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 the ministerial Security Council meeting on Africa had started at roughly 10:30 a.m. and would finish at about 1:15 p.m. The Council was expected to adopt a presidential statement, a draft of which had been made available this morning in the Spokesman's Office.

Mr. Eckhard said the Secretary-General had addressed the Council, saying that "our meeting was the fruit of your determination to make a difference for peace and for prosperity in Africa. It is an expression of the political will that I called for in my report last April, the political will that is the condition for any success that our endeavours may meet in Africa, as everywhere".

In that same address, Mr. Eckhard continued, the Secretary-General had referred to his meeting yesterday on Africa with the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). At that meeting, all members of the Committee had expressed their support for the Secretary-General's recommendations in his report on Africa. The report had been described by one meeting participant as "the best United Nations report" he had ever seen, and another had called it "a conceptual revolution".

The Foreign Ministers had endorsed the Secretary-General's call for action in five priority areas, Mr. Eckhard said. One, was to increase the volume and improve the quality of official development assistance (ODA); two, was to convert all remaining official debt owed by the poorest African countries into grants; three, was to liberalize access to the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Debt Initiative; four, was to open markets to, and ease the terms of access for, African exports; and five, was to encourage investment in Africa.

As announced on Monday, the Spokesman then said, 14 experts from six countries were meeting today at the invitation of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) on the disarmament of Iraq to assess the findings of tests conducted by three laboratories on three different samples taken from destroyed Iraqi missile warheads. The six countries of origin of the experts included the United Kingdom, United States, France, Russian Federation, China and Switzerland. The meeting was taking place on the 31st floor of the Secretariat Building and was expected to last two days. Correspondents were reminded to stay off any floor of the Secretariat Building above the fourth floor, except by appointment.

Today marked the second anniversary of the opening for signature of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), the Spokesman said. Yesterday,

the Secretary-General had welcomed the announcement in the General Assembly by Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif that his country was prepared to adhere to the CTBT. The Secretary-General had said Pakistan was to be commended for heeding the concern of the international community.

On the Nigerian elections, Mr. Eckhard said, the Director of the United Nations Electoral Assistance Division, Carina Perelli, would arrive in Abuja, Nigeria, tomorrow. She would be conducting a needs-assessment mission at the request of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of Nigeria. Ms. Perelli, accompanied by Senior Electoral Consultant Ron Gould, would spend about 12 days in Nigeria, meeting with representatives of the INEC, the Government, the main political parties, the diplomatic community and organizations representing civil society. The purpose of the mission was to see if there was broad support for United Nations assistance in the forthcoming elections scheduled for February 1999.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, had begun her visit to Kosovo and the region, the Spokesman said. Her first stop was Belgrade, where she was currently meeting with President Slobodan Milosevic. Mrs. Ogata, whose agency was coordinating the United Nations humanitarian aid operation for victims of the Kosovo conflict, was pressing for an immediate cessation of hostilities.

From Belgrade, Mr. Eckhard continued, Mrs. Ogata would travel to Kosovo, where a continued crackdown by the Serbian police and military was resulting in increased numbers of civilian casualties and rising numbers of displacement. The latest update on the situation in Kosovo was available in the Spokesman's Office. Compiled by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the update put the number of refugees and displaced persons at an estimated 291,000.

As mentioned yesterday, the text of a speech by the Under-Secretary- General for Disarmament Affairs, Jayantha Dhanapala, had been made available, the Spokesman said. The statement was to be delivered tomorrow at an information session on small arms and light weapons being organized by the Governments of Canada and Norway. That meeting would take place at 9 a.m. in the Economic and Social Council Chamber. In addition to Mr. Dhanapala, actor Michael Douglas, as a Messenger of Peace with a special interest in small arms, would address the luncheon at about 1 p.m. An advance copy of his speech was hoped to be made available.

In response to yesterday's request for more information on the General Assembly's Sixth Committee (Legal) taking up the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Mr. Eckhard said the Committee was expected to set up a preparatory commission to gear up for the treaty's entry into force after ratification by 60 countries. It would be up to the General Assembly to

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 24 September 1998

decide whether to fund the secretariat for the Court through the regular budget or to absorb the work within the regular budget funding for the Office of Legal Affairs. Correspondents would be kept up to date on those developments.

The Independent Mixed Electoral Commission of the Central African Republic had yesterday announced a timetable for the legislative elections, the Spokesman said. President Angé Felix Patassé had signed a decree officially confirming the dates for the campaign and the elections. According to the timetable, the first round of legislative elections would take place on 22 November and the second on 13 December. The new National Assembly was scheduled to open on 1 January. The registration of candidates had begun today and the United Nations peacemaking mission in that country, the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic (MINURCA), would assist in the conduct of elections.

Mr. Eckhard then announced that a report on procurement reform was available on the racks as document A/53/271. In that report, the Secretary- General said that such reform was going well and he reiterated his recommendation to create a post for a Director of the Procurement Division.

Also, Mr. Eckhard said the fourth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change would take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 2 to 13 November. Accreditation forms for journalists were now available from Media Accreditation in room S-250.

As announced yesterday, Mr. Eckhard said, there was a press release today on the second round of grants from the United Nations Foundation overseeing the disbursement of Ted Turner's gift in support of United Nations causes. This time around, the Foundation was awarding some $32.8 million in various projects. Compared with the last round, support for United Nations environmental efforts increased most significantly.

There were two projects aimed at addressing global climate change, Mr. Eckhard said. In the area of children's health, there was a major project to discourage tobacco use by young people. There were also projects aimed at providing adolescent reproductive health care and preventing mother-to-child transmission of the HIV virus that causes AIDS. Details were contained in a press release available in room S-378, which also had contact numbers for further information. In addition, there was a press release from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) describing the grants they had both received.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) had released simultaneously today in Geneva and in Washington, D.C., its 1998-1999 World Employment Report, Mr. Eckhard announced. The Report stated that the number of unemployed or underemployed workers around the world had never been higher. It also warned that the numbers would grow by millions more before the end of the year as a result of the financial crisis in Asia and other parts of the world. Copies

Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 24 September 1998

of the press release highlighting the report were available on the ILO website, www.ilo.org, or in room S-378.

Today, the Government and people of Slovakia would be presenting a gift to the United Nations in the form of a sculpture entitled "St. Constantine- Cyril and St. Methodius -- Patrons of Europe", Mr. Eckhard said. The sculpture symbolized two brothers, the founders of the Slovak and Slav scripts and literature. Louise Fréchette, the Deputy Secretary-General, would accept the gift on behalf of the United Nations at 12:45 p.m. at a ceremony in the first basement near the Viennese Cafe. The text of Ms. Fréchette's statement was available in room S-378 on an embargoed basis.

The President of Honduras had met with the Secretary-General this morning and had handed over the instrument of ratification of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti- Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, Mr. Eckhard said. That had given Honduras the status of being the forty-first State to ratify that Convention.

The Republic of Moldova, Mr. Eckhard continued, had made a payment of $452,200 to the United Nations regular budget. That had taken the State out of the Article 19 loss of vote category and put it into the position of being the 100th State to pay its contribution for 1998 in full.

And yesterday, Mr. Eckhard added, the Philippines and Venezuela had signed the Convention on the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings. They had thus become the thirty-first and thirty-second States to do so.

Upcoming press conferences included one by the President of Honduras today at 1:30 p.m. in room S-226, the Spokesman said. The spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry of Japan would hold one today at 5 p.m. in the same room, and tomorrow, also in room S-226, there would be a 10:30 press conference by the President of Nigeria, an 11:30 a.m. one by the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and then after the noon briefing, one by the President of Cyprus.

Activity at the press stake-out area included a 12:30 p.m. joint statement by the Foreign Ministers of the United Kingdom and of Iran, Mr. Eckhard said. At 1 p.m., the Secretary of State of the United States would be at the stand-up microphone in the stake-out area. The Foreign Minister of Portugal, meanwhile, had spoken at the stake-out at about 12:15 p.m. He had issued a statement on behalf of the troika on the subject of Angola. The text of that statement was available in room S-378.

The Inter-Agency Appeal for Emergency Relief for the floods in China was now available in its entirety on the ReliefWeb, the Spokesman continued. Other information available on that website as of today included the latest situation report on hurricane Georges. Also, available in room S-378, was the sixth report on election-related intimidation and violence in Cambodia, a report prepared by

Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 24 September 1998

Thomas Hammarberg, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Human Rights in Cambodia.

Finally, Mr. Eckhard said, the Prime Minister of India had just finished his address to the General Assembly, and there was a statement attributable to the Secretary-General, which read as follows: "I commend with great satisfaction the announcement by the Prime Minister of India today of his Government's readiness to successfully conclude ongoing discussions on the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) so that the entry into force of the Treaty, for which the ratification of 44 States, including of India, is necessary, is not delayed beyond September 1999.

"Following the announcement made by the Prime Minister of Pakistan yesterday, India's statement increases the momentum for implementing under international law the ban on the testing of nuclear explosive devices in all environments. It is also most gratifying to note that both States are participating in the negotiations in the Conference on Disarmament to ban the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. These are encouraging developments for the world's progress towards nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation."

A correspondent asked for an explanation of a disturbance that had occurred on Monday afternoon during the meeting of the General Assembly.

Mr. Eckhard said that was the incident in which a woman shouted from the balcony of the General Assembly. Laila Jazayeri was arrested by the New York City Police on Monday evening. She was charged with criminal trespass and disorderly conduct. Following a court arraignment, she was released on the condition that she would not repeat such behaviour and the case was adjourned. In response to follow-up questions, Mr. Eckhard added that Ms. Jazayeri was a resident of London and was working for a non-governmental organization, the National Council of Women for the United States. She had a valid two-week United Nations pass, and she was thought to be an Iranian national.

Jadranka Mihalic, spokesman for General Assembly President Didier Opertti (Uruguay), said the President of the Assembly had announced at the beginning of yesterday afternoon's plenary session that the Republic of Moldova and Burundi had made the necessary payments to reduce their arrears under Article 19 of the Charter. A list of countries remaining under Article 19 would be made available this afternoon.

Also yesterday afternoon, Ms. Mihalic continued, the President of the Assembly had issued a statement attributable to his spokesman regarding Hurricane Georges. It was available on the racks in both English and Spanish.

This morning, the President had chaired the plenary until noon and then had held a series of bilateral meetings, Ms. Mihalic said. He had met first with the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Mongolia and then with the President

Daily Press Briefing - 6 - 24 September 1998

of El Salvador, Armando Calderon Sol. The Assembly President would be meeting momentarily with the President of the Council of Ministers of Lebanon.

This afternoon, the spokesman continued, the President would participate, in his capacity as Foreign Minister of Uruguay, in the ministerial meeting between the European troika and the Common Market of the South (MERCOSOR), followed by meetings with the President of Honduras, Carlos Roberto Flores, and the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Principality of Liechtenstein and New Zealand; then, finally, with the head of State of Nigeria.

This morning, the Assembly had continued the general debate with statements by: the Presidents of the Federated States of Micronesia, Honduras and Venezuela; the Prime Ministers of Israel and India; and the Foreign Ministers of Poland, Turkey and Bulgaria.

In the afternoon, Ms. Mihalic continued, the Assembly was scheduled to hear the Presidents of El Salvador and the Republic of Moldova, as well as the head of State of Nigeria. It would then hear statements by the Crown Prince of Monaco, the Foreign Minister of Guinea, the President of the Council of Ministers of Lebanon, and then the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Slovakia, Netherlands, Greece, Morocco and Cuba. The list of speakers for tomorrow was available on the table, Ms. Mihalic concluded.

A correspondent then asked what was the role of the Secretary-General overall in helping to bring India and Pakistan on board with the CTBT.

Mr. Eckhard said that in his meeting with the Prime Minister of Pakistan, the Secretary-General had strongly urged Pakistan to move towards ratification of the CTBT unconditionally. It was a main point that the Secretary-General had stressed in the meeting. And then later today, the Secretary-General would be seeing the Indian Prime Minister. "So, the Secretary-General has been a booster in encouraging everyone to ratify this Treaty and bring it into force", Mr. Eckhard concluded.

* *** *