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:

**Release of United States Soldiers

The Secretary-General this morning welcomed the news of the release by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia of the three detained American soldiers. On entering the Building this morning, he said, "I'm happy for them, and I'm happy for their families." Asked if he saw it as a positive gesture on the part of the road to peace, he replied, "We still have a lot of work to do on the political and diplomatic front before I can say that we are on the verge of a deal."

He hopes to get a first-hand report from the Reverend Jesse Jackson, who negotiated the release. He also expects to be briefed by the Russian Special Envoy, Viktor Chernomyrdin, either today or tomorrow. And he said this morning that he will be taking a decision on the selection of two envoys for the Balkan region very shortly.

**Kosovo Crisis

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that despite repeated appeals to countries to step up the evacuation of Kosovar refugees to relieve pressure on the overcrowded camps in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, fewer than 400 refugees were evacuated on Sunday. In contrast, nearly 4,000 refugees had arrived in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia the same day. Today, the UNHCR said 800 more refugees were expected to be evacuated, but the number is far short of the daily target of 2,000.

Meanwhile, as of about an hour ago, some 6,000 new refugees had poured into Blace in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on two trains. A night train discharged 2,000 people, while another train carrying 4,000 others arrived a little while later. UNHCR workers in the field reported the beginning of what they called the "Balkan summer" and said a number of new arrivals were fainting from the heat. On the Albanian border, the UNHCR reported only one tractor with 28 people had arrived by midday.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, meanwhile, who began a trip to the Balkans on Sunday, today visited several camps in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Mrs. Robinson, in meetings with human rights and humanitarian non-governmental organizations, as well as Kosovar academics and journalists, emphasized that she and her monitors in the area are working together with their partners, including the International

Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, to establish accountability and ensure that the crimes being committed now do not go unpunished.

**Sadako Ogata To Visit Headquarters

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, is scheduled to arrive in New York later today for two days of meetings at United Nations Headquarters, including a briefing to the Security Council and then to you on Wednesday.

**Security Council

There are no Security Council meetings scheduled for today. The President for the month of May, Ambassador Denis Dangue Rewaka of Gabon, is holding bilateral consultations to define the Council's programme of work. Council members' monthly working luncheon with the Secretary-General is taking place today. On the discussion menu: Kosovo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sierra Leone.

I would also like to bring to your attention that the Sanctions Committee concerning Sierra Leone, chaired by Ambassador Fernando Petrella of Argentina, is meeting today at 3:30 p.m. in Conference Room 7.

**Iraq

The Secretary-General's two-year review and assessment of the Oil-for-Food Programme in Iraq requested by the Security Council last January is out this morning (document S/1999/481). It's a report to the Council, which is in the midst of considering the reports from the Panels chaired by Ambassador Celso Amorim of Brazil.

One focus of the report is the shortfall in funding available to the Programme. The Office of the Iraq Programme estimates that the revenue in the current Phase V is likely to be more than $3.7 billion -- well above earlier estimates, but still $1.5 billion below the $5.2 billion authorized by the Council.

The Secretary-General cautions against any over optimism in the recent increases in the price of oil and says there is still an urgent need to take steps to increase the funds available to the humanitarian programme. He says that the gravity of the humanitarian situation is such that even the $5.2 billion authorized by the Council would provide insufficient funds to meet the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people.

Phase V of the Oil-for-Food Programme ends on 24 May.

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 3 May 1999

**East Timor Talks

The talks on East Timor are scheduled to resume here tomorrow. On Tuesday, the meetings will be at the senior officials level, bilaterals in the morning, trilaterals in the afternoon starting at 3 p.m. Then on Wednesday, the Foreign Ministers of Indonesia, Ali Alatas, and Portugal, Jaime Gama, will meet with the Secretary-General. On Wednesday, they are expected to sign the agreements on the autonomy proposal, as well as two others on security arrangements for the peaceful implementation of the popular consultation, and on the modalities for this consultation.

**Anti-Landmine Conference

The first conference of the parties to the Ottawa landmine ban has begun in Maputo, Mozambique. Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette addressed the event, and we have copies of her speech in my Office.

She stressed the need to persuade all governments that have not yet signed the treaty to do so, and to ensure its swift implementation. Further, she stressed the need to clear existing mines, pointing out that this "excruciatingly labour-intensive and time-consuming procedure" must continue.

Also, Antigua and Barbuda, as well as Brazil, just ratified the treaty, bringing the total number of parties to 79.

**Fever in Democratic Republic of Congo

The World Health Organization (WHO) today reported that an outbreak of viral haemorrhagic fever has been reported in two towns in the north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since the beginning of the year, 63 deaths out of 68 cases have been recorded to date, according to the WHO. Of the 63 deaths, 58 have been men between the ages of 15 and 35.

Contrary to some news reports, however, the WHO said it has not identified the virus as Ebola. The WHO, together with Médecins sans frontières, is working to fly out samples to Johannesburg for analysis.

Emergency Relief Coordinator Sergio Vieira de Mello called on all parties of the conflict [in that country] to support and actively facilitate efforts by the WHO and Médecins sans frontières to investigate this outbreak and ensure a prompt response.

**World Press Freedom Day

Happy World Press Freedom Day! The United Nations observance of this occasion is going on as we speak in Conference Room 2. It will run for another hour or so.

Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 3 May 1999

There will be a panel discussion on "Turbulent Eras: Generational Perspectives on Freedom of the Press". The keynote speaker will be Stephen Rosenfeld of The Washington Post.

The meeting began with a videotaped message by the Secretary-General, who stressed the need to fight for the right to freedom of speech, which he said was the essential vehicle for the exchange of ideas between nations and cultures. Without that exchange, he cautioned, there can be no true understanding or lasting cooperation. That statement will be out on the racks shortly, where you will also find a joint message on World Press Freedom Day put out on Friday by the Secretary-General, along with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General Federico Mayor and Mary Robinson, the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

**Committee on Information

As we mentioned in the "Week Ahead" segment on Friday, the Committee on Information begins its annual session here at Headquarters this afternoon.

Before the Committee begins its debate, it will hear an opening statement by Kensaku Hogen, the Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information.

And out on the racks today, you will find a report to the Committee on the reorientation of United Nations activities in the field of public information and communications (document A/AC.198/1999/2). The report describes how the United Nations is responding to the imperatives of the current information age.

**Secretary-General To Meet "Think Tank" Directors

The Secretary-General will be meeting tomorrow with directors from 29 leading independent research institutes from 22 countries around the world to discuss ways in which the international research community and the United Nations can work together more fruitfully.

The day-long conference -- the first of its kind -- will review both United Nations research needs and the resources the Organization has to offer the international research community. The main goal is to enhance research cooperation between the United Nations system and key global "think tanks". The Secretary-General believes that the best policy research, from the developing, as well as the developed, world, can provide a valuable input into the policy-making process at the United Nations. There will be a particular stress on the creative use of the Internet as a medium of research communication and exchange.

We have available for you in my office a list of the participating organizations.

Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 3 May 1999

**Staff Members Donate to Colombia Relief

From time to time, our staff members collect money for relief efforts in response to natural disasters and other crises. Most recently, on Friday, the United Nations Colombian Cultural Club donated $7,200 to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to be disbursed to victims of the recent earthquake in Colombia. The money had been collected from staff members throughout the United Nations.

**Press Conferences Tomorrow

At 10:30 a.m. tomorrow, there will be a press conference on the World Economic Outlook. The speakers will include Nobel Laureate Lawrence Klein of the University of Pennsylvania, Professor Peter Pauly of the University of Toronto, and Ian Kinniburgh and Jozef van Brabant of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs. An Expert Group on the World Economic Outlook is meeting at Headquarters from today through Thursday. We have background notes available in my Office.

Then at 11:15 a.m., a briefing will take place on the eve of the award to Ireland of the Franklin D. Roosevelt International Disability Award. Speakers will include Ambassador Richard Ryan of Ireland; Nitin Desai, Under- Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs; Alan Riech, Chairman of the World Committee on Disability; and Mrs. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Jr.

**Question-and-Answer Session

Question: Did the Secretary-General have the agreement of the Government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on the appointment of a Personal Envoy?

Spokesman: He has been talking to a variety of governments. He has been in the course of considering the names sensitive to how they would be viewed by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He has not, to my knowledge, consulted the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia directly. I think it has been more through the Russians that he has been sounding them out. He said this morning he would make a decision very shortly. I do not think that will be today; I think it could be tomorrow.

Question: Can he do that? Does he have the right under the Charter to deal with a sovereign country without ... Do you know of any precedent in the history of the United Nations?

Spokesman: Yes, I think it is very common for the Secretary-General to designate Envoys in the pursuit of a political solution to a threat to international peace and security. I think it is very common.

Question: Has an Envoy already been chosen or is that still not absolutely certain?

Daily Press Briefing - 6 - 3 May 1999

Spokesman: He indicated in Berlin that there was broad agreement among all those that he had been consulting that Eduard Kukan, the Foreign Minister of Slovakia, was a likely candidate. He will announce the decision, very likely tomorrow, and he will explain what assignment he is giving to each of these Envoys.

Question: Is Flavio Cotti of Switzerland still one of the candidates?

Spokesman: Again, it was in Berlin that he repeated the three names -- Cotti, [former Austrian Chancellor Franz] Vranitzky and [former Swedish Prime Minister Carl] Bildt ... -- and so despite the fact that we issued a statement earlier saying that the Foreign Minister of Switzerland was inclined towards a period of reflection in his life, he may, in fact, have indicated his willingness to be considered.

Question: Do you have a specific time for the signing of the East Timor agreement?

Spokesman: We do not, at least not to announce just yet.

Question: Will you help us get copies of the eventual agreement and what about reports out of Indonesia today that some United Nations employees -- either advisers to civilian police or civilian police -- will be moving into Djakarta this coming week?

Spokesman: Let us wait until the Secretary-General, [Personal Representative of the Secretary-General] Ambassador [Jamsheed] Marker and the Foreign Minister have to say after the signing. We will try to get the text for you if they release it. On the details of the deployment of the United Nations presence in connection with the sounding of opinion on the autonomy proposal, let us let them describe to you how it will work and how quickly it will happen.

Question: Any timing on the Jesse Jackson meeting?

Spokesman: No. He told me this morning that he would either meet with him personally or, if that could not be worked out, talk with him by phone. So I am not sure which way it will go.

Question: Will Mr. Chernomyrdin visit the United Nations today or tomorrow?

Spokesman: That is my understanding [tomorrow], but we still do not have confirmation from his party. My impression is that he will be coming to New York to brief the Secretary-General.

Question: Can you elaborate on what kind of mission the two Envoys will undertake?

Daily Press Briefing - 7 - 3 May 1999

Spokesman: I prefer that the Secretary-General answer that question when he makes the announcement. I believe he will come down here for a few minutes to make the announcement in person and to take whatever questions you might have, that is, if we can find an opening in his tight programme. He would like to make the announcement personally and to take your questions.

Question: On what do you base Mr. Cotti's willingness to be considered? Was there some contact with the Secretary-General after the meeting two weeks ago?

Spokesman: Yes, there was.

Question: Where did it take place?

Spokesman: It was a telephone contact.

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