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 announcing that the Secretary-General had returned from the Non- Aligned Summit in South Africa. He had opened the peacekeeping seminar announced on Friday and would be on the podium in the General Assembly for the closing of its current session.

Mr. Eckhard said that the Security Council would meet in informal consultations at 3:30 p.m. The item on its agenda was Iraq. The Secretary- General would meet with the President of the Council for September, Ambassador Hans Dahlgren of Sweden, at 3 p.m. The Secretary-General was expected to brief the Council on the Non-Aligned Summit, most likely tomorrow.

The Secretary-General's report on Kosovo was out as a Security Council document (S/1998/834) today, the Spokesman said. In it, he expressed alarm over the lack of progress towards a political settlement, by the further loss of life, the displacement of the civilian population and the destruction of property resulting from the conflict. In the report, the Secretary-General states that, "It is essential that negotiations get under way so as to break the cycle of disproportionate use of force by the Serbian forces and acts of violence by the Kosovo Albanian paramilitary units".

Further, Mr. Eckhard added, the Secretary-General said in the report that he had written to President Slobodan Milosevic on 1 September to underline his alarm. He also said he strongly believed that there could be no military solution to the crisis and that he remained prepared to contribute to efforts to negotiate an end to the violence through all resources available to him.

The Spokesman said that the Secretary-General referred to a United Nations appeal, issued today, for $54.3 million to avert a humanitarian catastrophe in the coming winter months in Kosovo. He urged the international community to respond generously. The report was expected to be discussed in the Security Council later this week, possibly on Thursday.

Mr. Eckhard then read the following statement, attributable to the Spokesman, on the subject of Cambodia: "The Secretary-General is following very closely and with deep concern developments in Cambodia, in particular the weekend's events, including the grenade attack on the residence of Mr. Hun Sen, Mr. Sam Rainsy's taking refuge in the Office of the Secretary-General's Personal Representative in Cambodia and the forcible dispersal of demonstrations and sit-ins. As of this morning, Mr. Sam Rainsy was still in that office. The Secretary-General regrets the loss of life in these events.

"He wishes once again to call on all Cambodian leaders to resolve their differences through dialogue. The Secretary-General has written as recently

as Wednesday, 2 September, to Mr. Hun Sen and Mr. Ung Huot (jointly), as well as to Prince Ranarridh and Mr. Sam Rainsy (separately). In those letters, the Secretary-General strongly urged all Cambodian leaders to exercise utmost restraint, so as to prevent any further outbreak of violence."

The full text of that statement was available in the Office of the Spokesman, Mr. Eckhard said.

On a related subject, he said that the Secretary-General was meeting with his experts on Khmer Rouge crimes in Cambodia. Meeting for the first time, that group had been appointed in early August to look into the question of crimes committed in Cambodia by the Khmer Rouge. It was chaired by Sir Ninian Stephen of Australia and included Rajsoomer Lallah (Mauritius) and Professor Stephen Ratner (United States). They would be here for three days.

Mr. Eckhard then reported that the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, had signed a memorandum of intent with the Government of China yesterday. The agreement said that the Government of China, "committed to the full realization of economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights and the right to development", intended to make use of advisory services and technical cooperation and would identify specific cooperation programmes. That statement could be picked up from the Spokesman's Office.

He reminded correspondents that they had copies of the Secretary- General's annual report on the work of the Organization. The embargo was now over and the report was out as document A/53/1.

Also available was a press kit on the next session of the General Assembly opening tomorrow, the Spokesman said. A request had been made for a high-level briefing on the work of the Assembly. That briefing would be done on a background basis at 3:30 p.m. in room 226 by a senior official, who would talk about what was expected from the upcoming Assembly session.

Mr. Eckhard announced that the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) had issued a report today which provided a comprehensive assessment of the financial crisis in Asia and its impact on foreign direct investment. That report was being launched by UNCTAD Secretary-General Rubens Ricupero in Xiamen, China, in conjunction with the China Conference for International Investment and Trade. Copies of the report, and an UNCTAD press release on it, were available in the Spokesman's Office.

The Spokesman said that the memorial service for the victims of Swissair flight 111 would be held on Friday, 11 September, at 9.30 a.m. in Conference Room 4. The service, which would last about half an hour, would be opened and closed by the United Nations singers. The Secretary-General would speak, as

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would colleagues of each of those who lost their lives. It was understood that some family members of the victims were expected at the service.

Mr. Eckhard then said that Norway had announced a contribution of $100,000 to a project for voluntary weapons collection in Albania. The project was being coordinated by a mechanism established by the United Nations Department for Disarmament Affairs. That mechanism worked to identify priorities, mobilize resources and carry out an advocacy campaign to generate wider public support for United Nations objectives in controlling the excessive accumulation and proliferation of small arms in Albania. A press release with more details was available in room s-378.

On behalf of the international community, Mr. Eckhard said, the Under- Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Sergio Vieira de Mello, was appealing for $8.9 million for United Nations agencies to meet the needs of some 275,000 Eritreans suffering as a result of the border conflict with Ethiopia. The United Nations had also released a report on the response to the needs of war-displaced people in the Tigray and Afar regions of Ethiopia. In June, the Government of Ethiopia had issued an appeal for non-food aid for 145,000 displaced people and for food and nutritional assistance for 300,000 more. A copy of the report was available.

The United Nations had also issued an appeal on Friday for $223 million for emergency assistance to the victims of the floods in Bangladesh, the Spokesman said. Copies of that appeal were available in room 378.

On another subject, he said that starting tomorrow, the United Nations Security and Safety Service would sponsor two "Security Awareness Days" from noon to 2 p.m. in the south lobby of the Secretariat building. That event aimed at reinforcing security procedures, familiarizing staff with the Security Service and offering tips.

Mr. Eckhard then said that notes were available from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) briefing in Geneva, addressing mainly the issue of Kosovo. The World Food Programme (WFP) in Rome had issued a press release calling for $9.7 million to provide emergency food aid to Sierra Leonean refugees in Guinea.

Also available in the Spokesman's Office was the monthly copy of outstanding contributions to the United Nations regular budget, he said. Nothing had changed there; as of Wednesday last week, regular budget funds had been depleted and the Organization was now cross-borrowing into the peacekeeping account to try to keep itself afloat until the end of the year.

Turning to treaties, Mr. Eckhard said that Belgium and Bulgaria had ratified the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction. That had

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brought the number of ratifications to 35. Panama had signed the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings, bringing the number of signatories to 30.

The Spokesman then said that correspondents were invited to lunch at noon tomorrow to launch the Human Development Report. That invitation came from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), whose Administrator, James Gustave Speth, would conduct the briefing to launch that report.

Mr. Eckhard announced on behalf of the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) that Hans Dahlgren, the current President of the Security Council, would host a reception and press briefing in the UNCA Club today at 5:30 p.m. Refreshments would be available.

Concluding the briefing, he said that Juan Carlos Brandt, Senior Associate Spokesman for the Secretary-General, would be leaving shortly to take up his new post as Director of the United Nations Information Centre in Sydney, Australia. Before his departure, the Spokesman's Office would hold a farewell party for him on Wednesday, 16 September. Those wishing to attend should contact anyone in that Office for details, preferably before Thursday, 10 September.

Asked by a correspondent where the UNDP lunch would be held, Mr. Eckhard said it would be at 198 Madison Avenue, on the corner of Thirty-fifth Street.

The same correspondent asked if any United Nations personnel would be attending the Indian memorial service in Nova Scotia. The Spokesman said that a check had been done before the briefing and the preliminary answer was no.

Was there any update on the Security Council discussions on the resolution regarding the suspension of sanctions reviews? the correspondent asked. The Council would discuss that subject this afternoon, Mr. Eckhard replied.

The correspondent then asked whether the Secretary-General was seeking contacts to avoid any conflict between Iran and Afghanistan on border troop movements. The Spokesman confirmed that the Secretary-General had had contacts over the weekend on that subject. He was prepared to assist and there were in fact some discussions currently under way on means to investigate the whereabouts or the fate of the 10 Iranian nationals and one journalist who had disappeared in Mazar-i-Shariff, Afghanistan.

Who was the Secretary-General speaking to? the correspondent asked. He was speaking to Iran, Pakistan and others about ways to sort out the issue, the Spokesman replied.

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The journalist asked what the Secretary-General felt about any possible "exodus" from the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) following the resignation of weapons inspector Scott Ritter. Mr. Eckhard said he had spoken to the UNSCOM spokesman this morning and he had not given any indication that he was expecting further resignations. It was, therefore, not possible to say on a hypothetical basis what the Secretary-General would feel about that.

Mr. Eckhard told the correspondent that he was not aware that Hindu nationalists had denounced the Secretary-General for reportedly comparing the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan to the Cyprus situation.

Alex Taukatch, spokesman for General Assembly President Hennadiy Udovenko, said that the Assembly had just concluded its fifty-second session, leaving behind a year of hard work, intensive discussions, momentous decisions and occasionally cautious indecision, as Mr. Udovenko had noted in his closing remarks.

He said that over the past year, the Assembly had held a total of 92 plenary meetings, adopting 298 resolutions and 146 decisions. It had before it a total of 163 agenda items, of which it had considered 155. Some of those items had not been considered and the Assembly had decided to defer them until the next session.

Mr. Taukatch said that the President of the General Assembly had stressed in his statement that the session had been a convincing testimony to the relevance of that most representative United Nations body. If there was a single underlying theme that had distinguished the fifty-second session, it was that of revitalizing the Organization. The President noted the package of far-reaching reforms submitted by the Secretary-General and commended him for his unswerving commitment to the cause of reform and his readiness to cooperate closely with the Assembly during its consideration of the reform issues.

In the process of considering those issues, the spokesman said, the Assembly had begun an innovative form of consideration of those items -- open- ended informal consultations of the plenary. It had held a total of 22 such meetings, as a result of which it had adopted two resolutions on the reform issues. During that time, the President felt that the adoption of those resolutions had shown that the reform process was clearly on track and that it had inspired widespread expectations.

However, Mr. Taukatch said, the President had also noted in his statement that even though the Secretary-General's proposals had been warmly welcomed, after nine months of further intensive consultations, consuming an enormous amount of time, effort and conference services, all that could be offered was the decision to send the bulk of them for additional consideration during the fifty-third session.

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Mr. Taukatch said the President had also referred to the work of the working group on reform of the Security Council, which he had chaired. The President said that for all the eloquent appeals for change, no visible movement could be reported from words towards deeds. After 65 meetings of the working group during the session, the body charged with preparing a blueprint for transforming the Council had been unable to submit any agreed recommendations on any of the substantive issues related to Security Council reform.

Mr. Taukatch concluded by recalling that there had been a twentieth special session of the General Assembly from 8 to 10 June as well as four meetings of the resumed tenth emergency special session.

Asked by a correspondent what would happen tomorrow regarding credentials, Mr. Taukatch replied that the election of the Credentials Committee was one of the first items on the agenda of the new session. The agenda would be opened at 3 p.m. by the provisional chairman, who was the head of the Ukrainian delegation. There would then be a moment of silence and meditation, after which the new members of the Committee would be elected. Only after that would the new President of the General Assembly be elected. The newly composed Committee would then have to deal with the issue of credentials for the fifty-third session.

Responding to another question, he explained to the same journalist that the minute of silence observed at the end of today's session was a long- standing tradition.

Another correspondent asked why Mr. Udovenko had been so low-key when referring to the non-fulfilment of annual obligations by a powerful Member State. Mr. Taukatch said the did not think the President had been low-key. His view was that no matter how ambitious the Organization was about reform, there could be no real reform unless the financial situation of the United Nations was resolved.

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