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 with the announcement that the Security-Council had first taken up Croatia this morning. Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hedi Annabi had introduced the Secretary-General's report on the United Nations Police Support Group there.

The Council then had taken up the protection of humanitarian assistance to refugees and others in conflict situations, the subject on which it would have an open debate tomorrow, Mr. Eckhard said. The Council had agreed on the text of a Presidential statement that it planned to adopt after the open debate.

At present, Mr. Eckhard said, the Council was being briefed on the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahima Fall was briefing the Council on the political side of the situation. On the humanitarian aspect of the situation, the Council was being briefed by Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths who had briefed the press in room S-226 last week.

The Spokesman said that right now, the Secretary-General was meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq, Tariq Aziz. The meeting had begun at 11:20 a.m. and was scheduled to last for one hour. A read-out of the meeting would be requested, of course. Mr. Aziz was expected to spend some time in New York and would be meeting with various members of the Security Council during his stay.

Mr. Eckhard then read an excerpt from a statement available in his Office. "The Secretary-General has decided to appoint Hans von Sponeck, a national of Germany, as United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq. Mr. von Sponeck will succeed Denis Halliday, who leaves Iraq on 30 September. The Secretary-General wishes to record his high appreciation for the dedication and experience that Mr. Halliday brought to this complex assignment."

"Since the first deliveries in 1977", Mr. Eckhard continued, "nearly 7 million tonnes of food worth more than $2.2 billion, and $366 million worth of medicine has been delivered to Iraq under the oil-for-food programme."

Mr. von Sponeck was currently with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Mr. Eckhard said. In 1968, he had begun serving in Ghana and then had gone on to Turkey. He had been the Resident Representative for the UNDP in Botswana in the mid-1980s and the Resident Coordinator in Pakistan from the mid-1980s to 1990s. Currently, he was the Resident Coordinator in India.

A press release from the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia was available in room S-378, Mr. Eckhard said. It contained details of yesterday's detention by the multinational Stabilization Force (SFOR) of Stevan Todorovic, indicted by the Tribunal. He was now being processed for transfer to The Hague. His first appearance before the Tribunal was scheduled to take place on Wednesday of this week.

The pre-sentencing hearing for Jean-Paul Akayesu had been held today at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania, Mr. Eckhard continued. At the hearing, the prosecution had asked the Tribunal's Trial Chamber I to impose a maximum sentence of life imprisonment on Mr. Akayesu, who had been the former Mayor of the Taba Commune and had been convicted on nine counts of genocide and crimes against humanity on 2 September. Mr. Akayesu had asked the court for a pardon and had expressed regret about the Rwandan genocide. He would be sentenced on Friday of this week.

Advance copies were available of the Secretary-General's address today to the eighth annual Ministerial Meeting of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Mr. Eckhard said. There were 600 million people living in the four dozen "L-LDCs", the Spokesman said, in citing the Secretary-General's forthcoming remarks. The development problems of those countries had to be brought to the forefront of the developmental agenda, the Secretary-General said, calling for action to increase investment, reduce debt and enhance access to market for those countries.

Mr. Eckhard then said a delegation from the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) had landed in Iran today to elaborate, in close consultation with the Government of Iran, a strategy to address the current flow of illicit opiates into Iran from Afghanistan. The delegation, headed by Renzo Imbeni, Vice-President of the European Parliament, would stay in Iran for seven days. A press release on the issue was available in room S-378.

A United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) press release was also available at the documents counter, Mr. Eckhard added. That release was on the possible link between hurricane Georges and La Niña, a weather phenomenon occurring as a result of the direct reversal of conditions leading to the more widely known El Niño phenomenon.

The UNEP and the United States National Centre for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, had recently convened a La Niña summit, the Spokesman explained. The purpose of the summit was to identify what was known and not known about La Niña, and what societies needed to know about it. "If La Niña develops how we think it might", the Spokesman said in quoting the Executive Director of UNEP, Klaus Topfer, from the press release, "then the concern is that the frequency of storms like Georges might increase".

There were new signings of United Nations instruments, Mr. Eckhard then announced. On Friday, the Republic of Korea had signed the Kyoto Protocol on

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climate change, becoming the fifty-fourth signatory to that Convention. Also on Friday, the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire had signed the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings, becoming the thirty-third signatory to that Convention.

Now available was a press release from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Mr. Eckhard said. The release concerned the grants that the Fund had just received from the United Nations Foundation overseeing the administration of Ted Turner's gift. Also available was an update by the Department of Public Information (DPI) on United Nations Peacekeeping Operations. That comprehensive list had been updated as of 1 September.

Upcoming press conferences in room S-226 would begin with a 10:15 a.m. press conference tomorrow by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, Lakshman Kadirgamar, who was the current Chairman of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). That would be followed by an 11 a.m. press conference by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Zivadin Jovanovic, who on Friday had been mistakenly confused with Vladislav Jovanovic, the Federal Republic of Yugolslavia's Chargé d'affaires here at Headquarters, who had given a press conference last week. This would be the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Finally, Mr. Eckhard said some might have noted the Secretary-General making an announcement in his Staff Day speech about the reopening of the meditation room. That room had been created by former Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld as "a place where the doors may be open to the infinite lands of thought and prayer". The meditation room was located off the public lobby of the General Assembly building. It was now reopened to staff and the public as of 18 September, but only on a two-month trial basis. It had been closed in the late 1980s due to abuse of the premises.

A sign bearing Hammarskjöld's essay explaining the room's purpose had been placed just to the left of the entrance, Mr. Eckhard continued. A sign asking people to respect the sanctity of the room had been hung in the antechamber.

"At a time of uncertainty in international affairs, and at a time when we continue to grieve for lost colleagues", Mr. Eckhard said, the Secretary- General had told the staff in his announcement of the room's reopening, "I commend to you the room as the place to contemplate the mission on which we are all embarked". In room S-378, there were copies of Hammarskjöld's essay on the purpose of the room.

A correspondent asked whether the United Nations was looking into the food distribution policy in Iraq. Mr. Eckhard said, "Why would you ask that question?" The correspondent clarified the question to indicate interest in seeing evidence of the manner of distribution. "I see, because of the changeover in the new director of the Programme", Mr. Eckhard responded,

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adding that he was not aware of any special review. "On an ongoing basis, of course, we always ask ourselves how we can do things better. But in our opinion, that Programme is going reasonably well now."

"Does the Secretary-General know what he wants to do in a comprehensive review? Is that what he communicated to Tariq Aziz"? a correspondent asked.

"I assume that was one of the major items on their agenda, but we will have to wait for the read-out", Mr. Eckhard responded. The Security Council called for Iraq to come back to full compliance before any comprehensive review can even be considered. That was the importance of meetings Tariq Aziz would be having this week with Council members. "Should he have questions about the comprehensive review or how it might work, I'm sure he's putting those questions to the Secretary-General this morning", the Spokesman added.

The same correspondent asked whether the report on the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) expert discussions held last week at Headquarters regarding the VX nerve agent tests had gone to UNSCOM's Executive Director, Richard Butler. Mr. Eckhard said the next step was for the report to be submitted to Mr. Butler, but he would have to check on whether that had been done today.

There was an annual conference in Washington this week, by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, which the Washington Post had said could well decide the fate of the least developed countries, a correspondent said. Did the Secretary-General intend to address that conference in light of his interest in globalization and what it was doing to those countries?

Mr. Eckhard said that, to the best of his knowledge, the Secretary- General would not be addressing that meeting. The Secretary-General's views on globalization and the least developed countries with which he would address the ministerial meeting this afternoon were known. "I guess he hopes his ideas will have an impact, but to my knowledge he is not addressing the group formally."

Asked about whether Mr. Halliday was returning to Headquarters, Mr. Eckhard said Mr. Halliday would be returning to the United States and possibly coming to Headquarters for debriefings. He had given "personal reasons" for his leaving, and it was not known what plans he had for himself professionally. In response to another question, Mr. Eckhard said that as far as he knew, Mr. Halliday would not be holding a press conference in room S-226.

A correspondent mentioned an in-house matter to be put on the record, which he would later take up with the Spokesman, who was absolved of participating in the problem, which had to do with questions during a photo opportunity. "What is the procedure? Who decides that? Once a reporter and international media are in there and you have given the okay, what role does

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DPI have? Should the Secretary-General be notified ahead of time?" The reference was to an incident that had occurred about an hour previously, when the Spokesman had given approval for questions at a photo opportunity and DPI had then said no questions could be asked. "It's not exactly transparency on the part of the United Nations", the correspondent continued. "But we will continue to not go into meetings where questions can't be asked. But isn't it the Spokesman who decides?"

"Ultimately, it's the Secretary-General and his guest who decide whether they will allow questions", Mr. Eckhard explained. "A photo opportunity by definition is not an occasion to ask questions. The Secretary-General has shown a certain flexibility, saying he would take a question or two. But in a politically sensitive meeting, it was necessary to check with both the Secretary-General and his guest."

From his understanding of what had occurred in the morning, Mr. Eckhard continued, journalists should let the Spokesman's Office know in enough time for it to check and let them know. "But by definition, there should be no questions at a photo opportunity", he added.

"In Washington, media will not attend a photo opportunity if they are not allowed to ask questions", the correspondent responded. "The very nature of the event is to have invited coverage. But yes, I know this is not Washington", he conceded.

Another correspondent raised the issue of Dag Hammarskjöld being the one always mentioned, as in the earlier reference to the meditation room. "There were others who died in the plane with him."

"The meditation room is not so much in connection with his death, but that it was his idea to have the room for the rest of us", Mr. Eckhard answered. "So his thoughts on why a meditation room could be useful are contained in the essay."

The correspondent then referred to others who had died in service to the United Nations. "Sometimes it seems we forget them", he added.

The Spokesman said, "If you turn around from the meditation room and look on the opposite wall, there is a note by the artist Marc Chagall dedicating the stained glass window, which is just to the right of the room, to those who died in the service of the United Nations".

Jadranka Mihalic, spokesman for General Assembly President Didier Opertti (Uruguay), said that, as mentioned on Friday, the President was in Washington, DC, addressing the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States on the issue of New Challenges before the United Nations. The President would be back to preside over the afternoon plenary session.

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The speakers in this morning's session of the plenary were the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Philippines, Oman, Singapore, Belize, San Marino and Tunisia, Ms. Mihalic continued. This afternoon, the Assembly would continue the debate with addresses by the Vice-President of the Seychelles, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Republic of Tanzania, and the Chairman of the delegation of Antigua and Barbuda.

The Assembly would also hear an address by Yasser Arafat of Palestine, the spokesman said. Following that, the Assembly would hear addresses by: the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan and Algeria; the Secretary of State and Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Gambia; the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyzstan; the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea; and the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Croatia.

On Friday afternoon, the President had announced in the plenary meeting that Vanuatu had made the necessary payment to reduce its arrears below the amount specified in Article 19 of the United Nations Charter, Ms. Mihalic said. That left 14 Member States in the Article 19 category.

Also on Friday, the Assembly had received the tentative schedule of items to be considered up until 16 October, Ms. Mihalic continued. That was available as document INF/53/3. The list of speakers for those items had been opened today.

Finally, Ms. Mihalic said that after the final speaker of the general debate tomorrow morning, the Assembly would take up the election of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The lists of speakers for today and tomorrow were on the side table, along with the sixth update of the list of speakers in the general debate.

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