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, opened today's noon briefing by welcoming Dominik Langenbacher, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Somalia, who would talk to correspondents and answer their questions. Mr. Langenbacher had been at the forefront of the relief efforts against the floods last year in Somalia, and was going to speak about the current humanitarian situation in that country, and about predictions for the upcoming rainy season and its potential humanitarian impact.

Mr. Brandt also welcomed nine distinguished guests from the Freedom Forum, journalists who were visiting the United Nations.

He said the Security Council was about to adopt a resolution on Tajikistan, which extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan (UNMOT) for a further period of six months, as the Secretary-General had recommended in his report. There was also agreement among Council Members on a presidential statement on Iraq's "nuclear file". It was expected to be formally adopted, following the meeting on Tajikistan. That would be followed by another Presidential statement on India's nuclear tests. The Council had been working on that issue for the last couple of days.

Closed consultations among Council members and troop contributors on the United Nations Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA) would be held at 3 p.m. in the Economic and Social Council Chamber, he added.

At the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, over 30 countries had taken the floor this morning to express regret over India's decision to conduct nuclear tests, said Mr. Brandt. Many of the speakers noted that the action went against the international norm against test explosions established by the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty. A press release was available upstairs, which summarized the views expressed at the Conference's morning meeting. Coverage of the afternoon meeting would be made available as soon as it was received.

The United Nations humanitarian negotiating team in Afghanistan and the Taliban authorities reached an agreement yesterday on humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, he said. A detailed report was awaited from the team on the agreement, which they described as a real step forward. The team, led by Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, had left Kabul yesterday for Islamabad. Mr. Brandt said that as soon as Mr. Griffiths returned to New York, he would try to arrange for him to brief correspondents.

The Secretary-General was back in the building, said Mr, Brandt. The new Permanent Representatives of Turkey, Volkan Vural, and the Republic of Korea, See-Young Lee, were presenting their credentials today. The Secretary-General would be the guest at the regular monthly Security Council luncheon, hosted by the President of the Council, Permanent Representative of Kenya, Njuguna Mahugu. In the afternoon, the Secretary-General would meet with the Permanent Representatives of both India and Pakistan.

The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, would visit Headquarters tomorrow, said Mr. Brandt. He was due to arrive at 1:15 p.m., when he would meet with the Secretary-General, and then have lunch with him. A Note to Correspondents No. 5502 described the visit. Mr. Brandt reminded correspondents that if the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) wanted to have a pool for the written press present at the meeting between Mr. Netanyahu and the Secretary-General, they should contact Sonia Lecca with the names of those representatives.

He added that arrangements had already been made for the visual media to record the visit. When he left the building, some time between 2:30 p.m. and 2:45 p.m., the Prime Minister might make a statement on his meeting with the Secretary-General, and a stake-out position would be in place at the Secretariat entrance.

Mr. Brandt said that this weekend, the Secretary-General would make a brief visit to his Alma Mater, Macalester College, in St. Paul, Minnesota. He would give the 1998 commencement address there, and participate in related ceremonies. On Monday, he would be in Cleveland, where he would be the guest of honour at a breakfast meeting of the Minnesota Business Partnership and the Minnesota Center for Corporate Responsibility. In the evening, he would be the guest speaker at the Cleveland Council on Foreign Relations' seventy-fifth anniversary gala dinner. The Secretary- General's remarks, both at Macalester College and at the Cleveland Council on Foreign Relations, should be available by the end of the day tomorrow, Friday, 15 May, embargoed until delivery and with a check against delivery proviso.

Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fr chette had mostly internal meetings today, said Mr. Brandt. She would attend the Security Council monthly luncheon. Yesterday, she had given a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations. The overall theme of her speech at that meeting was "change" -- changes at the United Nations through the reform process. She spoke about her own role as Deputy Secretary-General, and then she spoke a little about reform at the United Nations, and about how the position of Deputy Secretary-General was part of the new management structure. She spoke about "renaissance" in Africa, and how it was time to take advantage of positive changes on that continent. She also alluded to another manifestation of change at the United Nations -- the Organization's heightened focus on peace-building. The text of her speech was available.

The Fifth Committee was meeting in resumed session, he said. He called attention to document A/C.5/52/52, out on the racks this morning, which provided the estimated budgetary requirements of current peacekeeping operations through July 1999. Also on the racks were a number of reports of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), covering the financing of six peacekeeping operations.

He said that Hans Corell, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, and Legal Counsel, who is the Secretary-General's representative to the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, would brief correspondents at a press briefing on Monday, 18 May, at 11:15 in room 226. Some of the issues to be resolved at the 15 June to 17 July conference in Rome, were: crimes to be considered, jurisdiction, trigger mechanisms, the authority of the Security Council, and funding of the court. Press materials would be available at the briefing. For further information, correspondents could contact Danielle Loff on extension 3-0352.

On behalf of UNCA, Mr. Brandt reminded correspondents that at 3 p.m. today in the UNCA Club, the President of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, Thomas Mensah, would brief correspondents on the work of the Tribunal. Refreshments would be served.

A correspondent asked at what time Mr. Netanyahu would meet with UNCA. Mr. Brandt said Mr. Netanyahu would not be meeting with UNCA. He repeated that if correspondents from the written press wished to, they could designate two or three pool correspondents to be there when the Prime Minister met with the Secretary-General. If so, they should let the Department of Public information know. The meeting should happen at around 1:15 p.m. on the thirty-eighth floor. Of course, whoever attended would have to write a pool report for everyone else to see.

Otherwise, would Mr. Netanyahu not be meeting with the press? a correspondent asked. Mr. Brandt repeated that when Mr. Netanyahu left the building between 2:30 p.m. and 2:45 p.m., he would talk to the press if he wanted to. A stake-out position had been arranged, "so be there, and if Mr. Netanyahu chooses to do so, he will answer your questions or make a statement".

The Deputy Secretary-General had been out on a lot of activities, said a correspondent. Could she come down from time to time to talk to correspondents about what she was doing, as she had become a very high-profile personality. "And so she should. She is the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations", replied Mr. Brandt. She had a lot on her plate, but she was not shy about meeting correspondents. She had been doing so since she assumed her duties. She had given a press conference in Geneva. Mr. Brandt said he would mention the question to her. She also read the briefing notes, so she would be aware of the request.

* *** *