DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Press Briefing

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, began today's noon briefing by informing correspondents that in Iraq the inspection team of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) led by Scott Ritter was again unable to undertake its inspection mission of today. As had happened yesterday, the Iraqi officials did not turn up to escort the team. Today's team consisted of 41 persons from 14 countries. Again, several other teams had gone out successfully on inspections.

Richard Butler, Executive Chairman of UNSCOM, was expected to leave New York tomorrow evening, Mr. Eckhard said. He was planning to hold talks with First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Iraq, Tariq Aziz on 19 and 20 January in Iraq.

At 11:30 this morning the Security Council resumed its consultations on Iraq, Mr. Eckhard said. It heard UNSCOM Executive Chairman, Richard Butler, who had answered questions by Member States. The Council had then considered the letters of 12 January from the Executive Chairman and of 13 January from the Permanent Representative of Iraq, Nizar Hamdoon, addressed to the President of the Council. The Council was considering a draft presidential statement with a view to adopting it later today at a formal meeting.

The United Nations oil overseers had now approved 15 out of 25 contracts they had received so far, Mr. Eckhard continued. This was under the third phase of the "oil for food" programme for Iraq. The total amount of oil approved was 79.5 million barrels.

In other business, Mr. Eckhard said that last night the Secretary-General had agreed to waive the immunity of General Dallaire -- who had headed the United Nations Mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR) in 1994 -- for the purpose of giving testimony at the Arusha Tribunal in the case of Jean-Paul Akayesu. The waiver was limited to General Dallaire's appearance as a witness before the tribunal in that case and to matters of direct relevance to the charges made against the accused. The waiver did not relate to the release of confidential documents of the United Nations which were subject to the authorization of the Secretary-General.

The immunity concerned only the case of Jean-Paul Akayesu, the Spokesman reiterated. Mr. Akayesu had been the Burgermeister of the Taba commune from 1993 to 1994. From April to June 1994, while he was still in power, there had been some 2,000 Tutsis killed in his commune. That was the case that was being tried. General Dallaire would offer testimony just in relation to that case. There had been an effort by the Belgian Parliament to get General Dallaire to testify which had been denied. The difference was that one was a national legislative body, the other was a tribunal created by the Security Council to which the United

Nations was obliged to respond. As a matter of policy, any efforts by Member States to call United Nations personnel before them to testify was resisted.

The Senior Management Group, which was sometimes called "the Cabinet", had had its weekly meeting this morning, Mr. Eckhard said. They had discussed the Turner Fund and the Secretary-General's visit last December to Iran, Kuwait and Malaysia. They had also had an extended discussion of the continued killings in Algeria, expressing their distress at the ongoing massacres there, as well as their support for the Secretary-General's statement of Monday on the desperate situation in that country. Participating in that meeting by tele-conference from Geneva were, Mary Robinson and Sadako Ogata -- High Commissioners for Human Rights and Refugees, respectively -- as well as Vladimir Petrovsky, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the United Nations Office at Geneva.

Mrs. Ogata had issued a statement on the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) as that mission's two year mandate came to an end, Mr. Eckhard said. That text -- embargoed until tomorrow because the mandate ended tomorrow -- was available in the Spokesman's office.

Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Bernard Miyet, would be representing the Secretary-General at the Ceremony in Vukovar, Eastern Slavonia, tomorrow and at the subsequent ceremonial event organized by the Government of Croatia in Zagreb on 16 January, Mr. Eckhard said.

On the question posed to him yesterday concerning six Serb families evicted from their homes, Mr. Eckhard said it was understood that this had occurred in the northern Baranja region of Eastern Croatia. UNTAES, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), as well as the Croatian Government's Office for Displaced Persons had urged local residents not to take the law into their own hands and to comply with the procedures of the relocation plan of the Croatian Government. There was, therefore, an attempt to deal with that situation, and it could be confirmed that those events had taken place.

Liechtenstein had become the eighth Member State to pay in full its assessed contributions to the regular budget for 1998, Mr. Eckhard said. Its assessed contribution was $52,582. At this date last year, five member States had paid in full.

Turning again to Mrs. Ogata, Mr. Eckhard said that the High Commissioner for Refugees had given a speech today at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council in Brussels. The text of that speech was available in room 378.

Also available, on the racks, was a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) press release congratulating the parties to the Madrid Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty upon the Protocol's entry into

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 14 January 1998

force today. The Madrid Protocol designated Antarctica as a natural reserve, devoted to peace and science, and regulated human activities therein to protect the Antarctic environment and its dependent and associated ecosystems.

The United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) had asked him to inform correspondents with any interest in astrology that Joan Quigley would speak about the United Nations and the Secretary-General at 2 p.m. today in the UNCA club, Mr. Eckhard said. In case anyone had forgotten, Mr. Eckhard added, she had been the astrologer to President Reagan's White House.

A correspondent asked if it was correct that the matter of landmines was being moved to the Department of Disarmament. Mr. Eckhard said that Mr. Dhanapala had mentioned that landmines were one of the priorities. Mr. Eckhard then referred correspondents with technical questions about disarmament to Sophie Sebirot in the Spokesman's office.

Another correspondent, referring to the fact that Scott Ritter had served in the Gulf War, asked whether it was normal that he was now part of the UNSCOM investigation team. Mr. Eckhard said, "What is normal? He did his military service, he had a career in the Marines, and he was a disarmament specialist. What we are interested in is that he knows about disarmament and weapons of mass destruction."

Asked whether Mr. Ritter could be neutral, Mr. Eckhard said, "I certainly hope so, yes, I don't see why his military service would bias his judgement as a disarmament expert."

A correspondent asked whether it was correct that Tim Wirth was in town on behalf of the Turner Foundation to meet with United Nations officials. Mr. Eckhard said, yes. He had hosted a dinner last night for United Nations officials and Turner Foundation people. Today, a full day of discussions on how the Fund would be administered had been organized. This would also provide the two sides with a chance to get to know each other better. This event was taking place today at the Time-Warner headquarters in Rockefeller Plaza.

Did Under-Secretary-General for Administration and Management, Joseph E. Connor, meet with United States Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright yesterday, and, if so, what did they talk about? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said he was not aware of that and would have to ask.

The same correspondent then asked what was on the agenda for tonight's meeting between Mrs. Albright and the Secretary-General. She was expected to brief the Secretary-General on her recent visit to Africa, Mr. Eckhard said. The Secretary-General would be discussing with her some of the ideas he had for his report on Africa which had been mandated by the ministerial level meeting of the Security Council that Mrs. Albright had chaired, and which had called on the Secretary-General to submit a report in February.

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