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 welcoming Thomas Hammarberg, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for human rights in Cambodia. He had met with the Secretary-General late yesterday and would brief correspondents today about his recent trip to that country, and about his mission as a whole. (Mr. Hammarberg's briefing is being issued separately.)

Most correspondents, Mr. Eckhard then went on, had been following the story of the United Nations helicopter crash in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Secretary-General was shocked and deeply saddened by the news of it that he had received this morning. It had been carrying 12 members of the United Nations-International Police Task Force (IPTF), the Organization's police monitoring mission there, as well as of the Office of the High Representative for Implementation of the Peace Agreement on Bosnia and Herzegovina, Carlos Westendorp. There had also been four crew members. Initial reports indicated 11 persons killed, and five survivors. The Spokesman added that the Secretary-General had been following the developments closely, had expressed his heartfelt condolences to the families of those who were killed, and hoped for a speedy recovery for the survivors. He also wished to thank the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)-led Stabilization Force (SFOR) in Bosnia which had conducted the search and rescue operation, and at whose medical facilities the survivors were being cared for. Those survivors were currently in a German military hospital in Rajlovac. An investigation would be conducted into the incident, and a senior air safety special investigator from the Department of Peacekeeping Operations would leave New York for Sarajevo today. On the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mr. Eckhard said that Under- Secretary-General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast would, this afternoon, brief the Security Council on the report received from the Secretary-General's Human Rights Investigative Team yesterday. The Secretary- General had continued to expect the mission to make every effort to commence its investigation in accordance with its mandate. Mr. Eckhard then reminded correspondents of the press conference by James Baker III yesterday piped in to them from Houston, Texas, on the successful outcome of his fourth round of talks on Western Sahara. The following statement would be available to them in the Spokesman's Office:

"The Secretary-General is extremely pleased that, through the good offices of his Personal Envoy James A. Baker III, the parties to the dispute in Western Sahara have reached agreement on issues that have held up the implementation of the Settlement Plan for nearly two years. The Secretary- General congratulates the parties and expresses his high appreciation to

Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 17 September 1997

Mr. Baker for his skill in achieving an agreement on these difficult and complex issues. The Secretary-General looks forward to the parties' cooperating with the United Nations in fulfilling the commitments they have made so that the Settlement Plan can be implemented." (See Press Release SG/SM/6329 issued today.) A transcript of Mr. Baker's opening remarks, and the answers he gave to questions, were available, but without the questions, which were inaudible. Mr. Eckhard drew attention to the Secretary-General's appointments for today, which included meetings with two regional groups: the African Group, and the Western European and Other States Group. It was the beginning of a round of consultations and briefings he would have on his reform efforts as the General Assembly began. In addition to the five regional groups, he would have a separate meeting with the "Group of 77" developing countries. Mr. Eckhard said that a press release from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, in Arusha, was also available. It stated that the Tribunal had ordered an extension of the provisional detention of six suspects. That was the last extension permissible under the rules, pending the filing of charges against the suspects. Another press release, from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), had reported that 203 companies had been surveyed in 14 countries and 73 per cent of them were found to have programmes to help protect their employees and communities from AIDS, the Spokesman said. The study had been carried out by the Conference Board, which was an organization of multinational corporations, and co-sponsored by UNAIDS. Mr. Eckhard recalled that he had talked to correspondents recently about the CyberSchoolBus project on the United Nations Home Page on the Internet, focusing on landmines and schools: "Schools Demining Schools". It was coordinated by the United Nations and the International Educational Resource Network (I-EARN), which was a network of 3,000 schools in 35 countries that collaborate on projects using computer connections. The CyberSchoolBus would work with the Mine Clearance and Policy Unit of the Department of Humanitarian Affairs, and the goal was to raise consciousness among school populations around the world about the scourge of landmines and to get them involved in a global action project that would be part of the solution. Under the plan, the project would raise money, which would be used to clean up a mined-school premises somewhere in the world, and then move on to another site. According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), between 8,000 and 10,000 children were killed by landmines every year, he added. Guyana had become the hundredth Member State to ratify the Chemical Weapons Convention, Mr. Eckhard said, adding that that had happened on 12 September.

He then announced that the Department of Public Information (DPI), with the sponsorship of United Nations Publications, was inviting correspondents to a book launching, Pilgrimage for Peace, by former Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar, on Monday, 22 September, in the Visitors Lobby between 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 17 September 1997

The Spokesman also reminded correspondents of a press conference at 3 p.m. today, to be addressed by Ambassador Ouch Borith, Deputy Permanent Representative of Cambodia to the United Nations, and Uch Kim An, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cambodia. Tomorrow, at 11:15 a.m., Ambassador Hennadiy Udovenko, President of the fifty-second session of the General Assembly, would meet with correspondents. Stella Dorfman, of the Spokesman's Office, had prepared a list of all the press conferences, beginning on Monday, when the pace was expected to pick up considerably.

Mr. Eckhard said that the Pacem in Terris Society, in cooperation with DPI, was organizing a meeting in honour of Mother Teresa, to be held tomorrow at noon in Conference Room 3.

On behalf of the German Permanent Mission, Mr. Eckhard reminded correspondents of "Oktoberfest", tonight at the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) Club at 6 p.m., to be accompanied by a briefing by Ambassador Tono Eitel on German priorities at the fifty-second Assembly session.

Mr. Eckhard then introduced Alex Taukatch, spokesman for the President of the General Assembly, Mr. Udovenko (Ukraine).

Mr. Taukatch said he was honoured to serve as spokesman for the Assembly President. He hoped correspondents had had a chance to look at the press kit, which contained a biographical note on the President. He noted that the President knew the Organization very well. For about seven years, he had been Ambassador of Ukraine to the United Nations, and had served in various capacities on several intergovernmental bodies within the Organization. For the past three years, he had been the Foreign Minister of Ukraine.

The spokesman confirmed that the Assembly President would be giving his first press conference tomorrow at 11:15 a.m. in room S-226. He would be open to the media and do his best to try to explain the very complex workings of the General Assembly, Mr. Taukatch added.

Mr. Udovenko had learned with deep sadness the tragic incident in Bosnia and Herzegovina involving the crash of a United Nations helicopter piloted by a Ukrainian crew. The Assembly President had expressed his deepest condolences to the families of all the victims who lost their lives in the service of peace. An official statement would be made available to the press later in the day. (See Press Release GA/SM/2.)

Concerning the book launch of former Secretary-General Perez de Cuellar on Monday, Mr. Taukatch said that the Assembly President was also planning to attend the event. He had known the former Secretary-General from his years as the ambassador of Ukraine to the United Nations.

Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 17 September 1997

On yesterday's activities in the General Assembly, the spokesman said that the Assembly had opened, and elected its officers, including the President, Vice-Presidents and members of the Credentials Committee. As for today, there would be another plenary meeting at 3 p.m., necessitated by Rule 38 of the Rules of Procedure, which stipulated that no two members of the General Committee should be members of the same delegation. Mr. Taukatch reminded correspondents that the General Committee was composed of the President and Vice-Presidents of the General Assembly and the Chairmen of the Main Committees. Immediately following the election of one Vice-President by the plenary this afternoon, the General Committee would meet to take up the agenda of the fifty-second session.

Meanwhile, the Credentials Committee had begun its meeting this morning at 11:30 a.m. Asked by a correspondent, Mr. Taukatch confirmed that the Credentials Committee had met in a closed meeting.

Mr. Eckhard was asked what special events were ahead on Monday, to which he said he expected that everyone would be working "a little bit harder". On security arrangements for the media, he said an announcement would be made on Friday regarding the peak security alert period when the heads of State and government were around. Asked for specifics, he said final instructions would be consistent with what was negotiated with UNCA. "Resident correspondents would have certain privileges that others don't."

A correspondent asked if the General Assembly President would continue his predecessor's tradition of starting the sessions on time, to which the spokesman replied that the new President would do his best to streamline the work of the Assembly and keep to time. Yesterday had been a good example, as everything went without a hitch.

On the list of speakers, the spokesman for the Assembly President said it was still being worked on. It was anticipated, however, that there would be 24 heads of State, 22 heads of government and one crown prince. The list kept changing, however, but as soon as it was finalized, it would be distributed.

To a request on prompt availability of speeches, Mr. Taukatch pledged his cooperation. "It is a problem every year, but we will do our best to make sure you have the speeches as soon as we get them."

Mr. Eckhard, asked for details of the helicopter crash, pointed out that the investigation had only just begun. The helicopter took off in clear weather, but had encountered fog and then hit the side of a mountain. There was no reason to suspect foul play at that time, but there would be a full investigation.

* *** *