DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Press Briefing

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Manoel de Almeida e Silva, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General, began today's noon briefing by informing correspondents that the Security Council this morning was continuing consultations on Iraq. Following those, the Council was expected to take up the situation in Angola, for which it had before it the text of a draft presidential statement. A formal meeting on Angola might be convened. Under other matters, the Council was expected to hear a briefing by the Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Ibrahima Fall, on the situation in Ethiopia and Eritrea, and another by the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Hedi Annabi, concerning the situation in Sierra Leone.

Given the very lengthy discussions on Iraq, Mr. Almeida e Silva said that the Council's schedule was subject to change. "So, stay tuned, we'll keep you informed." At 3:30 p.m., the Council was expected to resume the open meeting on maintenance of peace and security and post-conflict peace-building. Twenty-one speakers remained on the list. All 15 Council members had spoken last week during the meeting which had been interrupted at the onset of the recent Iraq crisis.

Mr. Almeida e Silva then read out the following statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Secretary-General:

"The Secretary-General is concerned at the continuing military activities in Lebanon, which have once again resulted in civilian casualties. He deplores the death of Lebanese civilians in an Israeli air raid, which prompted the firing of rockets by Lebanese armed elements into northern Israel, endangering Israeli civilians. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was in touch with the parties in an effort to prevent an escalation. The Secretary-General urges the parties concerned to put an end to the violence and, in particular, to respect the non-combatant status of civilians."

Anticipating possible questions on the news concerning Cuban representatives, Mr. Almeida e Silva said that on 21 December, the United States Mission had informed the Secretary-General that the United States had informed the Permanent Mission of Cuba that, based on investigations conducted by its competent authorities, three members of the Cuban Mission had engaged in conduct outside their official capacity. The United States deemed those activities to be harmful to its security and to constitute abuse of the privilege of residence, according to section 13 (b) of the Headquarters agreement between the United States and the United Nations.

Continuing, the Deputy Spokesman said that the United States Mission had also indicated that unless the Cuban Mission provided information within 24 hours to justify a contrary outcome, the United States would request that arrangements be made for their expeditious departure. The United States Mission had today informed the Secretary-General of a letter from its

Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 23 December 1998

Government to the Cuban Mission, dated 23 December. In it, the United States noted that such information had not been provided by the Cuban Government, and with regret, stated that it must now request that arrangements be made for the three members of the Cuban Mission to depart the United States by 5 p.m. on 28 December.

The Deputy Spokesman drew attention to the announcement made yesterday that the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia had indicted two Bosnian Croats for their alleged involvement in the ethnic cleansing campaign against Muslims in Mostar in 1993. According to the indictment, Mladen "Tuta" Naletilic and Vinko "Stela" Martinovic had been active in a militia that specialized in front line combat missions, expulsions and attacks against Bosnian Muslim civilians in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A press release was available in the Spokesman's Office.

Also available was a press release from the International Civil Aviation Organization, which reported that worldwide air traffic had increased by only 1 per cent since last year, he said. That figure represented a substantial slow-down compared to previous years when air traffic had increased by an average of 7 per cent annually.

In other announcements, Mr. Almeida e Silva said that Solomon Islands today became the 116th Member State to pay its dues in full, with a cheque for more than $10,000. By this date last year, only 99 Member States had paid in full. The Deputy Spokesman said that today's noon guest, John Zogby, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Zogby International, a polling and market research firm, was unable to attend the briefing due to bad weather conditions. Hopefully, he would attend the first briefing of 1999, on 4 January. Correspondents would be kept informed.

Replying to a question about whether anyone from the United Nations, in particular the Secretary-General, had spoken to anyone at the Cuban Mission regarding the Cuban diplomats, the Deputy Spokesman said, no, not to his knowledge. The United Nations, as he had already stated, had received communication from the United States Mission.

Asked in a follow-up question about whether that letter would be made available, he said he did not think so.

Had the United States Mission specified the nature of the "undiplomatic" activities? another correspondent asked. The Deputy Spokesman referred the correspondent to the United States Mission.

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