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, began today's noon briefing by announcing that the Security Council had held consultations on the Secretary-General's report on Angola, and that it had been briefed on the present situation there by the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Bernard Miyet.

Mr. Eckhard said the Secretary-General's report traced the continuing delay by the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) to meet deadlines in normalizing State administration in the four strategic areas of Andulo, Bailundo, Mungo and N'Harea. The missed deadlines fell first on 1 April and then on 31 May. Today marked another such deadline. Unless the Security Council decided otherwise, failure to meet the deadline would lead to sanctions being applied against UNITA as of Thursday, 25 June.

A press release received today from the United Nations Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA), Mr. Eckhard said, indicated that the UNITA leader, Jonas Savimbi, wanted the date to be reviewed by the Security Council. That development followed a meeting between the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Alioune Blondin Beye, and Mr. Savimbi in Andulo yesterday. Copies of the press release were available in room S-378.

Meanwhile, Mr. Eckhard continued, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that it had sent a mission from Kinshasa to Kisenge in the south-eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to contact and help Angolan refugees who had fled there. Those refugees now numbered around 10,000. The Angolans crossed through the towns of Dilolo and Bandundu, but it was possible more were spread out along the long border. That information was contained in a summary of a UNHCR briefing in Geneva, available in room S-378.

The Council also had on its agenda for today, Mr. Eckhard said, a progress report of the Secretary-General on Western Sahara. Tomorrow, the Council was planning to take up Iraq, beginning with hearing from the Executive Chairman of the United Nations Special Commission, Richard Butler. That was expected to take place in the morning, and then the Secretary- General's Special Envoy to Iraq, Prakash Shah, would possibly brief the Council in the afternoon. That was tentative.

Meanwhile, the Executive Director of the United Nations Iraq Programme, Benon Sevan, was in Iraq, Mr. Eckhard said. Mr. Sevan had met yesterday with the Iraqi Foreign Minister, as well as with the Ministers of Oil and of Trade,

and the Vice-Minister of Health. He also met with the heads of United Nations agencies and programmes involved in the implementation of the "oil-for-food" programme. He would possibly travel to the north of Iraq tomorrow, and was expected to stay in the country until early July.

The 661 Committee, which oversaw sanctions on Iraq, last week approved 23 humanitarian sales contracts, the Spokesman continued. The Committee put three applications on hold and blocked none, according to the latest weekly report by the Office of the Iraq Programme. To date under Phase III, 561 applications had been approved out of 584 submitted, representing a 96 per cent approval rating. Total oil proceeds now stood at more than $1.8 billion, out of which about $1.1 billion was available to finance humanitarian supplies.

The United Nations oil overseers approved 16 new oil contracts last week under Phase IV, he said. Companies awarded the contracts were Russian, Italian, Spanish, Bulgarian, Dutch, British and American. The number of oil contracts approved to date under Phase IV was 31 out of 38 submitted, for a total volume of 221.6 million barrels.

Major-General Franklin van Kappen, Military Adviser to the Secretary- General, was leaving the United Nations today after three years of service, the Spokesman said. The General would be returning to duty in the Netherlands. Mr. Miyet, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, had praised General van Kappen's contribution this morning at the Military Adviser's last departmental meeting. Mr. Miyet had thanked General van Kappen for his unfailing support and the solidarity he displayed with all peacekeeping missions.

"His advice was sound, frank and of great value", the Spokesman quoted Mr. Miyet as saying. "He always reminded us of the situation on the ground and showed constant concern for Blue Helmets in the field. He served the United Nations with distinction."

General van Kappen's replacement had not yet been named, the Spokesman said. Later today, the Secretary-General would attend a reception in the General's honour.

From Guinea-Bissau, Mr. Eckhard continued, hundreds of people were leaving every day, over land or by river, to Senegal and Guinea. One team from the UNHCR, travelling more than a thousand miles from Conakry to the eastern border of Guinea-Bissau, reported meeting people who had been walking for days. Authorities at crossing points with Guinea estimated that 12,000 people had arrived since 11 June. More information on the outflow from Guinea was contained in the UNHCR briefing summary available in room S-378.

In response to the ongoing conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea, Mr. Eckhard said the World Food Programme (WFP) had decided to expand its activities to ensure the delivery of 240,000 tons of food to approximately

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 23 June 1998

4.3 million vulnerable people in Ethiopia. More information was available from the press release available in room S-378.

The joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, or UNAIDS, and the World Health Organization (WHO) today released in Geneva the first ever country-by- country analysis of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the Spokesman said. The report revealed that, while HIV infections were rising at alarming rates in many regions of the world, infections had been brought down or were stabilized in a number of countries, including some developing countries. The report was released in connection with the twelfth World AIDS Conference in Geneva, scheduled to start on Sunday, 28 June. Copies of the press release and the report itself were available in room S-378.

As was widely known, Mr. Eckhard said, the United Nations Conference on the establishment of an international criminal court was continuing its work in Rome. The Conference had until 17 July to reach agreement on a draft statute for the proposed court. In the meantime, daily summaries were arriving from the press office there and were available each day in room S-378. The Conference website could also be accessed at www.un.org/icc. Information officers in Rome updated the website daily.

The Secretary-General today welcomed the "Environment for Europe" initiative being discussed at the Fourth Pan-European Conference of Environment Ministers in Denmark, Mr. Eckhard said. In a statement delivered on his behalf by the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), Yves Berthelot, the Secretary-General said Europe's efforts to promote more efficient energy use were an important example for other regions of the world. The Secretary-General told the European ministers they "had a special responsibility, coming from the region that had most polluted the planet, but which was also making the greatest efforts to protect it". The full text of the statement was available in room S-378.

Last week, it had been announced that a Department of Public Information fact sheet on the "United Nations and Business: a Global Partnership", would be issued on Monday. In fact, a revised version had been issued today, the Spokesman said. It was available in hard copy at the back of room S-225 or in room S-378. It could also be picked up at website www.un.org/news/facts/business.htm.

Zimbabwe yesterday had ratified the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, the Spokesman said. There were now 20 States parties to the landmine ban, the halfway point for its entry into force. Also, Suriname had become the eightieth Member State to pay its regular budget dues in full with a cheque for over $42,000. There were only 65 Member States fully paid up on this day last year.

Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 23 June 1998

Finally, with regard to East Timor, the Spokesman said, Jamsheed Marker, Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General, would visit Portugal from 25 to 28 June to continue his consultations with Portuguese authorities on the question of East Timor. As already announced, he was expected to visit Indonesia, including East Timor, in the second half of July.

A journalist asked whether the Secretary-General planned to meet today with Mr. Butler. Mr. Eckhard said no, it was not on the programme today, it had not been scheduled. [It was later announced that the Secretary-General would see Mr. Butler at 4:45 p.m.]

What did the Secretary-General's team think of the uncanny pattern that a major story regarding something in a Butler report was leaked on the eve of his presentation to the Council regarding Iraq, which seemed to happen a lot. Did the Secretary-General object to this "leak" by a Member State, potentially, or by member factions?

"I think the Secretary-General would prefer that this information get first shared with the Council," Mr. Eckhard responded. It was not known how the leaks occurred, but clearly if it was an analysis or evaluation being done by a technical laboratory, the assumption was that those people would have kept the information confidential until it was released by Mr. Butler to the Council.

If the report was true, what would be the impact or significance of a nerve agent being found? the journalist asked. "I want to let the Security Council decide that", Mr. Eckhard said.

What did the Secretary-General want to discuss with the Ambassador from Pakistan? Who called that meeting today? the journalist continued.

The Secretary-General had asked for that meeting, Mr. Eckhard replied. It concerned the nuclear situation in South Asia. What did he say? the journalist asked. Mr. Eckhard said there was no further details.

Finally, the journalist said, as had been mentioned, General van Kappen was praised for his frankness. He had been rather frank three years before, after the Connor report on management and then he was never seen again. Would he come to the press room before he skipped out? Would his legacy be the Connor report?

As mentioned, Mr. Eckhard said, it was the General's last day, and his legacy was the three-year performance he had put in as a loyal and gifted Military Adviser. The Secretary-General very much appreciated his advice and his performance.

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Returning to Iraq, another journalist asked how the latest discovery as described would strengthen the hand or affect the United Nations in dealing with Iraq.

Mr. Eckhard said he did not want to speculate on that and, in fact, it could not be confirmed that the facts as reported were accurate. It was believed that Mr. Butler planned to address that issue when he reported to the Council tomorrow. "Then, you can ask him that question", he added.

Another journalist asked about the team headed by the Under-Secretary- General for Disarmament Affairs, Jayantha Dhanapala, sent to Albania to assess the possibility of collecting arms from the population. Was the team back and would anyone brief the press on the results?

Yes, Mr. Dhanapala was formulating his report to the Secretary-General, which he did not expect to have ready before early July, the Spokesman said. "If any of you are still interested at that time, he said he will be happy to talk to you."

What was going on in Western Sahara? another journalist asked. Were they preparing for a vote? Mr. Eckhard said he did not want to summarize the situation in a sentence. He referred the journalist to the Secretary- General's report on Western Sahara and said he would provide copies if they were not found on the racks.

Alex Taukatch, spokesman for General Assembly President Hennadiy Udovenko (Ukraine), said he had been receiving many questions on action of the General Assembly regarding the question of Palestine. The issue had been raised by a letter dated 16 June (document A/52/953) from the Chargé d'affaires of the Sudan, addressed to the General Assembly President. In that letter, the Chargé d'affaires, in his capacity as Chairman of the Arab Group for the month of June, requested, on behalf of the States members of the League of Arab States, the resumption of the fifty-second session on the question of Palestine, agenda item 36. The request was for the session to resume some time during the current week, preferably on Wednesday, 24 June.

Mr. Taukatch said the letter from the Sudan was followed by a letter from the Permanent Representative of Colombia, in his capacity as the Chairman of the coordinating bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement. The Ambassador conveyed the Movement's support for the request made by the Sudan regarding resumption of the session on item 36.

The President of the Assembly, Mr. Udovenko, was not in New York, Mr. Taukatch said. The Permanent Representative of Panama was Acting President of the Assembly for this month. He was conducting consultations with the parties concerned. As for the specific date, there was nothing to be said at the moment. Yesterday, the Acting President had met, among others, with representatives of

Daily Press Briefing - 6 - 23 June 1998

the European Union, Sudan and Egypt. As soon as more information was available, it would be conveyed, but, at this point, that was where things stood.

On another matter, Mr. Taukatch said, the working group on Security Council reform was working today on consideration of item number 5 of its programme of work. That item was on the majority required for taking decisions on Security Council reform. This was the second week of this stage of the discussions. Last week, the working group completed the third reading of a conference room paper on working methods of the Security Council, including transparency of its work and its decision-making process.

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