DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Press Briefing

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, began today's press briefing by introducing Senator Pino Arlacchi who the Secretary-General had named as the new Director-General of the United Nations Office in Vienna and the Executive Director of the United Nations International Drug Control Programme. The appointment would be effective 1 September.

The Secretary-General had been saying for some time that he intended to strengthen the work of the United Nations Office at Vienna, particularly its work concerning illicit drugs and crime prevention, and that job would fall to Mr. Arlacchi, Mr. Eckhard continued. He then drew correspondents' attention to an English version of Mr. Arlacchi's book, "Men of Dishonour: Inside the Sicilian Mafia". (Mr. Arlacchi's briefing is being issued separately.)

Mr. Eckhard said the Secretary-General welcomed the signing today in Moscow of the General Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and National Accord in Tajikistan, by President Emomali Rakhmonov of Tajikistan and the leader of the United Tajik Opposition (UTO), Sayed Abdullo Nuri. The Secretary-General's Special Representative for Tajikistan, Gerd Dietrich Merrem, was among those who signed the document. The peace accord brought to a successful conclusion more than two years of negotiations under United Nations auspices.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, had also welcomed the signing of the peace accord, and a press release from Geneva was available in the Spokesman's Office, he continued. More than 22,300 Tajik refugees were still in northern Afghanistan.

Turning to the Security Council's schedule, Mr. Eckhard said the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Angola, Alioune Blondin Beye, had briefed the Council this morning. The Council had also held consultations on a draft resolution on the United Nations Angola Verification Mission (UNAVEM III), which would end this month. The Council could take action Monday, 30 June, on a draft resolution to establish a follow-up mission -- the United Nations Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA). The initial mandate of the new mission would be from 1 July to 31 October.

Some 100,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo had been driven out of what was eastern Zaire and into the United Republic of Tanzania by fighting last year and this, Mr. Eckhard said. Now, several thousand of them were asking to be repatriated to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was preparing the first voluntary repatriation of those refugees. A note by the UNHCR issued in Geneva today was available in the Spokesman's Office, he added.

Mr. Eckhard said the Secretary-General's report on Afghanistan (document S/1997/482) had been released yesterday. In it, he repeats his appeal to the Afghan factions to return to the negotiating table immediately. The Secretary- General also says "the prospects for peace are bleak for the immediate future", but he was "determined to pursue a negotiated solution to the Afghan problem", the report goes on. "The potential cost of inaction is too high."

Mr. Eckhard said he had announced at yesterday's briefing that the Secretary-General's report on the settlements question in the occupied territories would be released later in the day. However, the report had gone into production yesterday and would not be ready for a couple of days.

The Secretary-General this morning had addressed non-governmental organizations, most of whom were attending the special session of the General Assembly to review implementation of Agenda 21, Mr. Eckhard said. The Secretary-General said that with the spread of democracy the importance of grass-roots support was integral to the process of good governance. It was his intention to strengthen the role of non-governmental organizations in the work of the United Nations. Mr. Eckhard said the Secretary-General had designated the Assistant Secretary-General for External Relations, Gillian Martin Sorensen, to take the lead on the matter within his own office. In a follow-up question-and-answer session, the Secretary-General had taken a question on "creative taxes" which might be good for sustainable development. He said it was clear billions of dollars could be raised by international taxation, but some governments were vehemently opposed to it, and there was no venue for discussion on the matter at present within the United Nations.

The Secretary-General also made his position clear on benchmarks and conditionality regarding financing of the United Nations, Mr. Eckhard continued. He said he did not see how the Organization could accept them, and it would be very difficult for a country which imposed conditionality to deal with the other Member States.

On the Cyprus talks, Mr. Eckhard said a sign-up sheet was available in the Spokesman's Office for the bus trip to Troutbeck, Duchess County, New York, on 9 July for the opening day. The round trip would cost $20. He thanked the Norwegian Government for making a generous contribution to the United Nations to cover the entire cost of the five-day talks.

The United Arab Emirates had paid in full its assessed contributions of over $2 million, Mr Eckhard said. To date, 69 Member States had paid their 1997 contributions in full.

He then announced the following press conferences which would be held in room S-226:

The briefing by the Netherlands Minister for Development Cooperation, Jan Pronk, would be held at 6 p.m. instead of 2 p.m. as originally scheduled;

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 27 June 1997

at 3 p.m., the President of the General Assembly, Razali Ismail (Malaysia), would brief correspondents.

The special session had continued until almost 5 o'clock this morning, and there was talk of a late night session tonight and possibly even one tomorrow, Mr. Eckhard said.

A correspondent asked if there had been any news from the Under- Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Yasushi Akashi, who was in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Mr. Eckhard said his Office had received no news as yet, adding, "next time we will give them a cellular phone".

Mr. Akashi's mission would return this weekend with footage taken by the United Nations television crew travelling with him, Mr. Eckhard continued, adding that the crew intended to collect material which would not be broadcast daily, but rather packaged once they left the country. He hoped to hear from Mr. Akashi over the weekend.

A correspondent asked what was known about the death of the rebel commander in East Timor. Mr. Eckhard said he had no information on the matter.

In reply to a question on the credentials of the Afghanistan delegation, Mr. Eckhard said the question had still not been resolved.

Would the arrest yesterday of opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have any impact on the United Nations response to President Laurent Kabila's veto of the United Nations Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said the United Nations was still talking with a government minister. A final meeting today should give a "thumbs up or thumbs down" on whether a human rights mission could be carried out on United Nations terms. The arrest of Mr. Tshisekedi was not a favourable development, although, according to press reports, he had since been released.

Mr. Eckhard then announced that the Secretary-General would be in Hong Kong for the hand-over ceremonies next week and on the way back would attend the annual session of the Economic and Social Council in Geneva. Mr. Eckhard said he would accompany the Secretary-General.

Beginning Monday, the delegates briefing would be held again at 12:30 p.m. in room S-226, he added, although delegations could still view the noon briefing live in the new facility in screening room 4.

* *** *