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 students of Boston University and other guests from Chile who were present as observers. He then welcomed the Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), Wolfgang Hoffmann, who had met with the Secretary- General yesterday afternoon. On Wednesday, Mr. Hoffmann had made a statement to the First Committee and yesterday briefed some non-governmental organizations. He would talk to correspondents today about the work of his organization. [Mr. Hoffmann's briefing is being issued separately.]

Before continuing, Mr. Eckhard pointed out that he had earlier "squawked" that the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna and Executive Director of the United Nations International Drug Control Programme, Pino Arlacchi, would give a press conference in room S-226 at 1 p.m. He would later be making an announcement concerning an agreement reached recently with Afghanistan.

The Spokesman then announced that, in response to the signing yesterday of the peace agreement on Sierra Leone, a statement had been issued, attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General. The United Nations was now studying the agreement carefully, as it envisaged some peacekeeping functions in it for the Organization, similar to the role it had played in Liberia, where it monitored the peacekeeping work of a regional force, the Economic Community of West African States' Monitoring Observer Group (ECOMOG).

Details of yesterday's agreement were still being awaited, as there were a number of questions that needed to be clarified, he added. In addition, the agreement would have to be formally presented to the Security Council for its endorsement. Once that endorsement was received, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations was prepared to send a reconnaissance mission or an advance team to plan for a possible United Nations peacekeeping role in Sierra Leone.

Turning to Bosnia, Mr. Eckhard said that the police certification and restructuring process had begun yesterday in Brcko, with an initial group of 25 officers turning up to attend the first introductory programme. A multi- ethnic police force would be formed in Brcko by the end of December. The United Nations press office in Sarajevo announced yesterday that Mark Kroeker of the United States would replace David Kriskovich, the Deputy Commissioner for the International Police Task Force, who was one of the victims of the tragic helicopter accident in Bosnia last month. Mr. Kroeker would take up

his function as deputy on 3 November. A copy of that press statement was available in room S-378.

After many weeks of uncertainty, some 300 Tajik refugees had finally left the Sakhi camp in northern Afghanistan today and were on their way home, the Spokesman continued. "We hope this is the final chapter in a story involving some 60,000 Tajiks who fled the civil war in their country in 1992/1993", he said. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) briefing notes available upstairs said that on Monday, 27 October, the UNHCR would be holding a meeting in Geneva aimed at increasing the number of countries willing to accept refugees for resettlement on a regular basis. At present, only 10 nations had national annual quotas for refugee resettlement: Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.

The inter-agency Rapid Humanitarian Assessment Mission in Brazzaville had returned to Kinshasa and was preparing a Flash Appeal, which was expected to be issued in the first week of November. That Appeal would reflect the immediate humanitarian requirements for shelter, food, health and water sanitation.

"Today is United Nations Day", Mr. Eckhard reminded correspondents, "so, Happy United Nations Day everybody". The official observance would take place in the General Assembly Hall from 4 to 6:30 p.m. As he had mentioned yesterday, it would feature a concert of popular music from Brazil, Cape Verde and Portugal. It was an event that the Department of Public Information had worked very hard on, and was being sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Portugal, as well as Portuguese Public Television International (RTPi), which would broadcast the event live by satellite. The Secretary-General and the President of the General Assembly would address that occasion. A press release concerning the event was available on the racks.

In connection with United Nations Day, he announced that there was a message from the President of Italy to the Secretary-General, the text of which was being made available in the Office of the Spokesman.

Mr. Eckhard drew attention to a Department of Humanitarian Affairs report on natural disasters, its periodic review of all the natural disasters with which the international community was coping. The latest report was also now available in room S-378.

He then announced a United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) press release concerning the Oslo conference to seek a global strategy for combating child labour.

Also available was an update on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which said that three of the four people who appeared before the Tribunal today had pleaded "not guilty" and, for a technical reason, the fourth person could not enter a plea. Details were in the press statement.

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 24 October 1997

Concerning the announcement yesterday that Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahima Fall would address a meeting on "Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution in Africa", he said that Mr. Fall was currently in Conakry, Guinea, in connection with the Sierra Leone negotiations, and would not be giving the briefing. In his place, Berti Ramcharan of the same department would do it.

There was a press release from the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA), which would be holding its awards dinner tonight, Mr. Eckhard said. The Secretary-General would present an address. The Spokesman said he would not read out the names of the recipients, which were in the press release, as they were embargoed. The statement was, however, available in room S-378.

A correspondent asked for confirmation that two United Nations peacekeepers had been killed in southern Angola. Mr. Eckhard said it was true. Reading from a situation centre report, he said that yesterday a United Nations demining team was caught in what seemed to have been a crossfire between unidentified groups. The discovery was made today when a helicopter from the office of the United Nations Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA) in Chongoroy (in the southern part of Angola) was dispatched to the area where the team was last heard from. As a result of the attack, two local deminers and two local police officers were killed. A fifth, unidentified body, which was dressed in civilian clothes, was also discovered. Two officers from MONUA were found: one, an Indian national received light injuries to his shoulders; another, from Egypt, was not injured. Both were evacuated and were safe. An investigation was under way.

Alex Taukatch, spokesman for the President of the General Assembly, Hennadiy Udovenko (Ukraine), wished correspondents and guests "Happy United Nations Day", as he opened his briefing, "or, as the President of the General Assembly told us this morning, 'a meaningful United Nations Day'".

In connection with United Nations Day, he said that Mr. Udovenko's message would be available in room S-378 after the briefing. In it, he had said, "If there is one signal feature that characterizes the United Nations on its fifty-second birthday, it is a growing sense of optimism that the Organization is capable of internal change." He had added that "we all know that in the natural world, one of the key characteristics of a survivor is the ability to adapt to a changing environment. This is no less true for such human creations as multilateral organizations".

Mr. Udovenko was optimistic about the prospects of United Nations reform, said the spokesman, and had particularly pointed out that the discussions going on in the plenary regarding the reform of the United Nations were conducted in "a transparent and businesslike manner", with the involvement of all interested Member States, and which underscored the democratic nature of the United Nations as a whole, and the General Assembly,

Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 24 October 1997

in particular, as its main legislative body. The spokesman also reminded correspondents that the President would make remarks at the concert later in the afternoon. Highlighting that statement, Mr. Taukatch said that the President would draw some parallels between music as a universal language and the United Nations as a universal organization; as well as harmony in music and in international relations.

The President of the General Assembly was back from his trip to Kiev, Mr. Taukatch said, and had been briefed on the discussions that were held as part of the open-ended informal consultations of the plenary. As part of those briefings, he had a meeting with his "Friends" on reform: the ambassadors of Norway and Brazil.

At 12:30 p.m, the President would meet with a group of women's non- governmental organizations in connection with the petition of 99,000 signatures for peace -- the same group that had held a press conference earlier this morning.

Concerning reform, Mr. Taukatch said that the informal open-ended consultations of the plenary had continued yesterday. Thirty-six speakers had been scheduled to speak, but not all of them could do so; those discussions would now continue on Monday. The plenary would also meet on Monday to take up agenda item 13: "Report of the International Court of Justice"; six speakers had so far been inscribed on that list, which was available in room S-378.

The First Committee was continuing its discussion of disarmament and international security items, while the Second Committee was considering micro-economic policy questions, the spokesman said. The Second and Fifth Committees were today meeting in informal consultations, while the Sixth Committee was meeting on the establishment of the International Criminal Court. The Third Committee was considering issues of social development, including questions related to the world social situation.

Asked how the President of the General Assembly "expected the proceedings on reform to be transparent when the meetings are closed", Mr. Taukatch underscored the fact that those meetings were "open-ended". They were transparent and open in the sense that every Member State could participate, and was participating, in the discussions and taking an active and direct role in the discussions of the items. He added that there was nothing wrong with the meetings being informal, as it gave every Member State the opportunity to express themselves and to consider the matter in detail. He said that "transparency" meant every Member State being able to take part in the consideration. Once the informal consultations were over, he added, there would be open meetings of the plenary.

Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 24 October 1997

Asked what the Assembly President would say to a characterization of that description of transparency as "Orwellian", Mr. Taukatch said Mr. Udovenko would certainly take issue with that. "When the time is right -- which, hopefully would be not too far -- he would be happy to meet with you and answer all your questions." The President's main concern was to make sure that the process moved along at a speedy pace. After the extensive consultations that he had had, separately and in groups, with virtually hundreds of delegations, it was the consensus that the open-ended, informal consultations format was the most constructive way for negotiations on the matter to move forward.

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