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 reading the following statement, which was available in the Spokesman's Office:

"The Secretary-General is shocked and appalled by the news of today's terrorist attack in Luxor, Egypt, resulting in the deaths of numerous civilians. The Secretary-General condemns in the strongest terms this senseless act. He wishes to convey his deepest sympathy and condolences to the Government of Egypt and to the bereaved families."

Concerning Iraq, he said that the Executive Chairman of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) monitoring the disarmament of Iraq, Richard Butler, had today sent a letter to the President of the Security Council, in reply to the Council President's letter of last Friday, in which the Council requested Ambassador Butler to present to it his assessment of UNSCOM's ability, in the current circumstances, to perform its mandate, as well as his views on the need for an emergency meeting of the Special Commission (the advisory group that meets twice a year). In his reply, Mr. Butler proposed a Council session on Wednesday morning, so that his technical staff could brief the Council on UNSCOM's ability to perform its functions in the current circumstances. He also indicated that the earliest date a meeting of the Special Commission could be scheduled would be 21 November, and he was seeking the Council's advice on those two meetings. Mr. Eckhard noted that Ambassador Butler had also yesterday opened the window for the next U-2 flights, but the Spokesman gave no further details.

The "oil-for-food" plan observers in Iraq had not been able to undertake their observation activity yesterday, the Spokesman said, because of the difficulty in obtaining gasoline. There had been long lines at gas stations in Baghdad, but he said that the United Nations had been given priority access to a gas station today, and the United Nations observers were now back in action in Baghdad. They were expected to resume their normal activities throughout the country tomorrow.

Still on Iraq, Mr. Eckhard said that the new head of the United Nations Iraq Programme and United Nations Security Coordinator, Benon Sevan, had met with Iraqi officials yesterday in connection with the "oil-for-food" programme. He was scheduled to meet with the Iraqi Foreign Minister this evening, and with the Trade and Health Ministers tomorrow morning, before departing for northern Iraq, where he was expected to spend four days.

The 163rd meeting of the Security Council Committee established by resolution 661 (1990) to monitor the sanctions against Iraq would take place tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. in Conference Room 7. The Committee's Chairman would brief the press in that same room following the meeting, said the Spokesman.

Mr. Eckhard told correspondents that the Secretary-General's human rights investigative team to the Democratic Republic of the Congo was advised last night that the meeting scheduled for this morning with the Minister of Reconstruction, Etienne Mbaya, had been postponed because of the minister's heavy schedule. No new date had yet been scheduled. Mr. Eckhard said that one member of that team, Reed Brody of the United States, had hurriedly returned to New York unexpectedly to be with his father, whose health had seriously deteriorated. Despite the postponement of today's meeting, the Secretary-General remained encouraged by the Government's correct handling of its relations with the United Nations team since its recent arrival in Kinshasa, the Spokesman added.

Mr. Eckhard announced that five new judges to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia today made a solemn declaration before taking up their duties in The Hague. He gave their names as Richard George May (United Kingdom), Florence Ndepele Mwachande Mumba (Zambia), Rafael Nieto Navia (Colombia), Almiro Simoes Rodrigues (Portugal) and Wang Tieya (China). They were elected on 20 May. According to the rules of the Tribunal, the Spokesman continued, the Judges elect their President and Vice-President among themselves during a closed plenary meeting, and that was expected to happen during the course of this week. The outgoing President, Antonio Cassesse, was ineligible for re-election under rule 18 of the court's Rules of Procedure and Evidence, which provided that the President could have one renewable two-year term, and he had served since 1993.

On Cyprus, he said that the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Cyprus, Diego Cordovez, had left New York for the region this morning. He was scheduled to meet with Glafcos Clerides and Rauf Denktash on Wednesday, 19 November. Thereafter, he would visit Athens, Greece, and Ankara, Turkey.

Recalling his announcement last Friday of the availability of the Secretary-General's report on Western Sahara (document S/1997/882), the Spokesman told correspondents that the document was on the racks today. In it, the Secretary-General indicated that the referendum for Western Sahara could take place on 7 December 1998, if both parties to the conflict cooperated fully with the United Nations. The identification process should resume on 1 December this year. Should that process experience no hindrances, he continued, the transitional period should begin on 7 June 1998, leading to the referendum.

Mr. Eckhard said that the resumed session of the talks between Abkhazia/Georgia had taken place today at 4 p.m. local time in Geneva. They were being chaired by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on

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Georgia, Liviu Bota. The Foreign Affairs Minister of Georgia, Irakli Menagarashvili, and the Head of the Abkhaz delegation, Sergei Shamba, had taken the floor. The Abkhaz leader, Vladislav Ardzinba, was in Geneva, but he does not take part in those meetings. The current talks were expected to last until 20 November. Last Friday, Mr. Bota gave a press conference, a summary of which was available in the Spokesman's Office, as was the text of an introductory statement that he delivered today.

The report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) (document S/1997/884) was now out, Mr. Eckhard said. It gave an account of the activities of that mission in the last six months and recommends that the Security Council extend the mandate of the force for a further period of six months, until 31 May 1998. The Government of Syria had given its assent to the proposed extension, the Spokesman said, noting that the Government of Israel had also expressed its agreement. The present mandate would expire at the end of this month.

Mr. Eckhard said the Secretary-General this morning opened a high-level seminar on lessons learned from peacekeeping operations. The one-day seminar, organized by the International Peace Academy, would discuss important issues aimed at creating a common understanding among participating nations and organizations. Seven ministers of defence and their United Nations ambassadors, from Argentina, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Ghana, Netherlands and Portugal, as well as representatives of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the International Peace Academy and the United Nations were in attendance. The seminar was being chaired by the Defence Minister of Denmark, Hans Haekkerup. The Secretary-General had been at the meeting up until about 10:45 a.m.

Argentina would tomorrow become the twelfth Member State to sign a memorandum of understanding for rapid deployment for United Nations peacekeeping operations, the Spokesman said. The signing ceremony, which is scheduled for 12:30 p.m., had first been announced a few weeks ago, but was postponed. The Argentine Defence Minister, Jorge Dominguez, was visiting the United Nations for that purpose, and would meet with the Secretary-General this afternoon at 3:30 p.m. He would sign the memorandum of understanding for Argentina; the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Bernard Miyet, would sign for the United Nations.

Mr. Eckhard said that the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) had this morning started to review the revised estimates of the proposed programme budget for 1998-1999, contained in document A/52/303. The ACABQ had made a preliminary review of the revised estimates a couple of weeks ago, but decided at that time to wait until the General Assembly had acted on the reform proposals by the Secretary-General. The review was expected to last most of this week, he added.

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The special rapporteurs on the situation of human rights in Iraq, Iran, and in Burundi were presenting their reports to the General Assembly's Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) this morning, said the Spokesman. He also noted that the press conference of Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the Special Rapporteur on Burundi, had been postponed until 11:30 a.m. tomorrow. Meanwhile, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, would give an executive briefing this afternoon at 2:30 p.m. in Conference Room 3 on "Human Rights and Development". Everyone was invited, he added.

Turning to Afghanistan, Mr. Eckhard announced that hundreds of thousands of people had been on the verge of starvation in the Hazara region, as access roads necessary to bring in humanitarian assistance were cut off by the Taliban, denying the international community access to those populations. He said that 20,000 to 30,000 displaced families had been in immediate and urgent need of assistance. In a breakthrough yesterday, the World Food Programme (WFP) country director in Afghanistan successfully obtained from the Taliban faction controlling that area a guarantee of safe passage for food. Consequently, 150 metric tonnes of wheat flour could be delivered within 48 to 72 hours, and plans were being made to bring another 1,500 metric tonnes within 10 days. The Spokesman said he would keep the media posted on those developments.

He further announced a World Health Organization (WHO) press release on malaria, which said that 31 experts had met in Geneva for two days. It was the first time that international organizations, development agencies and private sector representatives had met together with governmental recipients of development assistance, to develop mechanisms for the global coordination of support for malaria control, that release noted.

On United Nations reform, Mr. Eckhard said there were two new documents out today: the first contained the views and comments of Member States that were members of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China; the second was the letter of the President of the General Assembly to the Secretary- General regarding the views and comments expressed by several Member States during the open-ended, informal consultations of the plenary on reform. He pointed out that this afternoon the Assembly would return to their consideration of the recommendations of the Secretary-General.

He informed correspondents of a press release from the Organization of African Unity (OAU), which said that the final communique of the forty-ninth session of the Central Organ of the OAU Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution was available on the racks. The Central Organ had considered reports of the OAU Secretary-General on the situation in the Comoros and in the Republic of the Congo.

There was also a Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) press release in the Spokesman's Office, Mr. Eckhard said, which stated that the Governing

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Conference of the FAO had adopted, without opposition, a $650 million zero nominal growth programme of work and budget for the organization for 1998- 1999, the same as for 1996-1997. That was forcing the organization to absorb cost increases estimated at 4 per cent, he added.

The World Chronicle television programme today would feature the World Bank Vice-President and Head of the Human Development Network, David de Ferranti, on in-house channels 6 or 38 at 2:30 p.m., Mr. Eckhard said.

He announced a background note for correspondents from the United Nations Staff Council, on the security and independence of the international civil service, the first summit of which would be held on 19 November at Headquarters.

Mr. Eckhard issued a reminder that the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) briefing on "Algeria: civilian population caught in a spiral of violence", featuring Pierre Sane of Amnesty International, would take place tomorrow, from 11 to 12 p.m., at the UNCA Club. In addition, tomorrow would also be the start of the candidacy process for next year's UNCA Executive Committee. Candidates were welcome for the posts of President; First, Second and Third Vice-Presidents; Secretary; Treasurer; and at-large seats. All UNCA members were invited to submit their names for those posts between 18 and 25 November to Jim Wurst in Room S-485, who could be called at (212) 317-9010. Interested correspondents were advised to have two UNCA members as sponsors for all candidacies; members may run for only one position. The elections would be held at the Secretariat on 8, 9 and 10 December. The Spokesman also advised correspondents that the UNCA briefing on East Timor, originally scheduled for today, had been postponed; a new date would be announced.

Mr. Eckhard was asked if the Special Commission, at the meeting he had spoken of, would have the power to discuss any re-organization of the inspection regime which was suggested as being "desirable". The Spokesman said the Special Commission could discuss anything they wanted. "They have an advisory capacity, and anything that they might advise could be approved by the Security Council", he added.

In reference to the Iraqi position that it would accept Americans on UNSCOM teams, but that the proportion had first to be scaled down, the correspondent asked if it was within the power of the Special Commission to rearrange the representation of Americans on the teams. Mr. Eckhard said the position of the United Nations on that issue had been made clear. It was a decision of the Security Council to ask the Executive Chairman about the advisability of bringing the group together, which he had agreed to do, and -- if the Council approved -- that meeting would be held on Friday. Stressing that their role was primarily an advisory one, he restated that the United Nations would wait to see what they had to say.

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A correspondent sought clarification on comments made to the press by the Secretary-General on his way into Headquarters this morning, concerning a proposal made by Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister, Tariq Aziz, which the Secretary-General described as showing "movement" on the part of the Iraqis. That proposal had been mentioned by Mr. Aziz "at least five times" last week, said the reporter, and had also been in a letter to the Secretary-General, but seemed to have been ignored by the Security Council altogether. Mr. Eckhard replied that the "movement" was in the attitude of the Member States that were dealing with the crisis. There seemed to be a stronger commitment to finding a political solution, and the Secretary-General had been in touch with many delegations and many of those Member States that had influence on that particular crisis. "He is just reflecting what he is picking up", said Mr. Eckhard; "he senses there is some movement in the direction of a political settlement".

Alex Taukatch, spokesman for the President of the General Assembly, Hennadiy Udovenko (Ukraine), said Mr. Udovenko was "shocked" by the terrorist act in Egypt today. He condemned that act of violence, and had expressed his deep condolences to the families of the victims.

Mr. Taukatch said the President of the General Assembly this morning met with the permanent representatives of Botswana and Ireland. He recalled that Mr. Udovenko had said at his press briefing on Friday that the two ambassadors would serve as his "Friends on Reform" and would deal with the question of the recommendations contained in the report of the Secretary-General. In that connection, he reminded correspondents that the format of open-ended informal consultations was resuming this afternoon to continue consideration of recommendations of the Secretary-General, of which they had already had the first reading.

Referring to some additional documentation on reform mentioned by Mr. Eckhard earlier, Mr. Taukatch noted that those documents provided answers to the questions he had been receiving last week: those documents conveyed the views expressed by Member States in the course of open-ended informal consultations. The spokesman pointed out that paragraph 2 of the resolution on reform which was adopted last Wednesday called on the Secretary-General, while implementing the actions in his report, to take those views into account.

Still on reform, he also recalled that on Friday the Secretary-General asked the President of the General Assembly to convene, as a matter of urgency, the Assembly's high-level group on finance. Mr. Udovenko was weighing that matter right now, the spokesman said, noting that sometime next week, that meeting might happen.

Concerning other appointments of Mr. Udovenko today, Mr. Taukatch said that just before the briefing, the President had met with the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iraq, Max van der Stoel.

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The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) was today expected to complete its work by acting on the remaining three (out of 46) resolutions covering all agenda items before it. They would then begin preparation of its report for the General Assembly.

Mr. Taukatch said the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization), was considering questions relating to information. In that connection, he drew the attention of correspondents to the work of the Committee on Information, which last Friday approved a draft by which the Assembly would take note that the Committee had been unable, during the 1997 session, to complete its task relating to United Nations public information policies and activities. That draft had been approved by the Committee without a vote. Also on Friday, the Fourth Committee had concluded its review of peacekeeping operations in all their aspects, he added.

Mr. Taukatch was asked at what point the United States would lose its vote at the General Assembly for failure to pay its dues. He said the question was hypothetical. However, if the correspondent was referring to the scale of assessments, although he did not have the figures in hand, a Member State forfeited its vote if the amount of its arrears equalled or exceeded contributions due from it for the preceding two full years. Asked when that was calculated, he said it was at the end of the year, but he would double- check.

A correspondent asked about the future of the high-level working group of the General Assembly that would be looking into issues of finance, to which Mr. Taukatch replied that he would keep the press informed, but that the President had just begun examining the matter, since the request had been made on Friday.

To a question about when there would be a decision on "some of these outstanding credentials issues", he said that he was not aware of any immediate plans for the Credentials Committee to meet.

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