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, said at the beginning of today's noon briefing that the Security Council had been briefed this morning on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo by Kieran Prendergast, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs. The Council was expected to adopt a draft presidential statement on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, put forward by Sweden, at a formal meeting later today.

At 3:30 p.m., the Council would have an "Arria-formula" meeting -- a more private and even less formal meeting than informal consultations [a full definition of the "Arria-formula" appears below], the Spokesman said. That meeting -- called for by Kenya -- would also concern the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Badimanyi Mulumba, that country's Planning Minister, was expected to attend.

The Secretary-General's "on again, off again" vacation had come to a formal end yesterday, Mr. Eckhard said. This morning he had flown from Ghana to neighbouring Côte d'Ivoire, where he had met with President Henri Konan Bedie for about two hours. They had discussed primarily African issues. He had also discussed those matters with the country's Foreign Minister, Amara Essy. The Secretary-General had then met with representatives of United Nations agencies and other United Nations staff in Côte d'Ivoire.

The Secretary-General was now airborne again, Mr. Eckhard continued. He was travelling to Johannesburg, South Africa, in a plane belonging to Côte d'Ivoire's Prime Minister, Daniel Kablan Duncan, and was expected to arrive there late this evening. Tomorrow, he had an all-day programme in Johannesburg, starting with eminent South African personalities, to discuss governance and poverty eradication.

Mr. Eckhard said the Secretary-General would then meet with the United Nations family in South Africa, before proceeding to the University of Witwatersrand, where he would receive an honorary degree. That University's Chancellor was someone familiar to correspondents -- Judge Richard Goldstone, who had been the first prosecutor of the International Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda. The Secretary-General's speech at Witwatersrand was available upstairs, the Spokesman went on to say. The speech would be delivered at approximately 2 p.m. tomorrow local time -- 8 a.m. New York time. It was embargoed and should be checked against delivery. Tomorrow in the late afternoon, the Secretary-General would leave for Durban, South Africa, to attend the twelfth summit of the Non-Aligned Movement.

Mr. Eckhard then said that over the weekend the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Human Rights in Cambodia, Thomas Hammarberg, had issued a statement encouraging the Cambodian authorities to exercise restraint to ensure that Cambodians were able to exercise their freedom of assembly in a

safe and peaceful manner. Mr. Hammarberg had said, "Both the authorities and the demonstrators have responsibilities which, if not properly observed, may result in violence, injury and death." Mr. Hammarberg had also reiterated his earlier call that political leaders refrain from using xenophobic rhetoric, particularly directed against persons of Vietnamese origin. The text of the full statement was available upstairs. The 90-day report of the Iraq Sanctions Committee (document S/1998/813) had been issued on Friday, Mr. Eckhard said. The report covered the export of petroleum from Iraq during the current Phase IV, the export of humanitarian supplies to Iraq, and the supply of oil spare parts. As of 26 August, the Committee had received 61 applications to ship oil spare parts and equipment to Iraq, and so far 15 had been approved, with a total value of $24.6 million.

Available in the Spokesman's Office were two information notes issued by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Mr. Eckhard went on to say. One concerned a weekend inter-agency assessment mission to flood- affected areas in the eastern part of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and the other on the flooding in China -- said to be the worst in 44 years. Also available was a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) press release from Dhaka stating that a United Nations disaster assessment and coordination team had reached Bangladesh on an emergency mission to help mobilize assistance to the flood victims in that country.

The Spokesman said that in a comprehensive special report on the extensive crop damage caused by this summer's flooding in Asia, which had affected more than 250 million people, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned that large sections of the population were likely to face increased food supply difficulties in the coming months. It further stated that the situation needed to be monitored closely. That report was available upstairs.

This week the State of World Population 1998 report would come out, Mr. Eckhard said. It would be released in London on Wednesday by Nafis Sadik, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Most correspondents had likely received a copy of the report, which was entitled "The New Generations" and focused on youth and older persons. The report was embargoed until Wednesday, when there would be a press briefing in room S-226 at 11 a.m., featuring the report's author, UNFPA Senior Research Adviser Stan Bernstein. Tomorrow, the Spokesman's Office would have copies of the report available, but if correspondents wished to have a copy right away, they could call Tess Serrao at the UNFPA at (212) 297-5020.

World Chronicle TV programme number 712, featuring Jayantha Dhanapala, Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, would be shown today on in-house television channel 6 or 38 at 2:30 p.m., Mr. Eckhard said.

The World Food Programme (WFP) had cancelled a press conference on the subject of the food crisis in Cuba that its Executive Director, Catherine Bertini, was to have given at Headquarters tomorrow, the Spokesman added. However, the WFP had issued a press release -- available tomorrow -- in place of the conference.

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 31 August 1998

Mr. Eckhard said that despite the unexpected Security Council activity today, the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) still planned to have Ambassador Danilo Türk (Slovenia), the current Council President, brief correspondents at 2:30 p.m. in room S-226.

The Spokesman said the United Nations Staff Relief Committee would begin collecting money today for the victims of the Tsunami which had struck Papua New Guinea in mid-August. The Committee would go from office to office, or cheques could be made out to the Treasurer, Jonathan Childerly, in room S-2733D.

A correspondent asked where the "Arria-formula" meeting would be held. Mr. Eckhard said that it would be held in Conference Room 7.

The correspondent then asked if the Security Council President would appear in room S-226 or in the UNCA Club. Mr. Eckhard said, "The UNCA Club is being renovated, so we are lending you room S-226 until the renovations are complete."

Mr. Eckhard was then asked if he had any comment on a call for a United Nations investigation of United Nations Special Commission inspector William S. Ritter. Mr. Eckhard said he had not been aware of that and would investigate.

Did the Secretary-General have any comment on the Democratic Republic of Korea's missile firing? Mr. Eckhard was asked. He said there was no comment.

Asked when the Secretary-General was expected back from South Africa, the Spokesman said the Non-Aligned Movement summit would take place on Wednesday and Thursday, and the Secretary-General would leave South Africa either late Thursday or sometime on Friday. He was not expected, at this time, to be in the office on Friday.

A correspondent asked if information regarding the fifty-third session of the General Assembly would be provided to correspondents within the next few days. Mr. Eckhard said he would have to ask Alex Taukatch, spokesman for Assembly President Hennadiy Udovenko.

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NOTE: In Friday's press briefing, the Arria-formula meeting was inaccurately defined; the correct definition is as follows:

An Arria-formula meeting is called by a member of the Security Council other than the President's delegation, and can only be held by consensus. It is a closed meeting, held in a conference room rather than the consultations room. It is not chaired by the President of the Council. No Secretariat staff are present, apart from interpreters. No record is kept of the meeting. The purpose of the Arria formula is to allow the Council to meet for a frank, off-the-record discussion with a minister or other dignitary. The first such meeting was proposed by Ambassador Diego Arria of Venezuela in 1993.

Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 31 August 1998