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 Secretary-General had been informed this morning in Durban, South Africa -- where he was attending the twelfth Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement -- of the deaths of a number of United Nations staff members in the crash last night of Swissair flight 111. The Secretary- General had been deeply moved, having known some of the victims personally. He had authorized Mr. Eckhard to issue the following statement on his behalf:

"I am deeply saddened by the deaths of the more than 200 victims of the air disaster last night near Halifax, Nova Scotia, including a number of members of the United Nations family.

"These include United Nations staff who worked for the welfare of children, the care of refugees, a cure for HIV/AIDS, and the protection of the world's intellectual property. Their loss is felt not only personally, but professionally as well.

"My heartfelt sympathy goes out to the families of all the victims, and in particular to the relatives and friends of those who lost their lives in the service of the ideals of the United Nations." (See Press Release SG/SM/6689.)

A correspondent asked how many United Nations staff members had been in the crash. Mr. Eckhard said, "We still don't know. We have confirmed the identities of five staff members. These are from the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); the Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO); and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). There were United Nations affiliated personnel as well. Among these was Jonathan Mann, of the United States -- the AIDS expert who worked with the World Health Organization (WHO) and is now based at Harvard University -- and a representative of the United States Committee for UNICEF. So there are seven names that we can give you, but we think that there may be additional victims as well." [See below for a complete list -- as of noon -- of the United Nations staff members confirmed to have been on board Swissair flight 111.]

Would any more biographical information on the victims be available? Mr. Eckhard was asked. He said, "To the extent that we can dig that out for you. The WHO has already issued a statement on Jonathan Mann and gave some of his background and his contribution to AIDS research. We'll dig up whatever else we can for you."

Was this flight heavily used by United Nations personnel? a correspondent asked. The Spokesman said, "It was like a United Nations air bus." It was the basic New York-Zurich-Geneva flight and was used regularly by United Nations staff. Even before confirmation had been received that there had been United Nations staff members on the flight, it had just been

known from the identification of the flight that there would have been some United Nations staff on the plane.

Had the Secretary-General ever been on that flight? Mr. Eckhard said, "I don't know, but he frequently flies commercial. I can't tell you if he has ever taken this flight." [He subsequently confirmed that the Secretary- General had taken the flight once since becoming Secretary-General in January 1997, and many times previous to that.]

A correspondent asked if the United Nations had received any updates from authorities in Canada on the investigation of the crash. The Spokesman said, he did not know what the status of the investigation was, or whether it had yet started. Of course, the results of such an investigation would be followed closely.

In response to another question, Mr. Eckhard said the Secretary- General's Chef-de-Cabinet, Under-Secretary-General Iqbal Riza, had made the decision this morning to lower the United Nations flag to half-mast. The protocol, in such a case, was that the national flags were taken down. The decision had been made mid-morning.

Did the United Nations send personnel to the scene in events like this? the Spokesman was asked. He said, "To my knowledge we have not. I think we would just follow the investigation as it was carried out by, I assume, Canada and Switzerland."

Asked if he had known any of the victims personally, Mr. Eckhard said he had known Joachim Bilger -- now with the World Intellectual Property Organization -- from a time when he had worked on the Secretariat staff.

Turning to other matters, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General had just given a press conference in Durban that had been previously scheduled. The conference had been held at 11:30 a.m. New York time, and the Spokesman's Office expected to receive a transcript within a few hours. Mr. Eckhard said he knew the Secretary-General had intended to say something about the victims of the plane crash. He would also have summed up his activities in Durban -- which had been intense today.

In the margins of the Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, the Secretary-General had had a virtual avalanche of bilateral exchanges today -- at least a dozen, the Spokesman continued. In addition, he had had a working breakfast with the members of the Southern African Development Community. The subject of that meeting, of course, had been the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In the same context, he had had a working lunch with the Presidents of Rwanda, Pasteur Bizimungu, and of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni.

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 3 September 1998

Mr. Eckhard said that after the breakfast, the Secretary-General had told the press that he had been encouraged by the various discussions he had had with the parties to the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its concerned neighbours. The Secretary-General had also discussed the seriously deteriorating situation in Angola with Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos. He had also held discussions on his forthcoming report on Algeria with that country's President, Liamine Zeroual.

The Secretary-General had reviewed the situation concerning the border dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea in separate meetings with Ethiopian President Negasso Gidada and the President of Eritrea, Isaias Afweski, the Spokesman continued. He had also met with the Vice-President of Iraq, Taha Yasin Ramadan, and had urged Iraq to return to full cooperation with weapons inspectors and full compliance with relevant Security Council resolutions.

Mr. Eckhard said the Secretary-General was also to meet with the heads of State, heads of Government or Foreign Ministers for Indonesia, Libya, Cyprus, Cameroon and Morocco. His last appointment of the day would be with Yasser Arafat, President of the Palestinian Authority. This evening, the Secretary-General would attend the closing ceremony of the Summit, but he would stay on in Durban tomorrow morning to continue his bilateral meetings. A report on whom he would meet with would be provided to correspondents tomorrow. The Secretary-General was not expected back in New York until Saturday, 5 September.

The Security Council had met this morning to discuss its programme of work, Mr. Eckhard went on to say. The Council had also been briefed on the United Nations Civilian Police Mission in Haiti (MIPONUH) by Hédi Annabi, the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations. The Secretary- General's report on MIPONUH (document S/1998/796) had been issued last week. Council members had then been given an update on the work of the United Nations Special Commission in Iraq (UNSCOM) by UNSCOM's Executive Chairman Richard Butler. A written update from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had also been provided.

The Secretary-General's report on the current phase of the Iraq "oil- for-food" programme had come out yesterday afternoon (document S/1998/823), the Spokesman said. The report, which covered the period 30 May to 31 July, drew attention to the fact that a substantial drop in the price of oil had led to a decline in the amount of revenue available for humanitarian supplies and for spare parts. There was now expected to be only $1.79 billion available, instead of the $3.1 billion needed to fully implement the enhanced distribution plan.

The Office of the Iraq Programme was discussing with the Government of Iraq the creation of a mechanism that would establish priorities to match the available funding with the requirements. Under-Secretary-General Benon Sevan, the Executive Director of the Iraq Programme, would brief the Security Council

Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 3 September 1998

tomorrow. He would also update the Council on developments since 31 July. If Mr. Sevan concluded his Council briefing on time, he would attend tomorrow's noon briefing, Mr. Eckhard added.

Today in Arusha, the pre-sentencing hearing in the case of former Rwandan Prime-Minister Jean Kambanda had taken place at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the Spokesman said. Mr. Kambanda had been the first high-government official to plead guilty on counts of genocide and crimes against humanity. The Tribunal's Prosecutor had presented his arguments and had requested a life sentence -- the maximum possible under the guidelines of the Tribunal -- based on "the gravity of the crimes" and "the need to send a message". The defence had argued that the accused had cooperated with the prosecution and had said that his responsibilities in Rwanda at the time had been minimal. The defence had requested a two-year sentence, indicating that the accused needed to go back to Rwanda to "participate in the process of national reconciliation". Mr. Eckhard said, "We'll see what the sentence will be when it is delivered tomorrow".

On the racks was a press release from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Spokesman went on to say. It announced a Norwegian supported project to finance cleaner and safer production investments in five developing countries -- Guatemala, Nicaragua, Tanzania, Viet Nam and Zimbabwe. (See today's Press Release UNEP/34.)

The Secretary-General's Annual Report on the Work of the Organization was due out next Tuesday, 8 September, after the three-day weekend, Mr. Eckhard said. Arrangements had been made for a senior United Nations official to brief correspondents in advance on the content of the report tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. The senior official's comments would be embargoed until Tuesday. Attempts were being made to make available embargoed copies of the report for correspondents. [It was later announced that embargoed advance copies would be made available in English approximately two hours prior to tomorrow's briefing.]

A correspondent asked whether a memorial of some kind was being organized by the staff for the crash victims, and what the United Nations was doing to console the families of the victims. Mr. Eckhard said that, as a matter of priority, the families of the victims were contacted first. There had been discussion this morning on the thirty-eighth floor of a possible memorial service. Those developments would have to be followed. The United Nations Staff Committee would also have to be consulted. In Geneva, a statement had been issued this morning saying that they would plan a memorial service for tomorrow, and that their flags would be flying at half-mast tomorrow. (See Press Release ORG/1271.)

Was this the most commonly used flight by the United Nations? Mr. Eckhard said he could not confirm that it was the most commonly used, but it was used frequently. Geneva was the second-largest United Nations office

Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 3 September 1998

after New York, and a lot of United Nations staff in Switzerland came and went from New York in the conduct of their business.

Was there any special arrangement between the United Nations and the airline? Mr. Eckhard said he did not think so.

Had any United Nations staff members missed the flight? Mr. Eckhard said that there had been a member of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) staff who had been on a preliminary list of victims received. Later, it had been learned that at the last minute, for unexplained reasons, the staff member had changed his flight plans. Mr. Eckhard said he would try to provide the name and further details for correspondents.

Had the Secretary-General received a letter from the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community, Rauf Denktash, regarding proposals for the confederation of Cyprus? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said he could not confirm whether the letter had been received. He would have to check.

Did the Secretary-General know any of the crash victims personally and did he have plans to contact any of the victims' family members? the Spokesman was asked. Mr. Eckhard said he had known some of the victims personally. He did not know if the Secretary-General would be able to make any telephone calls today. "I can just tell you from what I know about him personally that I would expect he would make phone calls, yes," Mr. Eckhard added.

How close to the Secretary-General were the crash victims he had known? Mr. Eckhard said the Secretary-General had been in the United Nations system for 30 years and he knew many of the staff members, both people who had worked for him or people with whom he had had professional contact.

Were any attendees of the upcoming high-level summit on globalization known yet? a correspondent asked. Mr. Eckhard said he would have to check with General Assembly Affairs. He was sure that a provisional list would be issued as soon as there were enough names to announce.

The correspondent then asked if the Spokesman knew the content of the IAEA report. Mr. Eckhard said he did not. He suggested that the correspondent check with the IAEA office in New York.

Would the Secretary-General's bilateral discussions tomorrow include meetings with Iraqi representatives? a correspondent asked. The Spokesman said he had not yet been given the Secretary-General's appointments for tomorrow. He had been told that there were still people the Secretary-General wanted to see, and that he would stay over an extra half-day to complete his bilateral meetings. As had been mentioned, the Secretary-General had seen Iraq's Vice-President today. Mr. Eckhard was not aware that any further meetings with the Vice-President had been scheduled.

Daily Press Briefing - 6 - 3 September 1998

In response to a question on the Secretary-General's position on UNSCOM weapons inspections, Mr. Eckhard said, "The Secretary-General's position is what the Council's position is: that Iraq must comply with the resolutions and must cooperate with the inspectors. There is not a quid pro quo for that. Those are the rules."

Were arrangements being made for family members of the crash victims to go to Halifax, or was there any sort of formal liaison going on between the United Nations and those family members? Mr. Eckhard was asked. He said he would have to get a precise answer to that question from the Security Coordinator's Office. Marie Okabe of the Spokesman's Office was in regular touch with the Security Coordinator's Office and would answer correspondents' questions after the briefing.

[The United Nations staff members confirmed to have been on board Swissair flight 111 are as follows:

Mr. Pierce Gerety (United States) -- Director, Operations of the Great Lakes Region, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), based in Geneva;

Ms. Catherine Calvert-Mazy (France) -- Senior Social Welfare Officer, UNHCR in Geneva;

Mr. Joachim Bilger (Germany) -- Controller of Office of Internal Oversight and Productivity, with World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) since 1993;

Mr. Ludwig Baeumer (Germany) -- Senior Director for International and Operational Affairs, World Intellectual Property Organization since 1968; and

Mr. Yves De Roussan (Canada) - Regional Advisor, Central and East Europe-Commonwealth of Independent States, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

The United Nations-affiliated personnel confirmed to have been on flight 111 are: Mr. Jonathan Mann (United States); Mary-Lou Clements-Mann of the World Health Organization (WHO); and Ms. Ingrid Acevedo, Director of Public Relations for the United States Committee for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

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Note: In yesterday's press briefing notes, the Prime Minister of India, Atal Behari Vajpayee, was mistakenly referred to as Inder Kumar Gujral.