DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL SG/SM/6565-AFG/79.)

Press Briefing

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL SG/SM/6565-AFG/79.)

On another subject, Mr. Brandt said that the Secretary-General's report on the situation in Western Sahara, which he submits to the Security Council every 30 days, noted that the identification process in April was slower than expected. The total number of persons identified as of 11 May was 111,244, leaving fewer than 50,000 applicants from "non-contested" tribes still to be convoked.

The Secretary-General observed that ways of dealing with the 65,000 applicants from "contested" groups had not yet been found, and that his Special Representative would continue to discuss practical and concrete ways of resolving the issue with the Government of Morocco and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro (POLISARIO), he said. The Secretary-General urged the two parties to cooperate with the Special Representative in seeking solutions to that problem, so that the identification process could be completed. The current mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) was due to expire on 20 July.

Mr. Brandt said that during his one-day visit to Cleveland, Ohio, yesterday, the Secretary-General had the chance to discuss that and other issues concerning Western Sahara with his Special Representative, Charles Dunbar. Mr. Dunbar was from Cleveland and happened also to be the Chairman of that city's Council on Foreign Relations, one of the organizations that hosted the Secretary-General's visit there. In the course of his visit, the Secretary-General had the chance to discuss the latest concerning Western Sahara and was thoroughly briefed by Mr. Dunbar.

The Senior Associate Spokesman said that the 661 Committee, which oversees the sanctions on Iraq, approved last week 33 humanitarian sales contracts, put six applications on hold and blocked none, according to the latest Weekly Report on the implementation of the "oil for food" programme. Cumulatively, 371 out of 422 applications that were submitted under Phase III had been approved, representing a nearly 90 per cent approval rate. The total oil proceeds had reached approximately $1.3 billion. However, proceeds were slow in coming, owing to the initial delay in the pumping of oil and a significant drop in oil prices. The Office of the Spokesman had a note detailing the sales contract situation. No new oil contracts were approved last week.

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 19 May 1998

On Angola, he said the Joint Commission met today in Luanda and unanimously supported a plan by Alioune Blondin Beye, Special Representative of the Secretary-General, to resolve the crisis that had threatened the peace process in recent weeks. Mr. Beye's proposals to restore confidence in the peace process required the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) to give up control of the so-called sensitive areas of Andulo, Bailundo, Mungo and N'harea; for the Angolan National Police to end human rights abuses; and for the Government to stop broadcasting hostile propaganda.

Mr. Brandt added that the Special Representative made it clear that completion of the Lusaka Protocol was a test of the political will of both UNITA and the Government, and any further failure to respect their commitments to the peace process would call into question his own role as mediator. He had given both sides until the end of the month to complete their tasks. The United Nations Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA) had issued a press statement following the Joint Commission meeting, which would be made available to correspondents once it was received in New York. Mr. Beye was presently meeting with the President of Angola.

The Senior Associate Spokesman said that Rubens Ricupero, Secretary- General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), would deliver a speech on behalf of the Secretary-General this afternoon at the second Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization in Geneva. Copies of that text were available in the Spokesman's Office. In that speech, Mr. Ricupero said that a positive trade agenda was needed for developing countries to participate in future negotiations on a more equal footing with developed States. He called for gearing special and differential treatment for developing countries towards helping them compete in today's globalized economy. "We are all caught up in the current globalization, but that does not mean that we should allow ourselves to be carried along aimlessly."

Djibouti became yesterday the second country to ratify the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti- Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, he said. So far, 126 countries had signed the landmine ban, which would only enter into force after ratification by 40 countries. Djibouti was only the second country to ratify it.

Mr. Brandt said that Klaus Topfer, Director-General of the United Nations Office in Nairobi, issued a statement today in which he deplored the killing last Saturday of a former long-serving United Nations staff member, Seth Sendashonga, and his driver. Mr. Topfer said in his statement that, "taking of human life and all forms of violence must be strongly condemned". He added, "All of us in the United Nations family sincerely believe that conflicts and problems, however severe they may be, should only be solved through cooperation and dialogue". Mr. Topfer, who returned directly to Nairobi from New York upon hearing the news, demanded that the Kenyan

Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 19 May 1998

Government do more to ensure the safety of all United Nations staff and their families, both local and expatriate, residing in Kenya. That press release was available on the racks.

Governments, many represented at the ministerial level, would meet in Nairobi tomorrow until 22 May to discuss the future of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), he said. The meeting, a special session of UNEP's Governing Council, would consider proposals to both strengthen and restructure the agency in the context of the wider United Nations reform process. A press release from UNEP was also available from the Office of the Spokesman.

Mr. Brandt said there were two press releases from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), one dealing with a warning indicating that the food supply in southern Sudan was giving cause for serious concern. The FAO indicated that their information and early warning systems provided a very detailed outlook for 1998 food production in that region. The other press release from FAO indicated that without better management of the world's oceans there would not be enough fish for food by the year 2010. The Secretary-General had recorded a message that was being used at the World Expo in Lisbon beginning 22 May and running until the end of September. The theme of that Expo was the world's oceans, and the Secretary-General's message referred to the need for better management of them. The two press releases were available in room 378.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) had released a media advisory referring to a meeting at 4:30 p.m. today in Conference Room 8, he said. There would be a briefing on private finance for development featuring two of the world's largest fund managers: Robert Hormats, vice-chairman of Goldman Sachs, and Marshall Carter, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of State Street Corporation. Another UNDP media advisory referred to a panel discussion at 3:30 p.m. tomorrow in Conference Room 8 on "Municipal finance in developing countries: the next frontier". Details of both events were available in the Office of the Spokesman.

This afternoon, there would be a briefing at 3 p.m. in the Trusteeship Council Chamber on technical arrangements for the June special session on the world drug problem, Mr. Brandt said. Correspondents were invited to attend.

Giving the schedule of press conferences in room 226, the Senior Associate Spokesman said that tomorrow at 11 a.m., Timothy Wirth, President of the United Nations Foundation, Inc., and Miles Stoby, Executive Director of the United Nations International Partnership Trust Fund, would announce the decisions of the Board of Directors of the United Nations Foundation on funding of United Nations projects and activities. A fact-sheet on the work of the Trust Fund and a press kit containing relevant material would be

Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 19 May 1998

available. At a 2:30 p.m. press conference tomorrow, Muhamed Sacirbey, Permanent Representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina, would host four religious leaders of that country, as well as Rabbi Arthur Schneier, President of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation. The topic would be "Healing and reconstruction in Bosnia and Herzegovina".

He said the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) had requested a reminder to correspondents of the cocktail party to be hosted by Cornelio Sommaruga, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), at 5 p.m. today in the UNCA Club.

The United Nations would be closed on Monday, 25 May, due to the Memorial Day official holiday, Mr. Brandt said. The Office of the Spokesman would be staffed as usual.

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