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, the Spokesman for the Secretary-General, began today's briefing by announcing that at around 11 a.m., the Secretary-General had spoken by telephone with Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz. The Secretary-General initiated the call to discuss the seriousness of the situation and the need to get results. Of course they discussed the current crisis in Iraq. The Secretary-General described their conversation as "constructive" saying they had "agreed on the need to speed up efforts to find a negotiated solution to the problem".

Mr. Eckhard then recalled the Secretary-General's "brief meeting" at 3:45 p.m. yesterday with the Permanent Representative of Iraq, Nizar Hamdoon. He said Mr. Hamdoon had no substantive reaction to the Secretary-General's supplementary report on the oil-for-food programme, because he had not yet received instructions from his Government.

Meanwhile, in Iraq, a technical evaluation meeting on missile-warheads- related issues began on Sunday, 1 February, followed by another technical evaluation meeting yesterday on chemical weapons, Mr. Eckhard said. Both meetings were expected to last five days. On the side of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) monitoring the disposal of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, 18 experts were participating in the missile warhead talks and 19 experts were taking part in the talks on chemical weapons. Both groups included additional experts from China, France, Germany, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and the United States.

Mr. Eckhard then recalled Iraq's request that certain United Nations staff in Iraq move to official hotel accommodation consistent with the memorandum of understanding. That had been accomplished and all the United Nations staff associated with the "oil-for-food" programme, including the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for the programme in Iraq, Denis Halliday, had moved to the designated hotels.

The Security Council Committee established by resolution 661 (1990) concerning the situation between Iraq and Kuwait would meet at 3 p.m. tomorrow, not today, as announced in the Journal. Following the meeting, Committee Chairman Antonio Monteiro (Portugal) would brief correspondents.

The Council had no meetings scheduled today, Mr. Eckhard continued. The President of the Council for February, Denis Dangue Rewaka (Gabon), was continuing bilateral consultations on the Council's programme of work.

Mr. Eckhard then announced that the Secretary-General had appointed Kensaku Hogen of Japan as the new Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, effective 16 March. Ambassador Hogen was currently Director-General of the Foreign Service Training Institute at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan. He had worked on a wide range of issues before the United Nations as well as in public information areas. He had directed the Foreign Press Division of the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo, as well as the Press and Information Section at the Japanese Embassy in Washington, D.C. Biographical information on Mr. Hogen and the text of the announcement was available in the Spokesman's Office. (See Press Release SG/A/668-BIO/3137- PI/1052.)

The Economic and Social Council would resume its 1998 organizational session this afternoon, Mr. Eckhard said. At its first meeting for the year, held last month, the Council decided to convene a high-level meeting on reform of the United Nations in the economic and social fields. The meeting would be held on Saturday, 18 April.

The Executive Committee on humanitarian affairs was meeting today, Mr. Eckhard said. One of four policy coordination entities created by the Secretary-General, the Committee would discuss Afghanistan, the Great Lakes region, specifically Rwanda, as well as the 1998 priorities of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The Executive Committee for peace and security met yesterday. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, was in New York and would attend meetings of the various Executive Committees, he added.

Briefing notes from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva were available in the Spokesman's Office, Mr. Eckhard said. In the notes, the UNHCR spokesman expressed concern at the deteriorating situation in the Bosnian-Croat controlled town of Stolac in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The notes also mention that a UNHCR French national, Vincent Cochetel, who was kidnapped last Thursday in Ossetia, the Russian Federation, remained in captivity. No other news on him was available.

Mr. Eckhard said the Department of Public Information (DPI) focus paper on the Secretary-General and his reform efforts was available at the Documents Counter.

A correspondent asked if the Spokesman had any information from the Secretary-General on his meeting this morning with the President of Albania, Rexhep Mejdani. Mr. Eckhard said, he had yet not received a read-out on the meeting, but suggested the correspondent contact the Spokesman's Office after the briefing.

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 3 February 1998

Replying to a question on the number of technical evaluation meetings taking place in Iraq, Mr. Eckhard said there were two types of meetings. The one on missile-warheads-related issues began on Sunday and the meeting on chemical weapons started yesterday. The teams of experts conducting the meetings had been expanded from the normal UNSCOM personnel to include additional experts from six countries -- China, France, Germany, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and the United States.

The correspondent said the report from the Executive Chairman of UNSCOM Richard Butler (document S/1998/58), mentioned serious divergence of views between the Iraqi side and UNSCOM on the nature of those technical evaluation meetings. Had that been resolved? he asked. Mr. Eckhard said the correspondent should contact UNSCOM's spokesman for details on the technical evaluation meetings.

Was the Assistant Secretary-General for Legal Affairs a new position and, if so, what was its purpose? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said that the position had been created to provide more high-level support for the Legal Counsel. There had always been a Senior Director at the D-2 level in the Office of Legal Affairs, but it was seen as a lack that there was no one at the level of Assistant Secretary-General under the Legal Counsel who was an Under-Secretary-General. The new post would provide a more "geometric pyramid" for the Office of Legal Affairs and some much-needed support for the Legal Counsel.

In reply to a question as to whether the Assistant Secretary-General for Public Information, Samir Sanbar, would be staying on at the United Nations in some capacity, Mr. Eckhard said his office would make an announcement concerning Mr. Sanbar "a bit later".

Had the Albania President suggested that the Secretary-General establish some kind of United Nations presence in Kosovo? a correspondent asked. How would that work? Mr. Eckhard replied that he had not yet received a read-out of the meeting between the Albanian President and the Secretary-General and did not know if the matter was discussed. In any case, such a proposal would be first considered by the Security Council and, if there was any interest, the Secretariat would draw up a plan of operation. "But we are getting way ahead of ourselves", Mr. Eckhard added.

In their telephone conversation this morning, had Mr. Aziz and the Secretary-General discussed the report on the oil-for-food programme? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said the Secretary-General had not mentioned to him whether the report was discussed, but he had to assume it had come up in their discussions. The Secretary-General had said the emphasis was on the security situation.

Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 3 February 1998

Finally, Mr. Eckhard said that the Secretary-General had also spoken this morning with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and they discussed an initiative by the League of Arab States to send an envoy to Iraq tomorrow.

Alex Taukatch, spokesman for the Assembly President Hennadiy Udovenko (Ukraine), told correspondents that the President was back at Headquarters. After the Assembly adjourned on 22 December 1997, Mr. Udovenko had returned to Ukraine and his duties as Foreign Minister. Now, "even as we speak", Mr. Udovenko was chairing the open-ended working group on the reform of the Security Council. The meeting would decide on how to proceed and would most likely continue next week. Mr. Taukatch said he would try to keep correspondents informed as much as possible about the working group's progress, but reminded them the meeting was being held in closed session.

Continuing, Mr. Taukatch said that during his address this morning to the working group, Mr. Udovenko noted that on his travels in Ukraine and internationally, he had been gratified to see a high-level of interest among ordinary people about reform of the United Nations, including the Security Council. A good example of that was a public meeting Mr. Udovenko attended in the Ukrainian industrial city of Dnipropetrovsk -- the last place he expected to hear critical comments about the slow pace of reform of the Council.

Mr. Udovenko felt that even though time that was supposed to bring all things to pass, so far had been powerless to bring about Council reform, he hoped the current meeting would lead to progress. The Assembly President said he would be a bad Chairman, if he did not set himself the task of bringing the working group closer to fulfilling its mandate. At the same time, he recognized that Members faced many difficult issues, including that on the total size of an enlarged Council.

In his remarks, the Assembly President said that it would be better if the working group addressed substantive issues in their negotiations, Mr. Taukatch continued. Difficulties in achieving a consensus should not prevent Members from addressing particular issues, the Assembly President said. He then recalled an Ukrainian saying that "he who is afraid of wolves does not go into the forest".

On other matters, Mr. Taukatch said the Assembly would hold a brief meeting tomorrow to reopen the agenda item entitled: "Building a Peaceful and Better World Through Sport and the Olympic Ideal". The Assembly President had issued a solemn appeal in connection with the observance of the "Olympic Truce".

Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 3 February 1998

Mr. Taukatch reminded correspondents that on 25 November 1997, the Assembly had adopted a resolution on the Olympic Truce which had a record number of 178 cosponsors. In his solemn appeal, the President stated that the Olympic Truce "epitomizes a bridge from the old and wise tradition to the most compelling purpose of the United Nations -- the maintenance of international peace and security". He also noted that "as the most visible illustration of this connection in goals and aspirations between the Olympic movement and the United Nations, the International Olympic Committee decided, starting this year, to fly the United Nations flag at all competition sites of the Olympic Games". The solemn appeal was available on the racks.

Finally, Mr. Taukatch said the Assembly would also take up tomorrow, an item on the report of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary).

Asked if the President was afraid to go into the forest, Mr. Taukatch said no, he was definitely not afraid of wolves.

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