PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Press Briefing

PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, told correspondents at the start of today's press briefing that the Security Council ministerial meeting was wrapping up at about that same time. The Secretary-General had spoken second in the debate.

Among other remarks, he had told Council members: "There is a new drive to democracy in much of Africa. Multi-party elections have underpinned democratic rule in some countries. In others, the democratization process is under way. The link between the democratization process and efforts to ensure social justice and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is recognized and understood."

Continuing, he said the Secretary-General had then quoted a Swahili proverb: "You cannot turn the wind, so turn the sail." Africans, he had continued, were "working with the winds of change blowing around our globe, and they are beginning to reap the benefits".

The Spokesman said that at the end of his engagement at the Council, the Secretary-General would be talking with the Foreign Ministers of the Non-Aligned Movement, where he would basically be making a pitch for his reform package. The text of the Secretary-General's statement was available in the Spokesman's Office. In it, he remarked, "Today, more than ever, development is the crucible of all that we do and all that we seek. Indeed, there is no aspect of the work of the United Nations that does not ensure and enhance development."

He had further stated, "Peace leads to development. Human rights permit development. Democracy nurtures development. Good governance sustains development."

Mr. Eckhard then informed correspondents that the Spokesman's Office was picking up the reform elements of all the speeches being made in the general debate. For the most part, they were available the same day the speeches were being delivered. Correspondents could find them in the Spokesman's Office. The Office was also getting read-outs of each of the Secretary-General's meetings with participants in the general debate. Because those were closed meetings, the read-outs were only being kept on file; however, the Spokesman's Office was willing to share them with correspondents on a background basis.

Turning to Angola, he said that the Secretary-General's report was going to the Security Council today. He recalled that late in August, the Council had set the deadline of the end of September to impose additional punitive

measures on the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), unless the Secretary-General reported that UNITA had taken concrete and irreversible steps to comply with its obligations under the peace accord.

While noting that some progress in the demilitarization of UNITA forces and the extension of State administration and transformation of UNITA's radio station, Vorgan, had taken place, the Secretary-General had said in the report that the figure of 6,052 claimed by UNITA to be the total of its residual troops remained unconvincing, the Spokesman continued. No progress had been registered in the extension of government authority to the five strategically important areas of Angola. The Secretary-General had therefore concluded that he was not yet in a position to advise the Security Council that UNITA had taken the necessary steps required. He had therefore urged the two parties, in particular UNITA, to comply with their obligations under the peace agreement.

Continuing, Mr. Eckhard said that Alioune Blondin Beye, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Angola had yesterday met with Jonas Savimbi and President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, as was reported in the noon briefing. Mr. Savimbi had given Mr. Beye assurances that serious efforts would be made to respond to the demands of the Security Council, so that sanctions could be avoided.

The Secretary-General's report on Western Sahara would also go to the Security Council today, the Spokesman said, and was expected to be on the racks later in the day. In the report, he had detailed the agreements reached in the direct talks between the two parties under the auspices of James Baker III, his Personal Envoy, and he had said that the achievements created the conditions to proceed towards the full implementation of the Settlement Plan, starting with the resumption of the identification process. He had therefore recommended that the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) take that course of action. The Secretary-General was planning to send a technical team to the mission area, during the first half of October, to assess the resource requirements for the deployment of MINURSO at full strength. The identification operation should be resumed as soon as possible, and a referendum held within a year.

To initiate the preparatory work and enable concerned members of the Security Council to consult with their authorities on the proposed expansion of MINURSO, Mr. Eckhard continued, the Secretary-General had further recommended that the mandate of the mission be extended for three weeks, until 20 October. He had also recommended that the mandate be extended thereafter, for a period of six months until 20 April 1998, in order for the mission to proceed with the identification tasks. The Secretary-General expected to revert to the Council in November with a comprehensive report, including a detailed plan, time-table and financial implications for the holding of the referendum.

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 25 September 1997

Concerning the sanctions of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) against Sierra Leone, Mr. Eckhard recalled that the Secretary- General had last Friday met with the Committee of Five Foreign Ministers of ECOWAS, from Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia and Nigeria. The Committee had also met with members of the Security Council under the Arria Formula. [Note: The Arria formula is an informal consultation process, initiated by Diego Arria of Venezuela, which affords members of the Security Council the opportunity to hear persons in a confidential informal setting. The meetings are presided over by a member of the Council serving as facilitator for the discussions, and not by the Council President.]

The ECOWAS Committee, concerned that the sanctions should not be rendered ineffective, had given assurances that it did not intend to constrain humanitarian relief operations in the country, Mr. Eckhard said. It had also been agreed that the United Nations would make recommendations to ECOWAS on the modalities of relief operations, the mechanisms for consultations with ECOWAS, and the categories of relief items to be exempted from sanctions. In the next few days, consultations would take place in New York between United Nations officials and Lansana Kouyate, the new Executive Secretary of ECOWAS. In addition, the Security Council would tomorrow hold consultations on Sierra Leone, and President Ahmed Tejjan Kabbah, the deposed Sierra Leonean leader, was due in New York next week, on Wednesday.

Announcing press releases, the Spokesman told correspondents that the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) was warning against precipitation in trying the new AIDS vaccine on humans. The agency believed that although the new vaccine had proved effective on monkeys, more research was needed, in view of the danger that the attenuated virus strain could revert to virulence and infect the patient with AIDS. The press release was available in the Spokesman's Office.

In another press release, the International Court of Justice said it had today delivered its long-awaited judgment on the controversy between Hungary and Slovakia over the construction and operation of dams on the Danube river. The judgment had basically found both parties in breach of their legal obligations. The Court had therefore called on both countries to carry out the relevant treaty between them while taking account of the factual situation that had developed since 1989. All the documentation on the matter was available in the Spokesman's Office, as was the full text of the judgment.

Mr. Eckhard announced that the Department of Public Information (DPI) would tomorrow hold one of its hour-long live radio broadcasts which uses the phone-in format. The programme would feature Mary Robinson, the new United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and would take place from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. New York time. He explained that the format was unrehearsed question and answer, and would have the participation of international networks from four continents, enabling people to call in from everywhere. The maiden programme had featured the Secretary-General.

Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 25 September 1997

He then announced the following press conferences: today, at 4 p.m., background briefing by Jamie Shea, spokesman for the Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), on the NATO-Russia Permanent Joint Council. At 5 p.m., Hiroshi Hashimoto, spokesman for the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, would brief on Security Council (ministerial meeting held this morning), as well as the meetings between the Foreign Minister and the United Kingdom, and the luncheon with African countries.

Warning against a little confusion tomorrow morning, he told correspondents of a joint press conference, beginning at 11:10 a.m., by the three Chairmen of the First Ministerial Meeting of the NATO-Russia Permanent Joint Council. The guests would be: Javier Solana, the NATO Secretary- General; Yevgeny Primakov, the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation; and Erik Deryoke, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Belgium.

Still on press conferences, at 11:30 a.m., Lloyd Axworthy, the Foreign Minister of Canada, and Bjorn Tore Godal, Foreign Minister of Norway, would be present, he continued. The Foreign Minister of Norway would hand over to the Foreign Minister of Canada the final document of the Oslo Conference, held in Oslo earlier this month to negotiate a convention for a total ban on anti-personnel landmines. Also participating in the conference by video conference would be Cornelio Sommaruga, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in Geneva. Because of that, the Spokesman's noon briefing would be delayed until about 12:15 p.m.

On behalf of Sonia Lecca, Chief of Accreditation Unit, Mr. Eckhard asked correspondents to allow enough time to get through formalities before events they wished to cover. Although United Nations Security would expedite the entrance of media personnel when possible, it could sometimes not do that ahead of people who had been waiting in line for over 20 minutes.

Also briefing correspondents, Alex Taukatch, spokesman for the President of the General Assembly, Hennadiy Udovenko (Ukraine), said that the Assembly President had received this morning a courtesy call from the Secretary of State of Switzerland. He then had a meeting with the Secretary-General of NATO, Mr. Solana. A number of issues had been discussed, including the Secretary-General's reform package, expansion of the Security Council, the Organization's financial situation, and cooperation between NATO and the United Nations.

Later in the day, the President of the General Assembly would receive several courtesy calls, including the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Liechtenstein, the President of Ecuador, the Prime Minister of Albania, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Burkina Faso. He was also scheduled to have meetings with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ireland and the Vice- Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of China. Through all of his meetings, the President of the General Assembly wanted to make sure that he consulted with representatives of all regional groups and a wide array of

Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 25 September 1997

delegations to get their feedback on how best to address the question of United Nations reform in the General Assembly plenary.

Mr. Taukatch said he had continued to receive questions regarding credentials. On Afghanistan, he said the Credentials Committee had last December recommended -- and the General Assembly approved that recommendation -- to defer a decision on the credentials of Afghanistan. Pursuant to that decision, the delegates representing the government of President Burhanuddin Rabbani had continued to fully exercise their rights as representatives of Afghanistan to and in the United Nations. Mr. Taukatch also noted that so far, at the fifty-second session, the representatives of that government had participated in the meetings of the Assembly without challenge.

Mr. Taukatch further explained that at this session, the Credentials Committee would have two sets of credentials before it. However, he said, "unless and until" the General Assembly acted on the recommendations of the Credentials Committee and decided otherwise, the delegates appointed by the government of President Rabbani, including Ambassador Ravan Farhadi, would continue to fully exercise their rights as representatives of Afghanistan. That, he said, was all within the framework of rule 29 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly.

On Cambodia, the Credentials Committee had been confronted by two sets of credentials, one signed by King Norodom Sihanouk, and the other by Prince Norodom Ranariddh, he said. The Committee decided to defer a decision on the matter, on the understanding that, for the time being, no one occupied the seat.

Concerning Sierra Leone, the representatives of the government of President Kabbah had participated throughout the fifty-first session of the General Assembly, and had taken part in meetings of the fifty-second session without challenge. Statements by the President of the Security Council and the Secretary-General had confirmed that the United Nations and the international community deplored the attempt to overthrow the democratically- elected government, and had called for the immediate restoration of constitutional order.

On the former Yugoslavia, Mr. Taukatch pointed out that the issue dated back to the forty-seventh session. Under resolutions 47/1 and 47/229, Yugoslavia could not participate in the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and its various subsidiary organs, nor in meetings and conferences convened by them. As for Somalia, Mr. Taukatch noted that there had been no formal decision on the participation of Somali representatives by any United Nations organs, including the General Assembly. The Security Council had, however, determined the absence of a central government in the country, and consequently, no one could represent Somalia in the General Assembly. In both of those cases, he noted, the decisions did not affect the

Daily Press Briefing - 6 - 25 September 1997

two countries' memberships in the United Nations. The nameplates appear in the Assembly, but no one may seat behind those nameplates.

If Cambodia, Yugoslavia and Somalia had no representation, a correspondent asked, were they still being assessed their dues? Mr. Taukatch reiterated that the decision he had mentioned affected the countries' representation in the General Assembly and not their status as Member States.

To a question on tomorrow's live international radio broadcast involving the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Taukatch said that, based on his experience with the first such broadcast which featured the Secretary-General, the participating radio stations would not send their correspondents to United Nations Headquarters. The show would be anchored in New York by a United Nations radio producer, while questions would come from journalists in the four continents via a live remote hook-up.

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