DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19970121
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Fred Eckhard, Acting Spokesman for the Secretary-General, began today's noon briefing by announcing that Secretary-General Kofi Annan had briefed the Security Council on the situation in the Great Lakes region of Africa. He had expressed his grave preoccupation with the problems there: the prospects of a Zairian Government counter-offensive against rebels in the eastern part of the country; incipient war in Burundi; the dangers of delivering aid to Rwanda; and the hundreds of thousands of wandering refugees in eastern Zaire.
Secretary-General Annan, Mr. Eckhard continued, had told the Council that he had agreed with the Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), Salim Ahmed Salim, on the naming of a joint, United Nations/OAU Special Representative who would live in the region. Mr. Annan had mentioned the name of someone with whom he had been discussing the matter. But the person's name would be withheld until the Secretary-General had met with him in New York.
Continuing, Mr. Eckhard said the Secretary-General had consulted by phone since the weekend with the region's Heads of State and Foreign Ministers who shared his concerns about the worsening situation and he had told the Council that he would submit his proposals for the region by tomorrow.
Turning to the Secretary-General's trip to Washington, D.C., Mr. Eckhard said Mr. Annan would go there tomorrow. He then read from the Secretary- General's itinerary.
The Secretary-General, he said, would meet tomorrow afternoon with members of the Minnesota delegation of the United States Congress, visit United Nations offices, attend a reception hosted by Vice-President Albert Gore and have a private dinner with Congressmen Tom Lantos, Democrat of California, and Bill Richardson, Democrat of New Mexico. Mr. Richardson has been nominated as the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations, he added.
On Thursday, Mr. Eckhard continued, Mr. Annan would have a breakfast meeting with the Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Cesar Gaviria, and hold a meeting at the Department of State with the new Secretary of State, Madeleine K. Albright, if she was confirmed by then. A meeting with the Editorial Board of The Washington Post would be the next item on the Secretary-General's itinerary, after which he would meet with President William J. Clinton. Other activities included: lunch with the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, Samuel Berger; a private meeting with Senator Jesse Helms, Republican of North Carolina and Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; a meeting with other
members of that Committee; a reception by the United Nations Association of the United States (UNA-USA); and a private dinner hosted by the President of the World Bank, James D. Wolfensohn.
The Secretary-General would begin work on Friday with a breakfast with the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Michel Camdessus, Mr. Eckhard continued. Mr. Annan would then meet with the Senate Majority Leader, Senator Trent Lott, Republican of Mississippi, and with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich. Meetings with the Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, Congressman Robert L. Livingston, Republican of Louisiana, the Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Ted Stevens, Republican of Alaska, would follow at 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m., respectively.
The Secretary-General would address a National Press Club luncheon at noon and meet, later, with Ambassador David Birenbaum, Mr. Eckhard said, adding that a former United States delegate to the United Nations, Mr. Birenbaum, currently headed the Emergency Coalition for United States Financial Support of the United Nations. Finally, the Secretary-General would conclude his trip with a meeting with African ambassadors, hosted by the Dean of the African Diplomatic Corps in Washington, D.C., Roble Olhaye (Djibouti).
Turning to the just-approved mission of 155 military observers to Guatemala, Mr. Eckhard said the Department of Peace-keeping Operations had sent formal letters to 27 countries, asking for troops that would be deployed adjacent to eight assembly points for the Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG), as part of the Guatemalan peace agreement. Based on preliminary soundings, the Department expected little trouble in raising the required number of observers who could be deployed by early to mid-February.
On Liberia, Mr. Eckhard told correspondents that Assistant Secretary- General for Political Affairs Lansana Kouyate was concluding two days of meetings today with that country's leaders. Mr. Kouyate was soliciting the leaders' reactions to the United Nations proposals for monitoring Liberia's elections, which would be used to refine the United Nations proposals. The recommendations would later be presented to the leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the organization that had a peace- keeping operation in Liberia. "It is hoped that the package will be accepted by all parties by mid-February", he said.
Mr. Eckhard then informed the media representatives that the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Compensation Commission, Carlos Alzamora, would show a videotape documentary on the Commission's work on the "oil-for- food" formula in Iraq. The documentary would be shown to the Security Council tomorrow and to reporters immediately thereafter. The specific time for the screening would be announced later.
Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 21 January 1997
The Conference on Disarmament -- the world's only multilateral disarmament negotiating forum -- had opened its annual meeting today in Geneva, Mr. Eckhard said. A press release related to the opening of the Conference's 1997 session was available in the Spokesman office.
Turning to some of the Secretary-General's appointments for today, already distributed in writing, the Acting Spokesman drew correspondents' attention to the fact that Mr. Annan had met with the Asian Group of States, after speaking to the Security Council. Coupled with the fact that Mr. Annan had met with the African Group yesterday, he had now met with four of the five regional groups in the United Nations, as part of his wide-ranging consultations on the issues facing the Organization. The Secretary-General would hold further consultations during his working lunch with the President of the General Assembly, Razali Ismail (Malaysia), and 10 other ambassadors.
In a subsequent question-and-answer session, Mr. Eckhard was asked for the names of the countries that had been asked to contribute military observers for Guatemala. Responding, he said the United Nations did not name potential troop contributors. Their names were divulged only after the package of troops had been completed.
Asked whether the Member States of the Non-Aligned Movement had threatened not to negotiate on any issue at the Conference on Disarmament until the nuclear-weapon States had presented a disarmament plan, Mr. Eckhard said he had little substance on the Conference. However, since the Secretary- General would be going to Geneva at the end of next week, the text of his speech to the Conference and a briefing on disarmament could be arranged for reporters, if they so desired. Should correspondents request it, he would recommend that they be given a briefing by the Director of the Centre for Disarmament Affairs, Prvoslav Davinic, "who is the best-informed".
In response to a question as to why the Secretary-General would be visiting the Minnesota delegation, Mr. Eckhard said: "He went to Macalester College and he has a fan club in Minnesota, so to speak." Moreover, Senator Rod Grams, Republican of Minnesota, was a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and was also expected to chair a key subcommittee of that Committee. "So, it won't just all be talking about Minnesota and the good old days of Macalester College", he added.
Asked what form the Secretary-General's proposals on the Great Lakes region would take and how it would differ from his briefing to the Council today, Mr. Eckhard said the proposals would take the form of a note from the Secretary-General. As for today's meeting with the Council, the Secretary- General had broached the name of a joint United Nations/OAU Special Representative, to whom some Council members had responded positively. He had also provided them information on where the Special Representative and his sub-offices would be based, all of which would be contained in the written proposal.
Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 21 January 1997
Replying to a question as to whether the Secretary-General saw the situation in Sudan as a threat to regional peace and security or as an internal matter, Mr. Eckhard said that, since the Council had been asking the Secretariat for information, its members must have seen the situation as a potential threat to peace and security. However, since it lacked "eyes and ears" in the Sudan, the Secretariat did not have valid, first-hand information it could present to the Council. Pressed about placing "eyes and ears" in the area, he said he would seek guidance on that matter and report back to correspondents.
Asked for the Secretary-General's view on the opening of a human rights office in Kosovo and on the situation in that region, Mr. Eckhard reiterated the announcement he made yesterday on the office. He said the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the former Yugoslavia, Elisabeth Rehn, felt that it would be useful to have more first-hand knowledge of the human rights situation in Kosovo, a view shared by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Jose Ayala-Lasso. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) would have to approve the opening of the office.
In response to a question as to whether the United Nations was concerned that Zaire's Government was preparing to counter-attack rebels in its eastern region, Mr. Eckhard said: "That's the Secretary-General's feeling. That's one of the reasons why he is so concerned about the region". Facts about the counter-offensive had been gleaned from press reports and United Nations personnel while Zaire's Prime Minister, Leon Lobitsch Kengo wa Dendo, had made a statement to that effect yesterday. "So, its a matter of very great concern", he concluded.
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