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 noon briefing by saying that the President of the Security Council had just delivered a statement at the stake-out position, following the Council briefing by the High Representative for Implementation of the Peace Agreement on Bosnia and Herzegovina, Carlos Westerndorp, on the situation there. The statement would be available after the briefing in the Spokesman's Office. (See Press Release SC/6513.)

The Council President had been asked several questions by reporters, said Mr. Brandt. One question concerned reports in the press of sales of arms to Sierra Leone. Mr. Brandt reminded correspondents that questions on that issue should be addressed to the Permanent Representative of Sweden, who was the Chairman of the Sanctions Committee. The other element of the answer to the question was that the sanctions did apply to both sides, as the Council President had indicated.

Mr. Brandt said he had two statements that were attributable to the Spokesman of the Secretary-General.

The first statement read: "The Secretary-General has been most distressed on learning last Friday that the daughter of Ahmed Ali Kalaz, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Republic of Yemen to the United Nations, had been murdered the preceding day. He has sent a message to the bereaved family conveying his deepest sympathy for their tragic loss. He is certain that the host country authorities will make every effort to investigate this heinous crime and bring its perpetrator to justice." (See Press Release SG/SM/6556.)

The second statement read: "The Secretary-General has learned with deep regret of the announcement that India had conducted three underground nuclear tests on Monday. He wishes to note that, for quite some time now, there has been a de facto moratorium on nuclear testing. The moratorium and the successful conclusion of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) in September 1996 are seen by the international community as setting a norm with regard to nuclear non-proliferation. While noting that India is not a signatory to the CTBT, the Secretary-General is nevertheless concerned that the latest testing is inconsistent with the pattern which has been firmly endorsed by the international community. He calls on all States for maximum restraint with a view to facilitating nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament. The Secretary-General strongly supports accelerated measures of nuclear disarmament, cessation of all nuclear tests by all States and strengthening of the nuclear non-proliferation regime." (See Press Release SG/SM/6555.)

There would be closed consultations among troop contributors this afternoon at 3:30 on the United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan (UNMOT), said Mr. Brandt. The Security Council was expected to take up Tajikistan in its consultations tomorrow morning. The current mandate of UNMOT expired on 15 May. The Secretary-General had already recommended a six-month extension of the mandate.

The fourth round of substantive talks on East Timor at the senior official level was concluded last Friday, 8 May, he said. The talks were chaired by Ambassador Jamsheer Marker, the Personal Representative of the Secretary-General on East Timor. The dates for the next round of talks were to be determined following consultations with the parties.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, issued a statement on Saturday in which she announced that the Government of Rwanda had asked that the day-to-day operations of the Human Rights Field Operation in Rwanda (HRFOR) be suspended pending the conclusion of a review, and agreement on a revised mandate.

She added in her statement, "There is no doubt that HRFOR has much to contribute as the Government and the people of Rwanda seek to continue the process of recovery from the 1994 genocide. That contribution includes the monitoring of the human rights situation in all parts of the country, security permitting; support for the development of an independent national human rights commission; and various forms of technical cooperation in the fields of education and administration of justice." Mr. Brandt said the full text of the statement had been available since Saturday in the Spokesman's Office.

Mr. Brandt called correspondents' attention to a document on the racks this morning in which the Secretary-General transmitted to the Security Council and the General Assembly a letter from the President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. In her letter, Tribunal President Gabrielle McDonald made an urgent request for a third trial chamber at the Tribunal. She wrote that without this addition, "some accused who have recently been placed in custody may have to wait until the year 2000 for their cases to begin, and certainly for their cases to be concluded".

That would run counter to the duty of the Tribunal to provide the accused with a fair and expeditious trial, the letter continued. The document also contained details on the financial implications of adding a third trial chamber, which were estimated to run to some $14.1 million per year. Mr. Brandt said the document number was available from the Spokesman's Office.

Mr. Brandt said he wanted to clarify a story that had run on the wires this morning concerning a meeting that had been scheduled between the Secretary-General and Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri. That meeting was to have been held today at the request of the Prime Minister, and was scheduled for 5:15 p.m. Paris time. However, Mr. Hariri had to return to Lebanon earlier than planned, leaving Paris at 11 a.m., which obviously made it impossible for him to meet the Secretary- General later the same day. Mr. Hariri sent his written apologies to the Secretary-General for being unable to attend the meeting and said he would like to reschedule it for New York at some time in the near future. It was not the case that there had been no reason given for the meeting not to take place.

The Secretary-General was in Paris, said Mr. Brandt. He had arrived there from Djibouti. The following was a rundown of his activities since last Friday, 8 May, when he was in Uganda. The Secretary-General had met on Friday evening with Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, for about three quarters of an hour, and then had dinner with him. Their discussions centred on the nature of conflict in Africa in general, as well as specific conflicts, such as those in the Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Middle East. The Secretary-General raised the issue of what he called "the armies of losers" -- defeated soldiers who crossed borders with their weapons after losing a war, creating havoc wherever they went. They also talked about issues of joint governance, during which the President observed, "There must be democracy; otherwise government is just another armed faction". The problems of African refugees also came up, as did regional approaches to trade.

On Saturday, 9 May, Mr. Brandt continued, the Secretary-General travelled an hour from Kampala by helicopter to the town of Mbale where he launched a private sector development promotion project sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). There, he called for the empowerment of African women as entrepreneurs. He drew loud applause when he said, "Women are much more reliable than we are", referring to women's high repayment rates with micro-creditors.

Mr. Brandt said the Secretary-General then returned to Kampala, where he addressed a meeting on refugee issues in the Great Lakes region, convened by the High Commissioner for Refugees, Mrs. Sadako Ogata, and by the Organization of African Unity Secretary-General, Salim A. Salim. He called, among other things, for establishing a multi-national intervention mechanism to separate combatants from refugees.

The Secretary-General had lunch with heads of United Nations agencies, and spoke to the press before departing for Eritrea, said Mr. Brandt. In response to a question about Rwanda's demand for the recall of the spokesman of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Secretary-General said he intended to protest it. Referring to all aid recipients, he said that United Nations resources were limited, as was its patience, and it might have to work more closely with those Member States who were willing to cooperate with it.

On the flight to Asmara, the United Nations plane carrying the Secretary-General and his party encountered strong headwinds and had to refuel in Khartoum, said Mr. Brandt. During the brief stopover there, the Foreign Minister of the Sudan, Mustafa Osman Ismaiel, came to the airport to greet the Secretary-General. The Secretary-General took the opportunity to ask for access by United Nations aid workers to the Nuba Mountain area of the Sudan, which it had not had for eight years. The Foreign Minister granted the request.

The late arrival in Eritrea made it impossible for the Secretary-General to attend the dinner planned for him by President Isaias Afwerki, but the President met him at the airport, said Mr. Brandt. The official programme then began on Sunday, 10 May, with a helicopter ride to Massawa, the port city that was almost totally destroyed by the war for independence. There, the Secretary-General laid a wreath at the Martyrs' Memorial, met with the Mayor, and viewed different parts of the city, which was rapidly being constructed.

Mr. Brandt said the Secretary-General returned to Asmara, where he had lunch with representatives of United Nations agencies, and addressed the staff at United Nations offices there. In the late afternoon, he met for an hour and a half with President Afwerki. They discussed the situation in Somalia, Sudan, and the Great Lakes region. They also talked about United Nations reform, and how it could be applied to United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, as well as Eritrea's relations with those agencies. The Secretary-General and the President then gave a press conference, bringing to an end an eight-nation African tour. A transcript of that press conference was expected to arrive at Headquarters late today.

The Secretary-General arrived in Paris on an overnight flight. He met at 6:30 this morning with Minister of State for Health, Bernard Kouchner, who discussed his proposal for a European programme to fight AIDS. He would continue his programme in Paris this afternoon. Mr. Brandt said he understood the Secretary-General would be having a working dinner with the Prime Minister of France, Lionel Jospin.

The Deputy Secretary-General would meet with the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr. Westerndorp, at 3 p.m. today (on a to-be-confirmed basis), said Mr. Brandt. At 3:30 p.m., she would meet with the Permanent Representative of Malaysia, Hasmy Agam, and at 4 p.m. she would meet with the Consul General of Canada in New York, George Haynal. In the evening, she would speak at the International Peace Academy Seminar on Peacemaking and Peacekeeping at the Pocantico Conference Center in Tarrytown. Mr. Brandt said he would try to get the Deputy Secretary-General's remarks for correspondents before that event.

On behalf of the Department of Public Information (DPI), Mr. Brandt announced the launch and demonstration of a pilot project of the United Nations homepage in Russian. The demonstration would be held tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. in room L-270C. DPI had made considerable progress in the field since the launch of the English, French and Spanish websites. United Nations documentation and information material were now available at the website in four official languages. Some features of the new Russian site included basic information about the United Nations and its organs, conference materials, documentation and publications, official classification of the United Nations system, as well as links to information in Russian on United Nations system websites.

Now available at the third floor documents counter in English and French was the brochure for the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, to be held in Rome from 15 June to 17 July, said Mr. Brandt. The brochure included background material on the question of establishing an international criminal court, and described the existing controversial issues that would be discussed at the Rome Conference, such as funding, crimes to be considered, jurisdiction, trigger mechanisms, and the authority of the Security Council.

He also gave journalists advance notice about an international criminal court press briefing to be held next Monday, 18 May at 11:15 in room 226, presented by the Representative of the Secretary-General to the Conference, Hans Corell, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Olaru Otunnu, would hold a press conference in room 226 tomorrow at 11:15 a.m., said Mr. Brandt. He would speak about his recent trip to Sri Lanka, and on the significant commitments made by the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelan, and the impact of such commitments on his mandate beyond the Sri Lankan conflict.

Regarding the special session of the General Assembly on illicit drugs, to be held from 8 to 10 June, Mr. Brandt said that DPI had released today its second feature story on one of the session's main themes, judicial cooperation. The title was 'Bringing Drug Criminals to Justice", and it was available on the racks, said Mr. Brandt. At present, 21 heads of State, including United States President William Clinton, 12 Heads of Government, and one Vice-President would participate in the session. Press kits for the special session, prepared by DPI in cooperation with the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP), were available at the press documents counter.

On behalf of the United Nations Correspondents' Association (UNCA), Mr. Brandt said that at 2 p.m. tomorrow, Helene Gosselin of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) would brief correspondents at the UNCA Club. Refreshments would be available. Ms. Gosselin would be speaking about the United Nations Pavilion at the World Expo '98 in Lisbon, Portugal.

A correspondent said that Rwandan officials seemed to have stepped up their criticism of the United Nations over the last few days. What was the main problem at the moment between the United Nations and Rwanda? Responding, Mr. Brandt said he had spoken at length on that subject during the visit of the Secretary-General there. Perhaps the correspondent was talking about the kind of response that the Secretary-General gave to journalists in Kampala, after his brief visit to Rwanda. The United Nations had limited resources, and limited patience. It may just have to work with those countries who were willing to work with it. The Secretary-General had been referring to all of Africa, but obviously that was in answer to a question about Rwanda. If Member States did not want to work with the United Nations, then perhaps there were other Member States that need its resources, help and expertise more.

Who was it in the Secretariat who had advised the Secretary-General to include the "mine field" of Rwanda in his itinerary, when it was well-known that he would have problems there? a correspondent asked. Mr. Brandt said that the Secretary-General knew it would be a difficult visit, for obvious reasons. He had wanted to go to Rwanda. It was his decision to go.

Concerning weapons sales by a British company to Sierra Leone, a correspondent asked what the Secretary-General's impression had been of the arms embargo resolution. Was it intended to cover both sides in Sierra Leone? Yes, replied Mr. Brandt, the resolution covered both sides. It was not for him to give an impression, it was up to correspondents to find that out from the President of the Sanctions Committee, the Ambassador of Sweden.

Was Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Bernard Miyet, back yet from Haiti? a correspondent asked. If so, when would he brief the Security Council, and when would he meet with correspondents? Mr. Miyet had returned, said Mr. Brandt, but there was not as yet a date set for him to meet with the press. He had plans to do so soon, however, and Mr. Brandt said he would let correspondents know when the specific information was available. He had no information on whether Mr. Miyet would brief the Security Council on the situation in Haiti, but he would find out, he added.

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