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, said today that the Special Commissioners of the United Nations Special Commission on Iraq (UNSCOM) had begun their emergency meeting in Conference Room 7 at Headquarters. It was hoped that they could conclude their review of the inspection efforts in Iraq by 5 p.m., when the Executive Chairman of UNSCOM, Ambassador Richard Butler, who was chairing the meeting, would brief the Security Council along with some of the Commissioners. He cautioned, however, that 5 p.m. was but the "best- case scenario"; at the time of the briefing, he noted, only Mr. Butler's intention to wrap up by that hour was available. "Any of you planning to cover this event tonight who have a dinner date", he told correspondents, "probably ought to cancel it."

Turning to the Security Council itself, Mr. Eckhard said members were in consultation in the course of the morning over a variety of subjects. Thereafter, they would consider the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan Heights, about which there was a proposal to renew its mandate for six months. They would then hold a formal meeting at which they would adopt a resolution extending that mandate. (See Press Release SC/6446.)

There was a shooting incident in the United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM) yesterday, the Spokesman continued. It took place on the Iraqi side of the demilitarized zone, and a Ghanaian military observer at a patrol and observation base was wounded in the leg. His injury was not serious and his condition was stable. Mr. Eckhard said there was no indication of who might have fired on the observation post, but an investigation was under way. He referred correspondents to a one-paragraph report on the incident which had been issued by the mission, as well as the map of the mission area (which appears at the end of every report of the Secretary-General on UNIKOM), with an indication of where the incident took place. Those were available in the Spokesman's Office.

Mr. Eckhard said the Secretary-General had nominated Klaus Topfer of Germany as Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). That submission was sent to the General Assembly yesterday, he added, pointing out that the Assembly had the responsibility of electing the Executive Director for a term of four years. Mr. Topfer was currently the Minister for Regional Planning, Building and Urban Development for the German Government. Prior to that position, he had been chairman of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development from May 1994 to May 1995. That commission was created as a follow-up to the 1992 Rio Conference on Environment and Development. Mr. Topfer's biography was available in room S-378, the Spokesman said.

Mr. Eckhard also told correspondents that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Mrs. Sadako Ogata, had said today that ethnic minorities must be allowed to return safely to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The statement was issued on the second anniversary of the Dayton Accord. The press release and a briefing note from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) were also available in the spokesman's Office.

Another press release was also available, from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha. It concerned the case of Hassan Ngeze, the former editor of the Kangura newspaper, who was charged with one count of direct and public incitement to commit genocide, and two counts of crimes against humanity. He has pleaded not guilty.

Turning to the World Food Programme (WFP), Mr. Eckhard announced a press release which said that an appeal had been launched in Rome today to provide some $9 million in emergency food aid for up to 70,000 Cambodians who had fled to Thailand to escape fighting in Cambodia.

On contributions, he announced a partial payment of $18,673,872 to the regular budget today from the United States. So far, 94 Member States had paid in full, said Mr. Eckhard, and $2.2 billion was outstanding.

On Monday, there would be two meetings of troop-contributing countries, both in Conference Room 7. The first, at 10 a.m., would be on the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP); the other, at 10:40 a.m., would be on the United Nations Transition Mission in Haiti (UNTMIH). Both were closed meetings.

On Haiti, Mr. Eckhard said that a question he was asked yesterday was actually about the International Civilian Mission to Haiti (MICIVIH), not on the subject of UNTMIH. At that time, he had referred the correspondent to the action on UNTMIH which was pending at the Security Council. He pointed out that MICIVIH gets its mandate from the General Assembly, while UNTMIH gets its mandate from the Security Council. Concerning MICIVIH, the Secretary-General's report to the Assembly was expected to be issued soon, the Spokesman said, and would contain his recommendations for the future of the mission.

He reminded correspondents of the press conference being held today in room S-226 at 2:30 p.m. Sponsored by the Canadian Mission, it would feature Robert Muller, the President of the Viet Nam Veterans of America Foundation and co-founder of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize winning organization, "International Campaign to Ban Landmines". In that connection, Mr. Eckhard drew attention to a number of handouts from the Department of Public Information (DPI) on the subject of landmines; correspondents could pick up a three-piece information package and a press release on the Ottawa process in room S-378.

On the subject of press conferences, Mr. Eckhard said that on Monday at 3 p.m. by Sergiy Parashyn, the Director of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power States

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in Ukraine. He would be joined by Volodymyr Kcholosha, the Deputy Minister for Emergencies and Protection of Population affected by the Chernobyl Disaster.

He also announced a press briefing by the Chairman of the Sixth Committee (Legal), Peter Tomka (Slovakia), this afternoon at 4 p.m. in room S-226. He would be talking about two issues; the first was the adoption by that Committee last Wednesday of a draft resolution on the international convention for the suppression of terrorist bombings. His second subject was the forthcoming meeting of the preparatory committee for the establishment of an international criminal court, and the plenipotentiary conference on the same subject to be held in Rome in June 1998. Asked if the meeting of the Iraq Special Commissioners could carry on into tomorrow, Mr. Eckhard said he had no such information. He cautioned that although everyone hoped that would not happen, he could not exclude the possibility. "The Chairman told me about a half-hour ago he hoped to be ready at 5 o'clock", he added, stressing, "hoped". Alex Taukatch, spokesman for the President of the General Assembly, Hennadiy Udovenko (Ukraine), said the Assembly in plenary this morning had begun with the agenda item on "Support by the United Nations system of the efforts to promote and consolidate new or restored democracies", with 20 speakers inscribed on the list for the debate.

Among the documents before the Assembly in its consideration of that subject was the report of the Secretary-General (document A/52/513), said the spokesman. In it, the Secretary-General stressed, in part, that with the growing relevance of democratization, the United Nations had an obligation to peoples across the world to devise a revitalized programme of work with greater unity of purpose and coherence of action. He further said that the system-wide process of reform on which the Organization had embarked provided a timely moment for it to do so. Mr. Taukatch pointed out that the item had been added to the Assembly agenda at the forty-ninth session; the General Assembly was expected to adopt a draft resolution (document A/52/L.28). In part, it would commend the Secretary-General, and through him the United Nations system, for the activities undertaken at the request of governments to support the efforts to consolidate democracy. (See Press Release GA/9359 for details of Assembly action.)

The other subject before the Assembly today, Mr. Taukatch said, was "Cooperation between the United Nations and the Economic Cooperation Organization", on which there was a draft resolution as well. (See Press Release GA/9359.)

Turning to the schedule of the President of the General Assembly today, the spokesman said that at 9:30 a.m., he had chaired a meeting of the General Committee, which decided to recommend the addition of a new item to the agenda. That was the "Addition of the International Seabed Authority to Membership of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund". In plenary, the Assembly would take up that item on Monday. "When it does, and approves the

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recommendation", Mr. Taukatch said, "there would be a round figure of 160 items on the agenda of this session."

Also this morning, Mr. Udovenko had held a number of meetings. He had met with the Chairman of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) and at the time of the briefing, he was meeting with permanent representatives of several countries: Spain, Egypt, Italy, Mexico, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Republic of Korea and Canada. Mr. Taukatch said he would get a "readout" on their discussions later, for correspondents.

"I have to tell you", the spokesman went on, "that I had the unique pleasure today to attend the meeting of, and now to speak on behalf of, not one President of the General Assembly, but 10." Reminding correspondents of his announcement yesterday of the gathering at Headquarters of former presidents of the General Assembly for a two-day meeting, he said they were finalizing the establishment of a Council of Presidents of the United Nations General Assembly. A communiqué would be issued later, and he would make that available, as he would a list of those who were taking part, and of all the former presidents of the Assembly. He added that the new Council would host a luncheon in the afternoon, at which the Secretary-General and the current President of the General Assembly would be present.

He said the Council of Presidents had been established with the aim of making available to the international community the wide diplomatic experience of its members, in support of the United Nations, in general, and the General Assembly, in particular. The Council would also seek to develop greater public awareness of the Organization's purposes and principles. As soon as he had all the relevant papers, he would make them available, Mr. Taukatch said.

Referring to the press conference by the Chairman of the Sixth Committee on the international convention for the suppression of terrorist bombings, about which Mr. Eckhard had briefed correspondents earlier, Mr. Taukatch reminded the press of the action by the Sixth Committee on Wednesday, by which it had approved a draft resolution on the convention.

Asked what the Council of Assembly Presidents would do, Mr. Taukatch replied that they would provide institutional memory and diplomatic experience, and act in support of the United Nations in general. Their activities were in recognition of the unique character of the Office of the President of the General Assembly, he noted, adding that the set-up would provide a framework for regular consultations with the principal organs of the United Nations. The Council would help build greater public awareness of the Organization, especially the General Assembly as its most representative body.

Concerning the membership of the Council, a correspondent asked how attendance had been determined. The spokesman said that the organizers tried to reach everybody, but not everybody could attend. The list of attendees would be made available after the briefing.

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