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 announcing that the Security Council had just renewed the mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) on the Golan Heights for a further six months.

Also this morning, the Council received a briefing from the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Hedi Annabi, on the latest situation in Georgia, he said. The briefing followed the failure yesterday morning of an agreed ceasefire to take effect in the Gali region of Georgia. The most recent round of renewed fighting in Gali between the Abkhazi militia and armed Georgian elements had led to more than 20,000 people being displaced. Another ceasefire agreement was negotiated for 3 p.m. yesterday, with withdrawal of reinforcements scheduled to start 90 minutes later. According to the latest report, the situation on the ground had now improved and incidents of hostilities had substantially decreased.

The Council also took up a draft resolution on the Secretary-General's report on Africa, he added. There seemed to be a general consensus on that draft text and there might be action on it shortly. Under other matters, the Council took up Tajikistan following a decision last week by the Tajik Parliament to ban the activities of religious parties. That decision particularly affected the Islamic Revival Party, and it had been condemned by the United Tajik Opposition, which considered the decision to be a threat to the peace process there. The Contact Group of the Guarantor States issued a press statement on 27 May expressing its concern about those developments. The text of that statement was available in room 378.

The Iraq Sanctions Committee approved, last week, 72 humanitarian sales contracts, the Spokesman said. They put only three of those contracts on hold and blocked none of them. Those details were covered in the latest weekly report from the Committee, which was available in room 378. The total oil proceeds in Phase III of the "oil-for-food" programme reached approximately $1.4 billion, of which $854 million would be available to finance humanitarian contracts.

The Secretary-General chaired the weekly meeting of his Senior Management Group this morning, Mr. Eckhard said. They heard a report on the status of the disposition of Ted Turner's contribution to the United Nations. That report was given by Miles Stoby, Executive Director of the United Nations International Partnership Trust Fund (UNFIP), which was set up to help administer Mr. Turner's $1 billion donation. One member of the Cabinet commented that, to his knowledge, that was the one source of money in the United Nations system that pulled the system together rather than drove it

Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 27 May 1998

apart. That was the case because United Nations funds, programmes and agencies were asked to work together in planning fund distribution.

Mr. Eckhard said the Senior Management Group also discussed the United Nations Drug Summit, which runs from 8 to 10 June. An update on preparations for the Summit was given by United Nations International Drug Control Programme Executive Director Pino Arlacchi, in a teleconference briefing from Vienna. The Group also talked about the Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court in Rome, which would begin on 15 June. The briefing on that subject was given by the Legal Counsel and Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, Hans Corell.

Mr. Eckhard added that teleconference briefings to the Group were given from Geneva by the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Vladimir Petrovsky; and the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Rubens Ricupero. The Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Klaus Topfer, spoke from Nairobi.

A press release from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said that the food situation in most of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was gradually improving, and food aid needs had fallen sharply, the Spokesman said. However, FAO reported that all CIS countries continue to have vulnerable groups who could not afford to buy enough food. According to the statement, "affordability rather than physical supply of food remained the main problem". That statement was available in room 378.

A brief summary of the 27 May meeting on African peacekeeping training was also available in room 378, he said. Fifty-nine Member States participated in that session, which was organized by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations.

Mr. Eckhard said that on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) would host the "International Bridges: High School Students Human Rights Day". The event would be held tomorrow, 28 May, from 1:15 to 2:45 p.m. in Conference Room 4. About 600 students from New York City's alternative high schools were expected to participate. All delegates, members of the Secretariat, non-governmental organization representatives and the media were invited to attend.

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