DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19970207
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, began today's noon briefing by informing correspondents that two formal meetings of the Security Council were expected at the end of today's consultations. One meeting would be on the Great Lakes region of Africa and another would be on the situation in Tajikistan. Both meetings would involve presidential statements, he said.
Mr. Eckhard then said there would be no meeting of the Security Council on Monday. The Council was expected to consider Liberia on Tuesday and Sierra Leone on Wednesday.
Today was the last day of the seven-day grace period on the demobilization of the military in Liberia, Mr. Eckhard said. There had been some consideration of extending the grace period, but no decision had yet been made. The total number of military personnel demobilized to date was 20,682, including 4,189 child soldiers, he added.
Two International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) staff members were released by rebels in Tajikistan today, Mr. Eckhard reported. However, negotiations on releasing the remaining hostages remained at a stand-off.
Monaco had paid its assessment of $106,000 in full, Mr. Eckhard said, bringing the total number of Member States paid-in-full to 32. In addition, yesterday France became the first permanent member of the Security Council to have paid its assessment in full.
The estimated 40,000 refugees who fled the village of Shabunda in eastern Zaire on Tuesday were found wandering in a forest about 32 kilometres west of the village and stopped by Zairian authorities, Mr. Eckhard informed correspondents. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was negotiating with Zairian authorities to give the refugees passage to an area more accessible to the delivery of aid. The refugees' four-day food supply was expected to be nearly exhausted, he said.
The Secretary-General announced the reappointment of eight senior officials in the Secretariat, Mr. Eckhard said. The five regional economic senior officials were: K.Y. Amoako of Ghana, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA); Yves Berthelot of France, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE); Hazem Abdel Aziz El Beblawi of Egypt, Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA); Adrianus Mooy of Indonesia, Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP); and Gert Rosenthal of Guatemala, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
In addition, the Secretary-General had reappointed Wally N'Dow of Gambia as Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), Vladimir Petrovsky of the Russian Federation as Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, and Giorgio Giacomelli of Italy as Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna.
Mr. Eckhard said the Secretary-General would meet today at 6:30 p.m. with two women survivors of the Omarska camp in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jadranka Cigelj and Nusreta Sivac. The two women were the subject of a film on the Omarska camp, which was due to be broadcast on commercial television in the United States. The film was screened earlier this week at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Kieran Prendergast of the United Kingdom, the designated Under- Secretary-General for Political Affairs, was at Headquarters today and would be staying through next week to familiarize himself with the Department of Political Affairs, Mr. Eckhard said.
Mr. Eckhard said the World Health Organization (WHO) had prepared a fact sheet on meningitis in connection with their inter-agency appeal on efforts to control the epidemic in Africa.
Maurice Strong, the new Executive Coordinator of United Nations Reform, would be featured on the World Chronicle television programme today at 2:30 p.m., Mr. Eckhard said.
During the subsequent question-and-answer session, a correspondent asked if there was any progress on the negotiations for the release of hostages in Tajikistan, if the location of the hostages was known and whether or not there had been any radio contact with the hostages. Mr. Eckhard said the negotiations were being conducted by the Government of Tajikistan and there was no indication yet of the progress of those negotiations. The hostages were known to be held by the kidnappers inside Tajikistan about 50 miles from where they were abducted. There had been radio contact with the hostages, apparently with the permission of the rebel group who had kidnapped them, and the hostages described their condition and location. There was concern about the health of the Austrian national who was being transported for treatment of his condition when the group was hijacked. There was also concern about minor health conditions of one or two of the other hostages.
A correspondent asked about last night's shooting incident in Cyprus. Mr. Eckhard said the shooting occurred about 3:30 a.m. and by the time United Nations personnel arrived at the scene, they found only blood stains on the ground.
Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 7 February 1997
Would there be any changes in the United Nations Mission in Haiti (UNMIH)? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said the United Nations mandate was given by the Security Council. If the mandate were to be changed, it would be the Security Council's decision. He noted that a change was unlikely, given that the mission in Haiti was well-defined and was close to being finished.
What was the substance of the dispute between the United Nations and the United States concerning the actual amount of assessments that the United States had not yet paid? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said that the numbers offered by the United Nations were authoritative. The discrepancy between those numbers and figures presented by the United States was due, in part, by the United States Congress' unilateral decision to reduce the United States assessment for United Nations peace-keeping from 31 per cent to 25 per cent.
Mr. Eckhard added that the payment issue had a history going back nearly 20 years, when the United States withheld funds from the United Nations on matters relating to aid to Palestinians. There were other instances of the United States withholding funds, Mr. Eckhard noted, but the United Nations did not recognize the right of a Member State to withhold any part of an assessment for any reason.
A correspondent asked about the former Soviet Union's assessment concerning the Congo. Did it disappear? Mr. Eckhard said the assessment was taken off the current ledger, but was kept on the books. He said it was important to keep the assessments on the books, since Member States have been known to change policy and pay their assessment. Mr. Eckhard gave the example of the former Soviet Union's decision to pay their assessment concerning the peace-keeping force in Lebanon after withholding payment for several years.
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