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, opened today's noon briefing by reading the following statement by the Secretary-General, which was available in the Spokesman's Office: "The untimely death yesterday of Mahbub ul Haq is a loss for the world, and especially for those of us who were privileged to know and work with him in the United Nations system, to which he contributed so much.

"His enduring monument is the annual Human Development Report, which he created in 1990 and edited until 1996. It has caught the world's imagination and has served as a model for similar national reports in no less than 197 countries. It reflected Mahbub's profound conviction that what matters in development is not the quantities produced but the quality of life lived by human beings. That belief, deeply rooted in his Islamic faith, informed all his work through the decades -- at the World Bank, as adviser to so many international commissions, in his native Pakistan and, above all, at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

"We shall miss him as a friend, but he will still be with us as an inspiration in all our development work." (Press Release SG/SM/6642)

Mr. Eckhard said the Spokesman's Office also had a statement by James Gustave Speth, head of the UNDP.

At their meeting this morning, Economic and Social Council members had paid tribute to Mahbub ul Haq and observed a minute of silence, he added. It was understood that a memorial service was being held today from noon to 1 p.m. at the Frank Campbell Funeral Home, located at 81st Street and Madison Avenue in Manhattan.

On the Secretary-General's Latin American trip, the Spokesman said he was on the second day of his official visit to Argentina. The Secretary- General had met this morning with the Mayor of Buenos Aires, participated in a ceremony marking the fortieth anniversary of Argentina's participation in peacekeeping efforts, and had met with the Ministers of Defence and Foreign Affairs, as well as the Secretary for International Humanitarian Assistance.

The Secretary-General was to have lunch with a group of intellectuals, politicians and journalists. He was scheduled to deliver an address this afternoon to students and faculty at the University of Buenos Aires, Mr. Eckhard said.

Turning to Security Council matters, he said no meetings had been scheduled for today. That meant that the Council would possibly take up Western Sahara on Monday. Members were expected to adopt a resolution on

extending the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).

Matters concerning the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) in The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia might also could come up on Monday. The Secretary-General, in his latest report, had made several recommendations, including a six-month extension of the Force and an increase in its troop strength.

The Spokesman said that the so-called "six plus two" meeting on Afghanistan had taken place at Headquarters yesterday. The six countries represented were those neighbouring Afghanistan: China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The "two" were the Russian Federation and the United States.

The group had reviewed aspects relating to Afghanistan conflict, including ways of curbing the arms flows into the country. All participants shared a concern that the situation was serious, and they had endorsed the current joint peace initiative by Iran and Pakistan undertaken in support of the efforts by the United Nations for a settlement of the conflict.

Mr. Eckhard added that today at Headquarters, Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette was meeting with Lakhdar Brahimi, the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan; Sergio Vieira de Mello, Under-Secretary- General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator; as well as other United Nations officials. Today's meeting was to review United Nations humanitarian operations in Afghanistan. Next week, there was expected to be an inter-agency meeting on the same matter.

Turning to Angola, he said that the Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Angola, General Kofi Obeng, had held consultations with the Troika -- Portugal, Russian Federation, United States -- as well as the Angolan Government and representatives of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), in Luanda yesterday. The meeting was part of his ongoing attempts to re-establish a dialogue between the two parties. A follow-up meeting of the mediating body, known as the Joint Commission, had been held, during which both the Government and UNITA clarified their positions regarding the extension of State administration into the four sensitive areas of Andulo, Bailundo, Nharea and Mungo. That had proved to be a fruitful meeting, although differences still remained between the two parties on that issue. A further meeting of the Joint Commission was scheduled for today to continue discussions.

Meanwhile, the situation in Angola remained tense, Mr. Eckhard continued. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had reported that renewed fighting, which had led some 22,000 refugees to flee into the Democratic Republic of the Congo, had also shut down the refugee agency's operations to support repatriation in the east and north of the country.

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 17 July 1998

The Spokesman said that the second round of talks for the peace process in Burundi would start next Monday, 20 July, in Arusha. The meeting was being convened by Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, the former President of the United Republic of Tanzania and facilitator for the Burundi peace process. The negotiations were expected to go on until September and would be attended by all the parties to the conflict.

He added that Berhanu Dinka, the Secretary-General's Representative and Regional Humanitarian Adviser for the Great Lakes Region, would represent the United Nations at the meeting. At the end of the first round of talks last month, the parties had agreed on a cessation of hostilities starting on 20 July.

Concerning the news reports in Iraq about a United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) inspection of a post office, Mr. Eckhard said that two inspectors and an interpreter from a larger biological team of UNSCOM had gone into a local post office last Wednesday, 15 July. Contrary to news reports, they had not opened any letters or parcels. They had just talked to the manager of the post office and were there for about 20 minutes. Everything was calm, people on both sides were polite, and no complaints had been received from the post office, according to UNSCOM.

The Spokesman said that next week in Geneva, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Georgia, Liviu Bota, would chair the second meeting of the Georgian and Abkhaz parties for the settlement of the conflict in Abkhazia, Georgia. For more details, a press release issued by the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) was available in the Spokesman's Office.

Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), would leave for the Sudan tomorrow, 18 July, with the aim to further draw the world's attention to the escalating famine in the southern region of that country, Mr. Eckhard said. Ms. Bellamy would be visiting areas controlled by the Government, as well by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement. It was hoped that she would hold a press briefing in room S-226 next Friday on her return from her mission.

He said that the summary of the UNHCR briefing in Geneva today contained updates on refugee movements from Guinea-Bissau and Kosovo, and returns from Thailand to Cambodia, as well as more details on the Angolan refugees mentioned earlier. That paper was available in the Spokesman's Office.

Mr. Eckhard ended the briefing by announcing that the mid-month report of outstanding contributions as of 15 July, with the detailed list of the 15 major contributors, was available in the Spokesman's Office as well.

A correspondent asked when a statement could be expected from the Secretary-General on the International Criminal Court. Mr. Eckhard replied that developments in Rome were being watched very closely. It was a

Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 17 July 1998

cliffhanger and the last information received was that the plenary was to resume at 6 p.m., Rome time, meaning it was just getting under way. It was hoped that the remaining differences could be resolved. There could be a signing tomorrow, but it was still too early for the Secretary-General to say anything. He had sent letters to 16 Member States urging them to be flexible in their negotiating positions to enhance the chances of a final agreement.

Had there been a reply to those letters? another correspondent asked. The Spokesman said he was not aware of any reply, but he would check.

Referring to the meeting in Angola, the same correspondent asked about the level of UNITA's representation. Was its leader, Jonas Savimbi, present? Mr. Eckhard said he did not have that information and would have to double- check. [He later announced that the meeting did not involve high-level officials.]

Returning to the passing of Mahbub ul Haq, he expressed condolences to his son, Farhan Haq, who worked at Headquarters as a journalist for Inter Press Service.

[It was later announced that the plenary of the United Nations Conference on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, during its final meeting in Rome tonight, adopted the statute of the future International Criminal Court by a vote of 120 in favour to 7 against, with 21 abstentions.]

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