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, told correspondents at the start of today's briefing that the Secretary-General was informed on Saturday of an agreement between United States Ambassador Bill Richardson and President Laurent Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The agreement confirmed acceptance by that country of the United Nations human rights investigative team. The text of that agreement had been made available to correspondents at the weekend.

While the agreement appeared to meet with the requirements of an impartial and independent investigation, Mr. Eckhard said it was being studied by the Secretariat, the hope being that the four investigators that were recalled to New York in early October could return to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and finally begin their work.

Concerning Angola, he said that in the continued efforts of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Alioune Blondin Beye, to move things forward, he had met with President Jose Eduardo dos Santos on Friday, and with the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) leader, Jonas Savimbi, on Saturday. Mr. Savimbi had told the Special Representative that UNITA would take a number of steps to show its commitment to the peace process.

Continuing, Mr. Eckhard said the steps to be taken by UNITA would include: extension of state administration into 88 locations currently under UNITA control; second, arrival in Luanda of the management team of Radio Despertar, the FM-station that would replace Radio Vorgan, to prepare for the transition; third, submission by UNITA of a list of outstanding military personnel who were not included in the 6,052 already communicated to the United Nations Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA). Finally, 56 million rounds of ammunition, along with 64,000 bombs and 100 heavy weapons, would be made available to MONUA in Mucusso, in Kuando Kabundo province. The Security Council was expected to take up the subject of Angola on Wednesday, he added, noting that there was no Security Council activity today.

Turning to Western Sahara, Mr. Eckhard said there were news reports indicating that the referendum in the area would take place on 6 December 1998. The United Nations could not, however, confirm that information at this time. The Secretary-General was preparing his report on Western Sahara, which he would submit to the Security Council on 15 November. In that report, he would present a timetable for the referendum in Western Sahara.

On press reports that the Iraqi Parliament had decided to freeze Iraq's cooperation with the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM), and to recommend that position to a higher authority in the country, Mr. Eckhard said the United Nations had nothing to say about the subject at this time, although it was closely following Iraq's actions on the issue. Meanwhile, however, UNSCOM's activities had continued normally today. Its Executive Chairman, Richard Butler, was still scheduled to visit Baghdad in mid-November, as had been agreed with Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister, Tariq Aziz.

Mr. Eckhard drew the attention of correspondents to a press release dated 27 October about an action taken last week by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, concerning Slavko Dokmanovic, who was denied motion for release. He had been indicted in March 1996 in connection with the killings of people in Vukovar Hospital in Croatia in the early stages of the Serb-Croat war.

A panel discussion on "Drugs in the Workplace and the Community" would be held in Conference Room 7 on Tuesday, 28 October, from 1:15 to 2:45 p.m., the Spokesman said. A note to correspondents on the issue was available on the racks. In addition, correspondents had also been invited to attend another panel discussion on "Prisons and substance abuse", to be held today between 1:15 and 1:45 p.m., also in Conference Room 7. A note to correspondents on that discussion was also available on the racks.

For the benefit of those who might have missed the concert that was held in celebration of United Nations Day on Friday, Mr. Eckhard said the event would be rebroadcast in studio 4 today at 2:30 p.m.

A correspondent asked Mr. Eckhard if he was confident that the agreement between President Kabila and Mr. Richardson would succeed "where the last two or three agreements" had not. Mr. Eckhard said the United Nations had to accept the statement by governments at face value and in good faith. The Organization had been disappointed in the past when, despite assurances at the highest levels, it had run into obstacles from lower levels of the Government. He was certain that Mr. Richardson was aware of that. "What he has obtained is a rather detailed, written commitment from President Kabila and we certainly hope that this would be the one that would permit the team to get to work", he said.

Asked how he would describe the relationship between the Secretary- General and the President Kabila, "since they were very friendly, and now it took the Ambassador of the United States to find a solution to the [human rights investigation] problem", Mr. Eckhard said the relationship was unhurt. "Clearly there has been frustration on our side that we have not been able to get this team into the field", he replied. "But it's always helpful when the world's only super-Power weighs in on your side, and we hope it will make a difference this time."

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 27 October 1997

A correspondent wanted to know the subject of the meeting this afternoon between the Chinese Ambassador and the Secretary-General. Mr. Eckhard said he did not know, but would try to get a read-out on the meeting.

Asked for the subject of the meeting between the Secretary-General and the Israeli Ambassador and at whose request it was taking place, Mr. Eckhard said he believed it was a routine meeting, and that he would double-check its origins.

Mr. Eckhard was also asked if there were plans for the Secretary-General to meet in New York with President Jiang Zemin of China, who was visiting the United States. The Spokesman said he did not think that President Zemin would be coming to United Nations Headquarters.

Also asked why no television cameras had been allowed at the meeting between the Secretary-General and the Israeli Ambassador, Mr. Eckhard said he would check on what had happened.

A correspondent also sought details about the treaty that China was expected to sign this afternoon. Mr. Eckhard said he had no information; he would check, however, and get back to the correspondent. (Mr. Eckhard later announced that at 3:30 p.m., China had signed the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Chinese Ambassador called on the Secretary-General at 4 p.m. to inform him of that and to denounce, in writing, the 5 October 1967 signing of the Covenant by Taiwan, province of China.)

Did he have a follow-up on the situation in Congo-Brazzaville, the Spokesman was asked. "No", he answered.

Alex Taukatch, spokesman for the President of the General Assembly, Hennadiy Udovenko (Ukraine), said the General Assembly had met this morning to consider agenda item 13: report of the International Court of Justice. Noting changes in the list of speakers distributed earlier, he said that he noted that Swaziland and Guatemala did not speak, which brought the total number of speakers to seven, including the President of the International Court of Justice.

Regarding the programme of work of the plenary, he said that agenda item 27: "Return of restitution of cultural property to the countries of origin", scheduled for tomorrow morning, would now be taken at a later date, to be announced. Mr. Taukatch then drew attention to item 20: "Strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance of the United Nations, including economic assistance", scheduled for consideration by the Assembly on 24 November. The President of the General Assembly had requested the Permanent Representative of Austria, Ernst Sucharipa, to coordinate informal consultations regarding the draft resolution on that item. Mr. Sucharipa had fulfilled that role during the fifty-first session, Mr. Taukatch said, and he had agreed to conduct those consultations this time, as well. Mr. Udovenko had also requested interested delegations to submit

Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 27 October 1997

draft resolutions on item 20 as soon as possible, to allow time for negotiations if necessary, with a view to reaching consensus on the draft resolutions.

Mr. Taukatch said that tomorrow the Assembly would take up agenda item 29 on "Cooperation between the United Nations and the Inter-Parliamentary Union". There was a draft resolution, (A/52/L.9) on that subject, which was now on the racks.

On the schedule of the General Assembly President, the spokesman said he had this morning met with the President of the International Court of Justice, Stephen M. Schwebel. Mr. Udovenko had then presided over the plenary meeting and met with the Permanent Representative of Yemen in his capacity as Chairman of the Group of Arab States. Following that, he had met with the Permanent Representatives of Finland and Thailand, who had been co-chairs of the working group on Security Council reform at the fifty-first session. Mr. Udovenko was later scheduled to meet with the President of the Commission for Foreign Affairs of the French Senate, and attend a luncheon to be hosted by the Stanley Foundation.

Picking up on Mr. Eckhard's announcement concerning the rebroadcast of last Friday's United Nations Day concert, Mr. Taukatch said it had been a wonderful occasion, which had combined great music and "meaningful" statements. There had been a very interesting exchange between the President of the General Assembly and the Secretary-General regarding the use of music in the General Assembly Hall, he added. That exchange had reflected on the challenges facing the world Organization and how music could possibly help to bring harmony to international relations.

On the subject of reform, Mr. Taukatch alerted correspondents that the meeting of informal, open-ended consultations scheduled for today had now been rescheduled for tomorrow. Details were available in today's Journal.

Turning to the Main Committees, he drew the attention of correspondents to the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) agenda item on landmines. The draft resolution on the convention on anti-personnel landmines (A/C.1/52/L.1) was now available on the racks. The issue was expected to remain a priority for that Committee.

The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) had a lot of items on its agenda for today, said Mr. Taukatch. Recalling a question asked at the briefing earlier, he noted that one of them dealt with the decolonization programme of the United Nations system, the draft resolution of which was A/C.4/52/L.4/Rev.1. In that connection, the spokesman drew attention to a related document, out on the racks today: the Secretary- General's letter to the Chairman of the Special Committee on Decolonization (A/52/521), which provided further clarifications regarding the discussions of the matter in the Fourth Committee.

Mr. Taukatch was asked if any other judges had accompanied the President of the International Court of Justice to United Nations Headquarters. He said he would have to check. * *** *