DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Press Briefing

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

(Incorporates briefing by spokesman for General Assembly President.)

Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, said at the beginning of today's noon briefing that Richard Butler, Executive Director of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM), and his technical experts were briefing the Security Council this morning on the priority issues for the disarmament of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction -- the so-called "road map".

That briefing session was taking place in Conference Room 5 and would continue into the afternoon, the Spokesman continued. Ambassador Butler had made an opening statement and was expected to make a concluding statement following the question-and-answer session. He would subsequently brief the press in room S-226, tentatively at 6 p.m. -- depending on how long the Council's afternoon session lasted. Television coverage would be provided.

The permanent five members of the Council were meeting at the foreign minister level in Geneva tomorrow, Mr. Eckhard said. That meeting would concern the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and the situation in South Asia. A press conference was expected to be held -- possibly at 6 p.m. local time. Arrangements were being made for the audio portion of the conference to be "piped in" live to Headquarters. Further details would be provided once the arrangements had been made.

On the earthquake in Afghanistan, Mr. Eckhard said that heavy rains were hampering the United Nations relief effort to reach the victims in earthquake- stricken northern Afghanistan. Only one of six scheduled helicopter flights had been able to land in Faizabad today. The rain had intensified the need for shelter for the tens of thousands of people who continued to sleep in the open since their villages had been destroyed in Saturday's powerful earthquake. There was a desperate need to provide food to those victims. Weather permitting, aid agencies and non-governmental organization (NGO) partners were planning to set up emergency bakeries tomorrow in Rustaq using wheat flour stockpiled in the area. A United Nations update from Islamabad and a World Food Programme (WFP) press release issued in Rome on the subject were available upstairs.

The Spokesman said that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported from Albania that another 2,000 people, taking advantage of a lull in the shelling of towns and villages along the border in Kosovo, arrived in the Tropoje region of northern Albania this morning. That brought to about 5,000 the number of people who had fled to Albania since fighting had intensified over the weekend. More people were coming down the mountains into Tropoje. The majority of new arrivals were women, children and the elderly. They were arriving exhausted -- both mentally and physically --

Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 3 June 1998

after having endured up to two months of continuous attacks on their villages and places of refuge in the mountains and forests.

Refugees arriving in Albania had reported that there was little resistance and that the attacks on villages were unprovoked, the Spokesman continued. One group of refugees had told a UNHCR field worker that they knew of 21 persons from their village of 215 who had made it to Albania, saying that the others had either died in the artillery bombardment or were still waiting to cross. The UNHCR had delivered 1,000 loaves of bread and cheese to the new arrivals this morning and was mobilizing the emergency response with other United Nations agencies and NGOs as part of an inter-agency contingency plan.

"Our apologies to you on Angola", Mr. Eckhard said. "We flipped, we flopped, and we are flipping again. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Alioune Blondin Beye, will, after all, be briefing the Security Council on Friday as we announced at yesterday's briefing."

It had been announced yesterday afternoon that Mr. Beye's visit to New York had been postponed until mid-month -- now that had been reversed, Mr. Eckhard continued. A press release on the current situation on Angola was available, he added. The release had been issued yesterday, but would probably be of interest to correspondents.

The Secretary-General's report on the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (UNPREDEP) would be released today, Mr. Eckhard said. In the report, the Secretary-General noted that UNPREDEP's presence had prevented the spillover of conflicts elsewhere in the region. He also referred to a letter addressed to him from the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, recommending that UNPREDEP's presence be extended for a further six months, given current tensions in the area. The Secretary-General also pointed out in his report that discussions were ongoing within the framework of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and elsewhere on the possible need for an expanded military presence in the region, and that consultations were continuing on the issue of monitoring prohibitions imposed by the Council.

Those questions had implications for UNPREDEP, the Secretary-General stated in his report, and it would seem premature to withdraw the mission after 31 August 1998, as the mandate required, the Spokesman went on to say. The Secretary-General, therefore, suggested that the Council consider extending UNPREDEP's mandate for six months, until 28 February 1999. The Secretary-General's intention would be to submit proposals by 15 July to the Council for the possible strengthening of UNPREDEP's overall capacity. Advance copies of the report were available upstairs.

The Secretary-General's senior management group or "Cabinet" had met this morning for its weekly Wednesday meeting, the Spokesman said. It had

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heard Dr. Nafis Sadik, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), talk about plans for the five-year review in 1999 of the International Conference on Population and Development. The Secretary-General had spoken about the situation in South Asia following the nuclear tests by both India and Pakistan. They had then gone around the table in an interesting tour d'horizon of issues before the Organization.

One of the persons present at the meeting had been Mary Robinson, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Eckhard continued. She was in New York through today, and then she would leave to give a commencement speech at Harvard University tomorrow. She would then take an overnight flight back to Geneva to gratefully accept the Palais Wilson from the Swiss Government as her new headquarters.

The Spokesman said that yesterday Mali had become the fourteenth country to ratify the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction. The Convention had been signed by 126 countries, and would enter into force after 40 countries had ratified it.

Mr. Eckhard said he had been asked yesterday by the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) about security and other arrangements for the upcoming special session of the Assembly on the world drug problem, to be held next week at Headquarters from Monday to Wednesday, 8-10 June. With approximately 35 heads of State and government expected to visit the Building, strict security measures would be in place, which would affect all present. For details on street checkpoints and pedestrian access, what time one should arrive, parking restrictions, and catering facilities, copies of an information circular issued by the Department of Public Information (DPI) were available in room S-378.

Mohammed Al-Sahaf, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iraq, and Amir Al- Sa'adi, Presidential Adviser of Iraq, would brief correspondents tomorrow, 4 June, at 10:30 a.m. in room S-226, the Spokesman said. At 11:15 a.m., Pino Arlacchi, Executive Director, United Nations International Drug Control Programme, would give correspondents an advance briefing prior to next week's special session. A list of press conferences to be held in room S-226 next week in connection with the special session was available in the Spokesman's Office, he added.

A media advisory was available concerning a briefing on "World Resources 1998-1999", a report on environmental change and human health, Mr. Eckhard said. It would be given tomorrow, 4 June, on the eve of World Environment Day on 5 June. The DPI, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the World Resources Institute (WRI) would host the briefing. Dr. Walter Reid, Vice-President for Programs at the WRI, and several others would hold the briefing from 10:30 a.m. to noon in the Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium. Journalists and representatives of NGOs

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were invited. For further information, correspondents could call Sid Kane of the UNDP or Jim Sniffen of UNEP.

Mr. Eckhard said a briefing in connection with next week's drug control conference would be held by the Lindesmith Center beginning at 1 p.m. today in the UNCA Club.

A correspondent asked for more information on a report that Mr. Beye would resign in light of events in Angola. Mr. Eckhard said that Mr. Beye had issued a statement somewhat along those lines approximately a week ago. He had not mentioned it since. He was coming to Headquarters to report on the latest situation to the Council. The decision that needed to be made was by the Council, not by Mr. Beye.

Would the Secretary-General encourage his special representatives to resign in the event that problems could not be solved? the correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said the Secretary-General had not taken a position on the comment. "He clearly hopes that Maître Beye will stay on, and that we can get this peace process back on track. But it doesn't look good, as we've been reporting to you, and as Maître Beye will report to the Council."

Did the Secretary-General have plans to meet with the President of the Republic of Korea? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said that he would be meeting with the President on Saturday at Headquarters.

Alex Taukatch, spokesman for the President of the General Assembly, said the President had met this morning with the President of the Security Council -- Ambassador Antonio Monteiro of Portugal. The meeting had been part of the Assembly President's ongoing efforts to maintain close cooperative relations with presidents of all main organs of the United Nations.

As correspondents knew, Mr. Taukatch continued, Assembly President Hennadiy Udovenko had held meetings with all Security Council presidents since assuming his post in September 1997. This was very much in line with Assembly resolution 51/241, which, in particular, stressed the need for the President of the Assembly to hold regular consultations with presidents of main organs, especially of the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council.

Mr. Taukatch said that during the meeting this morning, Mr. Udovenko had informed the Council President about the Assembly work programme, including the activities of the working group on Security Council reform, and also the consideration in the Assembly of items on the strengthening of the United Nations system and revitalization of the Assembly. For his part, the Council President had informed Mr. Udovenko about the Council's programme of work for the month of June, including the question of nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear testing in South Asia.

Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 3 June 1998

Regarding the Assembly's programme of work, its next plenary was scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, Mr. Taukatch went on to say. Among the four items that it would consider would be the ones on the opening and closing of the Assembly session. He added that the opening date for the Assembly's general debate for the next session had already been set for 21 September. The debate would run through 2 October -- one week shorter than during the previous session.

Correspondents keen on statistics would be interested to learn that, as the Assembly had yesterday added two more items to its agenda, the total number of items now stood at 163 -- up from 158 items when the session had begun last September, Mr. Taukatch said. Following up on Mr. Eckhard's comment that some 35 heads of State and government would be present at next week's special session, Mr. Taukatch said there would be 22 heads of State, 10 heads of government, and one Vice-President.

Another document that would be of interest to correspondents with regard to the special session was the report of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, which had acted as a preparatory body for the session, Mr. Taukatch said. The report (A/S-20/4) -- an important document to have -- contained the draft texts of the documents that would be adopted at the session.

Mr. Taukatch said that he had received a question about an announcement in the Journal that the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) consultations scheduled for today had been postponed until further notice. Through Saturday morning, the Committee had been discussing a number of issues on its agenda, including gratis personnel and the support account for peacekeeping operations. The Committee still had to resolve those issues, and it would continue consultations in order to be able to conclude the second part of the resumed fifty-second session.

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