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 announcing that a spokesman for the World Food Programme (WFP), Abby Spring, would give a briefing on ongoing relief efforts on wake of Hurricane Mitch. (The briefing by Ms. Spring is being issued separately.)

Mr. Eckhard then said that at yesterday's session, the Security Council had expressed its full support for the press statement issued earlier by the Secretary-General in Marrakesh, Morocco. The Secretary-General was in the air and would touch down at John F. Kennedy Airport within the hour. It was expected he would work from his residence this afternoon.

As is already known, the Council yesterday had requested to meet with the Secretary-General to review the situation with Iraq, the Spokesman continued. The Secretary-General and the Council President, A. Peter Burleigh (United States), had agreed that the meeting would take place tomorrow at 3:30 p.m.

A statement had been issued by the Executive Director of the Office of the Iraq Programme, Benon Sevan, and Mr. Eckhard read highlights from the full text available in the Spokesman's Office (room S-378). "This morning, the Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq, Hans van Sponeck, had decided to retain about 50 international staff in Baghdad in order to maintain a capacity to continue observation of the Iraq Programme. In Baghdad this morning, the WFP had sent out 18 national observers to observe food distribution by food agents and to make random checks of households receiving the official rations. Those observers had reported that food distribution was continuing normally."

Independent inspection agents at border crossings were working normally and had reported no change in the pace of arrivals, Mr. Eckhard continued, reading Mr. Sevan's statement. The independent oil inspectors stationed at Zakho in the northeast of Iraq, at the port of Ceyhan in Turkey and at the Mina Al-Bakr platform in the south of Iraq, had reported that oil exports were proceeding normally. Applications for the approval of contracts for the supply of further food, medicine and other essential supplies, were continuing to be processed and circulated to the Security Council's Committee overseeing the sanctions. The Secretary-General's report to the Security Council on the implementation of the current phase ending on 25 November was now being finalized.

The Security Council this morning had been briefed on the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) by the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Bernard Miyet, Mr. Eckhard said. The security situation on the ground there remained serious and today in Abkhazia, a

UNOMIG aircraft cleared to land at Gudauta, was forced to turn back when the pilot was informed the plane would be fired upon if it entered Abkhazian airspace. The UNOMIG patrols had been restricted by the threat of mines, although additional ballistic-protected vehicles were due to arrive this month, allowing for more patrolling activities. The Secretary-General in his latest report had proposed deploying more civilian personnel to provide increased security at UNOMIG's fixed locations.

Following the UNOMIG consultations, Mr. Eckhard said the Council had moved to a formal meeting and had adopted a resolution renewing the mandate of the United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan (UNMOT) for six months, until 15 May 1999. In its resolution, the Council had strongly condemned the murder of four UNMOT members in July and had urged the Government of Tajikistan to complete the investigation expeditiously and bring to justice those responsible for the crime.

This afternoon, the United States was expected to sign the Kyoto Protocol to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Mr. Eckhard then said. The signature had been announced today at the Fourth Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, now on-going in Buenos Aires, by the United States Under-Secretary of State for Business, Commerce, Economic and Agricultural Affairs, Stuart Eisenstadt. Copies of Mr. Eisenstadt's remarks were available in room S-378.

The United States signature would bring to 60, the number of signatory parties to that protocol, Mr. Eckhard said, adding that the Convention had been adopted in Kyoto on 11 December 1997. The signing would take place in room S-3205, the Treaty Section of the Office of Legal Affairs. The United States Vice-President, Albert Gore, was expected to issue a statement in Washington. The press were invited to cover the signing.

The WFP today had launched a $58 million appeal for an emergency food operation to benefit the more than 1 million victims of Hurricane Mitch in Central America, Mr. Eckhard said. The WFP's Abby Spring would say more about that during her briefing on the rescue plan, when she would also give a first hand account of the worst natural disaster to hit Central America in 200 years. Copies of the WFP's appeal and of the latest situation report, compiled by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), were available in room S-378.

On drug control, the Spokesman said over $270 million had been pledged in support of Peru's alternative development and drug prevention plan at a meeting of the Consultative Group on Peru yesterday. That meeting, held in Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday, had been co-organized by the European Commission and the United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP). The Executive Director of the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, Pino Arlacchi, had said the successful outcome of that meeting had

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 12 November 1998

been a concrete sign of the credibility of Member State commitment toward the UNDCP global approach in eliminating illicit crops, which had emerged at the special session of the General Assembly on drug control earlier this year. Mr. Arlacchi had also said he viewed the new pledge as evidence of the success of the new United Nations strategy for drug control. "The new strategy pays", Mr. Arlacchi had said.

"On the subject of elephant statues", Mr. Eckhard said, attention was drawn to a note to correspondents (Note No. 5532) on the racks this morning. The note concerned a rather extraordinary gift that the Secretary-General would accept next week on behalf of the United Nations. The larger-than-life size bronze-cast of a sleeping elephant was being presented to the Organization by the Governments of Kenya, Namibia and Nepal. "Does that make it an African elephant or an Asian elephant?" the Spokesman mused.

"Afro-Asian", an Associate Spokesman answered. Amid general laughter from those at the briefing, Mr. Eckhard continued by saying the four-ton gift would arrive via First Avenue and would be placed in the northwest corner of the United Nations garden. A contact number for further details was included on the note to correspondents.

Among the documents of interest that had been issued today, Mr. Eckhard said, was the Secretary-General's report on special assistance for the economic recovery of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (document A/53/538). There was also a report of the Office of Internal Oversight Services on the employment of retirees (document A/53/642), which mentioned an Oversight Office audit indicating that of the more than 5,300 Secretariat staff members in 1995-1997, at least 14 per cent had been over the retirement age of sixty. The Oversight Office had described that figure as "relatively high", and the report contained recommendations for ensuring full compliance with established policies governing the employment of retirees.

Also on the racks was a report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) concerning the revolving credit fund (document A/53/645), the Spokesman went on to say. The ACABQ had basically refrained from commenting on the proposed $1 billion fund, which would be used to help alleviate the financial problems of the United Nations, until the General Assembly had taken a decision on the principles involved.

Mr. Eckhard then said the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had issued an update today on the Great Lakes region of Africa. That contained an overview of recent population displacements and refugee movements in the volatile area. The update was available in room S-378.

On press conferences today, Mr. Eckhard said that an Adviser to the President of Kyrgyzstan, Asylbek Aidaraliev, would talk today on the International Year of Mountains, to be observed in 2002. The conference would be at 3 p.m. in room S-226.

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In response to a question, Mr. Eckhard recapped the number of humanitarian United Nations workers remaining in Baghdad by saying that as of this morning, 50 workers would stay in Baghdad, 10 more than expected as of yesterday.

Another correspondent said that just before the noon briefing, one of her colleagues had asked the United States representative to the United Nations, who was also this month's Security Council President, A. Peter Burleigh, a question regarding a statement allegedly made by someone in the United Nations Spokesman's Office to the effect that the Secretary-General would be willing to go to Baghdad if the United States would, basically, drop its opposition. "Has anybody in the Spokesman's Office said anything today about conditions under which the Secretary-General might or might not go to Baghdad?" the correspondent asked the Spokesman.

"Anyone in the Spokesman's Office who would make that statement would be strangled", Mr. Eckhard responded and received affirmative laughter. "Seriously", he continued. "The Secretary-General is just returning and he'll be in touch by telephone this afternoon from his residence with a number of people reacquainting himself with the situation. Tomorrow afternoon, he will meet with the Council. As I've said, the United Nations Charter gives the Secretary-General a good offices function whenever he wants to exercise it, but he will be staying in close contact with members of the Council."

As far as he knew, the Spokesman added, although he had not talked directly with the Secretary-General so far today, the Secretary-General did not see a possible role for himself in the situation. The Secretary-General was coming back to get fully acquainted with the situation, which was not to say the Secretary-General would not be available if the Council asked him to do something. At the moment, however, the Secretary-General had no plans to go to Baghdad.

Why was this situation different from the situation in February, when the Secretary-General had travelled to the Middle East? a correspondent asked.

First of all, Mr. Eckhard answered, in February before the Secretary-General had left, there had been an indication from Baghdad, communicated to the Secretary-General through Middle Eastern leaders essentially, that there was a readiness for compromise. Also, at that time, the Council had indicated that under the right conditions, it would be ready to compromise. Prior to that trip, the Secretary-General had met on four separate occasions with members of the Council to establish among them a consensus position on what could be discussed with the Iraqis if he went to see them. Thus, in February, the Secretary-General had gone with clear, although narrow, parameters on what he could discuss, and he had gone with an indication from the Iraqi side that they were ready to talk. "I don't think he's got those two conditions today", the Spokesman added.

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Another correspondent asked the Spokesman to be more specific. "Under what conditions would the Secretary-General consider a trip to Baghdad, both in terms of Iraq's position and that of the United States or the Council?"

"First, he would want an indication from the Iraqis that they were prepared to return to full compliance", Mr. Eckhard answered. "Then he would want the support of the Council, that they would like him to mediate."

"Is there movement?" the correspondent asked. "No", Mr. Eckhard answered, adding that at this time the Secretary-General was coming back to listen.

On another issue, a correspondent asked how realistic it was to think that the Secretary-General's report on the Democratic Republic of the Congo would have an impact in the General Assembly.

"In talking about the Congo, it's probably better to focus on the activities of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General in Africa, Mohamed Sahnoun, rather than on the report", Mr. Eckhard said, adding that Mr. Sahnoun would be back at Headquarters tomorrow and would be available to talk on that situation as well as on that in Eritrea/Ethiopia. It was also possible a briefing could be arranged.

Jadranka Mihalic, spokesman for General Assembly President Didier Opertti (Uruguay), said the plenary this morning was holding elections for the Economic and Social Council since the terms of one third of its 54 members would expire at the end of 1998. The elections were held by secret ballot and a two-thirds majority of Member States present and voting was required. Four members from the African States Group, four from the Asian States Group, three from the Eastern European States Group, three from the Latin American and Caribbean States Group and four from the Western European and Other States Group would be elected.

In the African Group, the candidates were the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Morocco and Rwanda, and the number of candidates matched the number of vacant seats, Ms. Mihalic said. The same was true in the Western European and Other States Group, in which the candidates were Canada, Denmark, Norway and the United Kingdom. In the Asian Group, there were five candidates for four seats, the candidates being China, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkmenistan. In the Eastern European States Group, there were five candidates for three seats, the candidates being Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and for the three seats in the Latin American and Caribbean States Group, there were four candidates: Bolivia, Ecuador, Honduras and Venezuela.

No plenary meetings were scheduled for tomorrow, the spokesman said. As for the work of the Committees, the First Committee (Disarmament and

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International Security) was meeting all day and continuing to take action on all draft resolutions before it. At the morning meeting of the Second Committee (Economic and Financial), several draft resolutions were being introduced including drafts on the proclamation of international years, on the proclamation of the year 2002 as the International Year of Ecotourism, on the renewal of dialogue to strengthen international economic cooperation for development through partnership, and finally, on cultural development.

The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural), Ms. Mihalic said, was meeting in the morning and afternoon, scheduled in both sessions to complete the general discussion of the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) was expected to complete this morning, the informal consultations on the scale of assessments and to begin general discussion this afternoon of the office accommodations and conference facilities in Geneva, The Hague and Addis Ababa. The Committee would also begin general discussion of the financing of the United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL) and to continue discussion of the Secretary-General's report on the activities of the Office of Internal Oversight Services. Following the adjournment of the formal meeting, the Committee would hold informal consultations on the pattern of conferences.

The Sixth Committee (Legal) was meeting all day to discuss measures to eliminate international terrorism, the spokesman said. In the afternoon, the Committee was also scheduled to hold informal consultations on jurisdictional immunities.

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Note: In the first paragraph of the press conference on "The Third Way -- Between Neo-Liberalism and the Welfare State" of 10 November, Saleem Fahmawi of the Department of Public Information should have been identified as the moderator.