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 announcing that Ambassador Richard Butler, Executive Chairman of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) monitoring the disposal of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, met yesterday evening with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz for approximately three hours, and again this morning from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. He was scheduled to have a second meeting with Mr. Aziz this evening at 8 p.m. local time -- Iraq was eight hours ahead of New York.

In the first two meetings, Ambassador Butler and Mr. Aziz discussed procedures for the technical evaluation meetings in the area of missile warheads, and chemical and biological weapons, Mr. Eckhard said. They agreed that the technical meeting on issues relating to missile warheads would take place on 1 February, followed shortly afterwards by the technical meeting on chemical weapons, particularly VX. Ambassador Butler indicated that technical experts from China, France, Germany, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States would participate in those meetings.

In the first two meetings, Iraq did not provide any new information which UNSCOM could use to verify Iraq's full, complete and final declarations on weapons of mass destruction, Mr. Eckhard said. Mr. Aziz indicated that he would address the question of access at the evening meeting today. Ambassador Butler was planning to give a press conference at 11 a.m. tomorrow morning, local time, before leaving Baghdad.

As of this morning, United Nations oil overseers had now approved 24 oil contracts out of 33 received, for a total of 117.92 million barrels, Mr. Eckhard said.

The Security Council was taking up the Secretary-General's report on Western Sahara today, Mr. Eckhard said. A draft resolution was being prepared for consideration by the Council, possibly tomorrow. Under "other matters", the Council would take up a question on Iraq and would also hear Security Council President Alain Dejammet (France) on his meeting yesterday with the Permanent Representative of Libya, Abuzed Omar Dorda.

The Conference on Disarmament opened its 1998 session this morning in Geneva under the presidency of Lars Norberg, Ambassador of Sweden, Mr. Eckhard said. Ambassador Norberg would assume that function until 15 February. The presidency would then be held by Switzerland for a further month. A background press release from the Conference was made available in the Spokesman's office last Thursday.

At the opening of the session, the Secretary-General's Personal Representative and Secretary-General of the Conference, Vladimir Petrovsky, read a message by the Secretary-General, Mr. Eckhard said. The text of that message was available in the Spokesman's office. The Secretary-General underlined the United Nations primary responsibility in the field of disarmament. He emphasized that nuclear disarmament must be pursued more vigorously, in particular by the nuclear-weapon States.

At the same time, the Secretary-General had expressed serious concern at the spread of various types of conventional weapons, especially landmines and small arms, the Spokesman went on to say. He noted that a number of encouraging events had taken place since last year, particularly in outlawing chemical weapons and in strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation regime. The Secretary-General hailed the Convention on anti-personnel landmines as a landmark step in the history of disarmament, and stated that it was now for the Conference on Disarmament to play its role in ensuring universal adherence to a total ban on landmines.

The Secretary-General welcomes the progress made towards a solution of the issues concerning the border between Ecuador and Peru, Mr. Eckhard told correspondents. He said the two countries had yesterday signed an agreement in Rio de Janeiro creating a timetable that would lead to a definitive solution to the border dispute. The agreement provided for the creation of four commissions to address the main issues of contention. They concerned: navigation rights on the Amazon River; a free trade area; the definitive marking of the border; and the adoption of security and confidence measures.

Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Alvaro de Soto arrived in Myanmar today for a three-day visit, Mr. Eckhard said. His schedule of appointments would be finalized after he met with Foreign Ministry officials.

A press release from the United Nations information centre in Lisbon, concerning Ambassador Jamsheed Marker's talks in Lisbon today with the Portuguese Parliament's Committee in charge of the question of East Timor, was available in the Spokesman's office. Ambassador Marker was the Secretary- General's Personal Representative on East Timor.

A United Nations inter-agency humanitarian mission left Kigali yesterday for a two-week mission to assess the humanitarian needs in the north-west of Rwanda, Mr. Eckhard said. The team would spend its first week around Ruhengeri and its second week in Gisenyi. The Spokesman's office would keep correspondents briefed as that mission went forward.

Singapore has paid its assessed 1998 budget contribution in full, with a check for $1,756,218, Mr. Eckhard told correspondents. Eleven Member States were now paid in full for 1998.

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 20 December 1998

Mr. Eckhard said his office had received a communication stating that the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO), today agreed, in private session, on a short list of candidates for the post of Director- General. The five finalists were: Sir George A. O. Alleyne, Gro Harlem Brundland, Nafis Sadik, Ebrahim Malick Samba and Uton M. Rafei. The Executive Board would meet on Monday to interview each of those five candidates. A decision would be made on Tuesday, 27 January. A press release from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) with the headline "U.S. Federal Agencies Enhance Support to UNEP's North American Environmental Data and Information Programme" was available in the Spokesman's office, Mr. Eckhard said. It gave details on the decision by several agencies of the United States Government to increase their support for UNEP's Global Resources Information Database Network, based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The agencies involved included the United States Geological Survey, the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and the United States Forest Service. The agreement was for five years. What would Mr. de Soto be discussing with the officials in Myanmar? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said the mission to Myanmar was decided on at a meeting in Kuala Lumpur between the Secretary-General and the Chairman of the Committee which ran the country. The Chairman had indicated to the Secretary-General that the Government was interested in democratizing and the Secretary-General said that he would like to send his Special Envoy again, on the understanding that he would consult both with the Government and with opposition figures. Asked when and where the technical talks with Iraq would take place, Mr. Eckhard said the first would be on 1 February, with the second to follow shortly thereafter. They would take place in Baghdad. Did Mr. Eckhard have any reading on this afternoon's meeting between the Secretary-General and Ambassador Andre Mwamba Kapanga of the Democratic Republic of the Congo? a correspondent asked. The Spokesman said that the Secretary-General had asked for the meeting to discuss, among other things, ways of getting the United Nations human rights investigative team in the Congo back on track. Asked to provide further details, Mr. Eckhard said: "Of course, there were natural disaster problems that got in the way. But there continues to be a lack of a contact person within the new cabinet named by the President [Laurent Kabila], for the team to make any practical arrangements to do their work. So although they made a preliminary visit to Mbandaka in the north of the country, they haven't made any excavations yet -- and they can't until they get the Government's cooperation. And they can't do that until there is a government official named to work with them. So we would like to see this thing moved along. It has been delayed long enough." Did the decision of the WHO's Executive Board have to be approved by the General Assembly, or was it considered final? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said he believed went to the WHO's Assembly in May. A WHO press release on the subject was available in the Spokesman's office.

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