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:

Good afternoon.

**Kosovo

UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy, just back from visiting Kosovo refugees in Albania, said the acute distress and trauma faced by hundreds of thousands of children who have been driven from their homes in Kosovo is one of the main challenges facing relief workers.

In addition to supplying emergency aid, Ms. Bellamy said in a press release issued today in Atlanta and New York that some of the most important long-term work is in programmes to help children cope with emotional stress, through play and educational activities. For example, in Kukes, Albania, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is supporting a network of local trauma counsellors to create positive stimulation for young children through the organization of play groups. Ms. Bellamy also said the substantial needs of children who remained inside Kosovo, and in Serbia and Montenegro, would need to be addressed, once conditions permit the return of international relief agencies.

From the field today, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported an overnight refugee influx of nearly 5,000 people into Albania from Kosovo. The majority of them were driving tractors with trailers that were pulling cars that ran out of gasoline.

One group of new refugees told the UNHCR that they had been part of a line of people waiting to leave Kosovo which had been turned back on 4 April. That followed Yugoslav President Milosevic's unilateral ceasefire announcement. They were reportedly told by Serbian police to go back to their village where they stayed in houses, surrounded by snipers, until yesterday, when the police told them to go to the border. They said they were stripped of their money and their identification documents. They alleged that Serbian soldiers at the border shot and killed a young woman who tried to escape being taken by them. Her family were allegedly detained by the Serbs.

In the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), the UNHCR is carrying out a general registration of the refugee population. The registration will make it possible for the UNHCR to manage delivery of assistance to the camp, to reunite divided families, and to identify candidates for humanitarian evacuation to other countries. The UNHCR and its partner agencies are in the process of taking over the Kosovo refugee camps from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

(NATO) in FYROM. The handover is going smoothly and should be completed next week.

The UNHCR also said it was receiving many inquiries from people around the world wanting to adopt unaccompanied refugee children. At this stage, no Kosovar refugee children are available for adoption. While some children have been separated from their families during their flight, they are not necessarily orphans. The UNHCR and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), as well as other agencies, are giving top priority to tracing family members of separated children and to the reunification of these children with their families.

**Commission on Human Rights Resolution on Kosovo

In Geneva, the Commission on Human Rights just voted a resolution on Kosovo, introduced by Pakistan. In the resolution, the Commission strongly condemns the policy of ethnic cleansing against the Kosovars perpetrated by the Yugoslav authorities, and demands that the Yugoslav authorities immediately sign and implement all aspects of the Rambouillet Agreement. The text of the resolution is available in room S-378. Although not binding, it carries the moral authority of the international community through the highest United Nations human rights body. The vote on the resolution was 43 Member States in favour, 1 against, and 6 abstentions.

**Security Council Schedule

Members of the Security Council are meeting in consultations this morning. They heard a briefing on the Eritrea/Ethiopia conflict by Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast. To update you on the scheduled programme of the Council for the rest of the week, consultations on Angola are scheduled for tomorrow, Iraq will be discussed on Thursday and Friday. Thursday, I believe, are the two six-monthly reports from UNSCOM (the United Nations Special Commission) and the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), and Friday will be a continuation of the discussion of the three panel reports. The Afghanistan issue, which was to have been discussed Friday, has been pushed over until Monday.

**Iraq Programme Report

We put out late yesterday the Iraq Programme report. There are two interesting points that I would like to highlight. The first is that Iraq exported 16.7 million barrels of oil last week. That produced, at current prices, $211 million, which is one of the highest weekly figures since the "oil-for-food" programme began more than two years ago. It is a combination of relatively high output with stronger prices that produced that result.

The second point is that, late yesterday, the hold was lifted on a contract to provide 1 million doses of vaccine against foot-and-mouth disease,

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 13 April 1999

where there is a serious epidemic of a number of livestock diseases. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), you will recall, warned in February that this epidemic needed urgent attention, to avoid a threat to human health and food security in the region.

**Secretary-General in Spain

The Secretary-General saw a number of government officials in Madrid on the second and final day of his official visit to Spain.

With the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Manuel Pimental Siles, he discussed social issues such as child labour and the status of women, and they also discussed Kosovo.

He then met with the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, or Parliament, Federico Trillo, and then joined a working session of the Chamber's Foreign Affairs Committee, chaired by Francisco J. Ruperez Rubio. In impromptu remarks, he emphasized human rights and discussed his appeal on Kosovo.

In the afternoon, he attended a private lunch hosted by Their Majesties King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia.

After lunch, Jose Borrell, a candidate of the Spanish Socialist Party, paid a courtesy call. The Secretary-General was then to have a final meeting with Foreign Minister Abel Matutes and the Secretary of State for International Cooperation, Fernando Villalonga.

Tomorrow, as we announced, he will travel to Brussels to attend a summit of the Council of the European Union, at which the situation in Kosovo will be discussed, and he will return to New York on Thursday morning.

**Flags at Half Mast for President of Niger

You probably noticed the flag is at half mast and no other flags are flying, and that is in observance of the death of the President of the Republic of Niger, His Excellency General Ibrahim Mainassara Bare, who was killed on 9 April.

**Member States Payments

On payments, Brunei Darussalam paid its 1999 dues today -- over $200,000 -- and Honduras gave us two checks: $30,000 for this year, plus another $70,000 for arrears, and became paid in full as of today, as well. That brings to 59 the number of Member States paid in full. The outstanding contributions for the regular budget are just under $1 billion now. An additional $1.5 billion is owed to peacekeeping and just under $100 million for the International Tribunals.

Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 13 April 1999

**Question-and-Answer Session

Question: Do you have an update from The Hague on the trials of Mr. Blaskic and Mr. Cerkez?

Spokesman: No, we follow those things pretty regularly. We give you updates as we receive them. We have nothing today.

Question: Any word on President Tudjman possibly being accused of war crimes?

Spokesman: No, I have nothing on that.

Question: Any word on how the Secretary-General might get more involved in Kosovo, as per Ms. Albright this morning and President Chirac's announcement yesterday?

Spokesman: I can only say what he has done so far. He waited before making his appeal of last Friday, assessing after consulting with members of the Contact Group and others that the time was right for him to make an appeal, which he did. Then, yesterday he announced that he would be attending the European Summit. He is not ready to jump in with both feet. He continues to stay in touch with all parties and he intends to preserve his availability as a neutral actor should Member States decide he could play a role.

Question: Has the Secretary-General gotten a response from President Milosevic to his letter?

Spokesman: As of this morning, no.

Question: Do you consider that a positive sign?

Spokesman: I will just say what the Secretary-General said: that he hopes President Milosevic will respond.

Question: Will he meet with NATO Secretary-General Solano in Brussels?

Spokesman: I have not heard that such a meeting is scheduled; I don't have any details of his visit there. He arrives in the afternoon. The meeting he is to attend goes from 5 to 7 p.m. I do not have any further information about any other appointments he might have.

Question: Is his Thursday return firm, or is it a flexible schedule?

Spokesman: We expect him to come back on Thursday morning. That is the current plan. You never know what can happen. But that is the current plan.

Thank you very much.

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