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 a morning briefing of the Security Council by the President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Gabrielle Kirk McDonald, had precluded her appearance at the noon briefing. Judge McDonald would likely brief correspondents at the Security Council stakeout position following her noon briefing of the Council.

The Spokesman welcomed the Humanitarian Coordinator for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Douglas Coutts, who would brief correspondents in detail about the latest appeal for $415.6 million for urgently required humanitarian assistance to avert famine and carry out other life-saving measures. The United Nations had today launched the Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal.

Concerning Iraq, the Secretary-General yesterday afternoon brought together the five permanent members of the Security Council for their first collective discussion of elements of a possible political solution to the stand-off with that country, Mr. Eckhard said. At that meeting, the Secretary-General emphasized the need for Iraq to comply fully with the Council's resolutions governing the weapons inspection regime. He felt strongly that "we must give diplomacy a chance while remaining focused on the ultimate objective, which is the elimination of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction". The five permanent members agreed to consult with their capitals and return for a second round of talks tomorrow. The precise time for that meeting would be announced as soon as it was arranged.

Mr. Eckhard said the Security Council this morning took up the issue of humanitarian assistance to Iraq under Security Council resolution 986, known as the oil-for-food programme . It had before it the Secretary-General's supplementary report on the programme, in which he recommended additional funding. It also had before it a draft resolution on the report, introduced this morning by the United Kingdom. A group of experts was scheduled to meet this afternoon to continue consideration of the issue from the technical point of view.

Also, on the oil-for-food programme, the Secretary-General sent a letter dated 10 February to Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Said Al-Sahaf, in response to Iraq's observations on the Secretary-General's supplementary report, the Spokesman added. In it, the Secretary-General proposed detailed discussions in New York with the Iraqi Government, to "review all relevant issues and reach agreements as required, with a view to enabling the Government to prepare and submit a revised distribution plan at the earliest possible date". That suggestion was subject, of course, to the Council's positive consideration of the Secretary-General's proposals.

The Spokesman said that, in news from Baghdad, representatives of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdish Democratic Party (PDK) were meeting today in Shaqlawa, which was close to the dividing line between them. That was the first direct meeting of those two factions since May 1997.

Additional Security Council activities today included the briefing by Judge McDonald concerning the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Mr. Eckhard said. The Council would later review the Secretary- General's letters to the Presidents of the General Assembly and the Security Council about the concerns expressed by the President of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Laimi Kama. Those concerns dealt with acquiring an additional Chamber and additional Judges for the Rwanda Tribunal.

Under other matters, Council members were considering a draft presidential statement on the successful completion in Croatia of the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES), the Spokesman went on to say. Finally, Assistant Secretary- General for Peacekeeping Hedi Annabi was expected to provide the Council with an update on the situation in Sierra Leone. The Council was not scheduled to meet tomorrow, and since Monday was a United Nations holiday, its next scheduled meeting would be on Tuesday.

Mr. Eckhard said the Secretary-General was deeply saddened to learn of the death in an air crash on 12 February of several high government officials of the Sudan, including First Vice-President, Al-Zubeir Mohammad Saleh. He extended his heartfelt condolences to the Government of the Sudan and to the bereaved families.

Turning to the aftermath of the earthquake in Afghanistan, the Spokesman announced an urgent United Nations appeal for $2.5 million to airdrop 1,000 metric tonnes of relief aid for earthquake victims in northern Afghanistan. Initial attempts to reach the disaster sites had been seriously hampered by bad weather and poor road conditions, making an airdrop the most viable option. The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were working together to facilitate the work of all other aid agencies in the area. A news release today from the World Food Programme (WFP) reported that some 30,000 people were in desperate need of relief aid in the area affected by the earthquake.

Mr. Eckhard said that the Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Sergio Vieira de Mello, planned to travel to Afghanistan, via Islamabad, Pakistan next week. He was scheduled to visit the earthquake site, but the purpose of his mission was to rally donor support for the 1998 Consolidated Appeal for Afghanistan of 4 February, for $157 million in assistance. Mr. Vieira de Mello would also advocate humanitarian issues of particular concern in the current Afghan context, and evaluate the progress of the innovative "strategic framework" approach. Afghanistan had been selected at the first test case of that new approach towards assisting war-torn

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societies. Mr. Vieira de Mello would brief the participants at a donors meeting in Geneva on 26 February on the outcome of his mission.

The WFP issued another warning today concerning some one-half million Sierra Leoneans facing serious food shortages, Mr. Eckhard said. Owing to continued fighting, Freetown was cut off from the mainland, and nearly its entire population was unable to find sufficient food. The WFP warned that nearly 500 children were facing certain death if their special feeding was discontinued, which could occur within 10 days.

Mr. Eckhard made the following announcements: the Office of Internal Oversight (OIOS), the "watchdog unit" of the Secretariat, had issued a report on the audits of the various regional economic commissions, which was available on the racks; and World Chronicle Television was featuring the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General, Maurice Strong, on in-house television channel 6 or 38 at 2:30 p.m. today. The Director of the Division for Social Policy and Development of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, John Langmore, was unable to brief correspondents yesterday afternoon. Instead, representatives of non-governmental offices held the briefing on the thirty-sixth session of the Commission for Social Development currently underway at Headquarters. Mr. Langmore would attend the noon briefing on Friday.

The Spokesman said that there was a memorial mass at 12:30 p.m. today for Harold "Harry" Stuart, a Sergeant in the United Nations Security and Safety Service, who died on 21 December. The service would be held at the Church Center for the United Nations.

Asked if there was any particular reason for Judge McDonald's Council briefing, Mr. Eckhard said that he believed that one of the reasons was the request for additional resources for the Tribunal on the Former Yugoslavia.

How much urgency did the Secretary-General feel regarding a decision about whether it would be appropriate and useful to make a trip to Baghdad, and were the number of days dwindling in which he could make such a decision? another correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said that the Secretary-General "wants a deal, not a trip". The first concrete step took place yesterday when he got the permanent five Council members to sit down and talk about some of the ideas that had been discussed with Iraq by the Russians, and the French and others. He felt that the group "took a few steps forward, yesterday, but they still have a long way to go". He was looking towards tomorrow's meeting to assess "any movement", particularly whether the members were any closer to an agreement among themselves. Such agreement was "essential to any trip to Baghdad for himself", the Spokesman said.

Another correspondent asked whether the Secretary-General had any reaction to the Washington Post story today questioning whether Russian had shared information on weapons inspections with Iraq, and might have sold Iraq

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a large fermentation device. Mr. Eckhard said that the Secretary-General had no reaction. If a reaction was forthcoming, the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) would likely provide it.

Asked if the Secretary-General's position had evolved concerning the Iraqi situation since his appeals and proposals of earlier in the week, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General had set the parameters for the discussion yesterday with the Council members by listing the principles -- in particular, the Security Council resolutions -- which must be respected. "Within those limitations, the question is whether there is any room for a negotiating position that would permit Iraq to back down from the position they're in now, which is basically that they are in confrontation with the entire Security Council," he said.

At what point would the United Nations and the international community decide that diplomatic efforts had failed, and who would issue an ultimatum to Iraq preceding the war? Mr. Eckhard said that the conditions which Iraq must meet were contained in the Security Council resolutions. That was very simple. The Secretary-General was talking with the five permanent members about a possible diplomatic solution to the current stand-off. "There was no immediate deadline on this", Mr. Eckhard added. It was a process that the Secretary-General was now leading -- it was slow, and it was deliberate, but the Secretary-General was confident that all the parties also wanted a political solution, if possible. "So we'll just have to watch this play out and see where it leads," he added.

Regarding his communication from Iraq, did the Secretary-General have the sense that Iraq also wanted a diplomatic solution? another correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said that the Secretary-General had been in touch by telephone with the Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq, Tariq Aziz, as well as with all of the other players who had been suggesting ideas to Iraq concerning a possible political solution. So, Iraq was one party with whom he was in regular contact.

Given the Secretary-General's characterization of the desire of the permanent Council members to reach a diplomatic solution to the stand-off, a correspondent asked whether the Secretary-General had the same conclusion about Iraq's position. Mr. Eckhard believed that the Secretary-General felt that Iraq wanted a diplomatic solution, as well. That was the Secretary- General's "working assumption" in pursuing current diplomatic efforts.

Asked for some guidance concerning the frequency with which the Secretary-General was in contact with Iraqi officials, the Spokesman said that he could not provide anything more precise than what he had already said. In addition to the one or more telephone conversations with Mr. Aziz, the Secretary-General had had regular contact with the Permanent Representative of Iraq to the United Nations, Nizar Hamdoon.

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Alex Taukatch, spokesman for Assembly President Hennadiy Udovenko (Ukraine), said that with the Security Council very much in the news these days, he wished to remind correspondents that Mr. Udovenko was now presiding over the seventh meeting of the Assembly working group on Security Council reform. Another meeting was scheduled for this afternoon, following active and involved discussions yesterday with over 60 speakers taking part in the morning and afternoon sessions.

Continuing, the spokesman said that in preparation for today's sessions, the President had a meeting with the United Nations Legal Counsel Under- Secretary-General, Hans Corell, and the Bureau of the working group. The President also met with representatives of the five permanent members of the Security Council, and with the Council President, Denis Dangue Rewaka (Gabon), before the working group convened this morning.

Turning to another matter, Mr. Taukatch said that he had received a number of questions from members of the press regarding any reaction by the Assembly President to an open letter published yesterday in The New York Times from a large group of American political and business leaders. The spokesman said that the Assembly President was extremely gratified to see that such an illustrious group of personalities, including former United States Presidents and members of the Congress, as well as Cabinet ministers, labour leaders and chief executive officers of major American corporations had raised their voice in support of the United Nations.

Having been directly involved in the recent consideration by the Assembly of a far-reaching reform plan submitted by the Secretary-General, the Assembly President was particularly heartened by the group's recognition that the United Nations was now "reforming its bureaucracy, cutting costs and becoming more efficient", the spokesman said. Mr. Udovenko was also encouraged by the group's conclusion that the vast majority of Americans supported the use of the United Nations to address global problems and he shared the signatories' concern about the acute financial problems of the Organization. The spokesman said that he would make his statement available in room 378. (See Press Release GA/SM/30.)

To a question regarding how much influence the Assembly President felt that open letter would have on the payment of United Nations dues, spokesman Taukatch said that the Assembly President had been heartened by the expression of support and felt that anything that could improve the financial situation of the United Nations was "extremely important for the world body".

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