DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Press Briefing

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General:

**Secretary-General's Statement to Families of Victims in Haiti Helicopter Crash

Good afternoon. The following statement is available in the Spokesman's office:

It is with profound sadness that the Secretary-General has learned of the deaths, on Sunday March 14, of six members of the Argentinian National Gendarmerie serving with MIPONUH, that is our peacekeeping mission in Haiti, and seven members of the International Charter Incorporated Helicopter Company in the tragic crash of a helicopter flying for the United Nations in Haiti. The aircraft was on its way to Labadie, on the north coast of Haiti, to assist a seriously injured person. The Secretary-General extends his condolences to the families of the victims during this time of sorrow.

There were no survivors in the United Nations helicopter crash that happened in Haiti last Sunday evening. A search team from the United Nations Mission there arrived at the site of the crash late yesterday. They camped there overnight. They searched the area this morning and found no survivors. Most bodies were burned beyond recognition. The United Nations Mission in Haiti is planning to bring the bodies back to Port-au-Prince by the end of today. We are sending an air safety expert to join in the investigation of the crash.

We are releasing the names of six Russians, six Argentines and one American, who were killed in the crash. Their families have been notified.

You can get the text and the list in my office.

**Secretary-General's Address to United States-Africa Ministerial Conference:

This morning, the Secretary-General addressed the United States-Africa Ministerial Conference in Washington, D.C.

The Secretary-General recalled some of the major themes of his report to the Security Council on Africa last April, including his call for reducing the continent's debt burden.

The report highlighted the need for concerted political will at the highest levels to reduce Africa's crippling debt. At the Conference, President Clinton called on the international community to take a broad

approach to debt relief that would result in significant debt forgiveness. The President also pledged to improve the initiative for the heavily indebted poor countries -- another measure that the Secretary-General recommended in his report.

In his speech to the Conference, the Secretary-General stressed the importance of the United States helping Africa to reach its full potential. "Africa needs its partnership with America to be as profound in its consequences as it is admirable in its aspiration", he said.

We have the full text of his statement in my office.

**Secretary-General has Trilateral Meeting

After those opening ceremonies of the United States-Africa ministerial conference, the Secretary-General had a trilateral meeting with Salim Salim, the Secretary-General of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and Madeleine Albright, the United States Secretary of State. There were other United States officials specializing in African policy participating in that meeting.

They discussed the border conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea and how best to achieve a ceasefire. They assessed current efforts to bring an end to the fighting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and, on Sierra Leone, they discussed peace efforts and the need to materially and logistically support the West Africa Peacekeeping Force. That meeting lasted about forty minutes. If you want the details of other officials who were present you can get that information from my office.

**Security Council Consultations

The Security Council has scheduled consultations today on a letter from Papua New Guinea concerning Bougainville and the report of the Sanctions Committee on Kosovo. There will also be a briefing by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations on the United Nations helicopter crash in Haiti.

Tomorrow, the Council will hear a briefing by the Under-Secretary- General for Political Affairs, Kieran Prendergast, on Afghanistan. The briefing scheduled on Angola has been shifted to Thursday.

On Friday, there will be an open debate in the Security Council on "The Peaceful Settlement of the dispute in the Democratic Republic of the Congo".

**Bosnia Official Injured in Car Bomb Explosion

Shortly before 8 this morning, the Deputy Interior Minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jozo Leutar, was seriously injured in a car bomb explosion in Sarajevo. Two other occupants in the car sustained minor injuries and were later released.

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The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Elisabeth Rehn, expressed her shock and horror at this incident and condemned it in the strongest terms. The United Nations International Police Task Force is already assisting the local police in the investigation of this incident. We have a copy of Ms. Rehn's statement in my office.

**President of ICTY Resigns

In a letter distributed to her staff today, Judge Gabrielle Kirk McDonald, President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, advised them of her resignation effective as of 17 November this year, or as soon thereafter as cases to which she is assigned are completed. In her letter, she said, "I will not leave my commitment to justice in The Hague. I will continue to support the work of the Tribunal in any way that I can. I am sure each of you is as proud as I am to be a part of this historical development of international humanitarian law, which the Tribunal represents. I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to have been a fellow participant in this accomplishment". The text of her letter is available in my office.

**Refugee Update

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) staff in northern Zambia are bracing for the arrival of more refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo as fighting continues between rebels and pro-Government forces, driving more and more Congolese out.

UNHCR staff at the Kalanda border crossing yesterday heard gunfire from across the border as they counted 900 arrivals in a single hour, but there were no injuries reported among the latest arrivals.

More refugees were entering Zambia at other points along the border, making it difficult to estimate the total number of new arrivals. Since Friday, 5 March, Zambia has received at least 6,000 Congolese, including 750 Democratic Republic of the Congo soldiers and policemen.

The information is contained in the note from today's UNHCR briefing in Geneva, which includes updates on Kosovo and Afghanistan.

**UNDCP Annual Session

Today in Vienna, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, which is the United Nations main policy-making body for drug control, starts its ten-day annual session. As a main focus of this session, the 53 members of the Commission will review steps taken by nations to meet drug control targets set at the General Assembly special session in New York last June.

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The Commission will also review substances to be controlled under international drug treaties. This item is of special interest to pharmaceutical companies, since any substance put under international control becomes subject to prescription and could lose considerable market value.

Another crucial item on the Commission's agenda will be the report of a 13-member high-level expert group appointed by the Secretary-General on how the International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) should be strengthened. We have a background release for you in my office.

**ILO to Examine Plight of Asian Workers

The plight of Asian workers and enterprises and the International Labor Organization's (ILO) response to the region's economic woes, which have caused massive business failures and upwards of 24 million lost jobs in East Asia alone, will be examined by the organization's Governing Body in a special two-day Symposium which gets underway on Friday, 19 March at ILO headquarters in Geneva. We have a press release containing more information including changes in unemployment rates over the last two years in seven countries in East Asia.

**Kyoto Protocol Closed to Signatures

Yesterday marked the final day that the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change was open for signature. Three more countries got in under the wire. They are Cuba, Egypt and Ukraine. The Protocol now has 84 signatories and seven ratifications. Countries that have not signed the Kyoto Protocol can still become parties to that treaty even though it is no longer open for signature. They do this by accession -- in other words, they make the Protocol law in their territory without having signed it. There's no deadline for acceding to the treaty.

**UNICEF Welcomes Global Vitamin A Partnership

From the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) today, we have a press release welcoming the United Kingdom to the Global Vitamin A Partnership which includes the World Health Organization (WHO), other donor governments and a growing number of private sector groups. At a luncheon in Washington, hosted by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and USAID Administrator Brian Atwood, UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy said that vitamin A supplementation is urgently needed by 100 million children around the world and noted that the cost of supplying it to one child is but 4 cents a year. The goal of the Partnership is to see that all the world's children receive adequate dosages of this essential vitamin.

Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 16 March 1999

**Olara Otunnu to be guest at noon briefing

Tomorrow we will have as a guest at the noon briefing Olara Otunnu, who is the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, and he is returning today from visits to Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Sudan.

**Question and Answer Session

Question: On the Haiti helicopter crash -- is it usual for the United Nations to rescue tourists?

Spokesman: It's not unusual for us to respond positively to a request for humanitarian assistance. Our peacekeeping mission in Southern Lebanon, not so long ago, responded to a request from the Lebanese Government to assist in the search for a lost fisherman. So to the extent that our resources permit and when we get a specific request, we try to be helpful in any way we can.

Question: How was the request formulated from the Government of Finland?

Spokesman: The Finnish Government asked for assistance and we tried to provide it as the woman was a Finnish national who had been injured in a swimming accident. I believe it was a woman who had been hit by a motorboat while she was swimming and was seriously injured and needed medical evacuation.

Question: Why were there extra personnel in the second helicopter?

Spokesman: The first helicopter that tried to assist developed a fuel leak and had to do an emergency landing. The second helicopter was taking a contingent of five Argentinian police to secure the first helicopter. So that's why there were extra personnel on the second helicopter. They took a doctor as well.

Question: The Secretary-General has said that there must be African solutions to African problems. Is he worried that African nations are apparently looking elsewhere for solutions?

Spokesman: I think there are two parts to his message. He said it is certainly up to Africans to secure the environment in which the international community could then invest. So, first Africans should get their national and regional affairs in terms of security and laws governing investment in order -- and the United Nations has offered them advice on how best to do that. Then, he described Africa as the last great investment frontier. Once the investment environment is secure and predictable, then he would hope the rest

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of the world would go there and make sound productive investments that would benefit everyone.

Question: Why is Judge Gabrielle Kirk McDonald resigning?

Spokesman: Judge McDonald informed her staff today that she would like to step down. She has served two terms of duty and it's purely for personal reasons that she would like to come home.

Question: Has the Secretary-General been informed of President Nelson Mandela's visit to Libya?

Spokesman: President Mandela's trip to Libya is done in coordination with the Secretary-General and in support of the Secretary-General's ongoing efforts to bring to closure this matter of the trial for the suspects in the Lockerbie case.

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