DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Press Briefing

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Juan Carlos Brandt, Senior Associate Spokesman for the Secretary- General, began today's press briefing by welcoming Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), who would be talking to correspondents about an initiative on landmines in Angola. (Ms. Bellamy's briefing has been issued separately.)

The Secretary-General left for Paris this morning on his way to Baghdad, where he was expected to arrive by mid-afternoon tomorrow, 20 February, Mr. Brandt said. In Paris, he would meet with President Jacques Chirac today at 6:45 p.m. local time. Any information from that meeting would immediately be passed on to correspondents.

Mr. Brandt said that, before leaving his residence this morning, the Secretary-General had a telephone conversation with the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. The discussion was "frank and constructive", and the Prime Minister wished the Secretary-General well concerning his trip to Iraq. Mr. Brandt confirmed that yesterday afternoon the Secretary-General also spoke about Iraq with former Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar, who was in Lima. "It was a very warm, positive, cordial discussion, and both men agreed that the times that the former Secretary-General had lived vis-à-vis Iraq, and the times that this Secretary-General is seeing, are quite different." For additional information, Mr. Brandt referred correspondents to the text of an exchange the Secretary-General had with the press at the John F. Kennedy International Airport this morning before leaving New York, in which he commented on his conversation with Mr. de Cuellar.

Mr. Brandt then read out the following message, received by the Spokesman's Office from the President of the United Nations Staff Union, Rosemarie Waters, just before the briefing began: "On behalf of the staff of the United Nations, I wish the Secretary-General of the United Nations great success as he embarks on his mission to Iraq. I also take this opportunity to express our support for, and confidence in, his ability to mediate a solution that will meet the needs of all parties concerned." That statement would be made available in the Office of the Spokesman after the briefing, Mr. Brandt added.

Concerning the visit of the Secretary-General to Iraq, Mr. Brandt said that the Organization had been able to provide correspondents with a second aircraft, scheduled to leave Kuwait City tomorrow morning at 8:30 local time. Contact numbers of United Nations personnel had already been given to correspondents, but, for the benefit of their colleagues who were not present or listening to the briefing, he gave the following telephone numbers where Susan Matthew, the United Nations representative in Kuwait, could be contacted: 965-474-2555; 965-474-2311; and 965-961-4538 (mobile). She would

be providing local information on transportation to the aircraft and the trip to Baghdad.

Mr. Brandt announced that at approximately 7:15 a.m today, a group of 15 to 20 well-armed men broke into the Zugdidi Sector headquarters of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) and took four military observers as hostages. In the process, they shot at the tires of the United Nations cars in the compound, which was protected by two local security guards. The armed men then fled with the hostages in a United Nations vehicle. The local police were immediately informed of the incident. A few hours later, the hostages conveyed the demands of their captors. Some 50 Georgian policemen were now surrounding the house where the men were being held. A negotiating team, which included Georgian police officers, was currently in the house.

Mr. Brandt said that United Nations representatives were also on the scene and had reported that none of the hostages were injured, and that they were in good health. The Secretary-General strongly condemned the incident and the attack on unarmed United Nations military observers, and had called for the immediate release of all the hostages. In that connection, the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Hédi Annabi, had briefed the Security Council this morning on the incident.

United Nations experts who had been sent by the Secretary-General last weekend to Iraq to define the eight presidential sites had completed their task, Mr. Brandt said. The two surveyors from Austria were leaving Baghdad shortly, but the head of the group, Staffan de Mistura, was remaining in the city to assist the Secretary-General during his visit.

Also in connection with the Secretary-General's trip, Mr. Brandt told correspondents that today at 10:50 a.m., a seven-person advance team arrived at the Habbaniyah airport. Also, 31 United Nations agency staff members left Baghdad early this morning; 29 of them boarded a bus for Amman, Jordan, and two left for Erbil, in northern Iraq. Another 29 staff members were expected to leave Baghdad for Amman tomorrow. Mr. Brandt reiterated that those staff members were considered "non-essential", and the measure was taken only as a precaution. At present, there were approximately 260 international staff members working for the United Nations and its agencies in Baghdad, including 120 staff of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM). Throughout Iraq, there were approximately 470 international staff of the United Nations.

Mr. Brandt said that Mr. Annabi had also briefed the Security Council on the situation in Angola this morning. It was understood that the Council might also discuss the subject of Iraq. Owing to that, members of the Council had decided to postpone a proposed briefing by the Executive Chairman of UNSCOM, Richard Butler, which was contained in the Council's agenda for the day. That briefing would also have included the technical meetings of UNSCOM held recently in Baghdad.

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Turning to Sierra Leone, Mr. Brandt said that the emergency humanitarian team to that country led by the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General, Francis Okelo, returned to Conakry, Guinea, yesterday evening. The team was able to drop off medical supplies in Lungi and Freetown, where they also visited hospitals. They also held meetings with Economic Community of West African States' Monitoring Observer Group (ECOMOG) authorities. Mr. Okelo was completing his report on that mission and would brief the Council in the next few days.

Mr. Brandt added that a World Food Programme (WFP) ship carrying 857 metric tons of food and fuel was probably arriving in Freetown today. The supplies would be distributed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and other non-governmental organizations in Freetown. A Flash Appeal for Sierra Leone's priority needs for the next 90 days would be launched next week.

From the Secretary-General's human rights investigative team to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mr. Brandt announced that Dan O'Donnel and Paul Laberge, its two new members, would be arriving in Geneva today for preparatory meetings. They were scheduled to leave for Kinshasa on 22 February.

The United Nations had today launched the 1998 inter-agency appeal requesting $109.4 million to meet the urgent needs of more than 4 million war- and drought-affected Sudanese, Mr. Brandt said. A press release on that subject would be made available shortly.

Mr. Brandt informed correspondents that the status of outstanding contributions as of 31 January had been released. It showed that the total contributions outstanding as of that date was more than $2.85 billion, of which $1.28 billion was for the regular budget, $10.8 million was for the international tribunals, and $1.56 billion was for peacekeeping operations.

He drew attention to a press release from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on the twentieth FAO regional conference for Africa. FAO's Director-General, Jacques Diouf, called for an increase in irrigated agriculture throughout the continent, which continued to be plagued by serious food deficiencies. That press release was also available in the Office of the Spokesman.

Also available was an announcement which stated that officials from more than 100 governments were meeting in Malaysia from 23 to 27 February to consider a list of hazardous wastes to be banned from being exported from developed to developing countries, said Mr. Brandt. From the Office of the Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs, he drew attention to a press release on the latest situation report on Afghanistan.

Mr. Brandt said that a press release was available from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) announcing a new documentary film on the

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forest fires in South-East Asia. The film was an independent production from the UNEP-supported Television Trust for the Environment and would be shown, starting today, on the British Broadcasting Service's World Earth Report series. UNEP's Executive Director, Klaus Topfer, had said that the fires might turn out to be the greatest ecological disaster of the decade. Mr. Topfer would be travelling to the region next week to meet with officials of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) concerning the fires and the resultant health and environmental problems.

Asked about the tentative schedule of the Secretary-General on his current trip, Mr. Brandt restated that the Secretary-General was expected to arrive in Baghdad mid-afternoon tomorrow, 20 February. He was likely to go immediately into meetings and consultations with his senior advisers, including those who had travelled with him, those in the advance team and the United Nations personnel in Baghdad. Hopefully, he would be able to get a good night's sleep before initiating his talks with Iraqi authorities on Saturday. Concerning "what time, what location, with whom, etc.", he said such information might be available later today or tomorrow. [Mr. Brandt later announced that the Secretary-General was scheduled to depart Paris at 9:30 a.m. Friday, 20 February, and arrive in Baghdad at 6:30 p.m.]

To a question about the nationalities of the hostages in Georgia, Mr. Brandt replied that it was United Nations policy -- "and to preserve the security of the process" -- not to reveal the names or nationalities of staff members involved in an incident such as the hostage-taking. Also asked if there was any information about the hostage-takers, Mr. Brandt said he had no more information than he had already given.

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