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 press briefing by welcoming Rafiah Salim, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management. Ms. Salim had just established a task force on human resources management and was at the briefing to talk to correspondents about its composition and objectives.

Following the Secretary-General's briefing of the Security Council this morning, the Council President issued a statement concerning the Secretary- General's intention to travel to Baghdad this weekend over the problem of access to inspection sites for United Nations inspectors, Mr. Eckhard said. The President gave a strong endorsement to the Secretary-General's trip. To that, the Secretary-General said that he felt that he now has what he needs to undertake a serious discussion in Baghdad about the shape and content of a political solution. The Secretary-General also quoted an unnamed member of the Council who had said in Latin, "Be firm in substance and flexible in form". That was the Secretary-General's approach to the situation.

The Spokesman drew attention to a report on a network television news programme last night which had characterized the Secretary-General's telephone conversation with United States President Bill Clinton yesterday. The report said that the President told the Secretary-General he was in danger of jeopardizing a strong relationship with the United States, as well as his own reputation. None of that rang true to the Secretary-General, who had spoken to President Clinton about all aspects of the Iraqi crisis, and who stated this morning that President Clinton also would prefer a diplomatic solution. It was clear that the United States was part of the consensus in the Council supporting the Secretary-General's efforts. That particular television report "wasn't a spin", Mr. Eckhard quoted the Secretary-General as saying this morning -- "it was a twist".

Concerning reports that the United Nations had evacuated some of its staff from Baghdad, the Spokesman said the security level in Iraq was at Phase I, the lowest threat level, and had been that way for a long time. The United Nations would move 31 people out of the country tomorrow. There were a total of 300 staff members in Baghdad, including 120 personnel of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM). There were 146 additional staff members in the northern part of the country, as well as Lloyds' contractors for inspections and Sayboat personnel for oil-export monitoring, accounting for a total of 504 staff members in Baghdad. The Organization had merely decided that, in view of the current developments, it would scale down some of its activities in the humanitarian area. Moving out the 31 people tomorrow was, therefore, only a precautionary measure.

Mr. Eckhard announced that Nigeria would tomorrow become the fifteenth country to sign the memorandum of understanding with the United Nations on standby arrangements for United Nations peacekeeping operations. The signing ceremony would take place tomorrow at 3:30 p.m., with the Chief of Defence Staff of Nigeria, Major-General A.A. Abubakar signing for his country, and Bernard Miyet, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, signing for the United Nations. To date, 67 countries had expressed their willingness to participate in the standby regime to expedite deployment of United Nations peacekeeping troops.

Pino Arlacchi, Director-General of the United Nations Office in Vienna and the Head of the United Nations International Drug Control Programme, was meeting with the Secretary-General today, Mr. Eckhard said. Mr. Arlacchi would report on the preparations for the special session of the General Assembly on drug control to be held in New York in early June. He would also give the Secretary-General an update on progress on the Global Plan for the eradication of illicit crops. Arrangements would be made for Mr. Arlacchi to brief correspondents while he was in New York.

Mr. Arlacchi had also been the featured speaker at today's meeting of the Senior Management Group, Mr. Eckhard said, and presented a paper to the group on the special session on drugs for the month of June.

Last December, the Security Council requested a technical analysis of the humanitarian situation in Sierra Leone in the period since the coup d'état which deposed President Tejjan Kabbah, including the effects of the sanctions on that country, Mr. Eckhard said. Earlier this month, an expert mission went to the region. Owing to the deterioration of the security situation, the mission had worked in Conakry, Guinea, submitting an interim report which was now circulating among members of the Security Council. Correspondents who were interested in having a copy should inquire in the Spokesman's Office.

Mr. Eckhard cautioned that that mission in question was different from the one about which he had spoken yesterday, which was being led by the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Sierra Leone, Francis Okelo. Of that mission, he said that Mr. Okelo had arrived in Sierra Leone today. The Special Envoy would conduct a rapid assessment mission there and was expected to return to Conakry tomorrow.

The Spokesman announced that three additional Member States had now paid their assessed contributions to the Organization in full. They were the Lao People's Democratic Republic, at $10,516; Pakistan, at $630,976; and the Russian Federation, at $30,213,251. With those three, 34 Member States were now paid in full. On the same date last year, the figure was 35 States. "We are getting closer to last year's record, which was not good in any case", he said.

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He also announced the receipt of the first humanitarian situation report from Liberia, issued by the Office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Monrovia. The report only covered the month of January, but it provided a thorough overview of the humanitarian situation in that country.

Mr. Eckhard then announced that on 16 February in Cape Town, South Africa, the World Bank launched a new World Commission on Dams. The Commission was a major international initiative aimed at bringing a more responsible approach to investments in large dam projects by conducting the first-ever independent global review of their costs and benefits. A press release from the World Bank on the subject was available in the Spokesman's Office.

Also available in the Spokesman's Office was a press release from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which yesterday dismissed two motions filed by the defence of Jean-Paul Akayesu. The motions had sought the issuance of subpoenas to former Prime Minister Jean Kambanda and former Minister of Family Affairs, Pauline Nyiramasuhuko.

At 11:30 a.m. tomorrow in room S-226, there would be a press conference on "Enhancing social protection and employment opportunities and eliminating violent crime, the problem of illicit drugs and substance abuse", Mr. Eckhard said. It would be conducted by the Bureau of the thirty-sixth session of the Commission for Social Development. Also tomorrow, Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), would be at the noon briefing to launch an initiative on landmines in Angola.

With the presidential elections in Cyprus over, did the Secretary- General have any plans in the near future to resume the talks there? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard referred the correspondent to a statement that had been issued on Monday, the text of which was available in the Spokesman's Office. He said he did not have anything to add to that at present.

Another correspondent said she had heard on the radio a short while ago that the Secretary-General would be meeting with President Saddam Hussein in Baghdad. Mr. Eckhard said that he did not yet have any details of the Secretary-General's programme; he would leave New York on Thursday morning and spend the night in Paris. There was a possibility of an official meeting in Paris, but that announcement was not ready yet. The Secretary-General would leave for Baghdad on Friday morning on a private plane, arriving some time in the afternoon. He was expected to begin his meetings on Saturday and to conclude them on Sunday. He would then begin the trip back, to arrive New York on Monday. Specifics on his programme in Baghdad were not yet available.

A correspondent drew attention to the situation in South-East Asia, especially Indonesia, and its "pretty serious implications" for world security. Asked if the United Nations could provide an assessment or a

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statement on the subject, Mr. Eckhard said he would see if senior Secretariat official wanted to do that.

Concerning the Secretary-General's stopover in Paris, a correspondent asked if any meetings would be held there with French or Iraqi officials. Mr. Eckhard said he had no details of the programme and had only just been alerted that there was a chance the Secretary-General might have an official meeting. He said he was not told whom the Secretary-General might be meeting with, although he was aware of a story on the newswires that the Secretary- General would meet with President Jacques Chirac.

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