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 telling correspondents that the Secretary-General's schedule for the day included a meeting at 1:15 p.m. with the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, followed by a luncheon in his honour.

Mr. Eckhard then read out the following statement:

"The Secretary-General is deeply disturbed over the outbreak of violence in the occupied territories leading to numerous deaths and injuries among the Palestinian population, including children. This tragic event underscores once more the importance of finding a way of moving the peace process forward without delay. In the meantime, it is essential for the parties to exercise maximum restraint. The Secretary-General expresses his sympathy and condolences to the bereaved families."

There was no Security Council meeting today, formal or informal, he said. It was expected that the Secretary-General would brief the Council on Tuesday on his recent trip to Africa.

A copy was available of the letter sent by the Secretary-General to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair, the host of the summit of the "Group of Eight" (G-8) major industrialized countries in Birmingham, the Spokesman said. In his letter, the Secretary-General said that the decline in levels of development assistance must be reversed, particularly to African countries. He recalled the recommendations contained in his report on Africa, relating to international aid and debt relief, that all donor nations convert into grants the remaining bilateral debts of the poorest African countries.

The Secretary-General welcomed the commitment expressed by the G-8 Finance Ministers to further strengthen the global financial system, and expressed the hope that the G-8 leaders would give positive consideration to his proposals, said Mr. Eckhard. Finally, the Secretary-General called on the summit leaders to reaffirm the importance of universal adherence to the efforts to achieve the goal of nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, including the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director, Carol Bellamy, had also issued a statement on the removal of unsustainable debt, which was available upstairs as a press release, he added.

The Iraqi Government had finalized the draft of a new distribution plan for the "oil-for-food" programme, which was now being studied by the Secretariat, he said. The base amount of the new distribution plan was 3 billion dollars, up from $1.3 billion in Phase III.

Mr. Eckhard said the members of the International Commission of Inquiry had arrived in Nairobi to resume their investigations, in accordance with Security Council resolution 1161 (1998). Before their departure for Nairobi, the members of the Commission held a series of meetings at United Nations Headquarters with the representatives of concerned Member States, as well as with senior United Nations officials.

He said the four-member International Commission of Inquiry, chaired by Mahmoud Kassem (Egypt), would collect information and investigate reports relating to the sale, supply and shipment of arms and related materiel to former Rwandan government forces and militias in the Great Lakes region of central Africa -- which was in violation of Security Council resolutions. They would also identify parties aiding and abetting the illegal sale to or acquisition of arms by former Rwandan government forces and militias, and would make recommendations relating to the illegal flow of arms in the region.

The Executive Director of the United Nations Office of Drug Control and Crime Prevention, Pino Arlacchi, was still in Myanmar to discuss the country's drug control policy, said Mr. Eckhard. While in Yangon, he had met with senior government officials. He also toured major opium-producing areas in the Kokang and Wa regions of the Northern Shan state. He concluded his visit with private talks with leaders of the National League of Democracy, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and with members of the diplomatic community.

There was a report out on the racks today by the Office of Internal Oversight Services on audits of the procurement process in the United Nations Angola Verification Mission (UNAVEM III) (document A/52/881), said Mr. Eckhard. The audits were conducted in 1996 and 1997 and, according to the report, they revealed serious management deficiencies, apparent breaches of financial regulations and rules, and improprieties and irregularities in the procurement process.

There was also a report out today from the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) (document A/52/890), on the subject of gratis personnel, the Spokesman said. According to the report, it would be possible to phase out all gratis personnel, as requested by the General Assembly, by the end of this year. The only possible exception would be the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, which should phase out the use of gratis personnel by the end of 1999.

Today was the International Day of the Family, he said. A message from the Secretary-General was available on the racks (press release SG/SM/6558-OBV/46), in which he said that within the family, the notion of

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human rights becomes a reality lived on a daily basis. He noted that, "If tolerance, respect and equity permeate family life, they will translate into values that shape societies, nations and the world."

"We're $50 million richer today", said Mr. Eckhard. The United States had come through with a partial payment. That country's total debt to the regular budget was now just over $569 million. Its total arrears, including assessments for peacekeeping and tribunals, came to about $1.5 billion. The money paid was apparently approved by the United States Congress in 1996.

A press release was available upstairs from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, he said. It provided an update on the joint trial of Clement Kayishema and Obed Ruzindana, both of whom are accused of genocide and crimes against humanity.

A meeting with Member States on mine action would take place on Monday, 18 May at 3 p.m. in the Trusteeship Council Chamber, he said. It would be chaired by Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Bernard Miyet. The meeting would be the first opportunity for the United Nations and Member States to discuss United Nations policy and its plan of action with regard to mine action since the launch, last December, of a far-reaching consultation and coordination process by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, which was the United Nations focal point for mine action.

Mr. Eckhard said there would be a press conference on Monday at 11:15 a.m. in room S-226 by Hans Corell, the Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel, and Representative of the Secretary- General to the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, to be held in Rome in June/July. He would be introduced by Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, Kensaku Hogen.

A correspondent said that resolution 425 (1978) and southern Lebanon had been on the agenda for Mr. Netanyahu's discussions with the Secretary-General. But was that the urgent problem now? she asked. What would the Secretary- General have to say on the situation there, and was the United Nations prepared to play a role on the implementation of resolution 242 (1967)?

When the Secretary-General was in the Middle East, he had discussions with the leaders of the region, replied Mr. Eckhard. At that time, Israel had announced its intention to consider withdrawing from southern Lebanon, but the decision had not yet been taken by the Cabinet. The Secretary-General said then that he felt there could not be peace in the region without Syria and the other nations of the region being involved.

Mr. Eckhard said that in the meeting today, he believed the Secretary- General wanted to listen to the Prime Minister of Israel to get a more detailed sense of what Israel's plans were concerning southern Lebanon. The

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United Nations had a role, of course, because the Security Council put United Nations troops in southern Lebanon 20 years ago. That was not to say, however, that the Secretary-General was going to take a leading diplomatic role. His role derived from the United Nations role in southern Lebanon.

Why was there such a tepid response from the Secretary-General to the Indian nuclear tests? a correspondent asked. Would he say anything else, and did the Department for Disarmament Affairs have anything to say? In a related question, was any senior United Nations official going to speak at the Non- Aligned Conference, where that issue was bound to come up?

Mr. Eckhard said that the Department had, of course, had a hand in drafting the statement. The statement had been what the Secretary-General had wanted to say. Mr. Eckhard said he could not comment on the correspondent's assessment of the statement. He did not know who would be at the Non-Aligned Conference representing the United Nations.

A correspondent said there had been illegal crossings to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia by armed Albanians. Was there any news from United Nations missions in the Balkans? she asked. Mr. Eckhard said he had no information on that incident, nor any fresh guidance on the situation there.

The International Police Task Force (IPTF) had been searching buildings in Pale for two days with no explanation. Even the office of the press agency that she worked for had been searched. What was the purpose of those searches? the correspondent further asked. Mr. Eckhard said he did not know, but he would try to find out for her.

How was it that resolution 425 had never been implemented, and yet no- one had said anything about it in the Security Council, whereas everyone had reacted when it came to Iraq? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard replied that the resolutions on Iraq were under Chapter VII, which meant enforcement, and had the full and active support of Council members. That was the essential distinction.

Since resolution 425 was not under Chapter VII, if someone did not want to implement it, would that be fine? the correspondent asked. "No. It's not fine", replied Mr. Eckhard. It was just that there was a difference when the members of the Security Council decided collectively to put their military force behind the resolution to see that it was implemented. If it was not, they were prepared to use that military force. Also, Chapter VI assumed that the countries would comply, but if they did not military action did not follow.

So what was the United Nations role in 425 now, and what was the Secretary-General going to say to Mr. Netanyahu? asked a correspondent. He did not know what the Secretary-General would say to Mr. Netanyahu, replied the Spokesman. He would not know that until the meeting had taken place. The

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Secretary-General would talk about the Middle East generally and about southern Lebanon in particular, and probably he would raise the issue of the Palestinians who were killed yesterday. However, the Secretary-General was still in a posture of reading in on the issue. He probably did not see a leading role for himself now, except as it affected the peacekeeping force. Also, as the head of the only universal peace organization in the world, if he could prod the parties towards settlement of their disputes, he would look for any opportunity to do so.

Did that mean, as seemed to be the view in Washington, that the Palestinian track should take precedence over other tracks? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said that all the Secretary-General had said on that issue, he had already told correspondents. The Secretary-General thought a comprehensive settlement for the region must involve all the actors.

What were gratis personnel? a correspondent asked. They were personnel loaned to the United Nations by governments, he replied. The governments paid their salaries, and the United Nations merely provided them only with office space, photocopying machines, and basic support. It was a phenomenon that had expanded very rapidly with the sudden expansion of peacekeeping, where there were not sufficient United Nations personnel to handle 80,000 troops in 18 different places around the world. Member States had answered the call, and sent experts -- many, but not all, military -- to help run peacekeeping. They had also expanded into political affairs, which had brought up the question of the dilution of the essence of an international civil service. The General Assembly had felt that it was, and called for the eventual phasing out of such personnel.

Palestinians were getting killed, and just because resolution 425 was not under Chapter VII, would those people just go on being sacrificed? a correspondent asked. That question should really be addressed to the members of the Security Council, replied Mr. Eckhard. They had adopted the resolution, and they decided how to deal with non-compliance with the resolution. He could not answer the question.

Why could the resolution not be put under Chapter VII, like Iraq? asked the correspondent. That question would have to be put to the members of the Council, said Mr. Eckhard.

Going back to the potential of a nuclear arms race in South Asia, the United Nations response had been muted, said a correspondent. Was there anything else "in the works" on the part of the Department of Disarmament Affairs, or from the Secretary-General's Office? Mr. Eckhard said he would arrange for the Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, Jayantha Dhanapala, to give correspondents an on-the-record background briefing, so that he could say what that Department was doing. "If, in your judgement the level of the statement was muted, I don't think that reflects the level of concern within the Secretariat. It may reflect a realistic assessment of what we are in a position to do about it", he said.

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