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 press briefing by introducing Jayantha Dhanapala, Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs. Correspondents had questions on Friday about United Nations statements on India's nuclear tests and the role of the Organization's Department for Disarmament Affairs. Mr. Dhanapala would talk to them about that and answer their questions. (Mr. Dhanapala's briefing is being issued separately.)

There was no Security Council meeting today, Mr. Eckhard said. The Secretary-General was expected to brief the Council tomorrow in the late morning on his recent trip to Africa.

Meanwhile, the Secretary-General was in the midwest of the United States, having gone to Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Saturday, he went on. Yesterday, he gave a commencement address at his alma mater, Macalester College, where he called on the graduates to consider service to humankind as a career. The Secretary-General sounded a familiar note, saying individuals could make a difference. Today he had breakfast with corporate leaders in Minneapolis before flying to Cleveland, Ohio. Among other things there, he would be addressing the Cleveland Council on Foreign Relations, which was celebrating its seventy-fifth anniversary. An embargoed copy of his speech in Cleveland as well as the text of his commencement address at Macalester College were available in room S-378. The Secretary-General would return to New York late tonight.

On other matters, Mr. Eckhard said that the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Angola, Alioune Blondin Beye, concerned at the deteriorating situation in that country so close to the conclusion of the peace process, met Jonas Savimbi, leader of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), on Friday and would meet tomorrow, 19 May, with President Jose Eduardo dos Santos. Later this week, the Joint Commission would consider proposals for a solution to the crisis that would be put forward by the Special Representative. Correspondents would be briefed on that situation. Meanwhile, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Sergio Vieira de Mello, had arrived in Angola today to assess the ongoing humanitarian programmes there. He would have meetings with senior government officials and others and would be finishing up on 24 May.

Correspondents would see on the racks today the Secretary-General's report on the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), which had been sent to the Security Council, the Spokesman said. In it the Secretary- General was recommending an extension of the Force's mandate for a further six months until 30 November. The Governments of both Syria and Israel had expressed their agreement with that proposal. UNDOF was deployed on the Syrian Golan, he added.

Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 18 May 1998

He said that today, the States parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea had begun a week-long meeting here in New York. Available on the racks was the report of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, which provided an update on the Tribunal's work and its finances, as well an overview of its history and mandate.

Agwu Okali, Registrar of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, was in New York until Thursday morning, Mr. Eckhard said. Correspondents interested in speaking to him should alert the Office of the Spokesman or arrange it with Kingsley Moghalu on extension 3-0493. Mr. Okali was ready to talk about any aspect of the Tribunal's work, in particular the recent historic guilty plea by Jean Kambanda, the former Prime Minister of Rwanda.

The Spokesman said that Guyana today became the seventieth Member State to pay its regular budget contribution for 1998 in full, with a cheque for over $10,000. The amount of money was not a lot, but the number of Member States was gaining rapidly over the corresponding period last year. At that time in 1997 there were only 56 as compared to 70 this year.

Today's mine action meeting in the Trusteeship Council Chamber at 3 p.m. would be open to the media, he said. That meeting would be the first opportunity for the United Nations and Member States to discuss mine-action policy.

The Spokesman said that as part of its continuing series of articles to promote the upcoming Assembly's special session on the world drug problem, the Department of Public Information (DPI) was releasing today a feature story on one of the session's main themes: "Reducing Demand for Drugs". It was available at the documents counter.

He said the Spokesman's office had a World Food Programme (WFP) press release saying that the Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea had given the agency permission to distribute and monitor food aid in 171 of the 210 counties to which WFP had requested access.

Concluding the briefing, Mr. Eckhard said that the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) had requested the announcement of a news conference and reception for correspondents that would be hosted in the UNCA Club by Cornelio Sommaruga, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), at 5 p.m. tomorrow, 19 May. Refreshments would be available.

* *** *