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 Almeida de Silva, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General:

**Secretary-General

Good afternoon. The Secretary-General arrived in Sweden this morning and he'll remain there till the 28th. This is a long weekend in Sweden, as it is in most of Europe. His official visit to Sweden starts on Tuesday morning.

**Kosovo

On Thursday, the United Nations needs assessment mission, that went to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, proceeded from Nis to Pristina. On route, a number of stops were made to visit bombed sites in the townships of southern Serbia.

The initial picture along the main roads to Pristina is a mixed one. While there are people in the streets and some shops are open, the overwhelming impression is that a large number of shops and houses have been selectively fire bombed or otherwise destroyed in systematic building to building raids, emptied of inhabitants and looted. One house was still burning as the mission passed by.

In Pristina, initial impressions are that there has been aerial bomb damage to government buildings, but the city remains largely intact. There is electricity and running water. Most stores are closed.

In meetings with authorities in Kosovo, the mission leader, Sergio Vieira de Mello, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said he reiterated the need for the mission to be allowed free access to the areas negotiated, as well as freedom to make unprepared stops. The authorities reconfirmed and agreed to his points.

Today, the mission was scheduled to visit Lipljan, Urosovac and Kacanik on their way to Djeneral Jankovic, the border town in Kosovo closest to the Blace crossing in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Urosovac -- the biggest city on the way to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia -- is where many of the refugees arriving by train are from. The refugees say very few Albanians are left in Urosevac, previously a vibrant commercial town that was home to around 50,000 Albanians and 5,000 Serbs. Displaced people drift to the town from the surrounding villages to get on the train to the border, the arrivals say.

Kacanik is one of the first places from where the refugee exodus to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia began. The mission hopes to meet with displaced people along the route and see how they are doing, as well as to assess security conditions.

The UNHCR reports that the most recent arrivals into the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia told stories of torture, beatings, extortion and shortages of food. They said they were from Kosovo Polje, Pristina, Urosevac and Lipljan areas.

The mission is expected to continue its work over the weekend in Kosovo before heading to Montenegro on Sunday.

As for refugee movements today, about 300 to 400 refugees from Kosovo had arrived on buses from Pristina by mid-afternoon in the former Yugoslav Republic of Yugoslavia. And the brief lull in arrivals into Albania came to a halt when a new stream of refugees started crossing into Kukes earlier today. The total number of new arrivals was not immediately known.

The UNHCR and its partners, meanwhile, are preparing to help refugees and displaced people who may still be in neighbouring countries and areas throughout the winter. UNHCR's winterization programme has gotten off the ground with the purchase of 15,000 winter-proof tents. Delivery of the tents is expected to begin in July. The UNHCR is looking at a whole range of essential projects which go beyond its traditional programmes. These include road improvement, electrical and water services, among others.

**Security Council

The Security Council is holding consultations this morning on the "oil-for-food" programme. As you know, Phase V of the programme will end on Monday. Benon Sevan, Executive Director of the Iraq Programme, introduced the Secretary-General's report on the implementation of Phase V.

In his remarks, Mr. Sevan noted that "the recent upward trend in the price of oil has not solved the difficulties in meeting the objectives of the Programme". "The Programme", he said, "is still seriously short of the revenue required to meet its objectives."

Council members also have before them the report of the Sanctions Committee on the implementation of Phase V. A draft resolution was introduced proposing a new 180-day period for the Iraq Programme.

The Council is expected to take up Angola under other matters.

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**Special Representative for Western Sahara

I have a statement attributable to the Spokesman. It reads, the Secretary-General has designated Mr. William Eagleton from the United States as his Special Representative for Western Sahara, and has informed the Security Council accordingly. The Security Council took note of the Secretary-General's decision today.

Mr. Eagleton served with the United Nations as Special Coordinator for the restoration of essential services in Sarajevo between 1994 and 1996. He also served from 1988 to 1994 as Deputy Commissioner-General for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). We have more details and his curriculum vitae in our Office.

The new Special Representative, Mr. Eagleton, is expected to assume his functions at the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) headquarters in Laayoune by early June.

The Secretary-General has also decided to appoint the former Chairman of the Identification Commission of MINURSO, Robin Kinloch, as the Deputy Special Representative for Western Sahara.

The functions of Chairman of the Identification Commission of MINURSO will henceforth be assumed by a United Nations senior official, Eduardo Vetere, whose latest post was that of Director of the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention in Vienna.

**International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

This morning in Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda found Clement Kayishema and Obed Ruzindana both guilty of genocide. Kayishema, the former Governor of the Kibuye Province in Rwanda, was sentenced to imprisonment for the rest of his life, and Ruzindana, the other convicted, who was a wealthy businessman also in Kibuye, was sentenced to 20 years.

They were accused of having jointly directed the Interahamwe and other people to attack and kill unarmed Tutsi men, women and children who were seeking refuge in Kibuye, and to have taken part in these attacks themselves. Clement Kayishema, in particular, was accused of having planned, ordered and taken part in the mass killing of about 15,000 Tutsis in Kibuye.

A press release with details is available in the Spokesman's office.

**United Nations Disengagement Observer Force

The current mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), which was established to maintain the ceasefire between Israel and

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Syria, is due to expire on 31 May. The Secretary-General's report on the activities of the Force is available on the racks today.

In his report, the Secretary-General notes that, despite the present quiet in the area of UNDOF's operation, the situation in the Middle East continues to be potentially dangerous and is likely to remain so, unless and until a comprehensive settlement covering all aspects of the Middle East problem can be reached.

He hopes that determined efforts will be made by all concerned to tackle the problem, with a view to arriving at a just and durable peace settlement. In the circumstances, he considers as essential the continued presence of UNDOF in the area, and recommends a further six-month extension of the mission's mandate.

**Preparatory Committee for NPT Review

As you may know, the Preparatory Committee for the 2000 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is wrapping up today at Headquarters.

The Committee had two main tasks before it: discussing the substance of recommendations to the 2000 Review Conference, and working on the organizational aspects of that Conference.

We will have to wait until the end of the day, today, when the meeting wraps up, to give you a report on matters of substance, which are still under discussion, if they are made available to us. The Committee met until about 10 p.m. last night and could go even later tonight.

But there are a few developments to report on the organizational end. For one thing, the Committee decided to name Jacob Selebi of South Africa as the Chairman of the 2000 Review Conference. It also agreed on a provisional agenda, which will be out later today. According to that agenda, the Conference will focus on provisions in the NPT relating to non-proliferation, disarmament and international peace and security. It will also discuss security assurances, safeguards and nuclear-weapon-free zones, among other issues.

**Pino Arlacchi

The Executive Director of the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, Pino Arlacchi, met today in Vientiane with the President of the Lao Democratic People's Republic, Khamtay Siphandone. In the course of their meeting, the two officials agreed on a far-reaching plan for the total elimination of illicit opium crop from that country.

Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 21 May 1999

The $80 million plan envisages that all illicit opium cultivation will be eliminated from the Lao People's Democratic Republic within six years. Soon after the meeting, Arlacchi said: "Laos is today the third largest opium producer in the world, which gives to this agreement a very special importance".

A note with more details on this agreement is in our Office.

**Payments

On payments, Cuba paid its regular budget dues today of over $270,000. Cuba, therefore, becomes the sixty-fifth Member State to pay the contributions in full.

**Week Ahead

And to conclude the briefing, just to flag to you our weekly feature "the Week Ahead", which is, as always, available upstairs in writing. Just to bring to your attention, on Sunday, two United Nations military planners will be arriving in Sierra Leone to examine the military and security situation there. They will also draw up a revised concept of operations for approval by the Secretary-General for a possible expanded United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL), pursuant to a new peace agreement.

Ibrahima Fall, Assistant-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, will represent the Secretary-General at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) ministerial meeting on Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone, scheduled to take place in Lomé, Togo, from 23 to 25 May.

On Monday, the Security Council has no scheduled consultations. The Secretary-General's report to the Security Council on East Timor is due.

Thomas Hammarberg, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Human Rights in Cambodia, will be at United Nations Headquarters.

On Tuesday, the Secretary-General begins a four-day official visit to Sweden.

The Secretary-General's Special Envoys for the Balkans, Eduard Kukan and Carl Bildt, are both expected in Geneva on that date.

On Thursday, consultations in the Security Council are scheduled on UNDOF, the Disengagement Observer Force, for which the report is out, as I mentioned to you a few moments ago.

Also, the United Nations needs assessment mission to Kosovo and other parts of Yugoslavia is expected to complete its work.

This is all I have for you. Do you have any questions?

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**Question-and-Answer Session

Question: Has your Office learned anything that would confirm this report in The Washington Times that a Russian intelligence officer was made to leave the mission on allegations of spying on the United States?

Deputy Spokesman: I saw the report as well. He was not a United Nations official, according to that report -- [he was] a member of the Russian Mission. The matter was handled bilaterally. We were not notified, so we don't have anything to say at this time.

Follow-up Question: Are you saying that this happened or that you read reports that this happened?

Deputy Spokesman: I saw the report, as you said, and what I can tell you is that we were not notified of that event. So all I can tell you is yes, we saw the report in the press, but we were not notified by either one of the two missions.

Follow-up Question: Are you concerned at all that this might be going on and that you were not notified?

Deputy Spokesman: It's up to them. They don't really have to notify us. They may or they may not. If they decide to handle it bilaterally, it's their business.

Question: Does your statement that the Secretary-General is going to remain in Sweden until the 28th mean that this report that he was going to be in Geneva is inaccurate?

Deputy Spokesman: Which report that he will be in Geneva?

Follow-up Question: That the Secretary-General was going to meet Chernomyrdin in Geneva on Sunday.

Deputy Spokesman: No, I do not have anything on that. I was in contact with his party this morning. There was no information on that, and I don't believe that's correct.

Question: On the former Yugoslavia, this was a UNHCR group that was going through the towns in Kosovo and heading towards the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, right?

Deputy Spokesman: No, the mission that is in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia now, currently in Kosovo, is an inter-agency mission led by the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Sergio Vieira de Mello.

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Follow-up Question: Do you know if they made any kind of assessment of the health situation there in terms of any kind of epidemics, any kind of problems with water supplies caused by bombing, anything like that? The second question is, in terms of the refugee camps and shipping in winterized tents, this is May. Is this an admission by the United Nations that these people are going to be there for months and months?

Deputy Spokesman: Not necessarily. On the first part of your question, the inter-agency mission has people who can look at the health sector and people who can look at other sectors. I'm sure they're looking into these things, but we all must realize that it's a very short mission. It's a preliminary needs assessment mission. It's the first United Nations mission since 24 March. So in their report they will be covering that sector, that side of activities, but as I said it is a preliminary assessment.

Now, on the winterization, I don't know how familiar you are in dealing with emergencies and things like that. I worked for two years in the former Yugoslavia from 1992 to 1994. You have to start talking about winter in the spring because you have to procure and make all the necessary planning and stockpiling. Let's hope that all these winter supplies will not need to be utilized in the countries of asylum, that people will have been able to go back by then and be in their place of origin. Let's hope that's what's going to happen.

Follow-up Question: When will we see this report on this inter-agency mission?

Deputy Spokesman: I don't have a date for that yet, but our expectation is that they will be reporting very soon after the mission is concluded.

Follow-up Question: And that will be put on the Web site, you think?

Deputy Spokesman: Probably yes. At this point, I really cannot make a commitment to you on that.

Question: You said that the East Timor report is due on Monday or sometime next week. Is there a possibility that the United Nations would decide not to send any civilian police or observers because of the worsening conflict in that area?

Deputy Spokesman: No. In the agreement, what is foreseen is that the United Nations will, at some point, assess the conditions in order for the consultation process to go ahead. But the report now is for the establishment of the mission with all its components.

Question: Yesterday, you mentioned a press release by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) regarding an education alert on Haiti, in reference to Haitian children. Do you think that this concern will be

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reflected in the Secretary-General's report, which is due any day now? Most of the time, the Secretary-General's report only mentions things about civilian police, how to finance things, and UNICEF is getting concerned with other criteria. Do you think that there is anyone in the Secretariat or anywhere interested in that type of alert, that UNICEF is so concerned about?

Deputy Spokesman: I am sure there are many people concerned about the situation and the conditions of the people living in Haiti, as in other countries. But the Secretary-General's report will be on the United Nations mission there, and so it will have to deal with the issues of the mission.

Question: Do you have anything further on whether [Martti] Ahtisaari is flying to Sweden over the weekend to see the Secretary-General? And secondly, on East Timor, Indonesia today announced they were moving the date of the election forward by one day. Does the United Nations approve, know about it? Portugal didn't seem to know about it.

Deputy Spokesman: Yes, I've seen both media reports. On the one talking about this Ahtisaari/Secretary-General meeting in Sweden. I am trying to find out about it. I don't have anything at this time to give to you to confirm it.

On East Timor, no, we were not consulted on that.

Follow-up Question: [inaudible]

Deputy Spokesman: No, we continue our work based on the original date that was agreed upon.

Okay, have a nice weekend. Thank you very much.

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