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 the Spokesman for the Secretary-General, Fred Eckhard:

**Kosovo

Sorry I'm late. We'll start with Kosovo. Exhausted and frightened refugees continue to stream out of Kosovo as emergency relief efforts were underway to cope with the massive outflow.

Around 100,000 refugees have fled Kosovo since March 24, and relief officials said many more were en route. By Tuesday morning 65,000 people had crossed into Albania, nearly 20,000 into Montenegro and at least 9,000 into the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Relief workers said the majority were women, children and the elderly. Many of the arrivals reported that they had been forcibly expelled often within minutes and often with little more than the clothes they wore. The whereabouts of many men are unknown.

The Albanian Government has been moving refugees from the extremely poor north to the more affluent south. Contacts are underway with the Albanian authorities to identify sites for possible tented camps.

**United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

As part of the international aid effort which has moved into high gear, the High Commissioner for Refugees appointed an Envoy to Albania and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and a 12-person emergency team from Geneva with vehicles and other equipment was scheduled to arrive in Albania today. UNHCR staff are also being moved to Albania from other countries in the region.

An Ilyushin 76 cargo aircraft chartered by the British Government began lifting 42 metric tons of tents and blankets to Albania. The World Food Programme (WFP) transported 10 metric tons of high protein biscuits to the Albanian town of Kukes, where many refugees are arriving, and a further 40 metric tons of wheat and 10 metric tons of biscuits were scheduled to arrive Tuesday. Other organizations and countries including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the WFP, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States said they would strengthen their teams in Albania by the end of the week.

UNHCR held an emergency meeting of major donor countries in Geneva earlier today and identified aid priorities as shelter, transport and medical assistance, and asked countries to make bilateral contributions according to those priorities.

UNHCR urged countries to keep their borders open to all Kosovars seeking refuge as it braced for the possible arrival of hundreds of thousands in the largest flight of people in Europe since the war in Bosnia earlier this decade. To date, the Kosovo conflict has driven more than half a million people from their homes.

A UNHCR statistic sheet on the displacement is available in my office. We also expect to have a statement attributable to the Spokesman from the Secretary-General on the subject of Kosovo perhaps by the end of this briefing.

[Later in the day, the Secretary-General issued a statement in his own name -- see attached.]

**Security Council

The Security Council is holding consultations today on Western Sahara. The mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) expires tomorrow. Following consultations, the Council is expected to hold a formal meeting to adopt a resolution which would extend the Mission's mandate by one month.

**Iraq

The Secretary-General met with Ambassador Celso Amorim of Brazil yesterday afternoon. The Ambassador, who is the Chairman of the panels on Iraq, handed to the Secretary-General the report of the panel concerning disarmament and current and future ongoing monitoring and verification issues.

The report has also been transmitted to the Security Council. The other two panels -- one on humanitarian aid and the other on Kuwaiti property and prisoners of war -- are expected to finalize their reports this week.

**United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM)

The Secretary-General's report on the United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission -- or UNIKOM -- is out on the racks today. The Secretary-General recommends in the report that the Mission be maintained.

He also notes that during the period under review -- (24 September 1998 to 23 March 1999) -- the situation along the border remained generally quiet and that UNIKOM was not significantly affected by the air operations of the United Kingdom and the United States in the southern no-fly-zone in Iraq, except for the suspension of its fixed-wing aircraft flights and the restriction of the helicopters to the Kuwaiti side of the demilitarized zone. UNIKOM, the report states, continued to carry out its tasks, thereby contributing to the maintenance of calm and stability along the border. The

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 30 March 1999

Mission continued to receive the cooperation of the Iraqi and Kuwaiti authorities, according to the report.

**Secretary-General: Statement on Death of Michael Aris

On Sunday the Secretary-General issued the following statement attributable to the Spokesman:

"The Secretary-General was grieved to learn of the passing away in London of Dr. Michael Aris, husband of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League of Democracy in Myanmar and the Nobel Prize Laureate.

"The Secretary-General is dismayed that, despite efforts with the authorities in Myanmar, the couple were not able to meet during Dr. Aris' illness.

"The Secretary-General sends his heartfelt condolences to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her sons at this time of irreparable loss".

**Secretary-General: Meeting with President-elect Obasanjo

The Secretary-General also met yesterday for over a half-hour with the President-elect of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo.

The Secretary-General warmly congratulated the President-elect. They then reviewed a series of problems and conflicts on the African continent, from Sierra Leone to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The President-elect talked about steps he wished to take to make Nigeria more open to investment, and that he was seeking support for this initiative in a series of countries he was now visiting in Africa, Europe and North America.

**Secretary-General: Address to Model United Nations

College students are gathering here at Headquarters today for a Model United Nations programme. The Secretary-General will address the students in the General Assembly Hall at 4:30 p.m. We hope to have advance copies of the text, which we will release on an embargoed basis as soon as we have them.

**Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT)

South Africa this morning ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. The Treaty now has 152 signatories and 31 parties.

Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 30 March 1999

**Payments

Bosnia and Herzegovina paid its dues today of over $51,000. So far, 54 Member States have paid in full.

**Press Conferences

There are two remaining press conferences today. This afternoon at 2:30 p.m., the Center for Development and Population Activities, the Population Action International, and the Population Council, will brief you on the issue of global and local partnerships working to implement the IPCD Programme of Action. That is sponsored by the United States.

And then at 3 p.m., Sandra Kabir, Director of the Overseas Development for Population Concern and member of the United Kingdom delegation to the current Preparatory Committee on Population and Development, and that is sponsored by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The topic will be a European non-governmental organizations call on governments to increase contributions to population programmes.

**Hiro Ueki

And finally, Hiro Ueki, who for the past five years has been the Spokesman's Office's chief expert on peacekeeping operations and more recently on Iraq, will no longer be answering his telephone. Good for him, but bad for all of us, he has been promoted to a higher post within the Department of Public Information (DPI). We are, of course, grateful to DPI for allowing him to stay with us this extra time, but as of 1 April he is theirs, and he is away on leave this week.

We'll miss his steadiness, his reliability and his deep knowledge of the issues. And of course we will miss his sweet nature and his companionship.

Manoel de Almeida, my Deputy, will now cover Iraq, and Marie Okabe will take over the principal responsibility for the peacekeeping Department, although the peacekeeping missions will be distributed among my staff. You should see the updated assignment sheets outside the door of each person in my office so you know who to ask about what.

**Question-and-Answer Session

Question: On Lockerbie, does the Secretary-General now have a specific date for the handover of the suspects?

Spokesman: We have nothing to say about that. We've been repeating that the transfer of the suspects must be carried out in the greatest confidentiality. I think if all goes according to plan, you shouldn't get word that they have left Libya until after that has happened.

Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 30 March 1999

Follow-up Question: Could you tell us whether it's towards the 6 April date?

Spokesman: All we know is the announcement made in Libya that it would happen by 6 April. I can't tell you, because I don't know, whether there is a specific date at this time.

Question: The Government of Libya had sent a letter in reference to something from the Voice of America, do you have any concern about that?

Spokesman: I didn't see that message and I don't know what it says.

Follow-up Comment: Voice of America made an announcement that they will provide $2 million to anyone apprehending those people, and the Government of Libya sent a letter to the Security Council.

Spokesman: Sorry I didn't see that ... I have no reaction to it.

Question: What does the Secretary-General plan to do regarding the new development in Kosovo? Does he have any plans to go to Belgrade alone, to undertake a diplomatic initiative, or with somebody else, maybe with Mr. Holbrooke?

Spokesman: All the Secretary-General can do is to follow that issue closely, express his personal concern at what is happening to the Kosovar Albanians, and hope that a political solution can eventually be found. But he has no plans to travel to Belgrade.

Question: Has the Secretary-General read the report that Ambassador Amorim gave him yesterday, and does he have a reaction yet?

Spokesman: He has not given me any reaction to it, and yes, he has read it.

Question: Is the Secretary-General planning to personally transfer the Lockerbie suspects? I mean is he going to take them from Tripoli to the Netherlands, is he going to meet them halfway, is he going to send an emissary to do it?

Spokesman: We are not providing any of those details, but I can tell you that the Secretary-General himself will not be traveling with the suspects, if and when they are transferred.

Follow-up Question: Do you think that United Nations Legal Counsel Hans Corell will?

Spokesman: I cannot confirm any details of the transfer plans.

Daily Press Briefing - 6 - 30 March 1999

Question: Besides concern, doesn't the United Nations have any other policy towards Kosovo? I mean they are deeply concerned about the situation, but the rest?

Spokesman: Well, I only want to remind you that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is in the lead as far as coordinating the relief for the people streaming out of Kosovo. So on the humanitarian side, yes we are very active. Politically, there is nothing the Secretary-General can do except what I've already mentioned.

Question: Do you know what kind of strain the current situation is putting on the United Nations humanitarian agencies -- WHO, WFP, UNHCR -- if there is a strain at all?

Spokesman: Well the numbers, I think, are beginning to overwhelm our capacity. You see them gearing up now, as they met in Geneva today, identify the priorities, move other people into the region, into Kosovo from the region. I think they're scrambling to keep up with these huge numbers.

Question: Now that the Security Council has approved the request for the Secretary-General to conduct an investigation into the 1994 Rwanda genocide, can you tell us how this investigation is going to be conducted?

Spokesman: No, but the ball is in our court, the terms of reference are now being drawn up, the composition of the panel is being discussed, and we'll have an announcement on those details shortly.

Question: Concerning the "Melissa" virus, did we have any problem here?

Spokesman: To my knowledge, we don't yet have any problems with that virus. Although I asked someone in my Office today to look into it, I didn't hear anything back.

Follow-up Question: Are we taking preventive measures?

Spokesman: I don't know enough about it, but I'll try to find out for you what, if any, preventive action we're taking.

Question: Has the Secretary-General contacted Aung Sun Suu Kyi after her husband's death?

Spokesman: Has he had personal contact with her? I'll have to find out. I was not told that he had.

Question: What kind of effort did the United Nations make to enable Mr. Aris to enter into Myanmar?

Daily Press Briefing - 7 - 30 March 1999

Spokesman: I'd have to check on that as well. I don't know.

Question: The Secretary-General was very considerate sending a message to the Nobel Laureate. At the same time, right now, a genocide is going on in Kosovo. He is not sending any appeal to the Belgrade regime to stop the genocide. Is it because the Americans and NATO started to bomb without going through the Security Council, that he is frustrated?

Spokesman: No, we're a little slow in drafting. As I mentioned at the beginning of the briefing, we expect to have a statement, that would be issued either through the Spokesman or on behalf of the Spokesman. Or through the Spokesman on behalf of the Secretary-General.

Okay, so I hope we'll have a statement on Kosovo from the Secretary-General within the hour. Thank you very much.

**Statement by Secretary-General on Kosovo

"I am profoundly outraged by reports of a vicious and systematic campaign of "ethnic cleansing" conducted by Serbian military and paramilitary forces in the province of Kosovo. Concern about what is happening there can only be heightened by the fact that all independent international observers, including even the International Committee of the Red Cross, have now been obliged to withdraw.

"Once again, a civilian population is being made to pay the price for an unresolved political dispute. Civilian populations must never come under indiscriminate and deliberate attack. Such actions are in flagrant violation of established humanitarian law.

"The United Nations is doing everything possible to alleviate the suffering of displaced persons and refugees who are fleeing Kosovo by the thousands every day. I have designated the High Commissioner for Refugees as the lead agency to coordinate all United Nations relief activities in the region. I appeal to all of Kosovo's neighbours to give shelter and comfort to the helpless civilians who have been driven from their homes. Borders must be kept open. Safety and protection must be given to those in need. I call upon the international community to give immediate financial, material and logistical support to the authorities in all countries where the refugees are arriving, particularly in Albania, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and in the Republic of Montenegro (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia). Any solution to the conflict must allow these unfortunate people to return voluntarily to their homes in full security and dignity."

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