninsula in Croatia. Also this morning, the Council's six sanctions committees met in Conference Room 7 to choose their chairmen for 1997.
In Liberia, 6,220 troops had been demobilized, including 1,828 child- soldiers and 24 women, Mr. Eckhard continued. The pace of demobilization continued to be disappointingly slow. A draft report on electoral assistance to Liberia was circulating at United Nations Headquarters for review.
Mr. Eckhard said, as announced in today's Journal, the Secretary-General would address the United Nations staff on the morning of Thursday, 9 January, and correspondents were invited to attend.
Referring to a question asked at Friday's briefing about an incident involving diplomats and New York City police, Mr. Eckhard said the Committee on Relations with the Host Country would meet at 3 p.m. Thursday, at the request of the Russian Federation. He believed it would be an open meeting.
According to a World Health Organization (WHO) report, military aircraft had bombed and rocketed targets in Kabul, Afghanistan, yesterday, killing a woman and three children and injuring a large number of people, Mr. Eckhard continued. The WHO office was hit during the attack and badly damaged. A national WHO staff member was injured, and two vehicles and medical supplies were also damaged.
Turning to the subject of Iraqi oil sales under the "oil-for-food" formula, Mr. Eckhard said that, as of this morning, 21 oil contracts had been approved.
In reply to several questions on how the senior Under Secretary-General at the cabinet-style meetings would be determined, Mr. Eckhard said that seniority was based on the length of service -- a bureaucratic convention for determining who was "first amongst equals" at a meeting of Under Secretaries- General.
A correspondent asked if the Secretary-General's meetings today with Under-Secretaries-General were the first of the cabinet-style department meetings. Mr. Eckhard replied that the Secretary-General had meetings today with various heads of departments on other matters and not as part of the new policy-making group. The Secretary-General had met this morning with senior members of the Secretariat to discuss reporting procedures to the Security Council. The third letter on the new administrative procedures would probably go out tomorrow and he would discuss that subject further when the letter was released.
In answer to a question on appointments to the Secretary-General's "inner circle", Mr. Eckhard said he did not expect any further announcements on the matter before the end of the month.
Continuing, Mr. Eckhard said an agreement was close between the Secretariat and the United States on a date for the Secretary-General's visit to Washington, D.C., and he expected to be able to announce it soon. It looked like the visit would take place before the end of January, he added.
Referring to the upcoming meeting of the Host Country Committee, a correspondent asked about the status of the Headquarters agreement on diplomatic immunities. Mr. Eckhard said he did not want to predict what would take place at the meeting, which had been called at the request of the Russian Federation. Diplomatic immunity for senior officials -- and he did not know if it applied to the individuals in the current case -- prevented them from being prosecuted in United States' courts.
In reply to a question about reports that the oil company Texaco had reduced the number of barrels of oil it intended to buy from Iraq, Mr. Eckhard
Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 6 January 1997
said he would check on how the amount of oil permitted to be sold under the oil-for-food formula was determined.
In answer to another correspondent's question, Mr. Eckhard said he did not have further details about the identity of the plane which attacked Kabul yesterday.
Other than cheques, what did the Secretary-General hope that United States Secretary of State Warren Christopher would bring to their upcoming meeting? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said, as it was their first meeting, he expected the two men to discuss a number of issues, as well as the Secretary-General's planned visit to Washington.
Did the United Nations have any contingency plans in the event that China continued its opposition to the military component of the United Nations Human Rights Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA)? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said that there were some high-level meetings taking place among members of the Security Council and it was an issue they would have to resolve among themselves.
A correspondent asked if Mr. Eckhard could again announce how the Secretary-General wanted his name pronounced. He replied that Kofi was pronounced like "Sophie". In Annan, the accent was on the first syllable.
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