DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Press Briefing

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

(Incorporates briefing by spokesman for General Assembly President)

Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, began today's briefing by welcoming the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Haiti, Enrique ter Horst, who was present to talk to correspondents about that mission.

The Secretary-General had begun a long programme today with a breakfast meeting hosted by the United Nations Association of the United States, with members of the New York political community present. They had included three members of the congressional delegation, as well as members of the New York City Council and the New York State Assembly, who had all agreed to form a support group for the United Nations, acknowledging its strong contribution to the City and State of New York. The House International Affairs Committee Chairman, Benjamin Gillman, and several other congressmen were subsequently hosted by the United States Mission on a visit to the United Nations Headquarters. They were then scheduled to meet with the Secretary-General, after which they would talk to the press at the stand-up microphone.

At the Security Council today, Mr. Eckhard said that in addition to hearing from Mr. ter Horst on Haiti this morning, it had also taken up Angola. It had heard from the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Bernard Miyet, and on the basis of the update that he provided them, they would discuss their earlier decision to impose punitive sanctions on the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), unless certain conditions were met by 30 September.

On the subject of Angola, the Spokesman noted that there had been some significant progress today. A ceremony had taken place at Negage to hand over the administration of that city to the Government of National Unity. Negage was one of the five important areas of Angola under UNITA control that needed to be handed over, and had been the largest city under UNITA administration. Tomorrow, another handover ceremony would take place in Cuango, a diamond- mining area in Lunda Norte, and also one of the important areas controlled by UNITA.

Continuing on the Security Council agenda, Mr. Eckhard said it would also discuss Western Sahara today. The draft resolution that the Secretary- General had proposed last week concerning a three-week extension of the mandate, to be followed by a six-month extension, was before it. A United Nations technical survey mission would be leaving for the region early next week and would stay for about 10 days. Based on their findings, the Secretariat would prepare a report with details on the timetable, deployment

of civilian staff and financial implications of resumption of the peace mission there.

Mr. Eckhard then read the following statement, attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General: "During their meeting last week, Secretary-General Kofi Annan informed the President of Colombia, Ernesto Samper Pizano, of his wish to appoint that country's Finance Minister, José Antonio Ocampo Gaviria, as Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). The President graciously agreed to release Mr. Ocampo from his present assignment as Finance Minister on a date to be agreed." (See today's Press Release SG/A/651-REC/11.)

Mr. Eckhard further recalled a question last week concerning Cambodia, on the issue of whether Mr. Hun Sen would be coming to Headquarters, and his response was that, from the wire services, it had been learned that he had cancelled those plans. Providing an update, he said that Mr. Hun Sen would be at Headquarters tomorrow afternoon. The Secretary-General would meet with Prince Norodom Ranariddh at 5:45 p.m., and then with Mr. Hun Sen at 6:30 p.m.

There continued to be heavy shelling in Congo-Brazzaville, Mr. Eckhard also told correspondents. Errant shells were reported to be falling over the river into Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There had been wire reports today that several people had been killed by some of the shelling. In the La Gombe area, which was where some members of the United Nations human rights investigative team was staying, a shell had fallen very close to their office. They were now confined to their hotel, for security reasons. The United Nations had about 50 international staff members in Kinshasa. In Brazzaville, the United Nations Information Centre had been hit by a shell, and whatever had not been destroyed had been looted, the Spokesman added.

On the memorandum of understanding on the stand-by arrangements for peacekeeping that Uruguay was expected to sign today, he said that the ceremony had been postponed until tomorrow. If Uruguay signed the memorandum tomorrow, it would still be the eleventh Member State to sign.

From Iraq, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator, Denis Halliday, had stated that two Iranian opposition bases, in Wasit and Diyala Governorates in northern Iraq, were reportedly bombed by Iranian aircraft this morning. As a result, the Coordinator had recalled the United Nations geographical observers and the sectoral observers, involved in the implementation of Security Council resolution 986 (1995), to Baghdad.

Mr. Eckhard also told correspondents that a four-member United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination Team had been dispatched to the fires in Indonesia. The team, led by the Department of Humanitarian Affairs, had been tasked to assist the Indonesian Government in coordinating the relief efforts. A situation report from the Department of Humanitarian Affairs was available

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 29 September 1997

in room S-378. It stated that an emergency grant of $32,500 had been given to Malaysia for the procurement of face masks, and $50,000 to Indonesia for emergency medical supplies. In addition, France had sent to Malaysia a 19-member team of experts, and the Government of the United Kingdom had made a cash contribution of $100,000 for immediate relief needs in Indonesia and Malaysia.

One of the greatest needs at this point, according to the report, were water-bombing planes. The Russian Ministry of Emergencies had informed the Department of Humanitarian Affairs that they had two IL-76 aircraft on standby and available in principle. Each was equipped with two water tanks each of 40 tons capacity, and could be deployed from Moscow to Indonesia within 19 hours of request.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, would be present in room S-226 tomorrow at 11 a.m. for a press conference. Also meeting with the press: at 12:45 p.m., the President of Tajikistan, Emomali S. Rakhmonov; and at 4 p.m., the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, Nadezha Mihailova.

Given that the Organization had not resolved the issue of Cambodia's seat at the General Assembly, Mr. Eckhard was asked, in what context was the Secretary-General meeting with Prince Ranariddh and Mr. Hun Sen, and how would they be recognized by him? Neither would be recognized as representing the Government or heading the delegation of Cambodia, he answered. The Secretary- General met with all kinds of people -- "including opposition leaders and so on" -- but from a protocol point of view, neither man would be recognized as head of State or head of government.

Alex Taukatch, spokesman for the President of the General Assembly, Hennadiy Udovenko (Ukraine), said that the President had, this morning, opened the second week of the general debate. The spokesman identified a change in the speakers' list for this afternoon: the Permanent Representative, not the Foreign Minister, would speak for Kuwait.

The President of the General Assembly had, this morning, held a number of meetings. He had met with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Romania, the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea. Mr. Taukatch reminded correspondents that on Friday the President of the Assembly had also met with the Permanent Representative of Zimbabwe and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Burundi. Mr. Udovenko would, this afternoon, also hold meetings with the Permanent Representatives of Pakistan, Mexico and Morocco. Through those meetings, the President continued discussions with representatives of various delegations of how to approach the issue of United Nations reform in its consideration at the fifty-second session. At 1 p.m., he would attend a luncheon to be hosted by the Permanent Representative of Sweden, with the representatives of the Group of 16.

Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 29 September 1997

Also this afternoon, the President of the General Assembly would attend a reception to be hosted by the Secretary of State of the United States and the representative of the United States to the United Nations, in honour of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson. Concerning Mrs. Robinson, the spokesman pointed out that her live radio broadcast of last Friday was available on the United Nations telephone bulletin board (extension 3-3777).

Also addressing correspondents, Mr. ter Horst said he had, this morning, briefed the Security Council on the political situation in Haiti. The briefing was in connection with the report the Secretary-General was to have presented to the Council on 30 September regarding modalities to continue a peace- building presence in Haiti after 30 November, scheduled to be the end of the peacekeeping mission now in place, the United Nations Transition Mission in Haiti (UNTMIH).

The Special Representative said that the Secretary-General was not now in a position to present that report, due to the political situation in Haiti. There was a stalemate related to the flawed elections of 6 April, elections that had the mandate of renewing one third of the Senate and putting into place a number of local assemblies that would have a decisive role in establishing the new permanent electoral council. That council was to have a nine-year mandate, which meant that whoever controlled it would probably control political life in Haiti for the next decade. That was the main issue at stake at this time.

Mr. ter Horst recalled that in view of those elections, Prime Minister Rosny Smarth and his Government had resigned at the beginning of June, and linked that resignation to the flawed elections. His political party, which had an important relative majority in both chambers, had stated that it would not approve a new government until the electoral situation had been corrected. In the past two weeks, President René Préval had been leading negotiations with all political parties in order to have a simultaneous agreement on the electoral issue, and on formation of the government. He had set himself a deadline of 26 September, but an agreement was not reached, although there was reason to believe, at the weekend, that a solution was at hand. On that issue, the Special Representative added that meetings were still being held under the leadership of President Préval.

Continuing, Mr. ter Horst noted that the international community was strongly supportive of that negotiation process. It was hoped that, as a result of them, Haiti would be able to have a permanent electoral council, so as to conduct free and fair elections, and that democracy in Haiti would be strengthened. The Security Council had, this morning, agreed to set 30 October as a new deadline for the report of the Secretary-General. That report would provide proposals by the Secretary-General on the shape of the continuing peace- building presence of the United Nations at the end of the present mission on 30 November.

Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 29 September 1997

Asked for an assessment of the effectiveness of UNTMIH, the Special Representative said that the mandate of the transitional mission was the same as for the previous two missions: to help the Government ensure a stable and secure environment; and, at the same time, professionalize the Haitian National Police, fully taking into account naturally its transitional nature. He explained that the new police force had been in place now for a little over two years, and was an institutional effort that clearly needed to continue. The mission itself had 1,220 troops (750 Canadians, and the remainder Pakistanis), with a civilian police component of 230, who were from France, Canada, United States, Mali, Senegal, Tunisia and Benin.

On the progress of the police component, he said that the three elements that related most closely to political stability were now in place: crowd- control capacity; a SWAT-team; and security at the palace. The Office of the Inspector-General was also working very well and proceeding with the weeding- out process of incompetent and dangerous elements. There was a major redeployment exercise under way that should ensure a full chain of command and a more rational distribution of police officers around the country before the end of October. Much still needed to be done on the side of judicial police, including systems and procedures in general, as well as equipment, he concluded.

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