DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Press Briefing

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

(Incorporates briefing by spokesman for General Assembly President.)

Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, began today's noon briefing by stating that the Security Council was conducting its periodic review of sanctions on Iraq this morning. Gary Dillon, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) action team in Iraq, first introduced the report on their activities over the past six months. Ambassador Richard Butler, Executive Chairman of the United Nations Special Commission on the disarmament of Iraq (UNSCOM), had then introduced his biannual report. Ambassador Jayantha Dhanapala, the Commissioner of the Special Group which conducted the inspection of eight presidential sites, also reported on his Group's mission. The review was likely to continue into the afternoon. Ambassador Butler was expected to brief the press.

In addition, the Russian Federation was organizing an informal meeting of Council members with Iraq's Foreign Minister, Mohammed Said Al-Sahaf, and Iraq's Oil Minister, General Amir Rasheed, under the "Arria formula" the Spokesman said. That would take place at 4:30 p.m. today in Conference Room 7 and the two Iraqi Ministers would hold a press conference in room 226 at 11 a.m. tomorrow.

Mr. Eckhard said that Iraq's detailed response to the biannual report of UNSCOM was out as a Security Council document this morning and was available on the racks. It contained several annexes on the Iraqi accounting of the activities of inspection teams and monitoring groups over the past six months, the technical evaluation meetings, and a list of weapons, materials and destroyed equipment between 1991 and 1997.

He told correspondents that the following text, which would be available in his office, was attributable to the Spokesman: "The Secretary-General condemns in the strongest terms the assassination last night of Monsignor Juan Gerardi Conedera, Coordinator General of the Human Rights Office of the Archbishopric of Guatemala.

"Monsignor Gerardi was assassinated in his residence in Guatemala City. The United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) is monitoring closely the investigation conducted by the authorities. The Secretary-General hopes that full light will soon be brought on the circumstances and motivation behind this brutal act.

"Monsignor Gerardi was a senior figure in the struggle for human rights in Guatemala and a participant in the peace negotiations that culminated in December 1996. During the past three years, he was one of the driving forces

behind the Interdiocesan Project for the Recovery of the Historic Memory. The Project had produced a well-documented report, 'Guatemala: Never Again', which depicts through accounts of the victims the violence of 36 years of armed conflict in Guatemala. This report was presented to the public on 24 April at the Metropolitan Cathedral in a massively attended act, at which Monsignor Gerardi delivered an impassioned speech in favour of truth, social justice and national reconciliation.

"The Secretary-General expresses his most sincere condolences to the family of Monsignor Gerardi, his colleagues of the Human Rights Office of the Archbishopric, and the Catholic Church of Guatemala."

Mr. Eckhard later said that Mary Robinson, the United High Commissioner for Human Rights, associated herself with the Secretary-General's strong condemnation of Monsignor Gerardi's murder.

Turning to Afghanistan, the Spokesman said that the rival factions in that country began talks yesterday in Islamabad under the auspices of the United Nations and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). They agreed to extend the moratorium on new offensives. Today, they provisionally agreed on a five-point agenda for the talks, but the definition of "Ulema" (Islamic scholars) remained to be resolved. They would resume the talks tomorrow afternoon. The talks were scheduled to last for five days.

Lakhdar Brahimi, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, would brief the Security Council on the situation in that country tomorrow evening. He would attend the noon press briefing if he finished his Council briefing in time.

Mr. Eckhard said the Secretary-General addressed the General Assembly this morning as it resumed its consideration of United Nations reform. He had introduced Louise Fréchette, the first Deputy Secretary-General, who would be in charge of coordinating the reform process. "We are well on the way" to revitalizing the United Nations, the Secretary-General said, and he noted that the measures falling within his prerogative had largely been implemented. Those measures included weekly meetings of the Senior Management Group, which was developing policies and ensuring managerial clarity. The Secretary-General said the Group's work would soon benefit from a strategic planning unit -- the United Nations first "think tank" -- although it was not really a think-tank but more a policy-generating body. The Secretary-General stressed that the United Nations transformation was not an end in itself, but rather a means to better carry out its mission of peace, development and human rights. "This process is not a luxury; it is not a gimmick; nor is it an imposition", the Secretary-General said. "Reform is our survival and our future."

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 27 April 1998

The Secretary-General would be the keynote speaker tonight at the annual lecture programme sponsored by the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding, the Spokesman said. The organization tonight would be honouring Elie Wiesel, the author and Nobel Laureate, and Edward Lewis, the Chairman of Essence Communications. The event would take place at the Park Avenue Synagogue at 7 p.m., with dinner at 8:30 p.m.

The Spokesman then announced that Major-General Seth Kofi Obeng of Ghana was taking over as Force Commander of the United Nations Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA). He began his duties over the weekend, taking over from Major- General Philip Sibanda of Zimbabwe. A bio of the new MONUA Force Commander was available in room 378.

Mr. Eckhard said that the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs had issued a press release saying that the United Nations was deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation in southern Sudan, specifically in the Bahr el Ghazal region, where an estimated 350,000 people were in need of urgent humanitarian assistance and malnutrition rates were reported to be as high as 31 per cent. Operation Lifeline Sudan had been attempting to deliver food and relief supplies to the affected populations in those areas. The United Nations was encouraged by the clearance granted by the Government to the Operation to deploy one additional C-130 aircraft, operating out of Kenya. Donors were asked to respond to the appeal for $109 million. Only $7.85 million had been received so far, representing 7 per cent of what was requested.

New technical report from the Industry and Environment Centre of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), entitled "Voluntary Industry Codes of Conduct for the Environment", had been developed, Mr. Eckhard said. A press release was available in room 378.

Sadako Ogata, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, had responded to the situation in Bosnia, he said. She had warned that a fresh flare-up of ethnic violence in Bosnia must not be allowed to jeopardize stability and threaten the process of repatriation of Bosnian refugees and displaced people. A press release was available in room 378.

At 3 p.m. this afternoon, Costa Rica's Minister for the Environment and Energy, Rene Castro Salazar, would sign the Kyoto Protocol, the Spokesman said.

Announcing today's press conferences, he said that today at 1 p.m. in room 226, Klaus Topfer, Executive Director of UNEP would talk about the work of the Secretary-General's Task Force on United Nations environment and human settlements activities. He would also update correspondents on the United Nations system's efforts concerning forest fires in Indonesia.

Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 27 April 1998

Tomorrow, there would be a press conference by Ambassador Richard Butler, Executive Chairman of UNSCOM at 1:30 p.m. in room 226. At 11 a.m., the Foreign Minister and Oil Minister of Iraq would meet with correspondents.

At 4 p.m., Takayuki Kimura, Ambassador of Japan for Global Environment Affairs, would talk about climate change.

The Spokesman said there would be a briefing and reception at the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) Club today at 2:30 p.m. hosted by the 32-county Sovereignty Committee, a Northern Ireland group critical of the recently drafted peace accord.

Asked by a correspondent what the United Nations and the international community could do to stop ethnic cleansing in Croatia and parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina under Croat control, Mr. Eckhard said that the conflict there had started with ethnic cleansing and that the peoples of the former Yugoslavia had to sort the matter out. The international community was doing the best it could. The Dayton Peace Agreement had been practically forced on the parties, and there was a huge military presence in the area trying to help the parties to implement the Agreement. It was going too slowly in the right direction, but there continued to be "very disturbing" incidents. There was only so much that the international community could do.

Asked about reports that the Secretary-General had asked UNSCOM to change a paragraph in its report, Mr. Eckhard said that no changes had been made in the report and none had been requested by the Secretary-General.

When was the Secretary-General leaving for Africa? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said the Secretary-General would leave tomorrow and would visit eight countries in 12 days, returning on 11 May. The Spokesman would be travelling with him and Juan Carlos Brandt would conduct the noon briefing in his absence.

It had come to the attention of correspondents that the Office of Internal Oversight Services had been asked to investigate the leak of a United Nations report, a correspondent said. "It would seem to a number of us that is a bit chilling on just normal contacts and press freedom in the building. It is not as if a secret document was stolen out of the Secretary-General's office." Mr. Eckhard said that the Member States did not like to see reports discussed in the media before they themselves had received them. "There has been a pattern of leakage -- we don't know where it is. But when a wire service or someone else starts discussing the content of a report before it has reached the Council members, we do not think it is against free speech and we do not think it is against you. We would just like an orderly distribution of reports, so it goes first to the Council and then to the media."

Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 27 April 1998

The same correspondent said there was a "very political game" in the Council directed against UNSCOM and it was surprising that the Secretariat would get involved. Mr. Eckhard said that if Council members leaked their own reports that was their business, but the Secretariat should not. "We are not saying that the Secretariat is involved, but we suspect that it might be and we just want to look into it."

Asked to comment on the different evaluations of Iraq's cooperation with inspections of the presidential sites, the Spokesman said the UNSCOM report covered a significant period which preceded the Memorandum of Understanding. However, as a result of the Memorandum of Understanding, Iraq had committed itself to allowing unfettered access by UNSCOM. In the investigations that had happened since then, including the inspection of presidential sites, Iraq had made good on that pledge. There might have been some tension during the presidential site inspection relating to the overflight by UNSCOM helicopters, but those problems were eventually worked out. The Security Council was just beginning its review of sanctions in the light of those changes "and we'll just see where it goes." The Secretary-General was pleased with the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding and was hopeful it would continue.

The Prime Minister of Canada was on an official visit to Cuba, a correspondent said. What was the Secretary-General's position on the embargo against that nation? The Spokesman said the Secretary-General had no position on that issue.

Alex Taukatch, spokesman for General Assembly President, Hennadiy Udovenko (Ukraine), said the Assembly had this morning resumed its consideration of agenda item 157 on "United Nations reform: measures and proposals". The meeting was addressed by the Secretary-General, who also introduced Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette.

In his statement, the Assembly President praised the Secretary-General's dedication and tireless efforts aimed at reforming the Organization. He said the Assembly was facing new challenges and cited the need to ensure the continuity of the reform process, giving it new impetus at the intergovernmental level to permit changes of a more fundamental nature.

Lack of substantial improvement in the Organization's financial situation could seriously undermine the credibility of the reform process, the Assembly President said. That would send a strong negative message to the outside world and general public about the ability of the United Nations to adapt itself to the changing international environment. He had stressed that issues of United Nations reform depended not only on the political will of the membership, but also on sufficient funding. All Member States must assume their treaty obligations and ensure full payment of their assessments.

Daily Press Briefing - 6 - 27 April 1998

"I repeat my earnest appeal to all Member States, including in particular the largest contributor, to swiftly pay their outstanding as well as current contributions", the President had said. "It will be the most definite indication of genuine support of the United Nations."

Mr. Taukatch said the debate was continuing in the Assembly, with 12 speakers listed. There were differing views as to how to consider seven documents -- one report and six notes -- submitted by the Secretary-General. Many speakers praised the format of informal open-ended meetings of the plenary that had been used last year. Nevertheless, the question of how the Assembly would continue its consideration of reform issues remained to be decided.

Mr. Taukatch said the Assembly President had met this morning with the Secretary-General, who was accompanied by the Deputy Secretary-General. They had discussed upcoming debates in the Assembly on reform-related issues. The President was also scheduled to attend a tea ceremony co-sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations.

The President also informed the Assembly that El Salvador and Haiti had made the necessary payments to reduce their arrears below the amount specified in Article 19 of the United Nations Charter, the spokesman said.

Mr. Taukatch said the Assembly today was expected to decide to allocate to its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) the question of the financing of the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic (MINURCA).

Mr. Taukatch also drew attention to reports that came out today on the strengthening of the United Nations system and the revitalization of the General Assembly. In particular, he drew attention to a recommendation contained in one of the reports (document A/52/855) regarding the opening date of the upcoming session of the General Assembly.

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