DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

4 February 1997

Press Briefing

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

19970204 FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY

Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, began today's noon briefing by informing correspondents that the Secretary-General was both shocked and dismayed by the news that four human rights observers in Rwanda had been killed and one wounded this morning. A United Nations staff member, a Cambodian United Nations volunteer and two local employees of the Human Rights Field Operation in Rwanda were killed in the apparent ambush. A third local employee survived gun wounds to the stomach.

Although complete details were not yet available, Mr. Eckhard said, the five human rights observers were travelling in a clearly marked United Nations vehicle when they were attacked. The Government of Rwanda made a helicopter available to a United Nations security official who travelled to the scene of the attack. The names of those killed were being withheld until their families were notified.

Continuing, Mr. Eckhard said that five United Nations military observers were taken hostage in Tajikistan today at approximately 3 p.m. local time. The observers included one from Austria, two from Switzerland, one from Ukraine and a Tajik interpreter. The observers were abducted by an armed group led by Rizvon Saidov while travelling in two vehicles between Garm and Dushanbe. Mr. Saidov's group was demanding safe and free passage of its members from Afghanistan into Tajikistan. The same group was also responsible for taking 22 persons hostage on 20 December 1996.

The United Nations had demanded the immediate release of the hostages, Mr. Eckhard said. The United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan (UNMOT) was in close contact with the Government of Tajikistan as well as with a representative of Commander Ahmad Shah Masoud of Afghanistan. Commander Masoud helped to gain the release of hostages in December. The mission was also maintaining radio contact with Mr. Saidov's group.

Mr. Eckhard said that the Secretary-General was back at Headquarters this morning following his trip to Switzerland. In Davos, the Secretary- General had met with many political leaders whom he had not had the opportunity to meet before. Some of those meetings were substantive. On East Timor, the Secretary-General's meeting with Portuguese and the Indonesian officials had provided fresh impetus to a political solution. The Secretary- General told both leaders that he would be naming a special representative to conduct sustained and intensive three-way talks on the subject.

On the question of Cyprus, the Secretary-General met with Glafcos Clerides, and he hoped to soon meet with Rauf Denktash, the Spokesman said. Despite the increased tension on the island, the Secretary-General believed

the efforts to find a political settlement needed to be intensified, particularly before elections were held in Cyprus next year. Mr. Clerides had agreed, Mr. Eckhard added.

The Secretary-General's meeting with the President of the Palestinian Authority Yasser Arafat, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, had provided him with important contacts, Mr. Eckhard said. The problems of non-implementation of agreements and access of Palestinians to places of work was introduced by President Arafat. The Secretary-General discussed those problems with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel, who explained that those actions were linked to Israel's security needs. He added that in the longer term he wanted the Palestinians to have those jobs because their prosperity would contribute to the security of Israel. Mr. Netanyahu also told the Secretary-General that he looked forward to turning a new page in Israel's relations with the United Nations.

In Davos, the Secretary-General had also met with many business leaders, Mr. Eckhard said. That had provided an opportunity to discuss his ideas on a partnership between the private sector and development, Mr. Eckhard said. The Secretary-General said there was a natural partnership between the Organization and the private sector because the work of the United Nations in developing countries often prepared the way for private investment. The Secretary-General also said that it was not enough that companies reap huge profits; they also needed to have a social conscience. Current private investment went to a relatively small number of developing countries, the Secretary-General said, adding that a partnership with the United Nations could encourage companies to focus their resources on the least developed countries.

Mr. Eckhard said that the President of the Security Council, Njuguna M. Mahugu (Kenya), was continuing bilateral discussions today. Informal consultations could begin tomorrow. The Council programme for the month included consideration of a report on Angola by 10 February, a progress report on Croatia by 15 February and a report on the extension of the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), which would expire on 28 February.

Mr. Eckhard said Fiji, a stalwart supporter of United Nations peace- keeping operations, had paid its regular budget assessment in full for 1997. That had brought the total number of countries paid in full to 28.

Mr. Eckhard also informed correspondents that the World Health Organization (WHO) had issued a press release today saying that 250 million children under the age of five were immunized against polio in Asia during two rounds of polio immunization in December and January. That was described as the biggest breakthrough since the WHO started on the road to polio eradication in 1988.

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 4 February 1997

During the subsequent question-and-answer session, a correspondent asked if there was a schedule for the proposed meetings on Cyprus and what the Secretary-General's intentions were on the proposed meetings. Mr. Eckhard said that the Secretary-General hoped to begin with proximity talks in order to address the concerns of both sides and then move those to higher level discussions later in the year. Mr. Eckhard said that no dates for those meetings had been scheduled as yet.

A correspondent asked if the Secretary-General's management team was complete. Mr. Eckhard said that the team was largely complete. In addition, a number of assistant and under-secretaries-general had been reconfirmed, reassigned or were leaving the Organization. A few additional announcements were yet to be made.

A correspondent asked the Secretary-General's position on the issue of Security Council reform. Mr. Eckhard said that Security Council reform was in the hands of Member States, but that the Secretary-General had offered his help if the five working groups of the General Assembly entrusted with reform issues stalled or became bogged down. The Secretary-General would also have to interact with Member States on that issue as he presented his overall package on reform of the United Nations by July.

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