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 announcing that the Secretary-General had decided to withdraw the human rights investigative team to the Democratic Republic of the Congo for consultations, pending the final clarification of the policy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the matter. The Secretary-General would be informing the Foreign Minister of that country, with whom he was then meeting, about that decision.

Concerning the situation in northern Iraq, Mr. Eckhard then read the following statement, which was available in room 378: "The Secretary-General is following the situation in northern Iraq with growing concern. As he has made clear in the past, Iraqi sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected. He therefore urges Turkish troops to withdraw as soon as possible."

The United States Congress last night adopted a continuing resolution to fund international programmes through 23 October, the Spokesman continued. The agreement on conditions for payment of United States arrears to the United Nations had, therefore, been postponed, at least until then.

Mr. Eckhard said that the Special Representative of the Secretary- General to East Timor, Ambassador Jamsheed Marker, had stated that a second round of talks between Portugal and Indonesia on the question of East Timor, at the senior official level, would start today at Headquarters. The talks, a product of an agreement reached last June between the Foreign Ministers of the two countries, were expected to continue until Friday. Ambassador Marker would chair the meetings. The Portuguese delegation would be chaired by the Director-General for Special Political Affairs at the Portuguese Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Fernardo Neves. The Indonesian team would be headed by the Director-General for Political Affairs in the Foreign Ministry at Jakarta and former Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Nugroho Wisnumurti.

The Spokesman then announced that there would also be another round of the All-Inclusive Intra-East Timorese Dialogue, which involved discussions among the various East Timorese groups and political movements. It would take place between 20 and 23 October in Austria, where previous rounds had also taken place in June 1995 and March 1996.

Turning to Myanmar, the Spokesman said that the Assistant Secretary- General for Political Affairs, Alvaro de Soto, met this morning with the Foreign Minister of Myanmar, Ohn Gyaw, as part of the ongoing dialogue between the Secretary-General and the Government of Myanmar.

Mr. Eckhard drew attention to a press release from the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, announcing that the Secretary- General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe had today authorized the Stabilization Force (SFOR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina to occupy and control a number of broadcasting facilities in the Republic of Srpska. The decision followed what the Office of the High Representative had described as the "grotesque distortion" of a press conference given by the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, Judge Louise Arbor, which was broadcast over the weekend by Serb radio and television.

Concerning the rebuilding of the historic Ottoman Bridge in Mostar that he had announced yesterday, the Spokesman said he had been incorrect with respect to the involvement of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in the project; it was now clear that the Globalization Force was undertaking the job.

He also drew attention to a press release out of Islamabad, from the head of the United Nations Special Mission in Afghanistan, Norbert Holl. Mr Holl was deeply concerned about the safety and well-being of United Nations and non-governmental organizations staff in Mazar-i-Sharif in the north of the country. The release states that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nations had attempted, so far unsuccessfully, to bring those persons to safety, but had been frustrated by the increased fighting in and around Mazar City.

Mr. Eckhard announced that concurrent with his briefing, a briefing was being given to non-governmental organizations by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, in Conference room 2. All correspondents were invited.

He then announced a press release from the Governing Council of the United Nations Compensation Commission, which had just completed its twenty- fifth session in Geneva. It had decided to award the Government of Egypt over $84 million to be distributed to successful claimants. The Egyptian Government had filed one consolidated "category C" claim on behalf of over 900,000 Egyptian workers, seeking compensation for funds deposited in Iraqi banks, for transfer to beneficiaries in Egypt. Details were available in the press release.

A special conference on Liberia would be held in the Trusteeship Council Chamber on 3 October, the Spokesman said. It would focus on efforts to consolidate the peace in Liberia, as well as on its reconstruction and humanitarian needs. The Secretary-General was expected to make a statement. Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahima Fall would chair the Conference. Liberia would be represented by its Ministers for Foreign Affairs, Finance and Economic Planning. Major donors, members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Bretton Woods institutions and

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relevant United Nations agencies, programmes and departments would also participate.

There was a situation report from the Department of Humanitarian Affairs on the cyclone in Bangladesh, which had affected 17 out of the 64 districts of that country, the Spokesman said. The death toll stood at 51, with 137 people missing. A total of 750,000 persons were affected.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today issued a background press release on the eleventh World Forestry Congress, to be held in Antalya, Turkey from 13 to 22 October, the Spokesman said. Its theme was "Forestry for Sustainable Development: Towards the Twenty First Century". The release was available in the Spokesman's Office.

A press release had also come from the United Nations Centre for Human Settlement (HABITAT), concerning World Habitat Day on Monday, 6 October, Mr. Eckhard said. There would be a programme at Headquarters on Monday from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Dag Hammarskjold Library Auditorium. A press registration form was available.

Mr. Eckhard then announced a press conference at 2:00 p.m. tomorrow by the Foreign Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bizima Karaha. At 3:30 p.m., Ivan I. Antonovich, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Belarus would discuss the integration between Belarus and the Russian Federation as a form of subregional integration within the framework of the European integration process, as well as the question of United Nations reform.

The World Chronicle television programme today, would feature the Managing Editor and Anchor of the CBS Evening News, Dan Rather; the Assistant Secretary-General for Public Information, Samir Sanbar; and the Director of the Media Division in the Department of Public Information (DPI), Nadia Younes. It would be shown at 2:30 p.m. on in-house television channels 6 and 38.

Concerning the withdrawal of the human rights investigative team, a correspondent asked if the decision had been in response to a request from President Laurent Kabila. The Spokesman said it had been the Secretary- General's decision, noting that there had been no confirmation from the Government of comments attributed to President Kabila by news reports out of Lusaka yesterday. The statement withdrawing the team said that the action was being taken "pending final clarification" of the Government's position.

A correspondent asked for comment on conditions expressed by the Foreign Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the General Assembly's debate this morning, and on his statement that the investigative team had been "politicized". Mr. Eckhard said he had no guidance on those conditions. The complaints by the Government against the team, however, were well-known by now. He stressed that the team had been in the country for well over a month,

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unable to carry out its mandate. The time had simply come to pull them out for consultations, pending clarification of the Government's position.

Asked about the Security Council's role in the decision to withdraw the team, the Spokesman said it was the Secretary-General's team and he had taken the decision to withdraw them for consultations.

He said he was not aware that the Secretary-General had spoken to President Kabila, but would check. There had, however, been discussions about the issue with the Foreign Minister, who was at Headquarters. He refused to speculate on what might happen next, but said one possibility was that the Government's policy might be clarified in a way that would permit the investigative team to return to Kinshasa and commence its work. Another possibility was that the Government could continue to insist on conditionalities unacceptable to the United Nations. He explained that there were about 20 forensic and other experts in the investigative team who would remain in Kinshasa for the time being.

Asked whether the action of the Stabilization Force in the Republic of Srpska did not limit the freedom of the press, Mr. Eckhard said he had no comment on the SFOR decision. He had merely relayed a press release of the High Representative.

On Cambodia, he was asked how the Secretary-General was reacting to comments made to correspondents by Mr. Hun Sen making the role of the United Nations in the country's elections next year somewhat conditional on the handling of the vacant Cambodian seat in the General Assembly. Mr. Eckhard said that linkage had not been made in Mr. Hun Sen's meeting with the Secretary-General last night, and he had no comment on it. As for the seat in the Assembly, that matter was for the General Assembly to deal with.

Concerning the situation in Mazar city in Afghanistan, he said there were two international staff and a large number of locals. He did not know the number of non-governmental organization personnel, but approximated the total number of local staff members at 200.

As Judge Louise Arbor was a United Nations official, would the Organization support the use of force against the media that had misused her press conference? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said that it was "purely an SFOR-Dayton" matter, and the involvement of Ms. Arbour did not warrant his comment.

Alex Taukatch, Spokesman for the President of the General Assembly, Hennadiy Udovenko (Ukraine), said that Mr. Udovenko was keeping his word to try to make sure that Assembly meetings start according to the schedule. So another day of the general debate began this morning on time, give or take a minute or two.

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The President of the Assembly was also having another busy day today, meeting with various delegations attending the session. This morning, he met with the Foreign Minister of Afghanistan. They discussed the situation in Afghanistan, and the work of the General Assembly, including the agenda item on the reform of the United Nations. He would continue consultations on that item throughout the other meetings he would have today.

Mr. Taukatch said that this morning he had been confronted with a kind of quiz-show trivia question: What was Article 19 of the United Nations Charter? That, he explained, was the article under which a Member State would have no vote in the Assembly if the amount of its arrears equalled or exceeded the amount of contributions due from it for the preceding two full years. The Republic of Moldova had just made the minimum payment necessary to reduce its arrears beyond that threshold, which brought the number of countries affected by Article 19 to 11. He added that the list included Somalia and Yugoslavia, about which there had been questions last week.

The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) held an organizational meeting yesterday afternoon, Mr. Taukatch said. The Committee elected two Vice-Chairmen and adopted a 13-item programmed of work for the current session. It is to begin its substantive work on Monday, 6 October. To help journalists follow the work of the Committee, he referred the press to document A/C.4/52/1, which listed items that had been allocated to it.

Also yesterday, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) held its first substantive meeting, Mr. Taukatch said. Among the major issues it would be dealing with were the budgetary and financial aspects of peacekeeping. At this point, however, it would be discussing issues carried over from the previous session, including the subject of the United Nations logistics base in Brindisi, Italy.

Asked if the Credentials Committee had any immediate plans to discuss Cambodia, he said there were none. The Committee had deferred consideration of the item and there was no time-frame concerning that decision.

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