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 Manoel de Almeida e Silva, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General, and Jadranka Mihalic, spokesman for the General Assembly President.

**Kosovo:

Good afternoon. From Kosovo today, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is reporting that tension has risen sharply in Kosovo's main city Pristina, swollen with thousands of fresh internal refugees. It was a market day in Pristina today, but UNHCR staff said the usually bustling market place was practically empty because people feared going out to public areas.

The UNHCR, meanwhile, today dispatched a convoy of nine trucks to seven places inside Pristina to assist some 12,000 people who sought refuge from the fighting in the city. The remaining aid workers find it increasingly difficult to access certain areas in Kosovo because of the scope of the military operations. On Monday, one UNHCR convoy in Kosovo was stopped by police 11 times on its way.

As you know, the Secretary-General issued a statement on Kosovo yesterday afternoon in which he appealed to the Yugoslav authorities to halt their military offensive in Kosovo and act to alleviate the humanitarian situation and, even at this late hour, to prevent further confrontation and reach a political settlement.

**Security Council:

The Security Council is meeting in consultations today. The first item on the agenda is Somalia. Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast was to brief on that subject.

The other item on the agenda, Bosnia and Herzegovina, features a briefing by Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Bernard Miyet on the United Nations mission in that country.

**Rwanda:

You may have seen media reports that the Secretary-General had sent a letter to the Security Council on Rwanda. I would like to confirm that the Secretary-General did in fact send a letter to the President of the Council last week informing him of his intention to set up an independent inquiry to establish the facts and reach conclusions on the response of the United Nations to the 1994 tragedy in Rwanda. Considering the importance of this undertaking, the Secretary-General asked the Council for its support to the inquiry.

**Western Sahara:

The Secretary-General submitted to the Security Council his report on Western Sahara late yesterday. In his report, the Secretary-General indicates that on 22 March, the Permanent Representative of Morocco communicated in writing that his Government accepted, in principle, the United Nations- proposed package, designed to accelerate the referendum process, on the understanding that certain amendments would be incorporated in the identification and appeals protocols, and that operational directives, together with a revised timetable, would be provided by the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) to the parties. Morocco asked that the modalities for organizing the identification and appeals be consistent with the objective of holding the referendum by March 2000. The United Nations Mission in Western Sahara expects to provide the parties with revised texts at the end of March.

In light of this progress, the Secretary-General recommends a one-month extension of the mandate of the Mission, until 30 April. He has also designated Robin Kinloch, the Chairman of the Identification Commission, as Acting Special Representative in Western Sahara.

**Iraq: Oil Flow Interrupted for a Day:

According to the latest weekly update on the implementation of the oil- for-food programme, Iraq has exported 216.5 million barrels of oil for an estimated revenue of $2 billion up to now during the current 180-day period, which is Phase V. This is an average of 1.9 million barrels a day at $9.31 a barrel. Oil flow from Iraq to the Turkish port of Ceyhan was interrupted by a bomb explosion last Sunday, 21 March, but resumed late yesterday after interim measures were taken. This brief interruption would not significantly affect the overall oil exports from Iraq.

The report of the oil-for-food programme is available in our office upstairs.

**Visit of Chairman Arafat:

The Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and President of the Palestinian Authority Yasser Arafat met the Secretary-General this morning. He briefed the Secretary-General on his discussions in various capitals over the past several weeks and discussed major issues related to the peace process. It was a positive and constructive meeting.

**Appeal on Decision by Rwanda Tribunal:

You will recall that Bernard Ntuyahaga, who had been accused of crimes against humanity during the Rwanda genocide, was to be released by the Arusha- based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, by decision of its Trial Chamber. Mr. Ntuyahaga has now appealed this decision, asking to be formally acquitted. He also filed a request to suspend the release process until the Tribunal decides on his appeal. We hope to have a press release from Arusha today with more details on current developments. We also have previous reports from the Tribunal in our office which give you the background of this situation.

**Statement on Death of Relief Worker in Somalia:

The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Sergio Vieira de Mello, issued a statement today following the death of a relief worker in

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Somalia, saying that the tragic incident was a reminder of the need for the international community to take urgent measures to safeguard the lives of relief workers and civilians whose only aim is to help vulnerable populations.

**Treaties:

Today, Sri Lanka became the third country to ratify the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings. Forty-three countries have signed that treaty so far.

Also this morning, Trinidad and Tobago signed the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. That treaty has 79 signatories and one ratification.

Yesterday, New Zealand ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), which has 152 signatories and 30 parties.

**Payments:

Spain today paid its regular budget dues of over $26 million.

So far this year, 53 Member States have paid their dues in full.

**Press Conference by UNFPA:

And the final announcement of today's briefing is that at 2 p.m. tomorrow the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) will sponsor a press conference on preparations for the General Assembly's upcoming special session to review implementation of the outcome of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development. Dr. Nafis Sadik, the Executive Director of UNFPA, will chair the press conference.

**Question-and-Answer Session:

Question: If the Security Council does not give its full support to the inquiry on Rwanda, will it be implemented anyway?

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Deputy Spokesman: That is a bit of speculation. Of course, the Secretary-General expects to have the support of the Council, and let us take it from there.

Question: Since you describe the situation in Kosovo as dramatic, do you expect the Security Council to take some action on that?

Deputy Spokesman: We'll have to see what the Security Council decides to do and follow its lead on that.

Question: On Rwanda again, why was the decision made now to call for an inquiry by the Secretary-General?

Deputy Spokesman: When the Secretary-General was in Europe, he had a number of requests and comments on that. Upon his return, he took this initiative.

Briefing by Jadranka Mihalic, Spokesman for Assembly President

Good afternoon. This morning, the President of the fifty-third session issued the following statement attributable to his spokesman:

It is with great shock and surprise that I have received the news of the violent death of the Vice-President of Paraguay, Luis Maria Argana. I should like to take this opportunity to convey my deepest sympathy to the Government and people of Paraguay, as well as to the family of Vice-President Argana and express my sincere hope that the democratic institutions of Paraguay will be able to quickly and efficiently overcome this crisis.

Tomorrow afternoon, the President of the fifty-third session will leave for official visits to Croatia, the Holy See and Italy. During his visit to Croatia, at the invitation of the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the President will meet with President Franjo Tudjman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mate Granic, and Acting Speaker of the Croatian Parliament Vladimir Seks. He will also deliver a lecture at the Law School of the University of Zagreb, on the United Nations and regional organizations in the twenty-first century. On Monday, 29 March, the President has a private audience with Pope John Paul II. On 30 and 31 March, the President will be visiting Italy, at the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He will meet with the President of Italy, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, Prime Minister Massimo d'Alema, and hold talks with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Lamberto Dini, the President of the Italian Senate, and the President of the Chamber of Deputies. He will also deliver a lecture at the La Sapienza University of Rome, on the theme "Institutional aspects and dispute settlement in the MERCOSUR", and another one, at the Italian Diplomatic Institute, on the theme: "United Nations: the season for reform".

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The plenary will meet this afternoon with several items on the agenda. It will first pay tribute to the late Amir of the State of Bahrain, Shaikh Isa Bin Salman Al-Khalifa.

It will then take up the consideration of the letter by the Secretary- General to the President of the General Assembly, contained in document A/53/862, requesting the reopening of agenda item 110, "Human rights questions", in order for the Assembly to consider the report of the Group of Experts for Cambodia (A/53/850), which came out several days ago.

Consultations are still continuing at this time regarding the consideration of item 58 -- Strengthening of the United Nations system, regarding the closing date of the current session and the opening day of the fifty-fourth session.

The Assembly will then take up the item on an observer status for the Customs Cooperation Council in the General Assembly and consider draft resolution A/53/L.75, to be introduced by Chile.

The last item of the day is "Armed aggression against the Democratic Republic of the Congo", with 13 speakers inscribed so far, and the list of speakers remains open.

And finally, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) held a formal meeting this morning to conclude the general discussion of scale of assessments and of pattern of conferences, before resuming informal consultations, which are scheduled to continue this afternoon, evening and tonight, until 12:30 a.m.

Question: What is the purpose of the President of the General Assembly visiting Croatia first?

Spokesman: It is just the question of scheduling. There is no special reason for his first going to Croatia and then going on the other two visits. It is just a result of scheduling. He will also spend some private time in Italy. That is the reason.

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