TRANSCRIPT OF PRESS CONFERENCE BY SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN AT HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK, 7 JULY

Press Release
SG/SM/6634

TRANSCRIPT OF PRESS CONFERENCE BY SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN AT HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK, 7 JULY

The SECRETARY-GENERAL: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. The Nigerian Government has confirmed to me this afternoon the death in Abuja today of Moshood Abiola.

I am shocked by the news, as you can imagine. I saw him exactly a week ago today. I had met with him just after I arrived, and he seemed in good health. I expected his imminent release from detention by the authorities, along with other detainees, and the beginning of the process to restore democratic civilian rule to Nigeria. My heart goes out to his family, and I wish to express to them my sincerest condolences.

I hope the Government of Nigeria will make good on its pledge to release all remaining political prisoners unconditionally and to define a credible process for the democratic transition to civilian rule within a reasonable period. I call on all Nigerians to unite in support of this effort. Thank you.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary-General, could you give us some impressions of your feelings and of Mr. Abiola when you met with him? Did he seem well, and what did you think of him? You had never met him before?

The SECRETARY-GENERAL: He seemed well; he seemed in good health. He was alert and asked lots of questions, but as I indicated, from the questions and the reactions it was obvious that his isolation -- he was in solitary confinement -- had been almost total. For example, he did not know who I was. I walked in and shook hands and smiled, and I thought that if he did not know who I was, he had at least been informed whom he was going to meet. But he had only been informed that he was going to meet a very important man, so I walked in and shook hands and started asking about his health. He asked who I was, and I explained that I was the Secretary-General of the United Nations. And then he asked, "What happened to the Egyptian? Is he gone?" (This was my predecessor.) But it was obvious that he had been confined. Apart from that, he seemed to recollect facts and seemed to be in very good health, but with these things you never know.

QUESTION: What kind of surroundings was he in? Was he well tended to? He was in isolation, house arrest?

The SECRETARY-GENERAL: I am not in a position to answer that question because I did not go to meet him in the prison. They brought him to a villa, where I met him. He had arrived at the villa just 10 minutes before I got there. They had asked him to get dressed and said that he was going to meet an important man. So I am not in a position to describe the conditions under which he was kept. Let me just say that he had been in solitary confinement and was allowed no television, no press, no media except the Bible and the Koran. This was obvious in the conversation in that he did make references to Biblical and Koranic quotations.

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QUESTION: Aren't you concerned that Abiola's death will lead to serious upheavals in Yoruba circles? And as for General Abubakar, does Abiola's death work for or against him?

The SECRETARY-GENERAL: It's true, I think it is very possible. I just spoke with General Abubakar 15 minutes ago, and he also is shocked by this development, because he had some plans in coming days for the prisoners, including Mr. Abiola. I hope that they will be able to keep the people calm. Perhaps if they manage to release the other political prisoners, it might work. But one has to be very careful, because there is the possibility that the people who supported Abiola are going to be a bit disappointed.

QUESTION: I wanted to get you to say that in English -- what you said to Pickering and Abubakar and what they said to you, and, as a supplementary, what effect do you think that his death might have on the transition to democracy?

The SECRETARY-GENERAL: With Ambassador Pickering, we just exchanged views on what had happened, because they had had very constructive and useful discussions all around and then went in to see Abiola, and in a relatively short period he started having pain and had to be taken to hospital. So it was really a conversation that never took place, but I should not speak for Ambassador Pickering. I expect that when he comes out he will speak about it.

And the Head of State, as I indicated, was rather shocked and downcast by what had happened, because when I saw him he was moving methodically into not only working on the release of the prisoners but also working on the programme for a peaceful, democratic and credible return to civilian rule. I encouraged him to go ahead despite the setback, and he was aware that some in the nation may be as surprised as we are about it, but there may be some agitation -- hopefully not too much -- and he was aware that measures have to be taken to reassure the nation, and I expect that in time he will address the nation himself. But he was a leader who was pained, a leader who was shocked by what has happened.

QUESTION: What effect do you think it might have on the transition?

The SECRETARY-GENERAL: That is difficult to say. There may be some initial unhappiness, some initial initiatives by certain groups who may not believe what has happened. But I think that down the line, the leadership and the people of Nigeria should move ahead as speedily as possible for the return to civilian rule. I think that even if Mr. Abiola had not died and had come out -- of course, he had the choice of participating in the civilian elections, in the political elections and there were those who felt, of course, that he should come out and be President, it did not seem likely that that would ever happen. He would have probably had to participate in the elections if he had decided to remain in politics. And my own plea to the

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Government, the authorities and to the Nigerian people is that they come together and see this process through, and set a Nigerian path and bring stability, peace and eventually peace to the people of Nigeria, who have suffered so much.

QUESTION: When you were in Nigeria, you met with the leaders of Liberia and Sierra Leone. They agreed in principle to accept United Nations observers on their border. Do you see that happening, and do you see any role for the United Nations in the transition to democracy in Nigeria?

The SECRETARY-GENERAL: On the Sierra Leonean-Liberian discussions, in addition to eventually accepting observers on their border, which we will send a team to look at if the Council approves, they also decided to take steps that will strengthen their own cooperation. They agreed to ensure that no steps are taken along their border that would destabilize one Government or the other. They agreed to pay frequent visits to each other's capital and really cooperate much more effectively. I think if the Council were to approve any proposal like that, the two Governments would accept it. They did give me that assurance.

On the return to civilian rule in Nigeria, I did indicate to the Head of State that if asked we would assist with the elections, but it would have to depend on a request from the Government.

QUESTION: Will you accept a 12-month delay or any delay the Government comes up with regarding the civilian elections? What did Moshood Abiola concretely tell you about his understanding of not claiming the election result of 1993? And when you heard about the death, did you find it suspicious? Two key leaders on the Nigerian scene, heart failure, and were you given assurances by the Government that there was no foul play?

The SECRETARY-GENERAL: First of all, the Government has ordered a post- mortem with the participation of his personal physician and the family, so I think we need to await the results of the post-mortem. Could you remind me of the other part of your question?

QUESTION: How long would you accept any delay in civilian elections?

The SECRETARY-GENERAL: I don't think it is up to me to accept or reject. But what I advised the Government is that the transition period must be reasonable -- and I would define "reasonable" as a long-enough period to give people time to organize, to prepare for the elections and to try and get as broad a participation as possible -- and that the process has to be credible, has to be fair and has to be democratic. Whatever timetable, therefore, that the Government puts out has to be rational and defensible. The head of State has undertaken extensive consultations, and based on those consultations he is

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intending to announce a programme for transition to civilian rule. Then, of course, we will know how long that is going to take.

QUESTION: When you met with Abiola, he definitely accepted the fact that he no longer had the right to claim the presidency?

The SECRETARY-GENERAL: He did indicate that he knew that in four years the world has moved on, and that he didn't expect to come out and automatically be made president. But I did tell him that the military had indicated that, as far as politics was concerned, he was being released unconditionally, and he could participate in subsequent elections if he wanted to.

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