DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19970331
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, told correspondents at today's noon briefing that the Secretary-General was back from his Africa visit and was now briefing the Security Council on the subject of Angola.
During that visit, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General had convinced the leader of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), Jonas Savimbi, to send the UNITA members of the Parliament to Luanda to attend a session of the Parliament there. Accordingly, some 58 UNITA members came to hear the Secretary-General's address the next day. Mr. Savimbi also sent a number of ministers, vice-ministers and other UNITA members of the Government of National Unity and Reconciliation, which was to be formed according to the Peace Accords. The Secretary-General was currently informing the Security Council that a date for the establishment of the Government of National Reconciliation had been agreed upon between the Government and UNITA for 11 April.
Mr. Eckhard said that the Secretary-General felt that while there were still significant aspects of the peace agreement to implement -- not the least of which was extending the Government's administrative control over the entire nation of Angola -- he also felt the peace process was back on track. The Council was expected to adopt a roll-over resolution today, on the recommendation of the Secretary-General, to extend the mandate of the United Nations Angola Verification Mission (UNAVEM III) for two weeks.
There was a second gratifying aspect to the Secretary-General's visit, Spokesman Eckhard said. At the Organization of African Unity (OAU) Summit in Lomé, Togo, under talks hosted by President Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo and President Paul Biya of Cameroon and which included the Secretary-General, the two sides in Zaire had agreed to talks and a cease-fire at an early date. A specific date was impossible to make at the time because of communications problems with Laurent Kabila of the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (ADFL). The talks, led by Mohamed Sahnoun, the Joint United Nations/OAU Special Representative for the Great Lakes Region, were now expected to get under way this weekend in South Africa, where they would have the support of the South African Government. The Secretary-General would brief the Council on eastern Zaire tomorrow, he added.
According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Department of Humanitarian Affairs, the UNHCR began moving some 17,000 refugees from Lula, seven kilometres from Kisangani, to one of the temporary refugee sites, 19 kilometres south of Kisangani, the Spokesman said. Those too weak to travel under their own steam would be transported. Regarding the
repatriation of Rwandan refugees in eastern Zaire, the UNHCR was still awaiting a reply from the rebel leader, Mr. Kabila, for clearance under a repatriation plan that included an airbridge from Kisangani to the first way station some 40 to 50 kilometres away, as well as road routes for truck transport. The UNHCR was expected to fly in the first shipment of trucks to transport the refugees later this week and sought firm commitments from governments for the air operation. The UNHCR's Emergency Team, together with the World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), now had access to an estimated 100,000 refugees on the Ubundu- Kisangani axis, via three temporary sites. A train carrying 230 tons of food made its way today to all locations along the route except Lula.
Turning to recent events in Cambodia, Mr. Eckhard read out a statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General, as follows: "The Secretary-General deplores the attack against peaceful demonstrators in Phnom Penh on Sunday, which resulted in at least 16 deaths, and calls on the Royal Government of Cambodia to investigate this act of violence and take all appropriate measures to see that such incidents are not repeated. He also calls on all sides to exercise restraint and to do their utmost to ensure a political process conducive to the holding of free and fair elections scheduled for 1997 and 1998." (See today's Press Release SG/SM/6194.)
Mr. Eckhard said that the Secretary-General would be "leaving New York again" on Thursday for a visit to India where, in addition to having an official visit, he would address a meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement. From India, he would travel to Geneva where he would chair a meeting of the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC), the coordinating mechanism for the entire United Nations system. He would then make an official visit to Italy from 11 April to 16 April, and finally arrive in Germany for an official visit from 16 to 18 April.
A report from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on the activities of the Stabilization Force (SFOR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina was issued today, the Spokesman said. He added that the Security Council would begin discussions today on the Secretary-General's recommendation to expand the United Nations International Police Task Force (IPTF) in Bosnia, both for a role in Brcko and for an expanded role in human rights-related tasks in Bosnia as a whole. Turning to the "oil-for-food" agreements in Iraq, the Spokesman said that the unloading of 13,000 tons of Thai rice had ended this afternoon in Umm Qasr. More than 350 trucks had transported the goods to government warehouses, where their arrival was carefully monitored by mobile teams of observers. Another shipment containing 14,500 tons of rice was expected to arrive in Iraq between 10 and 11 April. On 29 March, the last truck transporting 1,500 tons of iodized salt crossed the border from Jordan, marking completion of the second contract approved by the Security Council Committee which monitors the sanctions against Iraq. As of 30 March, 18,144.9 metric tons of goods had arrived in Iraq.
Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 31 March 1997
Concerning budget contributions, Belgium became the forty-sixth Member State to be paid in full for 1997, with a cheque for just under $10.8 million, Mr. Eckhard said.
Reviewing today's appointments of the Secretary-General, Mr. Eckhard said he was hosting a luncheon at the residence in honour of King Hussein and Queen Noor Al-Hussein of Jordan. He was meeting with the United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright this afternoon, as well as with representatives of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. The luncheon for the King and the meeting with the Conference of Presidents were both scheduled sometime ago and were not related to the latest developments in the Middle East, although those developments would likely be discussed.
Mr. Eckhard said that Samsiah Abdul-Majid, spokeswoman for the President of the General Assembly, Razali Ismail (Malaysia), had asked him to announce that Ambassador Razali would be meeting with Secretary Albright today at 4 p.m. in the President's office. He also announced that the United Nations Correspondent's Association (UNCA) was hosting a press briefing today at 2 p.m. in the UNCA lounge on a land dispute in Arizona involving Navajo Indians.
Mr. Eckhard also announced a meeting between the Secretary-General and James Baker III, the new Special Envoy for Western Sahara, scheduled for Wednesday at 3 p.m. He was trying to schedule a press briefing with Mr. Baker, as well, he added.
In response to a question about the Secretary-General's forthcoming visit to India, the Spokesman said that there would be a series of official meetings with government leaders, including the Prime Minister, Deve Gowda. The Secretary-General would arrive in India on 5 April in the middle of the night and leave on 8 April.
Turning to a question about whether the expanded role of the IPTF included picking up suspected war criminals, the Spokesman said no, but that it included investigations into human rights abuses. Until now, IPTF had simply had a monitoring function. Under the new mandate, it would have some investigatory powers.
To a request for confirmation that China had persuaded the Secretary- General not to attend the Panama Canal Congress because an invitation was extended to Taiwan Province of China, Mr. Eckhard said that he could not confirm that, but did not believe that was a basis for the Secretary-General's decision on where to go or what meetings to attend.
Asked for a comment on an incident in Haiti over the weekend in which a United Nations staff member was injured, he said the victim was a civilian police monitor and that it was believed to be a criminal, rather than a
Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 31 March 1997
political, act. Regarding clarification of the Council's discussion concerning the IPTF, Mr. Eckhard said that the Council would make a formal decision for the staffing levels of the IPTF, given its two additional functions.
Given UNHCR's access in Zaire to approximately 100,000 refugees, the Spokesman was asked how many refugees to which the UNHCR did not have access. He said he would double-check. According to the UNHCR, the total number of refugees in eastern Zaire was between 350,000 and 400,000. Asked for clarification on Mr. Sahnoun's role in the African talks, Mr. Eckhard said that Mr. Sahnoun would "lead" the talks. The Secretary-General's intention in entering into the joint venture with the OAU was born of the feeling that there were "a few too many cooks involved in this broth". One of the things he hoped to get out of his visit to Lomé was a confirmation that the United Nations/OAU Special Representative would lead the discussions, and that had now been firmly agreed to by all concerned. The talks would take place in South Africa. Mr. Sahnoun would conduct the negotiations, with the South African Government providing logistical and other support for those efforts, he added.
Asked for an official comment on the incident in which an Italian warship ran into an Albanian ship carrying refugees, sending it to the bottom of the Adriatic Sea, Mr. Eckhard said he did not think there was a United Nations view on that incident, which was still being investigated. On Friday evening, the Security Council had adopted a resolution authorizing a multinational force for Albania. However, he had no comment on the impact of that incident on the resolution's implementation.
* *** *