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 stating that Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomed the return to Cambodia of Prince Norodom Ranariddh on 30 March after an absence of nearly nine months. Prince Ranariddh's return to his country -- accompanied by, among others, the Secretary-General's Representative in Cambodia Lakhan Mehrotra -- was the result of many months of effort. The efforts were led by the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Troika, and the Friends of Cambodia, and supported by the United Nations, to help Cambodia in finding a satisfactory solution to its political crisis. It was hoped that the Prince's return would assist in the holding of free and fair elections scheduled for July.

In that regard, the Secretary-General noted that, while the return of Prince Ranariddh was a significant step forward, much work still remained to be done to ensure that the elections fully do justice both to the terms of the Paris Agreements and to the gains of Cambodia during the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) and since, Mr. Brandt added.

In the Security Council today, Mr. Brandt said it had met in the morning to discuss Afghanistan. The Council had before it the latest report of the Secretary-General on the situation in that country and that was the first reading of the report. During the consultations, a draft presidential statement on Afghanistan was introduced. The Council would return at 4 p.m. today to take up Kosovo. A draft resolution imposing a new arms embargo on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia might be introduced. If consensus emerged on the text, there was a possibility the Council would adopt it tomorrow.

Mr. Brandt said that Angolan government forces had regained control of Chongoroi in Benguela province following an attack last Friday by a group of about 100 armed men. Those attackers, who were wearing civilian clothes, killed two people and injured three others. They also damaged vehicles belonging to the United Nations Observer Mission to Angola (MONUA) and the World Food Programme (WFP). Fortunately, no United Nations personnel were hurt during the incident.

He added that a MONUA investigation had concluded that the attack was carried out by elements of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). The implications of the armed action were being discussed right now in Luanda by the Joint Commission. Meanwhile, the situation in Chongoroi today was said to be calm.

The Joint Commission was also considering the state of implementation of the last phase of the Lusaka Protocol, which was to have been completed by tomorrow, 31 March, Mr. Brandt said. However, a number of significant steps

still had to be taken, including the completion of the extension of State administration throughout the country, the transformation of Radio Vorgan, the establishment of UNITA leadership in Luanda and the integration of 400 personal bodyguards of UNITA Leader Jonas Savimbi into the National Police. Also awaiting completion was the demobilization of some 1,500 UNITA residual forces and the disarmament of the civilian population. The Secretary- General's next report on the issue to the Security Council was due on 17 April.

An exchange of letters between the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council concerning the Secretary-General's intended appointment of Brigadier-General Tengku Ariffin Tengku Mohammed, from Malaysia, as the next Chief Military Officer of the United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan (UNMOT) was now available on the racks, Mr. Brandt said.

Japan had paid a large part of its contribution to the United Nations regular budget and had contributed generously to other aspects of the Organization's work, Mr. Brandt said. A cheque for over $47 million was received this morning to go towards Japan's regular budget dues and over $123 million was received for the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. In addition, Tokyo announced on Friday that it would provide $4.2 million in emergency aid to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Trust Fund for Rwanda and $20 million to the World Food Programme (WFP). Japan would also provide the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and various United Nations agencies with over $15 million to help refugees and others in the former Yugoslavia. There were press releases available on those and other contributions by Japan in the Spokesman's office. "Talk about commitment and generosity", Mr. Brandt added, "thank you very much Japan."

Mr. Brandt said the Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy announced on Friday in Sarajevo his Government's contribution of $10 million to the United Nations Mine Action Centre there. That money was for an integrated demining effort to reduce the total number of remaining mines by 50 per cent in the next five years. That very significant contribution to the United Nations demining efforts was very welcome.

The United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) on Iraq was holding a two-day biannual session at Headquarters today and Tuesday, 31 March, Mr. Brandt said. Twenty Commissioners were attending the closed meeting, which was chaired by UNSCOM Executive Chairman Richard Butler. Two Commissioners were away in Iraq, however, and not attending the session. One of them, Charles Duelfer, UNSCOM Deputy Executive Chairman, was leading the team for the inspections of eight presidential sites. The other, Under-Secretary- General for Disarmament Affairs Jayantha Dhanapala, was supervising an observer group of 20 senior diplomats for those inspections.

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 30 March 1998

The United Nations Oil Overseers had approved eight additional oil contracts over the last two weeks reflecting lower oil prices, he added. Those would bring the total number of oil contracts approved so far to 46, with the cumulative volume reaching 176 million barrels. Two contracts were pending and there would be more information provided on those contracts later.

A press release issued by UNHCR indicated that the agency had been approached by a number of Acehnese Indonesians who were seeking refugee status, and whose asylum requests should be heard, Mr. Brandt said. The UNHCR on Saturday, 28 March, had called on Malaysia to stop deporting Acehnese Indonesians to Indonesia's island of Sumatra. A copy of that press release was available in the Spokesman's office.

The Secretary-General was currently on his way to Bejing, after a visit to Moscow, Mr. Brandt said. The Secretary-General had a number of important appointments while in Moscow, meeting with President Boris Yeltsin, Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov and delivering a speech before the Duma, the Russian Federation parliament. There would be a more detailed summary of his activities in Moscow available later today. In his speech to the Duma, the Secretary-General said that, if the agreement reached in Iraq was implemented, "it will prove that acting united, the world could prevent conflict". The Secretary-General also expressed confidence that the international community could count on the State Duma to support the realization of that goal, and he noted that the Russian Federation had become an indispensable anchor of all that the United Nations sought to achieve in the area of peace and security. In that connection, the Secretary-General paid tribute to the Russian soldiers serving in both the United Nations and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) peacekeeping operations.

Mr. Brandt said the Secretary-General concluded his remarks by stating that, "In a world of plural interests and plural powers, we must recognize that much more can be achieved by acting together than by acting alone". The resolution to the UNSCOM crisis was only the most recent example of that, he added.

There was information available in the Spokesman's office on the Secretary-General's activities last Saturday in Geneva, Mr. Brandt said. Those activities included his meeting with Rauf Denktash, the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community. The Secretary-General also attended the closing of the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) meeting there. Also available was a copy of a statement by the Spokesman for the Secretary- General, Fred Eckhard, that was made after the meeting with Mr. Denktash. Those were all available in the Spokesman's office.

Deputy-Secretary-General Louise Frechette gave a press conference today in Geneva, Mr. Brandt said. A transcript of that press conference would be available soon.

Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 30 March 1998

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) had forged a new strategic alliance to boost investment in developing countries, Mr. Brandt said. The two United Nations bodies had adopted a new memorandum of understanding last week which aimed to ensure cost-effectiveness and optimize official development assistance (ODA). It was signed in Geneva by UNCTAD Secretary-General Rubens Ricupero and UNIDO Director-General Carlos Magarinos. The alliance harnessed the two organizations' strengths to maximize delivery of services and avoid duplication, as part of the United Nations efforts to pool the resources of its agencies. A press release on that issue was available in the Spokesman's office.

As a reminder, Mr. Brandt said a memorandum of understanding between the United Nations and the Government of Finland on standby arrangements was going to be signed today. Attending the signing would be Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Bernard Miyet, for the United Nations, and Anneli Taina, Finland Minister of Defence.

A correspondent asked the purpose of the current visit to Headquarters by the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tirbunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, Justice Louise Arbour. Mr. Brandt said she had a series of meetings with the Department of Legal Affairs and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. She also planned to speak at the noon briefing, but she had to cancel. Justice Arbour would be leaving Headquarters on Tuesday, 31 March, and the Spokesman's office would try to arrange another meeting with correspondents.

Asked if it was still a priority for the United Nations to arrange a meeting between Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos and UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi, Mr. Brandt said it was still very much a priority and that efforts continued to bring the two leaders together. However, there was no new information to report on that issue. He was also asked if incorporating the body guards of Mr. Savimbi and changing Radio Vorgan would hasten the meeting. Mr. Brandt said that all the United Nations actions in Angola were aimed at securing a safe environment and finding a solution to the crisis there.

A correspondent asked where the Secretary-General's Special Envoy in Africa Mohamed Sahnoun was and why he had not made any statements about the visit to Africa by United States President William Clinton. Mr. Brandt said he did not know the exact whereabouts of Mr. Sahnoun, but that he was certain that Ambassador Sahnoun was watching the visit to Africa very closely. When asked for a comment on President Clinton's trip to Africa, Mr. Brandt said there was no official comment as such, but the visit was a very important occasion for Africa. He added that the Secretary-General planned to submit a report to the Security Council within the next two weeks on Africa and on possible initiatives and ideas with regards to that continent.

Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 30 March 1998

Asked when the Secretary-General would be back in New York, Mr. Brandt said he was due back at Headquarters on Monday, 13 April. In response to a question on the closed UNSCOM meeting, Mr. Brandt said there was no information on that yet, but there would probably be a statement following the two-day session.

Asked whether there was any news about Kosovo and a possible arms embargo on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Mr. Brandt repeated that the Security Council would discuss the issue this afternoon and it would consider a draft resolution calling for an embargo. If there was agreement on that draft resolution, there could be action on it tomorrow.

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