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, told correspondents at today's press briefing that there was no Security Council meeting scheduled for today. The Council would be holding a formal meeting on the Central African Republic tomorrow for the purpose of approving a new United Nations peacekeeping mission in that country. The Spokesman's office would have available later in the day some useful information to prepare correspondents for that session.

Mr. Brandt said that a press release from the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia had indicated that Trial Chamber 1, consisting of Judge Claude Jorda, presiding, Judge Riad, and Judge Rodriguez, had today granted the Defence's Motion for the provisional release of Milan Simic. Arrangements were being made for the release of the accused, who would return to Bosanski Samac as soon as practicable.

The Trial Chamber had noted that the physical condition of the accused, who was partially paralysed and who suffered from other health problems, had constituted an exceptional circumstance as required by article 65 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, Mr. Brandt went on to say. Further information was contained in Press Release CC/PIU/306-E, available in the Spokesman's office.

Mr. Brandt then said that the Secretary-General had announced the composition of the Task Force on Environment and Human Settlements. The Task Force, chaired by the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Klaus Topfer, would review United Nations existing structures and arrangements in those areas. It would also make recommendations on reforming and strengthening the Organization's environment activities at the global level as called for in the Secretary-General's reform package. A press release available on the racks contained further information and listed the members of the Task Force.

The UNEP and the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) had also issued a press release announcing the first meeting of the Task Force in New Delhi on 1 April, concurring with the meeting of the Assembly of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), continued Mr. Brandt. That press release was available in the Spokesman's office.

In Geneva, the Conference on Disarmament had adopted its programme of work. Mr. Brandt said. The reason the adoption was being mentioned at the briefing was because it represented a political breakthrough. During 1997 the Disarmament Conference spent the entire year deadlocked over its programme of work, which was never adopted, he added. Copies of the work programme, as well as an accompanying Declaration by the President of the Disarmament Conference, were available in the Spokesman's office.

The Secretary-General had arrived in Geneva at 1 p.m. local time following his Middle East trip, Mr. Brandt said. He had no official programme of activities scheduled for today. He was preparing for the meetings of the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) that would bring together all the heads of United Nations agencies and programmes. Those meetings would take place tomorrow and Saturday morning. Mr. Brandt reminded correspondents that Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette was also in Geneva for the same purpose.

The United Nations Women's Guild was sponsoring eight children who were victims of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster to visit the United States for three weeks starting tomorrow, Mr. Brandt said. As part of their trip, the children would take the United Nations tour on 1 April and then attend a luncheon at the Delegates Dining Room. The children were between nine and 12 years old. Details on the visit would be published in Press Release HQ/583, to be issued later today.

In Vienna today, the United Nations International Drug Control Programme had received a welcome donation from a surprising source -- eight Japanese teenagers, Mr. Brandt told correspondents. The young people had donated 50 million yen, worth approximately $400,000, to a special fund supporting drug abuse prevention in developing countries.

Those eight students had played leading roles in a fund-raising drive last year spearheaded by Tokyo's Drug Abuse Prevention Centre, Mr. Brandt continued. Last Sunday, they had received certificates of appreciation from the Executive Director of the United Nations Drug Control Programme, Pino Arlacchi. Today, they had been briefed on various aspects of the Organization's drug control work. After the official exchange, they had rung a peace bell at the Vienna Centre which had been donated by the non- governmental organization they represent.

Mr. Brandt informed correspondents that in a press release issued today (CF/DOC/PR/1198-15), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) had said that a new and strikingly cost-effective drug treatment against mother-to-child transmission of HIV during pregnancy would help fuel a major expansion of the war against AIDS in the developing world.

The implications of the new treatment, described last month by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, had been discussed this week at a meeting in Geneva, continued Mr. Brandt. That meeting had involved the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, as well as representatives from developing countries and their donor community.

The inspectors of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had begun their work today at the Radwaniyah presidential complex, approximately 20 kilometres west of Baghdad,

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 26 March 1998

Mr Brandt said. They had been accompanied by senior diplomats from 20 countries. The inspection team had been led by the Deputy Chairman of UNSCOM, Charles Duelfer, and had consisted of more than 70 inspection personnel. Fifty-eight people, who flew into Baghdad specifically for the inspections of eight presidential sites, had been joined by resident staff of UNSCOM. Everything seemed to indicate today's inspections went very well, he added.

Still on Iraq, Mr. Brandt told correspondents that United Nations humanitarian officials had met yesterday with officials of the Iraqi Foreign Ministry to discuss the expanded "oil-for-food" programme. Discussions were expected to continue later this week through the Joint Consultative Committee, a body that served as a coordinating forum between the United Nations and the Government of Iraq on multisectoral humanitarian issues. In the meantime, consultations had been continuing in northern Iraq to prepare a new distribution plan for the north of the country, which would later be incorporated into the overall distribution plan.

No questions were asked to Mr. Brandt.

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