DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19970220
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
At the outset of today's noon briefing, Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, apologized for starting the briefing later than usual. The Secretary-General had been trying to get through to South Africa to get a handle on what's going on there, he said. Eventually, the Secretary-General had gotten through to Vice-President Thabo Mbeki who had confirmed that a Zairian delegation had arrived in South Africa and a delegation on the side of the rebels, headed by Laurent Kabila, was expected to arrive by the weekend.
The effort of the South Africans would be to eventually bring the two sides to face-to-face discussions, Mr. Eckhard said. However, at the outset, they might have to operate on a proximity basis. A first and probably difficult objective would be to arrive at an agenda for discussions. The aim would be to get both sides to accept the elements of a peace agreement put together by the United Nations/Organization of African Unity (OAU) Special Representative for the Great Lakes Region, Mohamed Sahnoun, and endorsed unanimously by the Security Council. The Secretary-General is grateful for this important initiative by South Africa, Mr. Eckhard added.
He went on to say that correspondents might have noticed that the United Nations flag was flying at half mast and all other flags had not been hoisted. That was in commemoration of the death of China's paramount leader, Deng Xiaoping. Statements by the Secretary-General and the General Assembly President had been issued yesterday and were still available in the Spokesman's Office.
The Second Ministerial Meeting of the Special Conference to Support the Peace Process in Liberia had started in the Trusteeship Council at 10 a.m., he said. The first meeting of the Special Conference had been held in November 1996. The Secretary-General had opened the meeting and called for a common approach, as well as a common strategy for implementation of the final phase of the peace process in Liberia. Although the present meeting was not a pledging conference, the Secretary-General had said additional resources would be needed for humanitarian assistance, the electoral process and reconstruction. He had appealed to Member States not to pull the financial rug out from underneath those efforts. The full text of his statement, as well as the programme of the Conference, was available in the Spokesman's Office.
Next week, starting on Tuesday, 25 February, the Secretary-General would begin a three-nation visit to Europe, Mr. Eckhard said. He would arrive in London on Tuesday. On Wednesday morning, he would have an audience with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of England and would lunch with parliamentarians.
At 3 p.m., he would attend the unveiling of the Wallenberg Monument by Her Majesty, the Queen, at Western Marble Arch Synagogue. Later that day, he would meet with the Deputy Chairman of Nat West Markets, Douglas Hurd. Thereafter, he would pay a call on Prime Minister John Major and meet with the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Malcolm Rifkind.
On Thursday, 27 February, the Secretary-General had a full programme, starting with a meeting with President Ezer Weizman of Israel, Mr. Eckhard said. Following that, he would meet with the leader of the opposition in the British Parliament, Rt. Hon. Anthony Blair.
Later on Thursday, he would travel to Paris, where in the afternoon he would meet with the President of the National Assembly, Phillippe Seguin, and Prime Minister Alain Juppé. On Friday, he would meet: the Minister of Defence, Charles Millon; the Secretary of State for Humanitarian Affairs, Mr. Emmanueli; the President of the Commission of Foreign Affairs and Defence of the Senate, Xavier de Villepin; and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hervé de Charette. That would be followed by lunch at the Foreign Ministry in the afternoon, a meeting with the President of the Commission of Foreign Affairs of the National Assembly, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, and a meeting with the Minister of Environment, Madame Lepage.
The Secretary-General would meet with the President of France, Jacques Chirac, on Saturday, 1 March, Mr. Eckhard said. The rest of his programme included a meeting with the Director of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Frederico Mayor, in the afternoon.
On Sunday, 2 March, the Secretary-General would travel to The Hague, he said. He would meet with the Minister for Development Cooperation of the Netherlands, Jan Pronk, on Monday morning. Following that, he would have a working lunch with President Stephen Schwebel of the International Court of Justice, as well as the Judges. In the afternoon, he would meet the Judges of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and visit the courtroom. Thereafter, he would meet the Prosecutor, Registrar and the staff.
On Tuesday, 4 March, the Secretary-General would meet with the Prime Minister, Wim Kok, and have an audience with Her Majesty Queen Beatrix, in the afternoon, Mr. Eckhard said. He would return to New York that afternoon.
Commenting that correspondents might have seen reports about the High Commissioner for Human Rights, José Ayala-Lasso, Mr. Eckhard said all he could say was that Mr. Ayala-Lasso had received an offer from the Government of Ecuador to be the Foreign Minister of his country. Mr. Ayala-Lasso would travel soon to Quito to discuss the offer with the Government and would make an announcement shortly after that.
Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 20 February 1997
Mr. Eckhard announced that the Security Council would not be meeting today.
A report by the Secretary-General on the subject of regional efforts for peace in Somalia had been issued, he said. In that report, the Secretary- General urged more intensive international support for those efforts, as well as for reconciliation and reconstruction in Somalia. The report covered events in Somalia over the past year.
The International Tribunal on Rwanda was holding pre-trial hearings with several indictees today in Arusha, Mr. Eckhard said. Yesterday, Anatole Nsegiyumva and Ferdinand Nahimana, both indicted on charges of genocide and involvement in crimes against humanity, pleaded not guilty. However, the Tribunal had postponed today the first hearing of Theoneste Bagasora after his defence lawyer had failed to appear before it. The first trial involving Jean Paul Akayesu was still going on.
Also available was a press release from the World Health Organization (WHO) concerning influenza vaccine for the 1997-1998 season, which had been issued in Geneva today, Mr. Eckhard said. Copies of the release were available in the Spokesman's Office.
Turning to the subject of contributions to the 1997 United Nations regular budget, he said India had made an additional contribution today which "put them over the top". It had now paid in full its assessment of $3.3 million and had become the thirty-seventh Member State to pay in full this year.
Mr. Eckhard then reminded correspondents about the briefing concerning the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests scheduled for 11:15 a.m. tomorrow.
When would the report on the humanitarian assessment of the potential impact of sanctions on the Sudan be released? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard replied that the Secretary-General would make the report available to the Security Council early next week. It could be made available to correspondents at the same time.
Who would run the Centre for Human Rights in the absence of Mr. Ayala-Lasso while he was gone to Ecuador and how soon would he go to Quito? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said he did not know who the interim head would be. Mr. Ayala-Lasso had not stated specifically when he would be going. All he had said was that it would be soon.
Had the Secretary-General had any direct contact with the Chinese Ambassador regarding the death of Deng Xiaoping? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said he did not know if the Secretary-General had spoken with the Ambassador. He would have to check.
Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 20 February 1997
When would the report of the war crimes tribunal on the former Yugoslavia be released? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said he would have to check.
What was the Secretary-General's opinion about the promotion of the International Criminal Court at a briefing by the Non-Governmental Organizations Coalition at the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) yesterday? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said the meeting yesterday was an UNCA meeting, and the Secretary-General would have no comment on that. He had nothing to say on the Secretary-General's view of the International Criminal Court at this time.
Following that, Mr. Eckhard introduced Cristian Chartier, the Spokesman for the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague. Mr. Chartier was here for the meetings between the Secretary-General and Prosecutor Louise Arbour, as well as two members of the International Tribunal for Rwanda (Arusha Tribunal). They were here to discuss the report by the Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services, Karl Theodore Paschke. Mr. Chartier would be available to correspondents for corridor conversations if they were interested.
Did he have any update on the Secretary-General's meeting with his Deputy Special Representative to Cyprus, Gustave Feissel? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard replied that he had not gotten a read-out of that meeting.
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