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 noon briefing by announcing that the Security Council had just unanimously adopted resolution 1125 (1997), a text approving the continuation of the Inter-African Mission to Monitor the Implementation of the Bangui Agreements (MISAB). Acting under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter -- the enforcement chapter -- the resolution authorized Member States participating in the Mission and those States providing logistical support to ensure the security and freedom of movement of their personnel. It also decided that the authorization would be limited to an initial period of three months.

In a second meeting this morning, the Council issued a presidential statement condemning the overthrow of the democratically elected Government in Sierra Leone and stated its readiness to take appropriate measures to restore President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, Mr. Eckhard said.

The Council had discussed the letter from the Permanent Observer for Palestine to the President of the Council yesterday, but it was not taken up again today, the Spokesman said. Correcting information given to correspondents yesterday, he said only the letter to the Secretary-General had been signed by the President of the Palestinian National Authority, Yasser Arafat; the letter to the Security Council President had been signed by the Permanent Observer for Palestine, M. Nasser Al-Kidwa.

Turning to the oil-for-food programme, Mr. Eckhard said the United Nations overseers this morning submitted to the Iraq Sanctions Committee the new oil-pricing formula, which was received from Iraq yesterday. The formula would govern the sale of Iraqi oil under the oil-for-food programme.

The Sanctions Committee, set up under Council resolution 661 (1990), had 48 hours to examine the formula, Mr. Eckhard said. Under the "no objection procedure", the deadline would be Friday, 8 August, at 11 a.m. Once the formula was approved, Iraq would be able to sign contracts with buyers. Signed contracts would have to be submitted to the United Nations overseers for approval, which would take a maximum of 24 hours. He added that one of the three overseers who had fallen ill recently had recovered and had returned to his post.

The Spokesman said the Secretary-General had an additional appointment yesterday. Towards the end of the day, he met with Jalal Talibani, Secretary- General of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) -- one of the main Kurdish groups in northern Iraq. Mr. Talibani discussed the distribution of humanitarian supplies under the oil-for-food plan, recent negotiations among different Kurdish groups, and the state of human rights in northern Iraq.

Mr. Eckhard then announced that Ukraine had become the ninth country to sign a memorandum of understanding on stand-by arrangements for United Nations peace-keeping operations. Under the arrangements, it would place infantry, military observers, engineers and Headquarters staff on stand-by for peace- keeping operations. The other eight countries that have signed similar memorandums are Jordan, Denmark, Ghana, Malaysia, Austria, Italy, Singapore and Bolivia. A total of 66 countries have indicated their willingness to participate in the stand-by arrangements.

The Spokesman informed correspondents of a press advisory from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announcing that Norway would convene in Oslo, from 1 to 19 September, a diplomatic conference on total international ban of anti-personnel land-mines. The conference, which would negotiate a convention to ban anti-personnel land-mines, was being organized as part of the Ottawa process. Over 100 participants were expected.

The Secretary-General's Special Representative for Angola, Alioune Blondin Beye, met with the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Laurent Kabila, who was in Angola on a State visit, Mr. Eckhard said. President Kabila invited the Special Representative to visit Kinshasa whenever he wanted, in the interest of furthering the peace process.

The International Day of the World's Indigenous People would be observed at Headquarters tomorrow, Thursday, 7 August, with a sacred pipe ceremony and songs and dances honouring indigenous people of the world, Mr. Eckhard said. The ceremony would be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Visitors' Entrance Plaza. From 3 to 6 p.m., a panel discussion on land and natural resources would be held in Conference Room 4. On Friday, also in Conference Room 4, there would be an interactive briefing session for indigenous people by a number of United Nations agencies. Correspondents were invited to participate in those events.

As part of his appointments today, the Secretary-General would be meeting with the Policy Coordination Group to discuss implementation of his reform package, Mr. Eckhard said. He would also be receiving credentials from four newly appointed permanent representatives to the United Nations: Inocencio Arias (Spain), Makarim Wibisono (Indonesia), Dore Gold (Israel), and Pengiran Maidin Hashim (Brunei Darussalam). The Permanent Representative of the United States, Bill Richardson, would meet the Secretary-General at 5:30 p.m. to introduce his country's new Deputy Permanent Representative, Ambassador Peter Burleigh.

A craft team from Norway was now working on renovations in the Security Council Chamber, taking down the old wall coverings and replacing them, the Spokesman said. Since the team intended to faithfully reproduce the old wall coverings, samples of the old fabric had been sent to Norway. Among the experts who had come from Norway to examine the walls was the owner of the firm responsible for the renovation -- the son of the man who installed the

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 6 August 1997

wall covering 50 years ago. He had had a moving experience when he discovered his father's craft mark at the back of a piece of furniture in the Council Chamber.

Mr. Eckhard then announced two press conferences. The Permanent Representative of Cambodia to the United Nations, Prince Sisowath Sirirath, would meet the press at 2:30 p.m. today in room 226 to address the issue of the appointment of a new First Prime Minister in Cambodia. Tomorrow, the Chairman of the Panel of Governmental Experts on Small Arms and Special Assistant to the Foreign Minister of Japan, Mitsuro Donowaki, would hold a press conference at 11:30 a.m. in room 266, following the presentation of the Panel's report to the Secretary-General.

The Spokesman said he had been having meetings with the United Nations press corps to determine how his office could improve its services to the media. Noting that the number of correspondents he still had to meet was very small and that some were just being invited to his office, he asked if they would inform Ms. Gaffney in room 378 if they wanted to meet with him.

Asked about the content of the letters from Yasser Arafat and the Permanent Observer for Palestine, Mr. Eckhard said they listed the measures that Israel had taken against the Palestinians since the recent bombing of the marketplace in Jerusalem. The Palestinian National Authority was, therefore, seeking international support to pressure Israel to lift the sanctions.

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