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 met last night at 10:45 p.m. to adopt two presidential statements -- one on the report of the Secretary-General's investigative team in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the other on the question relating to Jerusalem. Both texts received the support of all Security Council members. (See Press Releases SC/6545 and SC/6546.)

This morning, Mr. Eckhard continued, the Council received a briefing by the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi. The Council had before it a draft presidential statement on the matter, which was expected to be adopted following consultations. He would brief the press and in the afternoon would attend a preparatory meeting of the Afghan Support Group. Also in town for that meeting on the United Nations side was the Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan, Alfredo Witschi-Cestari.

After concluding on Afghanistan, the Council was expected to take up the situation in the Central African Republic, Mr. Eckhard said. The Council had before it a draft resolution by which it would extend the mandate of the United Nations mission there for two more months.

Closed consultation among members of the Council and troop contributors to the mission for the referendum in Western Sahara would be held this afternoon at 3:30 p.m. in conference room 3, the Spokesman said. The Council was expected to take up the Western Sahara issue tomorrow. Formal action to expand the mandate of that mission was expected on Thursday.

In its presidential statement on the report of the Congo investigative team, the Council recognized the need to investigate further the massacres and other atrocities allegedly committed in that country, the Spokesman said. The Council also noted the willingness of the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to try any of its nationals who were guilty or who were implicated in those massacres. The Council requested the Governments of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to provide an initial progress report to the Secretary-General by 15 October on steps being taken to investigate and prosecute those responsible. It encouraged the Governments of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda to seek international assistance and to consider the inclusion of international observers in the process.

This morning the Secretary-General was in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Mr. Eckhard said. At 11:30 a.m. local time, he delivered a lecture on "The United Nations and civil society". The text was available in room 378. The Secretary- General would attend a luncheon hosted by the Acting Governor of Sao Paulo, and then he would travel to Montevideo, Uruguay, aboard an Air Force plane.

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This evening he would be a guest at a dinner offered by the President of Uruguay, Julio Maria Sanguinetti, and the First Lady.

The Spokesman said humanitarian sales applications for Phase IV had begun to be submitted to the 661 Iraq Sanctions Committee. The Committee last week approved 10 such applications, put one on hold and blocked none. As for Phase III, the Committee approved 11 applications and, again, put one on hold and blocked none. There were no new oil contracts approved last week. The Executive Director of the United Nations Iraq Programme, Benon Sevan, would brief the Security Council tomorrow on his recent visit to Iraq. Possibly, he would also brief the press at the noon briefing tomorrow.

On East Timor, the Personal Representative of the Secretary-General, Ambassador Jamsheed Marker, would visit Indonesia from 16 to 22 July as part of his ongoing contacts with the parties on the question of East Timor, Mr. Eckhard said. Mr. Marker was expected to visit East Timor during his trip to Indonesia. He visited Portugal from 25 to 28 June.

On Angola, Mr. Eckhard said the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported in the summary of its press briefing today that the situation in the south-eastern portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo -- where thousands of Angolan refugees began arriving a month ago -- was worsening with new arrivals, and as a result of lack of food. There were now an estimated 22,000 refugees in the area, after another 7,000 people fled the fighting between the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and government forces by crossing into the Democratic Republic this week. The Humanitarian Coordinator's Unit in Angola, meanwhile, said the number of newly displaced people inside the country now stood at more than 75,000.

The Peacekeeping Department today reported the latest in a series of incidents of firing by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) near United Nations positions in Lebanon, the Spokesman said. Around 5:30 p.m. yesterday, two mortar rounds impacted near a United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) position in the centre of the mission's area of operation. One Irish soldier as well as a passing Lebanese civilian were injured. In July 1996, UNIFIL obtained a commitment from the IDF to respect a safety zone around UNIFIL positions.

The monthly summary of United Nations troop contributions to peacekeeping missions, as of 30 June, was available in room 378, Mr. Eckhard said. Also, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, would travel to New York tomorrow to take part in the coordination segment of the Economic and Social Council. On Friday, she would participate in a discussion on the coordinated follow-up to, and implementation of, the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action of the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights.

As mentioned yesterday, on the occasion of the Economic and Social Council's humanitarian segment, the Office of Humanitarian Affairs had

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organized a round-table discussion on internally displaced persons, Mr. Eckhard said. That was taking place in conference room 2, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. All were invited.

Regarding contributions, Bangladesh paid its full assessment to the regular budget today with a check for over $100,000, Mr. Eckhard said. Eighty-two countries had paid in full for 1998, but the outstanding balance remained over $2.4 billion.

Finally, three press releases were available, Mr. Eckhard said. In one, the World Food Programme (WFP) painted a bleak picture of the humanitarian situation in the Sudan. In the release, issued in Nairobi, the WFP reported that thousands of Sudanese were streaming into government garrison towns to escape fighting and food shortages.

Another release was the UNHCR summary of its briefing in Geneva, already mentioned, Mr. Eckhard said. It contained updates on the issues involving Guinea-Bissau, Kosovo and the repatriation of refugees to Liberia.

A World Health Organization (WHO) press release issued in Geneva addressed polio eradication. "Home Stretch is Around the Corner" was the subtitle, Mr. Eckhard said. "We recommend it."

Asked how the reconciliation process was going in Angola, Mr. Eckhard said the mission in that country these days was "more to avert the outbreak of war than the conclusion of the peace agreements, sadly".

Asked if there was any word on food drops or supplying food to the refugees piling out of Angola and into the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mr. Eckhard said he had no further information and recommended contacting the new press officer for the WFP, Abby Spring.

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