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 saying that at 9:30 a.m. today, the Deputy Secretary-General, Louise Frechette, met with the Chargés d'Affaires of the United Kingdom, Stephen Gomersall, and of the United States, Peter Burleigh. They presented Ms. Frechette with a letter addressed to the Secretary-General informing him of their offer to Libya to accept the trial in the Netherlands, with Scottish judges and under Scottish law, of the two Libyan suspects in the bombing of a commercial airline over Lockerbie, Scotland.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom, Robin Cook, had discussed the proposal by telephone this morning with the Secretary-General, who was in Ghana, Mr. Eckhard said. The proposal was similar to the one suggested by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the League of Arab States in a letter to the Security Council of 6 March (document S/1998/202).

The Spokesman said that the Secretary-General welcomed that development and asked him to issue the following statement:

"The Secretary-General was informed this morning by the Governments of the United Kingdom and the United States of their decision to agree to hold the trial of the two Libyan suspects for the Lockerbie bombing before a Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands, following normal Scots law and procedures except for the replacement of the jury by a panel of three Scottish High Court judges.

"The Secretary-General was requested by the two Governments to convey to the Libyan Government a letter and enclosures delivered to his Deputy this morning, elaborating the American-British proposal. He was also asked to provide to the Libyan Government any assistance it might require with regard to the physical arrangements for the transfer of the two accused directly to the Netherlands.

"Over the past months, the Secretary-General has been following this issue very closely and has been in contact with all three Governments involved as well as other interested parties. He is extremely pleased about today's announcement and hopes that all sides will cooperate in order to reach an early resolution of this long-standing issue. He is also grateful to the Government of the Netherlands for its willingness to assist in this matter."

Turning to the agenda of the Security Council, Mr. Eckhard said that its members were being briefed this morning by the Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Iraq, Prakash Shah. Following the briefing, the Council would again take up a draft presidential statement on Kosovo, which it might adopt later in a formal meeting. Under "other matters", the Council would also consider letters from the Government of the Sudan, the League of Arab States and the Group of Islamic States, in response to the recent United States attack on a

pharmaceutical company in Khartoum. They called for an urgent meeting of the Council and asked it to send a fact-finding mission to the Sudan. They were available as Security Council documents S/1998/786, and S/1998/790 through S/1998/792.

The Spokesman said that the Secretary-General had received with profound sorrow the news of the death of Lt. Colonel Carmine Calo of Italy. Lt. Colonel Calo, a military adviser to the United Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan (UNSMA), died at the hospital of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Kabul on the morning of 22 August of complications from gunshot wounds. He was shot by a gunman on the previous morning when a United Nations vehicle driven by him was approaching the United Nations office in Kabul. Another UNSMA official was also wounded in the attack.

Mr. Eckhard said the Secretary-General would remind the Taliban authorities that the United Nations awaited the outcome of their investigation of the incident, including full information about those whom the Taliban announced had been detained in connection with it. A full text of the statement was available in the Spokesman's office.

As news accounts had reported, the United Nations had relocated all of its international staff members from Afghanistan, Mr. Eckhard said. His Office had been informed, however, that humanitarian activities continued in Afghanistan, where several hundred national staff were still assisting populations in Kabul, Jalalabad, Kandahar and Herat. Ongoing operations included the demining programme, assistance to returning refugees, a bakery project and health care.

He said that the Secretary-General's report on the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic (MINURCA), containing recommendations on a possible United Nations role in the legislative/electoral process in that country, was expected to be issued later today as a Security Council document. The proposed operational plan for MINURCA included the logistical support of electoral materials and equipment, a limited role in the observation of legislative elections, as well as the security of electoral materials and observers. Two options were presented for the security provision. In his report, the Secretary-General urged all the Central African parties to fully assume their responsibilities in the elections, and to participate in them in a manner that would strengthen the democratic process and contribute to genuine national reconciliation.

The Security Council was expected to take up that report on Wednesday, Mr. Eckhard said. The Secretary-General's Special Representative for the Central African Republic, Oluyemi Adeniji, would be present for those discussions, and the Spokesman would invite him to brief correspondents in room 226.

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Asked about the chances of a meeting with Ambassador Shah, the Spokesman said that he had been invited to brief correspondents in room 226 but that the timing was not right. Indeed, the Council briefing might not yet be concluded. Mr. Shah, however, would answer questions outside the Council chamber.

What was the status of the Taliban's request for recognition at the United Nations? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said that it was not "recognition" that was being sought, but rather "credentials" to participate in the General Assembly. He would let the spokesman for the President of the General Assembly, Alex Taukatch, answer that question at today's briefing. Correspondents were reminded of Mr. Eckhard's announcement on Friday concerning the availability in his office of two fact sheets developed by his staff: one on membership in the United Nations, and the other on General Assembly credentials.

To a question about when and how the preliminary agreement concerning the Lockerbie case might impact on the work of the Security Council, Mr. Eckhard said that at this point, the letter was being conveyed to the Libyans, whose response was awaited. Everyone would have to see how it played out in the Council, particularly whether the response would be positive or negative.

Asked how many international staff had been evacuated from Afghanistan, Mr. Eckhard said he had mentioned last week that the United Nations had approximately two dozen staff members in the country. His Office had not wanted to be specific about the exact number at that time until all of them were evacuated. The precise number of international staff was 28, including the remains of Lt. Colonel Calo.

Another correspondent, noting the meeting between the Secretary-General and Libyan Permanent Representative Abuzed Omar Dorda shortly after that offer or trial balloon was floated, asked about Libya's reaction at that time. Mr. Eckhard said he did not wish to get into that. The important thing was what Libya's reaction was to the specific proposal presented this morning, and presently, he could not say.

In response to a question about whether Lt. Colonel Calo was in a United Nations marked vehicle or in an unmarked one, the Spokesman said he would have to find out. However, it was his assumption was that the vehicle was marked because the two staff members were on patrol at the time of the shootings.

Did the Secretary-General have any comment on the call by Sudan for an investigation by the international community of the pharmaceutical plant in Sudan? the correspondent asked. No, Mr. Eckhard said.

To a follow-up question, the Spokesman said he had no further information concerning distribution of pharmaceuticals by the Sudanese plant

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to Iraq. He understood that the request had been made and that the shipment had been approved by the Committee established under Security Council resolution 661 (1990) to monitor the sanctions regime against Iraq, but that the shipment had not been made. The request had been withdrawn or modified in some way, but he would have to double-check.

Alex Taukatch, spokesman for General Assembly President Hennadiy Udovenko (Ukraine), said that while television cameras were focused on the Security Council, the General Assembly met this morning on an issue of direct relevance to the Council. At its plenary meeting this morning, the Assembly considered and took action on the item of the reform of the Security Council. In a statement to the General Assembly this morning, the President said that Security Council reform was one of the most difficult issues the United Nations had tackled throughout its history and one of the "thorniest" items on its agenda at the end of this century.

Mr. Taukatch said that the Working Group on Security Council reform had met in the Trusteeship Council and quickly adopted the report on its work at the current session (A/AC.247/1998/WP.1/Rev.2). Immediately after that action, the meeting had converted into an open plenary meeting of the Assembly to adopt the Working Group's report. A number of statements were made, including by the Assembly President.

Highlighting some of the main themes of the President's speech, the spokesman quoted Mr. Udovenko as saying that the delegates were "perfectly aware of the major stumbling blocks, which have prevented the Working Group from agreeing on anything, even on mere encouragement to bring its work to a conclusion before the end of this millennium. Some of these stumbling blocks include opposition to the creation of new permanent seats, disagreement over the issue of the total size of an enlarged Council, different approaches to the issue of rotational arrangements for new permanent seats, and, finally, considerable differences on the problem of veto right with respect to both current and prospective permanent members.

"It is indeed a fact," he continued, "that all those problems continue to exist. One could argue that perhaps, given the fundamental nature of the differences over Security Council reform, no pre-conditions exist at the current stage that could lead to a breakthrough in their reconciliation."

Those were some of the assessments made by the Assembly President in his statement to the plenary meeting this morning, he said. The President, in his statement, had also expressed his gratitude to the two Vice-Chairmen from Thailand and Finland, who had helped him through that arduous process and had worked tirelessly as co-chairman of the Bureau. The full text of the President's statement would be available in room 378.

Mr. Taukatch drew attention to the conclusion last Friday of the work of the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) in the current Assembly

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session. Among its actions was a decision to resume consideration of its working methods at the fifty-third session of the Assembly. In his concluding statement, the Committee Chairman said he was strongly convinced that unless the Committee's working methods were drastically improved, "we would soon make ourselves irrelevant". He also said that the Committee should not suffer from "self-styled importance", but should work for the common good.

Turning to an earlier question about the status of the Taliban in the General Assembly, the spokesman said that the Credentials Committee had decided on the credentials for the fifty-second session last December, whereupon the General Assembly had approved its report. At that time there were two sets of credentials for Afghanistan, and the Assembly decided to defer that matter until the fifty-third session. That meant that members of the Government of Burhanuddin Rabbani continued to exercise full rights as representatives of Afghanistan at the fifty-second session. When the fifty- third session begins, a new Credentials Committee would be formed that would have to take up that matter once again.

Mr. Taukatch announced that in the light of Ukraine's celebration of its independence today, the Assembly President had asked him to invite correspondents to a reception he was hosting at 6 p.m. today in the Delegates' Dining Room.

As the millennium approached, what were the chances that the Security Council would be reformed, a correspondent asked, adding that "it doesn't look good". Mr. Taukatch reiterated the comment by the Assembly President that no pre-conditions existed at the current stage that could lead to a breakthrough in the reconciliation of the considerable differences that presently existed. It was important to note, the spokesman said, that the Assembly had decided that the Working Group on Security Council reform should continue its consideration of that item at the next session. Mr. Taukatch also drew attention to the President's remark at today's meeting that there was no single manmade problem that could not be solved by human beings.

Mr. Taukatch reminded correspondents, once again, that the fifty-third Assembly session would begin earlier than usual: the current session would end on 8 September, and the fifty-third session would begin on 9 September, which would be observed as International Day of Peace. The general debate would begin on Monday, 21 September. As a result of General Assembly efforts to rationalize its work, it would last only two weeks instead of three.

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