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 welcoming a group of guest journalists from developing countries, visiting under the sponsorship of the United States Information Agency.

He then said that the Secretary-General was spending much of today chairing the third biennial meeting of the United Nations and regional organizations. The theme of the 1998 meeting was "Cooperation for Conflict Prevention".

Mr. Eckhard quoted the Secretary-General as saying in his opening statement that given the nature of conflict today, such cooperation was more of an obligation than an opportunity. "When genocide, mass rape and atrocities against children can take place from the Balkans to Rwanda, war can no longer be seen as a continuation of politics by other means."

The Secretary-General had suggested, as the first steps, more regular consultations, better flow of information, exchange of liaison officers as had already been done with the Organization of African Unity (OAU), and extended visits of staff at the working level between headquarters, the Spokesman added.

He went on to say that the discussions, which were closed, would continue through tomorrow, after which the Secretary-General would give a press conference in room S-226 at 1:15 p.m. Available in the Spokesman's Office were the list of participants, the programme, the agenda and a list of documentation. The Secretary-General's statement had been made available yesterday on an embargoed basis and the texts of the statements by the Presidents of the General Assembly and the Security Council were also available in the Spokesman's Office.

Mr. Eckhard then read the following statement: "The forthcoming Summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), to be held in Colombo from 29 to 31 July, provides an excellent opportunity for a meeting on the sidelines between the leaders of India and Pakistan. The Secretary- General hopes that they will take this opportunity to lessen tensions in the region and resume a political dialogue in which to address all their differences. He also hopes both countries will find it possible to join the overwhelming majority of the international community in the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and in future steps towards nuclear disarmament and the prevention of nuclear proliferation." (See Press Release SG/SM/6655.)

On Security Council matters, Mr. Eckhard said that the Council President was attending the meeting of the United Nations and regional organizations today, so there was no Council meeting. The Council was expected to take up several items tomorrow, first the report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Iraq. There would be also a briefing by the United Nations Secretariat on the humanitarian situation in the Sudan.

He went on to say that the Council also had the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) on its agenda. It was understood that a draft resolution on that subject was being finalized. The mandate of that mission expired at the end of July. It was still expected that the Council would take formal action on Thursday on the mandates of UNOMIG and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

The Spokesman drew attention to the Secretary-General's appointments, which included a meeting with the Foreign Minister of Georgia, Irakli Menagarishvili, at 5 p.m.

According to the Iraq "oil-for-food" report, which was out today, the United Nations oil overseers had approved one more oil contract last week, he said. It had been awarded to a Moroccan company and involved 2 million barrels of oil. One oil contract had been cancelled, however, and, therefore, the number of contracts approved to date remained at 43. Four contracts were pending.

Two more applications for oil spare parts had been submitted last week to the 661 Committee, which oversees the sanctions on Iraq, Mr. Eckhard continued. One had been approved under the "no objection" procedure yesterday. That contract involved compressor spare parts, and its dollar value was $1.14 million. That brought to two the number of spare parts applications approved so far. One spare parts application was pending under the "no objection" procedure and one remained on hold.

He added that the Committee had approved 27 humanitarian sales applications under Phase IV last week, put two on hold and blocked none. It had also approved 10 humanitarian sales applications under Phase III.

The Spokesman then reported that an activity report had been received last night from the High-Level Panel on Algeria. As had been widely reported yesterday, the Panel had visited Serkhadji prison, where members had met with several inmates. In the afternoon, the members of the Panel had gone to Beni Messous, where more than 50 people were massacred on 5 September 1997. They had interviewed survivors and had meetings with the military authorities posted in the town. Today, they had met with government officials and the representative of a political party. Later today, they were expected to visit public areas of Algiers.

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Mr. Eckhard said that a statement had been issued late last night on the decision by the Secretary-General to send Lakhdar Brahimi to Angola as his Special Envoy. Mr. Brahimi's mandate would be to assess the situation in that country and advise the Secretary-General on a possible course of action. He would also make recommendations about the future presence of the United Nations in Angola. (See Press Release SG/SM/6654-AFR/84, of 27 July.)

He went on to say that Mr. Brahimi, who had left New York last night, was expected to arrive in Angola over the coming weekend and to spend about five days there. On behalf of the Secretary-General, he would urge the Government, and in particular the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), to desist from any action which would undermine the peace process.

The Spokesman added that Mr. Brahimi was expected to meet with Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos in Luanda over the weekend and then to visit some of the neighbouring States after his initial round of consultations.

On another subject, he said that the Secretary-General had requested a comprehensive review of the security of United Nations personnel, saying that the number killed in operations around the world was alarming.

"We are placing civilians in more and more dangerous situations", he quoted the Secretary-General as telling a high-level staff meeting yesterday. "This is unacceptable."

To date this year, 17 civilian staff, including those serving in humanitarian operations, had been killed, Mr. Eckhard continued. That compared to the number of civilian staff members killed during the entire year 1997. A separate toll kept by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations showed that an additional eight persons had been killed in the line of duty in peacekeeping missions.

He went on to say that in addition to the relevant departments at United Nations Headquarters, the Secretary-General had said he wanted to include in the review assessments by United Nations humanitarian agencies and their non- governmental organization partners.

Mr. Eckhard then reported that his Office had a statement issued by Mary Robinson, High Commissioner for Human Rights, concerning Myanmar. She said in part that, according to information received, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was today spending her fifth day in her car after being stopped on the road while going to visit supporters of her party outside Yangon. There were legitimate concerns about Mrs. Suu Kyi's health and her security during that standoff.

The incident provided stark evidence of the need for the Government to enter into frank and sincere dialogue with civil society in Myanmar, he quoted

Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 28 July 1998

Mrs. Robinson as saying. "I urge the Government of Myanmar to work with Mrs. Suu Kyi and her supporters to end the current standoff peaceably, peacefully and quickly."

Mr. Eckhard said that in Geneva today, the Conference on Disarmament had begun its third and last series of meetings for 1998. The Ad Hoc Committee on Negative Security Assurances had met this morning. This afternoon, informal consultations had been held on anti-personnel landmines. The Conference on Disarmament would hold its first public meeting of the third part of its annual session on Thursday.

The Spokesman then reported that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, was at United Nations Headquarters today to report to the Economic and Social Council and to participate on the regional organizations meetings. Mrs. Ogata would also attend the special conference on Sierra Leone before returning to Geneva on Friday morning.

He went on to say that Mrs. Ogata's statement to the Council on the global refugee situation would be made available. Already available was a summary of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) briefing in Geneva, which reported that the number of people driven from their homes by the conflict within Kosovo was now over 100,000.

Mr. Eckhard then said that the World Food Programme (WFP), in a press release issued in Havana today, had warned that the worst drought in 40 years had drastically reduced food production in five eastern provinces of Cuba, leaving more than 500,000 people in need of emergency food aid. That warning had been based on the findings of an inter-agency mission which had visited the provinces this month. The text of that press release was available in room S-378.

Concluding the briefing, the Spokesman said that as published in the Journal today, Brazil had ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) on 24 July. This morning, Ambassador Olga Keltosova of Slovakia had signed the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings.

On Mr. Brahimi's Angola assignment, a correspondent asked whether he was continuing as the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan. If not, who would replace him and how long would he be away from that job? The Spokesman replied that Mr. Brahimi was continuing as the Special Representative for Afghanistan. His emergency visit to Angola would probably last a week to 10 days, starting next weekend with his first meeting.

The expectation was that a replacement for the late Alioune Blondin Beye as the Special Representative for Angola would eventually be announced, he added. The situation in Angola was so grave that the Secretary-General had felt that he needed to send someone there right away.

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Was there anything new about the report on the plane crash in which Mr. Beye had died? another correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said that the Department of Peacekeeping Operations had an interim assessment on that and it was coordinating with the Government of Côte d'Ivoire -- which was leading the investigation -- for a common release date of that interim assessment. It was believed that it would happen this week, although the day was not certain.

On the number of civilian United Nations staff killed this year, another journalist asked whether 17 was a new record, if other preparations were being carried out to prevent further killings and if the deaths had made recruitment for humanitarian work more difficult. The Spokesman replied it was the first time that the number of civilians killed had exceeded the number of military personnel. He went on to say that he did not know that there was any information yet on the impact of the killings on recruitment. The high motivation factor of humanitarian workers could mean that it would not have a negative impact, but that was just speculation.

On measures to protect civilians better, he said that the phenomenon of casualties in humanitarian and peacekeeping work had become dramatic with the operations in Bosnia and Somalia. The United Nations Security Coordinator had regularly sought to improve security on missions. A number of years ago, the Department of Peacekeeping Operations had created the post of a Medical Adviser who analysed all the computerized United Nations data on peacekeeping accidents to see where there might be unusually high rates of one or another kind of accident. Instructions were then sent out to that mission to take corrective action. It was an ongoing effort to reduce the risk factor in missions, but despite that, the number of people killed this year was alarmingly high, which was why the Secretary-General had asked for a fresh look.

Another journalist asked to what extent the deaths were reflective of a failure of United Nations security. Mr. Eckhard said he could not answer that until he saw what the assessment said. He did not have the impression it was a failure of United Nations security, but rather that the risk of harm in the missions had become unusually high.

The recent killing of a United Nations staff member in Burundi seemed to have been because of a total absence of security, the same correspondent said. The staffer had arrived at his home, been mugged and then killed. The Spokesman pointed out that he had a security guard at his home who had been overwhelmed by three gunmen, at least one of whom had an AK 47 rifle. The question was, when did it become unacceptable for the United Nations to keep its staff in an environment where the risk level was so high? That was what needed to be assessed.

Would the United Nations be represented at the South Asian summit, or was it making an attempt to be represented? the same correspondent asked. In

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response, Mr. Eckhard said he would have to check on that. The Spokesman's Office would get back to him after the briefing.

The correspondent then asked whether the Secretary-General had a comment on the charges and counter-charges being traded by Georgia and the Russian Federation about support for terrorism. At this point, he did not, Mr. Eckhard replied. Alex Taukatch, spokesman for General Assembly President Hennadiy Udovenko, said that the President had participated this morning in the third meeting of the United Nations and regional organizations.

Giving the highlights of the President's statement, Mr. Taukatch said Mr. Udovenko had noted that since the meetings was already the third in a series, it could be rightfully described as a "process, and not an event", recalling the Secretary-General's remark on United Nations reform.

Mr. Udovenko had also stressed that the choice of theme for today's meeting -- "Cooperation for Conflict Prevention" -- was very apt and timely, Mr. Taukatch said. He had commended the Secretary-General's insightful and thought-provoking background paper which posed many probing questions. "Asking the right question is the key to finding the right answer", he quoted the President as saying.

The President had also said it was imperative to ask ourselves why, for all its merits, prevention remained such an underutilized tool, the spokesman added. The text of Mr. Udovenko's statement was available in room S-378. (See Press Release GA/SM/51.)

Referring to the killings of United Nations staff, Mr. Taukatch said it was with renewed sadness, concern and outrage that the President had read this morning's press reports describing the growing toll among civilian workers on relief missions in trouble spots around the world. The recent spate of killings in Burundi, Tajikistan and Afghanistan served as tragic reminders of the dangers facing United Nations staff as they tried to provide much-needed help to people caught in the flames of war and conflict.

Indeed, reports of attacks against international aid workers had become almost routine, but there should be nothing routine in the response of the international community to those heinous crimes, the President said in the statement. He appealed to all parties concerned in all conflict situations to respect the status of United Nations staff and to ensure their safety. The statement, attributable to the spokesman, was later made available to the press. (See Press Release GA/SM/52.)

Highlighting some of Mr. Udovenko's appointments, the spokesman said he had met this morning with the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson. They had discussed issues related to the cooperation among various United Nations bodies in the sphere of human rights protection. Mr. Udovenko

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was now devoting special attention to those questions, in view of his added responsibilities at home as the Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament's Standing Committee on Human Rights. Wearing that hat, he had also discussed with Mrs. Robinson ways of enhancing cooperation between her Office and Ukraine, particularly in view of the upcoming fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.

Looking ahead to the fifty-third session of the General Assembly, Mr. Taukatch once again reminded correspondents that it would begin earlier this year, on 9 September and not on the third Tuesday of September as before.

On a related matter, he said the seating arrangements for the fifty- third session had been determined yesterday, when the Secretary-General had drawn lots selecting Mali as the country that would be seated in the first seat to the right of the front row in the General Assembly Hall. After that, according to established practice, the seating would be in English alphabetical order following that country. That seat was currently occupied by Honduras.

Mr. Taukatch said that the open-ended working group on Security Council reform would have another meeting tomorrow to continue working on the draft report to the General Assembly.

Mr. Eckhard then said that his Office would let correspondents know when the high-level United Nations official would brief them on the question of time limits to be taken up by the General Assembly on Thursday.

A correspondent asked when the open-ended working group on Security Council reform would wind up. Mr. Taukatch replied that it was working on the draft report. Tomorrow was another scheduled meeting. Tentatively, the group was expected to present its report to the General Assembly in the second half of August.

Referring to the question of time limits mentioned by Mr. Eckhard, he said the President was scheduling informal consultations, most probably for Thursday.

A correspondent then asked if time limits referred to lengthy speeches. Mr. Taukatch replied that it referred to time limits on new initiatives, one of the proposals contained in the report of the Secretary-General. There had been discussion in the General Assembly previously, and Member States had wanted more information on it, and the Secretary-General had provided additional information in a note issued a couple of days ago. A Special Adviser to the Secretary-General, John Ruggie, had held a briefing for delegates, explaining and providing further information on it.

He added that the format of informal consultations of the plenary would be held, probably on Thursday, to deal with the matter.

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