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 informing correspondents that the Secretary-General's report on the situation in Western Sahara had been issued this morning. Advance copies were available in the Spokesman's office.

The report noted that the next two months would be crucial for completing the identification process, and for resolving the problem of the three contested tribal groups, Mr. Eckhard said. If sufficient progress was made in that identification process, and in seeking a solution to the contentious issue of those tribal groups, the Secretary-General would recommend full implementation of the settlement plan in his next report to the Council. If, however, no solution had been found to the problem of the three contested groups, and a large number of applicants still remained to be identified, then the Secretary-General would recommend that the Security Council reconsider the viability of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). In the meantime, Mr. Eckhard said, the Secretary-General was recommending that the Mission's mandate be extended until 20 July.

On Iraq, the Spokesman said that the report of the oil experts on Iraq's capacity to produce and export oil was still likely to be submitted to the Security Council later this week, although a specific date was not yet available. The other report -- which had been mentioned by the Spokesman yesterday -- by the Commissioner of the special group charged with inspections of presidential sites, Jayantha Dhanapala, was now with the Secretary-General, en route to the Council, although it was not yet known when it would reach them.

"That gives you a little bit of breathing space, and we hope you will turn your attention to the Secretary-General's report on Africa", the Spokesman continued. Copies of that report in English and in French were on their way to the Spokesman's office, where they would be made available on an embargoed basis. The Secretary-General would brief correspondents on the report on Thursday, after he had briefed the Security Council -- the embargo would apply until the time the Secretary-General started his Council briefing.

It had been announced yesterday that the Secretary-General intended to brief the Council today on his trip to the Middle East, Mr. Eckhard said. However, after consulting with the Council's current President, Hisashi Owada (Japan), it had been decided that the Secretary-General would conduct the briefing at the Council's monthly luncheon to be held tomorrow in a private dining room on the fourth floor.

"We had some questions about the movie star Richard Gere, who was here yesterday and saw Assistant Secretary-General for External Relations, Gillian

Martin Sorensen", the Spokesman went on to say. Mr. Gere's concern had been six Tibetans currently on a hunger strike in New Delhi. Mr. Eckhard then read from a statement attributable to the Spokesman and stating in part that "The Secretary-General was aware of the concerns of the six hunger strikers. While recognizing that meeting their specific demands rests within the sole competence of Member States, the Secretary-General acknowledges that this non- violent action is a reflection of their personal commitment. At the same time, he is deeply concerned for their well-being and appeals to them on humanitarian grounds to discontinue the strike so as not to further jeopardize their health." The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, had today issued a statement on the matter out of Geneva, and the Secretary-General expressed his full support for it, Mr. Eckhard said. The statement attributable to the Spokesman and the High Commissioner's statement were both available in his office.

On the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic (MINURCA), the Spokesman said that tomorrow in Bangui there would be a ceremony to raise for the first time the United Nations flag over the new mission. The newly appointed Force Commander, General Ratanga, would be present at the ceremony. There would be another ceremony the following day marking the hand-over of the peacekeeping operation in the Central African Republic to the United Nations. That second ceremony would be attended by the President of the International Monitoring Committee, General Almani Toumani Toure of Mali. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Central African Republic, Oluyemi Adeniji, would also be present. A press release with those details was expected to be available later on.

There was a new peacekeeping database on the United Nations Home Page providing information on all peacekeeping training courses offered by Member States, Mr. Eckhard said. The database's address was http://www.un.org/depts/dpko/training/list1.htm

As had been mentioned yesterday, the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna and Executive Director of United Nations International Drug Control Programme, Pino Arlacchi, would be at Headquarters on Thursday to speak to correspondents, the Spokesman continued. Tomorrow he would be travelling to Washington, D.C. In the morning, he would give a newsmaker press conference at the National Press Club, and would meet with a number of officials throughout the day, including -- at 3:30 p.m. at the White House -- General Barry McCaffrey, the Director of the National Drug Control Policy of the United States.

A press release was available from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Mr. Eckhard said. In that release, Carol Bellamy, UNICEF's Executive Director, said that recruiting children into the armed forces or sending them into combat situations of any kind should be considered a war

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 14 April 1998

crime, and should be brought under the purview of the proposed international criminal court.

The Spokesman said the briefing notes of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) were also available. Those notes contained information on asylum seekers from Indonesia's Aceh province. The UNHCR also pointed out that it was the seventy-sixth day of captivity for Vincent Cochetel.

"I see on the wires that there have been disclosures by a Paris newspaper concerning Rwanda", the Spokesman then said. "And that thanks to this newspapers' report, it is now known for the first time that United Nations Headquarters had allowed General [Romeo] Dallaire, the Force Commander in Rwanda at the time, to pass on information to three ambassadors in the Rwandan capital." That information, along with a written chronology of events, had, in fact, been made available to correspondents by the Spokesman's office in mid-1996, Mr. Eckhard recalled.

A correspondent asked Mr. Eckhard for details on the Secretary-General's meeting yesterday with Robert Gelbard, the Special Representative of the President of the United States for the Implementation of the Bosnia Peace Agreement. The Spokesman said he could not provide any other details. They had discussed Kosovo, and, more broadly, the United Nations role in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. They had also discussed the potential impact on the region of the events in Kosovo should they get out of hand. "Kind of what you would expect them to talk about when they took a broad look at the problems in the region", the Spokesman added.

The same correspondent asked if there was a press release on the meeting. Mr. Eckhard said there was not.

Do you have any information on an offensive in Sierra Leone reported in The New York Times? a correspondent asked. The Spokesman said he had nothing on that. "I don't think we would have anything, if we don't have people there", he added.

Asked to provide details of a meeting between the Secretary-General and Iraqi Ambassador Nizar Hamdoon, Mr. Eckhard said that he did not have a read- out on the meeting, but would try to get some information.

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