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, opened today's noon briefing by reading the following statement, attributable to the Spokesman, on the subject of Northern Ireland: "The Secretary-General applauds the courage and vision of all those who helped bring about the peace agreement on Northern Ireland. He awaits the results of today's referendums with anticipation, in the hope that their outcome will herald a new era of peace and prosperity for the people of Northern Ireland." (See Press Release SG/SM/6572.)

On Security Council matters, Mr. Eckhard said that the Council met this morning to adopt a draft presidential statement on Angola. The Council strongly condemned the armed attack on 19 May against United Nations personnel and the Angolan National Police. It strongly deplored the failure by the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) to complete the implementation of its remaining obligations under the peace agreement. The Council also expressed its deep concern at serious abuses committed by the Angolan National Police, as well as the recent increase in hostile propaganda.

The Security Council endorsed the plan of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for completing the Lusaka Protocol by 31 May, and demanded that both parties fulfil their obligations in accordance with that plan, he added. It also reaffirmed its readiness to review sanctions in place against UNITA and adopt additional measures.

Turning to other matters, the Spokesman said that Liviu Bota, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Georgia, chaired an extraordinary session of the Coordination Council in Tbilisi, Georgia, today. The session was called to discuss the deteriorating situation in the Gali district in the light of the recent fighting there. It was attended by the Georgian and Abkhaz delegations, as well as representatives of the Russian Federation, the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the group of "Friends of the Secretary-General".

Mr. Eckhard said the Council decided to take steps to end the armed confrontation in the Gali district, and requested Mr. Bota to hold consultations with the parties and others concerned with a view to creating a mechanism to investigate and prevent violations of the Moscow Agreement on a Ceasefire and Separation of Forces, as well as subversive terrorist acts carried out in the zone of conflict, and to report the result of his consultations to the forthcoming Geneva meeting between the two sides. The Geneva meeting might take place towards the very end of this month. A press release on that meeting was available in the Spokesman's Office.

The Spokesman said that the Director General of the United Nations Office of Drug Control and Crime Prevention, Pino Arlacci, today concluded an official visit to the United Kingdom. While there he met with Keith

Hellawell, the country's Anti-Drug Coordinator, and Ann Taylor, President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons. They discussed the United Kingdom's 10-year strategy to combat drug abuse.

He added that Mr. Arlacci expressed great appreciation for that strategy's innovative approach, which aimed to reconcile the two opposing forces of law enforcement and the rehabilitation of drug addicts. Mr. Arlacci also addressed the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London on the subject of meeting the challenges of globalization: drugs and organized crime in the twenty-first century.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, would make a working visit to Germany and the Russian Federation from 25 to 28 May, Mr. Eckhard said. A note for correspondents on her programme was available in room 378.

He said the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea had a new annual budget of $6.9 million, which was approved this morning by the meeting of States parties to the Convention on the Law of the Sea. More information could be obtained from Robert Van Dijk on extension 3-4844.

On Iraq and "oil for food", the Spokesman said that the meeting between the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) and Iraqi officials to discuss all aspects of the work of UNSCOM was likely to take place here at Headquarters next Thursday, 28 May. The Iraqi delegation would be led by Foreign Minister Mohammed Al-Sahaf and consisted of a team of experts, including General Amer Al-Sa'adi. As for the "oil for food" programme, the new distribution plan was still being reviewed. The review seemed to be going well and might be concluded by early next week.

Turning to Sierra Leone, Mr. Eckhard said that Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), today expressed her outrage at the latest reports of atrocities in that country, which got "worse and worse", and called for concerted international action to ensure that children were protected.

The depravity of the atrocities had been escalating, as evidenced by recent news stories describing how 17 civilians, including women and children, were brutally tortured and mutilated, some suffering amputations of their hands, ears, breasts and genitals, he added. In the past two weeks, more than 300 people in Sierra Leone, a large number of them women and children, had been treated for wounds inflicted by the rebels. A UNICEF press release on that subject was available.

On southern Sudan, he said the World Food Programme (WFP) had issued a press release, available in the Spokesman's Office, out of Nairobi saying that it would target some 595,000 people with food aid in the province of Bahr el Ghazal in southern Sudan. That number was quite a bit higher than what had

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 22 May 1998

been estimated earlier. It was determined after aid agencies exchanged their most recent field reports which indicated that the number of people requiring emergency food relief had grown from six weeks ago. The total number of people requiring humanitarian food aid throughout southern Sudan was revised upwards from 700,000 to 930,000. Some 380,000 people were in critical need of food for survival.

Mr. Eckhard said today was the 112th day of the detention of Vincent Cochetel, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) staffer who was kidnapped in North Ossetia in the Russian Federation. High Commissioner Sadako Ogata was continuing her official visit to the United States, whose Government announced to her a new contribution of $22 million to UNHCR programmes in Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Cambodia. The UNHCR briefing notes had more details.

On another subject, the Spokesman said that the Federated States of Micronesia, with a cheque for more than $10,000, became the seventy-first Member State to pay its 1998 regular budget dues. That compared with 62 on this date last year.

He said that at 1 p.m. today, the Department of Public Information (DPI) would launch the website for the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court. The website address was www.un.org/icc and it would be updated daily during the Conference, which would take place from 15 June to 27 July in Rome. (See Note No. 5504.)

Mr. Eckhard concluded the briefing by giving the schedule of press briefings in room 226. Monday was a holiday and on Tuesday, 26 May, at 11:15 a.m., there would be a joint press briefing on Microfinance by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). The briefing set the stage for a major follow-up meeting to the Microcredit Summit, which would take place in New York from 25 to 27 June. More than 1,200 people from 80 countries were expected to attend. A UNDP media advisory on that subject was available in the Office of the Spokesman.

Asked about the Secretary-General's meetings with the Algerian Foreign Minister and with General Dallaire, Mr. Eckhard said that the Algerian Foreign Minister had asked to see the Secretary-General, presumably to update him on the situation in that country. It would be necessary to wait and see what actually took place in that meeting.

On the other meeting, he said the Secretary-General saw the General from time to time, either here or in Canada. It was understood that General Dallaire was in town, and they were just getting together for a chat.

Another correspondent requested a comment on accusations by the Taliban that the United Nations was being partial in the Afghanistan negotiations and that was why the talks had failed. The Spokesman said the United Nations could not afford to be partial. Impartiality was the essence of the Organization's credibility, and it would have to take issue with that accusation. * *** *