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 informing correspondents that the Secretary-General had left New York this morning for Dublin, Ireland, to begin a tour that would also take him to Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland. The Secretary-General's official programme in Ireland would begin tomorrow, Thursday, 21 January, with talks with Foreign Minister David Andrews and a visit to the peacekeeping school at the Curragh. Mr. Eckhard said the school was run by a former colleague of his from the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Namibia, Colonel Oliver MacDonald. Correspondents would be kept informed daily about the Secretary- General's programme.

Mr. Eckhard said the Secretary-General had been pleased to hear United States President William Clinton, in his State of the Union message last night, renew his pledge to work with the United States Congress to pay both United States dues and debts to the United Nations. President Clinton had also referred to the crucial role the United Nations must play in the next century. As the Secretary-General had said to the Council on Foreign Relations last night, the United Nations needed the United States to achieve its goals. He had added: "I believe the United States needs the United Nations no less." A strong and effective United Nations can exist only when all Member States pay their dues in full and on time.

The Security Council this morning had consultations on Afghanistan, and had been briefed by the Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Afghanistan, Lahkdar Brahimi, the Spokesman said. The second item on the Council's agenda was Angola. The Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Bernard Miyet, was to introduce the report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA) (document S/1999/49). He was to be followed by Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Sergio Vieira de Mello, who was to brief on the humanitarian situation in Angola. Council members were expected to discuss a possible presidential statement on Angola, the Spokesman said.

After a marathon session last night, the Security Council had adopted a presidential statement on Kosovo which condemned the massacres of Kosovar Albanians in the village of Racak in southern Kosovo. Also last night, the President of the Council, Celso L.M. Amorim (Brazil), had read a press statement on Burundi, expressing support for the Arusha process and urging the international community to provide financial support. The Council President had also read a statement on Haiti, urging President René Préval, the Haitian authorities and political leaders to continue their efforts to reach a negotiated solution to the political and electoral crisis in that country.

The Spokesman said a media briefing on Haiti was being organized by senior Secretariat officials for tomorrow. It would probably be held in the

afternoon, and the details would be confirmed at tomorrow's noon briefing, he added. Correspondents had a "bonus on Haiti" today with the press conference held at 11 a.m. by the International Peace Academy, the Spokesman also said.

Mr. Eckhard said his Office had a text of a statement made by the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Judge Louise Arbour, who had returned to The Hague today from Skopje in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. In the statement, issued at The Hague today, Judge Arbour said she continued to hope that President Slobodan Milosevic could be persuaded to assist her in uncovering the full truth of what had happened at Racak. She added that if she were granted access to Kosovo for investigative purposes, she would not consider that to constitute an admission by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia that the International Tribunal had any jurisdiction in Kosovo. Mr. Eckhard encouraged correspondents to "take a look at that statement and read it carefully".

The Secretary-General's Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters had begun a two-day session this morning in Geneva, Mr. Eckhard went on to say. In his message to the Board, which had been delivered by the Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, Jayantha Dhanapala, the Secretary-General said the disturbing events of last year in South Asia had demonstrated how much work needed to be done in the area of non-proliferation and disarmament. The Secretary-General also pointed out that the scourge of small arms continued to devastate civilians around the world. For its part, the United Nations was helping West African countries to implement a moratorium on light weapons. If successful, the Secretary-General said, the ban could lead to a renaissance of peace in the region, and serve as an example to a continent whose economic and social development had been all too often hindered by internal strife and conflict. The full text of the message was available in the Spokesman's Office.

Mr. Eckhard said that following the Abuja peace accord on Guinea-Bissau, and on the basis of the findings of an earlier inter-agency mission, the Secretary-General had decided to send an electoral needs assessment team to the West African country. The mission, which would take place at the end of this month and last about 10 days, would look into what kind of support the United Nations could bring to the elections scheduled to take place next March.

As had been mentioned in the "Week Ahead" feature last Friday, Mr. Eckhard said the Economic and Social Council had today elected its Bureau, with Francesco Paolo Fulci, the Permanent Representative of Italy to the United Nations, as its new President. A press release with details on the rest of the Bureau would be issued by the Department of Public Information (DPI).

"More money came in today", Mr. Eckhard announced. He said four Member States had today "joined the honour roll" of those who had paid their 1999 dues in full and on time to the United Nations regular budget. They were:

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 20 January 1999

Armenia $370,239; Austria $9,777,842; Luxembourg $706,582; and Sweden $11,263,741. So far, 23 Member States had paid up, he said, adding: "But we're still not out of the hole yet, however. Over $1.4 billion is owed to the regular budget, plus over $1.6 billion for peacekeeping". More than $50 million in assessed contributions for this year had so far been received, but more than $100 million was needed "just to operate each month", he said.

Available in the Spokesman's Office was a press release from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda announcing a trial that would begin on Monday, 25 January. There was also a press release from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in which UNESCO Director-General Federico Mayor called for a peaceful solution to the Angolan conflict.

Also available in the Spokesman Office was an announcement from Vienna stating that more than 300 delegates had gathered there to discuss the draft of the convention against transnational organized crime. The purpose of the convention was to promote cooperation among the future States parties to it so that they might address more effectively the various aspects of organized crime having an international dimension. The convention would also include three additional protocols: on trafficking in women and children; combating the illicit manufacturing and trafficking in firearms; and illegal trafficking and transportation of migrants, including by sea. The first informal meeting of the ad hoc committee on the convention had been held in Buenos Aires from 31 August to 4 September last year.

The Spokesman recalled his announcement yesterday that there would be a briefing at 12:30 p.m. today on International Humanitarian Law and Armed Conflict. The briefing was to be given by Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Sergio Vieira de Mello, but he had been delayed in the Security Council consultations on Angola. It had, therefore, been pushed back to 1:30 p.m. and would take place in conference room 3627B on the 36th floor. The Spokesman said the briefing would be taking place a day before the open meeting of the Security Council on the item "Promoting peace and security: humanitarian activities relevant to the Security Council". (It was later announced that the briefing had been rescheduled for 2:30 p.m.)

A correspondent asked whether, in the wake of yesterday's meeting between the Secretary-General and the Foreign Minister of Argentina, the Spokesman knew of any scheduled meeting the Secretary-General might have with the British Government on resumption of negotiations on the Falkland/Malvinas question. Mr. Eckhard said he had "nothing as a follow-up" to that meeting, but would enquire if the correspondent wished.

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