DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19970113
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Fred Eckhard, Acting Spokesman for the Secretary-General, began today's press briefing by announcing that it was beginning late because a letter bomb fitting the description of others that had come into the United States over the past week was discovered this morning at Headquarters. It was addressed to the newspaper Al-Hayat, whose London office had apparently been subject to a letter bomb explosion this morning. As a result of the London incident, United Nations security was on alert and had added officers to the detail that routinely carried a certain amount of screening of mail entering the Building.
Mr. Eckhard said the letter had come in through the mail distribution centre located in the basement of the Secretariat Building and made it up to a secondary distribution point on the second floor, where a security officer spotted it. Upon examination, the officer felt there were grounds to call in the New York City Police bomb squad, and that was done. The bomb squad brought fairly sophisticated equipment for x-raying and otherwise analysing the piece, and confirmed that it was a live bomb. Parts of the second and third floors were then evacuated, and the New York City police did their work.
He then read out the following statement attributable to the Acting Spokesman for the Secretary-General: "Today's bomb threat at the United Nations, aimed at the office of the Al-Hayat newspaper, is a reminder of the dangerous conditions under which many journalists must work. The Secretary-General unreservedly condemns this cowardly act, which is an assault on the United Nations itself, and on the principle of free expression for which the United Nations stands."
Drawing attention to an incident in Burundi, in which refugees returning from the United Republic of Tanzania had been attacked by soldiers, leaving 122 dead, Mr. Eckhard read out the following statement also attributable to the Acting Spokesman for the Secretary-General:
"The Secretary-General was shocked to learn of another massacre by the Burundi Army, on 10 January, of 122 Burundi refugees returning from the United Republic of Tanzania, in the province of Muyinga.
"The Secretary-General requested the Department of Political Affairs to contact the Permanent Representative of Burundi to convey his deepest concern over this incident. While he welcomes the fact that the authorities in Bujumbura seem to have taken action against some of the perpetrators of this latest killing, the Secretary-General strongly urges the authorities to ensure that the rule of law is scrupulously followed and to prevent further massacres by the Army.
"This latest tragedy underscores the pressing need for an immediate cease-fire, followed by negotiations among all the interested parties, to restore peace in Burundi. The Secretary-General strongly urges the parties to sit at the negotiating table in order to put an end to this abhorrent cycle of violence, whose first victims are the innocent civilian population." (See today's Press Release SG/SM/6142.)
Mr. Eckhard said a schedule of trial dates for the Arusha Tribunal was available in the Spokesman's Office. Also available on the third floor was the unedited text of a report on the "State of the World Economy 1997" prepared by the Department of Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis for the organizational session of the Economic and Social Council, to be held in February.
The Secretary-General's appointments were available at the side of the briefing room, he added.
What happened to the second alleged suspicious device? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said that, as far as he knew, there was only one confirmed live letter-bomb, which was removed from the second floor about 1:15 p.m. Asked about the status of that device, he said it was his understanding that the New York City police wanted to detonate the bomb on the premises and had taken it to the basement to do so. However, there might have been a last-minute change in those plans.
Do you know if it was detonated yet? another correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said he did not know. Asked about the postmark on the letter, he said he did not know that either; it was addressed to Al-Hayat.
Asked if the United Nations was concerned that the letter had made it through the main mail-sorting area in the basement to the second floor, where it would have been distributed this afternoon to correspondents, Mr. Eckhard said that it was concerned. "Any institution is vulnerable to terrorist attack, and I think we're lucky to have found it on the second floor", he added. "It was just a greeting-card sized envelope, a plain white envelop addressed to Al-Hayat. It was a security guard's instincts, coupled with the events in London this morning, that led him to question that one envelope."
Asked if that security guard would be commended or rewarded in any way, Mr. Eckhard said he was sure the officer's chief would pat him on the back for doing a good job. In response to another question, he said he did not have that officer's name at present. Asked if the letter had been addressed only to Al-Hayat or to the newspaper's United Nations correspondent Raghida Dergham, he said it was his understanding that the letter was addressed to Al-Hayat and not to an individual.
What was the nature of the security that had been imposed over the past week or so because of the letter-bomb threat? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said security was attempting to screen the mail coming into the Building. That did not mean every letter, but there was spot-screening, aimed at looking at as many pieces of mail as possible. "Additional officers were put on this detail this morning because of the incident in London, and it paid off", he said.
Asked if he knew the last time the United Nations or a United Nations correspondent had received such a device, Mr. Eckhard said there had been threats, but he was not aware of an actual live bomb having made it into the Building before. Asked how many people had been evacuated from their offices, he said there were dozens, at a minimum. Not all of the third floor had been evacuated, but only the portion above the second-floor distribution centre.
How much can you tell us about how things get screened? a correspondent asked. Was it done by the human eye, or was there some machine involved? Mr. Eckhard said the United Nations did not have the sophisticated equipment needed to detect a bomb such as the one found this morning, and so had been unable to confirm that the suspicious letter was actually a bomb. The Organization had, therefore, relied on the New York City bomb squad to come in with that equipment.
A correspondent asked whether the United Nations was lacking such modern equipment because of its financial situation, or it was a matter of policy "to send it to the cops". Mr. Eckhard said the United Nations was "behind the curve" with respect to such state-of-the-art equipment, which cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. It was just not something which the United Nations had been able to purchase for itself.
Asked how many letters came into the building each day, Mr. Eckhard said he did not know, but would have to assume it would be in the thousands.
At what time was the bomb discovered, and when was it removed from the second floor? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said it had been removed around 1:15 p.m. It was found mid-morning; the security alert was at around 11 a.m. Asked how many minutes later than that would it have been distributed to the correspondent, he said he did not know.
Asked whether the bomb had yet been detonated, Mr. Eckhard said the security officer at the back of the briefing room was signalling him that it had been detonated in the Building. Asked where, he said it was to have been detonated in the garage.
"Can you describe what the bomb was made of"? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said he could not, except that it was a greeting-card sized envelope. Asked about specifics, he said he did not believe it was a timing device, but that was all he knew at present.
"Would it have gone off if somebody opened it"? another asked. Mr. Eckhard said it was his understanding that it was the type of bomb that would explode on being opened and did not have a timing device. Asked where the letter had originated, Mr. Eckhard said he did not know.
A correspondent asked whether someone from security could brief correspondents to flesh out the details from a security point of view. After asking the security officer who was present, Mr. Eckhard said they would try to organize such a briefing within an hour. [It was later announced that the Chief of Security would brief correspondents at 3 p.m. in room 226.]
Asked about the newspaper in question, Mr. Eckhard said it was Al-Hayat, a Middle East newspaper based in London. Were there any casualties in the London bombing? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said he was aware of press reports on two injured, but he could not confirm them.
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