DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19970327
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Hiro Ueki, Associate Spokesman for the Secretary-General, reminded correspondents that tomorrow was a holiday at the United Nations. "Please, do not even think of coming in tomorrow", he cautioned, "Headquarters will be closed for Good Friday". The office of the Spokesman would, however, be staffed with a Duty Officer.
Since the Secretary-General arrived in Lome, Mr. Ueki said, he had participated in the formal meetings of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) summit and held a large number of bilateral meetings. Much of today had been spent with President Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo; President Paul Biya of Cameroon, who is also current Chairman of the OAU; the Zairian Government delegation headed by the deputy head of Parliament; and a two-person delegation representing Laurent Kabila of the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo/Zaire (ADL). Last night, he continued, the Togolese leader hosted a meeting of the two Zairian delegations at which the heads of delegations shook hands. The Secretary-General and the President of Cameroon had been present at the occasion, which was photographed by United Nations photographer Milton Grant, he added.
The objective of Mr. Annan and the OAU at the summit, the Associate Spokesman said, was to get talks started between the two Zairian parties; the issue was whether a cease-fire should precede the talks, or vice-versa. The Secretary-General's position was for them to agree to talks and a cease-fire simultaneously. The plenary session of the OAU had ended last night, with a draft declaration on the table, but discussions had continued. Mr. Annan was due to leave the Togolese capital in a few hours, travelling through Amsterdam, and was expected to arrive in New York tomorrow morning at about 10:30 a.m.
Turning to the Security Council, Mr. Ueki reported that it had held consultations this morning on Angola. Recalling that the Secretary-General had recommended a two-week roll-over of the mandate, he said that action by the Council was expected on Monday. The Secretary-General was also expected on Monday to brief the Council on his recent trip to Angola. Today, the Council had also discussed Bosnia and Herzegovina. It considered the report of the Secretary-General concerning his recommendations for an increase in the strength of the International Police Task Force (IPTF). The Council was discussing a draft resolution drawing attention to the cost estimates contained in a Security Council document. It estimated that approximately $14 million would be required for the international policing in Brcko for a 12- month period. For the expansion of the mandate of the IPTF in the investigation of human rights violations, approximately $9.5 million was projected, making a grand total of $24 million for the 12 months.
The Council was at the time of the briefing holding a formal meeting on the United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia (UNOMIL), he said. It would consider the extension of the mandate of UNOMIL for three months until 30 June, as the Secretary-General had recommended.
The Associate Spokesman informed correspondents that the report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Support Mission in Haiti (UNSMIH) was out (document S/1997/244). When the Security Council adopted a resolution on the Mission in December, he recalled, it extended the mandate for six months until the end of May. But in that resolution, the Council had also indicated that if the Secretary-General were to report to it by the end of March that the Mission could make a further contribution to the goals set out in the resolution, its mandate could be further extended for the final time until 31 July. Concerning what would happen thereafter, he said that the Secretary- General had indicated in his report that he would submit another report in June. In that report, he would elaborate on the need for some sort of international presence beyond the end of July.
Mr. Ueki drew attention to another report of the Secretary-General, on Afghanistan, where he had said that the situation in the country remained precarious, and peace remained elusive in spite of the United Nations efforts. According to the report, the military situation was dangerously fluid and might soon deteriorate further with the onset of the spring thaw. Despite the continuous suffering of the Afghan people, the warring factions had not heeded the repeated appeals for peace, and appeared determined to pursue the military option. However, the Secretary-General remained convinced, the Associate Spokesman noted, that a negotiated settlement was the only solution to that long-standing conflict, and that the United Nations was the most appropriate forum to bring that about. In that connection, he was proposing another meeting of concerned countries shortly, using the formula that had been used for the meeting held in New York last November. The proposed meeting might take place sometime in April.
There had been several updates on the implementation of resolution 986 (1995) on the "oil-for-food" formula, Mr. Ueki informed correspondents, one of them detailing the actual dates of arrival of humanitarian goods in Iraq. So far, it was estimated that 16,500 metric tons of humanitarian supplies had arrived in the country, including one vessel that docked at Umm Qasr yesterday. Concerning the Thai rice that was brought in yesterday, he said there was available a fact sheet detailing where it would be stored in Iraq. On the observation and monitoring of the shipments, there was also available to correspondents a list of phone numbers, addresses, names of United Nations agencies, as well as the humanitarian coordinators. The updates were available in the office of the Spokesman, he added.
The inter-agency mission led by the Department of Humanitarian Affairs had yesterday arrived in Tirana, Albania, Mr. Ueki announced. It would be there for five days, during which it would meet with government officials,
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representatives of the European Union there, as well as some non-governmental organizations. More information about the mission would be available by the middle of next week. There was also a special alert on Albania put out by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). An outbreak of civil unrest there since early March had aggravated the already difficult food supply situation. Mr. Ueki recalled that there had been a poor harvest in the country last year, and that it would have to rely on large amounts of imports to deal with the shortfall.
On the question asked by a correspondent yesterday on what the United Nations was doing to help African development, Mr. Ueki said that under the United Nations System-wide Initiative on Africa, a number of activities were going on. The Initiative was co-chaired by the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), James Gustave Speth, and the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Mr. K.Y. Amaoko. Stressing that it was impossible to explain the ongoing activities in a few minutes, he said that a separate briefing on the Initiative could be set up for correspondents, if they wished. In the interim, they could get in touch with Edward Omotoso, UNDP's Director of External Affairs, or Djibril Diallo, its Director of Public Affairs. He further pointed out that this morning, Trevor Gordon-Somers, UNDP Special Adviser for the Special Initiative on Africa, was giving a briefing to non-governmental organizations on the subject.
Concerning another question asked yesterday on a visit of the Secretary- General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to Skopje in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, he said that the visit had been made last Tuesday. According to the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP), Mr. Ueki went on, the NATO Secretary-General had not met with any United Nations officials while in Skopje, and had not visited any United Nations sites.
Mr. Ueki then informed correspondents that the office of the Spokesman had updated unofficial background information for them on the use of sanctions under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. Sections updated included those on sanctions against Iraq, Libya and the Sudan.
He announced that on Monday, 31 March, the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) would be hosting a press briefing on the land dispute in Arizona involving Navajo Indians. It would take place at 2 p.m. in the UNCA Lounge; featured speakers would include Bonnie Whitesinger, a spokesperson for the Sovereign Dineh Nation; and Marsha Monestersky, a consultant to the Dineh. Also expected were guest speakers from the Women's Environment and Development Organization and other groups. All correspondents were invited to the press conference.
A correspondent drew attention to the Secretary-General's report on Haiti, saying that it seemed some countries were going further than that
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report. Yesterday, he said, the Canadian Prime Minister had signed a deal with the Haitian President to have Canadian troops in the country beyond the 31 July deadline. It had also been mentioned, the correspondent continued, citing a press report, that the arrangement was being done under the umbrella of the United Nations. Since there was no such mention in paragraph 32 of the report, how did that happen? Mr. Ueki was asked.
The Associate Spokesman replied that the Secretary-General would be discussing additional details of the post-UNSMIH international presence with the Government of Haiti, the "friends of Haiti" and others concerned. It was therefore necessary to wait for developments on the issue, he said, pointing out that Canada maintained a strong presence as part of the United Nations mission there and also had a close bilateral relationship with Haiti.
Asked if his office had a list of the countries participating in the summit meeting in Togo, he said it did not, but could check with the OAU.
Mr. Ueki was asked for an update on UNPREDEP. Was it being scaled back? He said that in view of the developments on the Albanian border, the proposed reduction of the strength of the Force had temporarily been suspended. There might have to be a review of that question in another week or so, he noted, pointing out that there were currently three permanent observation posts along the Albanian border. Since the crisis erupted in Albania, UNPREDEP had set up three other temporary observation posts, particularly around Lake Ohrid. They were reporting developments on the other side of the border, including any crossings. He cited a recent incident in which about seven Albanian soldiers crossed the border, occasioning an exchange of fire. He stressed that UNPREDEP had no mandate to do anything beyond the border with Albania.
Answering a question on talks of a United Nations force in Zaire, he said that the main focus of the Organization's contingency planning was the monitoring mechanism that the Secretary-General had talked about in his speech to the OAU Summit. That would presage a cease-fire, about which -- as he had said earlier -- there was as yet no agreement. He reiterated that the Secretary-General's position was that both cease-fire and peace talks should take place simultaneously.
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