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 new distribution plan for the enhanced "oil- for-food" programme was now with the Secretary-General. The plan was expected to be approved in the course of the day today. Once the Secretary-General approved the plan, he would inform the Security Council of his decision.

The meeting between the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) and the Iraqi delegation was continuing this afternoon at 3 p.m., the Spokesman said. The Iraqi delegation was expected at that meeting to respond to the presentation made yesterday by UNSCOM Executive Chairman Richard Butler.

The Security Council adopted a presidential statement on Pakistan's nuclear tests this morning, Mr. Eckhard announced. By that statement, the Council strongly deplored the underground tests that Pakistan had conducted on 28 May, carried out despite overwhelming international concern and calls for restraint. The Council strongly urged both India and Pakistan to refrain from any further tests, to become parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) without delays and conditions, and to resume the dialogue between them on all outstanding issues.

The Secretary-General's three-month report on the United Nations Civilian Police Mission in Haiti (MIPONUH) was out today, Mr. Eckhard said. In his report, the Secretary-General expressed deep concern that Haiti had no functioning government for almost one year. He noted that the crisis was having a severe effect on economic activity and was also jeopardizing international assistance. Haitian leaders must quickly take concrete steps to end the political deadlock, the Secretary-General said.

The Secretary-General noted that the Haitian National Police were making steady progress, in spite of political and financial pressures, the Spokesman said. However, the Secretary-General also noted that continuing reports of human rights violations, corruption and other misconduct were cause for concern. He urged the Haitian authorities to move forward on judicial reform. There were currently 285 Civilian Police Officers from 11 countries serving with the United Nations mission in Haiti. Copies of that report were available at the documents counter on the third floor.

Mr. Eckhard said a United Nations team flew on 29 May to Kandahar, south-west Afghanistan, to announce the lifting of its two-month suspension of activities in the region. The United Nations planned to return international staff to the city and to reopen its offices there next week. The move followed the signature in Kabul on 13 May of a memorandum of understanding, the first agreement to be signed by both the United Nations and the Taliban.

The agreement cleared up a number of issues and would strengthen the United Nations capacity to provide assistance to people in the area.

China this morning became the thirty-seventh country to sign the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Spokesman said. The Protocol contained legally binding targets for developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. For it to enter into force, it must be ratified by 55 countries representing 55 per cent of 1990 carbon dioxide emissions. So far, no countries had ratified the Protocol.

In Geneva this morning, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced that Sierra Leone refugees arriving in Guinea were reporting a pattern of atrocities committed by retreating rebel forces, Mr. Eckhard said. Staff of the UNHCR in Guinea had so far documented 32 cases of refugees who were deliberately maimed by junta forces in Sierra Leone. Fingers, arms and ears had been cut off in an effort to intimidate the population. New arrivals in Guinea from the fighting in Sierra Leone number 188,000 since the beginning of this year.

The Spokesman added that UNHCR expressed its outrage over reports of systematic house burning by Abkhazian forces during the recent confrontation with Georgian militias, apparently to prevent ethnic Georgians from returning to Abkhazia. The UNHCR briefing also mentioned Vincent Cochetel, who was still in captivity four months after being kidnapped in North Ossetia, Russian Federation. Copies of the UNHCR briefing notes were available in room 378.

The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a statement saying that starting materials for manufacturing pharmaceutical must comply with international standards, Mr. Eckhard said. That statement was also available in room 378.

Tobacco undermined the rights of the child, said the Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Carol Bellamy, endorsing the WHO's anti-smoking initiative, the Spokesman said. On World No-Tobacco Day, Ms. Bellamy said there should be a global drive to halt the rapid spread of tobacco-related illness. She added that the recent call by the WHO for a global campaign against tobacco consumption was the most significant development to date in the fight against non-communicable disease, and that UNICEF stood ready to collaborate closely with the WHO in building a broad anti-tobacco alliance. "We are enormously excited by the very strong voice on tobacco that emerged in the Director-General-elect's speech", Ms. Bellamy said, "and UNICEF looks forward to meeting this challenge alongside the World Health Organization".

From the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), there was a press release announcing that Brazilian football player Ronaldo Luiz Nazario

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 29 May 1998

de Limo joined the "World Aids Campaign with Young People", Mr. Eckhard said. The press release was available in room 378.

Under-Secretary-General for Peace-keeping Operations Bernard Miyet gave a press conference at Headquarters this morning to discuss the fiftieth anniversary of peacekeeping operations, the Spokesman said. Mr. Miyet made available a list of operations updated to include the newest one, the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic. There was also a new website on peace-keeping operations created for the fiftieth anniversary (1948-1998).

On Monday, 1 June, Olara Otunnu, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict, will speak at the noon briefing on his recent trip to Sierra Leone.

A correspondent asked if the Secretary-General was considering a trip to the India-Pakistan region to personally try to defuse the crisis there. Mr. Eckhard said no trip had been considered. There was a standing offer to all countries to use the good offices of the Secretary-General to mediate conflict in any part of the world. However, there was no specific initiative for South Asia at the present time.

Was the Secretary-General still planning to meet with the leader of the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, Ibrahim Rugova? a correspondent asked. The Spokesman said that Mr. Rugova was currently in Washington, D.C., and he would probably remain in the United States through next week. There was no date set for a meeting, but it could happen on Monday, 1 June.

Mr. Eckhard was asked if the Secretary-General had any contact with leaders in the India-Pakistan region in the last 24 hours? He responded that his office was not aware of any telephone calls or letters from the Secretary- General to leaders in the region in the last 24 hours. However, the Secretary-General had appealed to the leaders of both sides to refrain from further testing, to sign the CTBT, and to join the NPT.

Had there been any news on Vincent Cochetel? a correspondent asked. The Spokesman said Mr. Cochetel was still detained; the UNHCR and the rest of the United Nations system was attempting to keep the spotlight on his case. However, there were no new details on Mr. Cochetel's whereabouts or his condition.

Responding to a question on new information regarding Kosovo, Mr. Eckhard said there were no new developments to announce on the matter. The United Nations had only humanitarian workers in Kosovo, and it did not follow political developments there firsthand.

Was Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Said Al-Sahaf still visiting the United States and was he participating in the UNSCOM-Iraqi meetings? a

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correspondent asked. The Spokesman said Mr. Al-Sahaf remained in the United States probably through next week. He had not sat in on the meetings with UNSCOM.

The correspondent asked if Mr. Al-Sahaf had met with the Secretary- General and, if so, whether there was any news to report from the meeting. Mr. Eckhard responded that Mr. Al-Sahaf had met with the Secretary-General yesterday, 28 May. They discussed some of Iraq's concerns about UNSCOM and the oil-for-food programme. Mr. Al-Sahaf stressed the importance of the delivery of spare parts to help rehabilitate Iraq's oil production facilities. The Secretary-General agreed with that and had previously recommended such a delivery to the Security Council. The Council had not yet acted on that recommendation.

Why was Mr. Al-Sahaf not in those meetings and how would the Spokesman characterize the progress of those meetings? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said the correspondent would have to ask Iraqi representatives about how the Iraqi delegation was configured. Although he was not authorized to speak for UNSCOM, Mr. Eckhard said UNSCOM did brief the Iraqi delegation yesterday, 28 May, on some of the elements that UNSCOM would be presenting to the Council on Wednesday, 3 June. This afternoon, the Iraqi delegation was expected to respond to that briefing.

Was the trip to Albania by the Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, Jayantha Dhanapala, still frozen? The Spokesman said that the trip was still on hold, but there were discussions with Albania on a mutually convenient date to reschedule it. The Secretary-General decided to keep Mr. Dhanapala at Headquarters in the wake of developments in India and Pakistan.

Asked what Mr. Dhanapala or his Department was doing in response to the situation in South Asia, the Spokesman said that they were monitoring the situation in the region and advising the Secretary-General on the options he might take. "It's really not in our hands to substantively intervene here apart from the appeals that the Secretary-General has made", Mr. Eckhard said.

Was there any sign of a willingness by India or Pakistan to accept the Secretary-General's offer of good offices? The Spokesman said he was not aware of any response from India or Pakistan in the last 24 hours. The good offices offer was not a fresh initiative, it was merely a standing offer that he made for any crisis area any place in the world.

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