DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19971223
Hiro Ueki, Associate Spokesman for the Secretary-General, began today's briefing by announcing that the Secretary-General had transmitted to the Security Council the report by the two legal experts he had sent to examine the Scottish legal system in connection with the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland.
[The two legal experts are the former Chief Justice of Zimbabwe, Enoch Dumbutshena, and a Professor of Leiden University, Netherlands, Henry G. Schermers].
Mr. Ueki then read the following conclusions from their report:
"Based on the foregoing, we conclude that the accused would receive a fair trial under the Scottish judicial system. Their rights during the pre- trial, trial and post-trail proceedings would be protected in accordance with international standards. The presence of United Nations and other international observers can be fully and easily accommodated. A trial by jury could not prejudice the accused's right to a free trial. If, however, the accused could reasonably establish that their right to a free trial would be prejudiced by a jury trial, we suggest that the idea of dispensing with the jury be pursued with the Government of the United Kingdom."
Continuing, Mr. Ueki said the Secretary-General would meet at 4 p.m. today with the Director-General of the United Nations Office in Geneva, Vladimir Petrovsky, to receive a report on his mission to Libya from 13 to 18 December.
Referring to reports that a group of Russians, led by Vladimir Zhirinovsky, were trying to ship humanitarian goods to Iraq, Mr. Ueki said the Security Council Committee established by resolution 661 (1990) concerning the situation between Iraq and Kuwait, had not yet received a request from Iran for authorization to ship the goods overland to Iraq. He said he understood an aircraft was standing by near the border of Iraq.
An air embargo against Iraq was part of the comprehensive sanctions regime imposed on Iraq by Council resolution 661 (1990) and all Member States were obliged to enforce the sanctions, which were adopted under Chapter VII, he continued. However, the Committee could authorize exemptions for flights. In October, a German flight had been given an exemption to transport medical equipment. There had also been a request to exempt an air shipment of humanitarian gifts by an Icelandic non-governmental organization. If approved, the flight could go ahead on Christmas day.
The forty-third weekly report on the implementation of the "oil-for- food" programme was provided to Iraq yesterday, he continued. Last week, the
Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 23 December 1997
661 Committee had approved 47 contracts and put on hold 18 applications. As for oil proceeds, the total amount had reached approximately $1.8 billion by the end of last week.
Today, the Security Council had informal consultations on Somalia and Cyprus in the morning, Mr. Ueki said. The Council then issued a presidential statement on Somalia and also extended the mandate of the United Nations Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) until 30 June 1998.
The Council's working methods were also on the agenda, he continued. The President of the Council had received a letter, dated 22 December, from the Permanent Representatives of Chile, Costa Rica, Egypt, Guinea-Bissau, Japan, Kenya, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea and Sweden concerning measures to increase the transparency of the Council's working methods.
Turning to other matters, Mr. Ueki said the Secretary-General was encouraged by the signing yesterday in Cairo of a national reconciliation agreement by Somali leaders. He hoped it would be the beginning of a long- awaited road to peace in Somalia.
At 11:45 a.m. today, the Secretary-General met with Reverend Jesse Jackson, the United States special envoy for Africa, to discuss issues relating to Africa.
Mr. Ueki announced that two press releases -- from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Health Organization (WHO) -- were available in the Spokesman's Office. The UNHCR release concerned today's launch of a special appeal for $37 million to help millions of displaced people living in "often destitute conditions" throughout the Commonwealth of Independent States. The WHO release concerned cholera in the Horn of Africa, which, according to the Agency, could be prevented even if the disease itself could not yet be eliminated.
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