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 press briefing by announcing that following the quit order by the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo last Friday, eight members of the staff of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), one from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and two non-governmental organizations representatives had today left Goma for Nairobi. A skeleton UNHCR staff of six would stay on in Goma to take care of the remaining administrative duties. There were about 60 international staff in Goma at this time, but it was still not clear as of this morning whether the order to leave applied to all of them or only to UNHCR.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata had today issued a statement in Geneva strongly denouncing the expulsion of hundreds of Rwandan refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mr. Eckhard said. Over the weekend, Rwandan authorities told UNHCR staff in Gisenyi, a Rwandan border town, that soldiers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo had trucked to the area more than 800 Rwandan refugees. The Government was reported as having announced that it had "repatriated" more than 4,000 Rwandans from its frontier in Goma and was closing off its border with Rwanda. A UNHCR press release on the issue was available in the Spokesman's Office, he added.

Turning to Iraq, he said that the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq, Denis Halliday, had informed the Organization that on Saturday the World Health Organization (WHO) office in Baghdad had been attacked. The assailants exploded three hand grenades, causing extensive breakage of glass in windows and doors in the office. There were also bullet holes in the lobby wall, and one vehicle was entirely destroyed. Luckily, there had been no injuries among the United Nations guards, who were the only staff present on the scene at the time, but one of the assailants was injured by the explosion of one of the grenades. Mr. Halliday had this morning met with the Deputy Foreign Minister, Saad Feisal, to discuss Iraq's security responsibilities.

A United Nations technical survey team would be leaving New York for Western Sahara tomorrow, Mr. Eckhard continued. It would be headed by Louise Laheurte of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, and would comprise 13 members from the United Nations political and peacekeeping operations. The team would be in the region for a week. Its mission would be to reassess the

resource requirement of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) for the full implementation of the Settlement Plan. On the basis of the team's findings, the Secretary-General would submit to the Security Council a comprehensive report, including a detailed implementation plan, timetable and financial implications for the fulfilment of the United Nations mission in Western Sahara.

Mr. Eckhard then drew the attention of correspondents to the surrender of 10 former members of the political and military bodies of the Croatian community of Herceg-Bosna to the custody of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Among them was Dario Kordic, the former Vice-President of the Croatian community of Herceg-Bosna. They had been indicted on 10 November 1995 and were expected to enter a plea on Wednesday, 8 October.

The Security Council this morning had been briefed by the Under- Secretary-General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and had began discussing a report on the United Nations multinational peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic, the Spokesman said. Concerning Sierra Leone, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Yasushi Akashi would also brief the Council on the humanitarian situation there. The Department of Humanitarian Affairs was currently working with humanitarian organizations as well as the Organization of African Unity (OAU) to develop a detailed proposal to be presented to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) ministers shortly. The Ministers had expressed their readiness to consider specific modalities for humanitarian exemptions to the sanctions regime that had been applied to Sierra Leone.

Mr. Eckhard said that the Secretary-General had a full programme today; this morning, he had met with President Glafcos Clerides of Cyprus.

He further told correspondents that at the International Court of Justice, hearings on the dispute between Libya and the United Kingdom, and Libya and the United States over the surrender and prosecution of two Libyan nationals in connection with the destruction of PAN AM flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988, would open next Monday, 13 October. They were expected to conclude on 22 October; the competence of the World Court was the immediate issue of the hearings. More details were available in a press release from the Court, which was in the Spokesman's Office in English and French.

Mr. Eckhard said that the Security Council would also be taking up the Secretary-General's six-month report on the United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM) today. The demilitarized zone between Iraq and Kuwait remained calm, and the Secretary-General had recommended that the United Nations mission be maintained. The Spokesman reminded correspondents that the Security Council reviews the mandate of the mission every six months.

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 6 October 1997

Turning to the "oil-for-food" plan outlined by Security Council resolution 986 (1995), he announced that the first 120 days of phase II of the programme had ended over the weekend. The Security Council Committee established to monitor the sanctions against Iraq had decided late on Friday to deduct any excess amount in oil proceeds in the first 120 days from the second period. The exact amount involved was yet to be determined, but was not very large. In any case, that would not change the overall ceiling of $2 billion in 180 days. As for oil sales, many of the oil sales contracts approved in the first 120 days were term contracts, extending into the second period. The United Nations was not expecting any more oil contracts until towards the end of phase II.

The Weekly Report (Number 33) on the oil-for-food plan was now out, Mr. Eckhard continued. It showed that the Sanctions Committee had last week approved 12 more humanitarian sales contracts, bringing the total number of such contracts under phase II to 28. The approved contracts involved infant formula, rice, sugar and tea. Under phase I, the Committee approved six humanitarian sales contracts, blocked one, and put one application on hold. Only 14 contracts were yet to be circulated under phase I. Copies of the report were available in the Spokesman's Office.

France had made a partial payment for its peacekeeping assessment, with a cheque for more than $21 million, he said. That represented more than two thirds of France's outstanding contributions for peacekeeping operations. With its $13 million payment last week, the United Kingdom had become the first permanent member of the Security Council that had no more outstanding contributions. Ninety-one Member States had now paid their contributions in full for their 1997 regular budget. The outstanding contributions level was now over $2.4 billion; at this time last year that figure stood at $2.5 billion.

The Spokesman also drew the attention of correspondents to the status of contributions report as of 31 August (ST/ADM/SER.B/514), which was now out. He said it was "a comprehensive record of who has paid how much, for what". The report was also available in the Spokesman's Office.

Also available in his Office was a United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) press release embargoed for tomorrow, 7 October, at 4:30 p.m. It concerned a study of the impact of the conflict in Afghanistan on children. He urged the correspondents to respect the embargo.

Mr. Eckhard also drew attention to another report (No. 5) of the Department of Humanitarian Affairs on the environmental emergency in South- East Asia; and a "slightly-delayed" 1998 United Nations Consolidated Inter- Agency Appeal for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. It was dated 2 October.

Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 6 October 1997

Another press release, dated 3 October, from the Chemical Weapons Convention, was also available.

The Spokesman announced that the World Chronicle television programme would feature the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) today at 2:30 p.m. on in-house television channel 6 or 38.

Mr. Eckhard was asked the motive for the attack on the WHO offices in Baghdad. He replied that it was not known. "That is one of the things we hope the Iraqi officials will investigate and find out."

On the United Nations technical survey team for Western Sahara, the Spokesman was asked if the thorny issue of who could participate in voting had been resolved, and how. He answered that the impression he had was that it had been resolved, but that in view of the very sensitive nature and history of the subject, he would have to double-check before saying anything further.

What was being done with the human rights investigative team to the Democratic Republic of the Congo which had been recalled for consultations last week? asked a correspondent. Were they coming to the building tomorrow? "Half of them are in the building now", Mr. Eckhard said, "Andres Chicovera and Jose Luis Gomez del Prado arrived this morning. The other two members could come in the course of the day". He said he had not himself seen them yet, but that they would be discussing their programme with the Human Rights High Commissioner's team here in New York, and probably meet with the Secretary-General tomorrow.

Asked to confirm the imminent arrival of the Joint United Nations/OAU Special Representative for the Great Lakes Region Mohamed Sahnoun, the Spokesman said the Ambassador was expected tonight, but he could not yet say if he would brief the Security Council.

He was also asked about the status of the talks on East Timor to which he answered that at the insistence of the Personal Representative of the Secretary-General, Jamsheed Marker, it had been kept at a low profile. There had been no particular progress in the last round of talks, but they would continue.

Alex Taukatch, spokesman for the President of the General Assembly, Hennadiy Udovenko (Ukraine), noted that there were two days left in the general debate. On Wednesday, 8 October, the Assembly would go into plenary meetings. He again drew the attention of correspondents to document A/INF/52/3, which contained a schedule of plenary meetings for the month of October. The first meeting on Wednesday afternoon would consider agenda item 157: "United Nations reform: measures and proposals".

Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 6 October 1997

Turning to the work of the Main Committees, Mr. Taukatch said that the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) had this morning held its first substantive meeting, while the Fifth (Administrative and Budgetary) and the Sixth (Legal) Committees would meet this afternoon.

This morning, the President of the General Assembly had met with the President of the Republic of Cyprus, the spokesman said. At 11:30 a.m., he had also met with the President of the Economic and Social Council. The meeting with the President of Council was similar to his meeting with the President of the Security Council last week, reflecting the President's efforts to be fully informed about the work of the other main bodies of the United Nations. The President of the General Assembly would also meet with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Seychelles today, and have a number of meetings in continuation of his discussions of the work programme of the Assembly. Those appointments included the Permanent Representative of Mexico, and the Permanent Representative of France. He had also held a meeting this morning with the Chairmen of the Main Committees.

A correspondent said that he had heard the Ambassador of Azerbaijan say in a speech this morning that his country was not represented at the United Nations. What did that mean? Mr. Taukatch said he had missed the remark, and would have to check what exactly had been meant.

Asked what time tomorrow the background briefing on reform was scheduled for, Mr. Eckhard said it was tentatively 3 p.m. He explained that there were two meetings among Member States that needed to be completed before the briefing was given, one of them today, and the second tomorrow. Mr. Eckhard said he wanted to make sure the Member States' meeting for tomorrow would be over by 3 p.m.

A correspondent wanted to know if on Wednesday there would be another formal debate in the plenary on the question of United Nations reform. Mr. Taukatch said that the Assembly was "the master of its own procedure" in deciding which was the best way to proceed. At the same time the President felt that the spirit of the general debate, including statements by Heads of State and Government, had already underscored the importance of the subject of reform and it was now time "to get down to the nitty-gritty".

Following up, another correspondent asked whether there would be any speeches on Wednesday, or the Assembly would go into informal consultations closed to the public. Mr. Taukatch said that a plenary meeting was scheduled for 3 p.m. on Wednesday and that based on dozens of meetings he had held with representatives of all regional groups, the President felt that the most constructive way to go about it would be to begin open-ended informal consultations within the framework of the plenary. Responding to a remark that informal consultations did not make for good television, the spokesman

Daily Press Briefing - 6 - 6 October 1997

said that the President was first and foremost concerned about the substance. He had received wide support for moving fast and was determined to act accordingly.

Asked if the agenda item was expected to be "signed up by October", Mr. Taukatch said it was premature to make any predictions, but noted that there was certainly desire on the part of a vast majority of Member States to move ahead with the issue. He said Mr. Udovenko felt there was momentum and his main concern was to make sure that "we do not lose that momentum".

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