DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19970205
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, began today's noon briefing by informing correspondents that the United Nations would continue its relief operations in Rwanda, but had asked the Government of Rwanda to provide military escort for its personnel travelling outside of Kigali. Five United Nations human rights monitors were killed in an ambush on Tuesday. Four were killed in the initial attack and the fifth, a Rwandan driver, died later of his wounds.
The United Nations/Organization of African Unity (OAU) Special Representative for the Great Lakes region of Africa, Mohamed Sahnoun, planned to leave for France and Addis Ababa tomorrow for consultations with the Organization of African Unity (OAU), Mr. Eckhard said. On 11 February, Mr. Sahnoun would travel to Nairobi, where he will establish a base of operations. He was expected to travel to Bujumbura, Kigali, and Kinshasa before returning to Nairobi on 18 February.
Mr. Eckhard said the report issued by Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services, Karl Paschke, on the International Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha was completed at the end of January, as scheduled. The Secretary-General had studied the report on his return from Switzerland and would pass it on to the General Assembly. The Secretary-General would also take appropriate action, Mr. Eckhard said.
There was a second hostage-taking incident in Tajikistan today, Mr. Eckhard said. Two staff members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), one international and one local, and five journalists, including three Russians from NTV, Itar-Tass and Interfax and two Tajik reporters were abducted by an armed group under the command of Commander Bakhrom. The same group took hostage five United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan (UNMOT) staff members on 4 February.
Mr. Eckhard informed correspondents there were now a total of 28 Member States who had paid their United Nations contributions in full by the end of January, as required under the Organization's rules and regulations. That represented an increase of on-time contributors from a total of 19 in 1995 and 25 in 1996. There was also an increase in dollar amounts. The end of January total for this year was $404.8 million, an increase from the 1995 January total of $235.7 million and 1996 January total of $277.4 million.
Mr. Eckhard then said that two payments had been received just past the deadline. France contributed $68.4 million and Poland contributed $3.5 million.
The Security Council had consultations of the whole today, Mr. Eckhard said. They discussed their plan of work for February, as well as Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Rwanda, Angola, Somalia and the Great Lakes region of Africa, in general.
Some 40,000 Rwandan refugees fled encampments in the Shabunda area in eastern Zaire today following reports that rebels had taken a nearby town, according to a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) press release, Mr. Eckhard said.
He said a press release from the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia had provided an update on the Tihofil Blaskic case. Mr. Blaskic, a Croatian Defence Forces Commander, was charged with ethnic cleansing in November 1995.
The World Food Programme (WFP) welcomed a decision by the Government of Zaire to allow the use of foreign-registered aircraft to deliver urgently needed humanitarian assistance, according to a press release by the WFP, said Mr. Eckhard. Also, the World Health Organization (WHO) had issued a press release on an inter-agency appeal to control the meningitis epidemic in Africa.
During the subsequent question and answer session, a correspondent asked what the Secretary-General and the Canadian Foreign Minister, Lloyd Axworthy, discussed yesterday. Mr. Eckhard said the Secretary-General was asked about his United Nations reform concepts and his visit to Washington, D.C. They also touched briefly on the subject of Cuba.
Did the Secretary-General have any comment on United States President William Clinton's State of the Union address last night? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said that the Secretary-General was happy to hear the one small line concerning the Clinton Administration's commitment to pay their past due bill to the United Nations that was included in the speech.
Asked if the Secretary-General had asked former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland to be the deputy secretary-general, Mr. Eckhard said that the Secretary-General had discussions with Ms. Brundtland, but there was nothing to announce. In addition, the post of deputy secretary-general did not yet exist in the United Nations budget. As a result, the Secretary- General's intention to name a deputy would have to be preceded by a request to the General Assembly to approve the post. The Secretary-General had, however, said it was his intention to name a woman to the post.
The correspondent then asked how the post of deputy secretary-general would be defined. Mr. Eckhard said the Secretary-General's concept of the post was someone who would assist him with his duties across the board. The Secretary-General would want to feel comfortable leaving the deputy to manage the daily work of the organization when he was required to travel.
Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 5 February 1997
A correspondent asked if there was any reaction to a comment by Pakistan's Permanent Representative, Ahmad Kamal, that the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) had become an "exclusive social club". Mr. Eckhard said that he had not heard the comment. However, the Advisory Committee performed an essential function of examining the budgetary proposals, line by line, and asking hard questions.
Had the United Nations made changes in operations in Rwanda following yesterday's killings of five human rights monitors? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said that the United Nations had advanced to security level four, which meant that essential aid operations would continue, all non-essential travel would be cancelled and that the mission had asked the Rwandan Government to provide protection for all international personnel travelling outside of Kigali. Further asked if this change in operation would continue indefinitely, Mr. Eckhard said the threat level was assessed daily, which would determine any further changes.
A correspondent asked if negotiations were under way for the hostages in Tajikistan. Mr. Eckhard said the Government of Tajikistan was taking the lead to negotiate the release of the hostages.
A correspondent said there was a report that photographs of a Serbian death camp was a media fabrication by a British reporter. What would the procedure be if the report were true? he asked. Mr. Eckhard said he was not aware of the story. However, if the implication was that Serb behaviour concerning the death camps was fabricated, the record did not support that contention.
Asked about the status of the government in Angola, Mr. Eckhard said that the formation of the government by 25 January had not occurred, but it might be formed by the end of the month. That development would almost certainly have an impact on the Security Council's consideration of the peace- keeping mission, which was scheduled to wrap up at the end of the month.
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