DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19990526
The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Manoel de Almeida e Silva, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
**Secretary General
Good afternoon. Let's see if we can do our noon briefing quickly and allow more time for our special guests today, who will be talking about the United Nations Secretary-General's approach and letter to the G-8 Summit, which will happen in June. The guests will be joining us in the course of the briefing.
The Secretary-General continued his official visit to Sweden, and this morning addressed the Swedish Parliament. He said parliamentarians must not just listen to the people, but must lead them, as well, to help them broaden their understanding of the national interest to include working with other nations to promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law. We have not yet received copies of the speech as it was delivered. We hope to have that in a few hours, and once we do, we'll share that with you. A detail here is that under the rules of the Swedish Parliament, the United Nations Secretary- General is the only person outside the Swedish Government who can address a parliamentary plenary session.
Question: Why?
Deputy Spokesman: It's their rule.
After that, the Secretary-General met with the Speaker of the Parliament and other parliamentary leaders, and following that, he met with two of the three members of his newly named investigative panel on the role of the United Nations regarding Rwanda. He met with former Swedish Foreign Minister Ingvar Carlsson and the former Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea, Han Sung- Joo. They discussed the team's mandate and its approach to its work.
The Secretary-General and Foreign Minister Anna Lindh then met for about a half hour. They discussed Kosovo, United Nations reform and African problems. Afterward, there was a luncheon hosted by their Majesties the King and Queen of Sweden, and after that, he met with his two Special Envoys for the Balkans, Carl Bildt and Eduard Kukan.
At about 4:15 Swedish time, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov arrived for a meeting with the Secretary-General. We do not have a read-out on that yet. The Secretary-General and Foreign Minister Ivanov were joined by the two special envoys.
Asked about the significance of his meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister, right after he left the meeting with Foreign Minister Anna Lindh, the Secretary-General had a brief press encounter. The transcript is just being finalized now and copies will be made available. But when asked about the importance of his meeting with Foreign Minister Ivanov, the Secretary- General told reporters that his meeting was part of the search for a political solution, and he talked about the need to intensify these efforts. "I think you've noticed that in the last couple of weeks", he said, adding that, "I think we are all trying to find a political solution that will allow the Kosovars to go back home, preferably before the winter."
**Kosovo
The United Nations needs-assessment mission to Kosovo and other parts of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is in Belgrade today wrapping up meetings with authorities there on issues ranging from education, emergency and humanitarian relief, health, human rights, reconstruction and rehabilitation.
Sergio Vieira de Mello, who heads the mission, met today with Yugoslav Foreign Minister Javanovic and raised the concerns of the United Nations over the trial of the two Australian representatives of the non-governmental organization (NGO) CARE. This trial, as you know, began in Belgrade today. He also raised with the Foreign Minister the reports of the rounding up of men by Serbian authorities inside Kosovo. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), meanwhile, reported that among the latest group of Kosovars entering Albania were prisoners freed from a northern Kosovo jail, reportedly to make room for hundreds of new detainees.
Few crossings were reported by the UNHCR on the Albanian side as of midday today. The UNHCR, which had reported thousands of people lining up to cross into the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, today reported that the border area with Kosovo was empty. The UNHCR also reported that the border was closed today, a day after a wave of 7,500 Kosovars had arrived in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
**Security Council
Security Council members are discussing the report of the Secretary- General on East Timor. Also present was the Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Alvaro de Soto. Once they go over East Timor, they have scheduled a briefing on the situation on Angola, by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The Council is then expected to discuss, under other matters, the situation in Somalia.
The briefing on Angola will flag the serious deterioration in the humanitarian situation. The number of people displaced inside the country has risen from over 300,000 at the time of the start of the conflict in late
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November, to some 950,000 now, bringing the total number of displaced persons to a staggering 1.6 million. The widespread insecurity is putting enormous strain on the delivery of assistance to the people in need, and access to the population in need is severely limited.
The United Nations humanitarian coordinator there, Francesco Strippoli, is at United Nations Headquarters and is scheduled to join us at the noon briefing tomorrow, but he will also be available for interviews. If you want to contact him for interviews, please do so via the number 963-4832.
**Africa Day
Today, the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Sir Kieran Prendergast, delivered a speech in London on behalf of the Secretary-General on the occasion of Africa Day. He said that in Africa, as everywhere, the peoples and leaders themselves must make critical choices. "It's time for Africans to begin to reap the benefits of their sacrifice, and to move from the fragile recovery of today to a more solid foundation for tomorrow", he said. Copies of the speech in English and in French are available in the Spokesman's Office.
**Sierra Leone
Still on Africa, I'd like to flag and bring to your attention a press release by the World Food Programme (WFP) that today they appealed for unimpeded access by humanitarian organizations to all people in need of food and other aid in Sierra Leone. This release came out in the wake of a ceasefire announcement between the Government and the rebel forces, as you know. It is estimated that some 2.6 million Sierra Leoneans, more than half of the country's population, are beyond the reach of any relief intervention. Many of these people are believed to be living in desperate conditions.
**East Timor
The Secretary-General's Special Representative for the East Timor Popular Consultation and Head of the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET), Ian Martin, is expected to arrive in Dili via Jakarta at the end of this week. To update you on deployment in Dili, as of yesterday, we had 30 people on the ground, and more are arriving on a daily basis.
Also, I have a note here, which may be of interest to you, on East Timor -- a briefing for NGOs, but to which you are also invited. It is tomorrow, between noon and 12:45 p.m. It is "The future of East Timor and the Role of the United Nations". It will take place at the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, and the guest speakers will be the Director of the Asia and Pacific Division of the Department of Political Affairs, Francesc Vendrell, and Senior Political Affairs Officer of the Electoral Affairs Division Robin Ludwig. So, that's tomorrow at 12 noon, and you're all invited to come.
Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 26 May 1999
**Week of Solidarity with Peoples of Colonial Territories
And now, on to a note about the Week of Solidarity with Peoples of All Colonial Territories Fighting for Freedom and Human Rights. At the Caribbean Regional seminar of the Special Committee 24, on decolonization, taking place in Saint Lucia this week. The Secretary-General's message on the Week was delivered. It said that "this Week of Solidarity, which was initiated in support of national liberation movements in Africa, now includes the peoples of all the remaining dependent Territories, and provides an opportunity for the international community to reiterate its solidarity with their pursuit of freedom and independence". We have available upstairs in our Office, copies of the Secretary-General's message, as well as the message of the Chairman of the Special Committee of 24.
**Food and Agriculture Organization
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced the launch of a new project in Asia to produce cotton with less pesticide. The programme will be carried out in Bangladesh, China, India, Pakistan, Philippines and Viet Nam, which includes three of the four largest cotton-producing countries in the world. According to the FAO, more insecticides are used on cotton than any other crop. For more information, please see the press release in our Office.
**UNHCHR Workshop
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, participated yesterday in a workshop held in Geneva on women, ethnicity and armed conflict, at which Radhika Coomaraswamy, Special Rapporteur on violence against women, made a presentation on sexual violence in armed conflicts. In her report, she said "recent wars in Bosnia, Rwanda, and now in Kosovo, point to the fact that sexual violence can be a central instrument of terror, especially in campaigns that involve ethnic fratricide or nationalist wars". We're trying to get copies of the report and once we do, we'll announce that to you.
**Treaties
Poland yesterday ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, bringing the total number of ratifications to 35. The treaty has 152 signatories, but it has not yet entered into force.
**UNDP Goodwill Ambassador
Misako Konno, a prominent Japanese actress and Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), will brief New York media on her recent mission to Cambodia on Thursday, 27 May. The press conference will
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take place tomorrow, as I said, from 11 to 11:30 a.m. at UNDP headquarters, in the Hank Shannon Room on floor 21. You know that the UNDP is at One United Nations Plaza. UNDP Administrator James Gustave Speth will introduce Ms. Konno.
This is all I have for you. Are there any questions before we move to our guests?
**Question-and-Answer Session
Question: I'm wondering about the situation in Kashmir, as a kind of general question. How much concern has that caused the United Nations, given the first fighting there in 20 years. I think there are some reports that Pakistan might have asked for a United Nations envoy to go to the area. I don't know if you've officially received that request or not.
Deputy Spokesman: I have not heard of this request yet. But yesterday, as you'll recall, we had a statement by the Secretary-General, expressing his concern over the resumed fighting there. We understand that it continues, and I repeat, the Secretary-General calls on the parties to exercise restraint and cease the fighting, which has reportedly caused a number of casualties among the civilian population and displaced others from their villages in the area. We are, indeed, very concerned about that.
Question: Any word on that Russian crew shot down in Angola?
Deputy Spokesman: This has been the subject of discussions in the Security Council, as you know. I don't have an update today. I can try to find out for you. If there's anything, I'll let you know.
Question: Also, I noticed in the Secretary-General's report on Haiti, they asked for support for the CEP, the provisional electoral council. I remember when Mr. Prashki was here, he talked of a discrepancy of $625,000 on the last CEP and promised an investigation by the Secretary-General. Did the Secretary-General ever do anything?
Deputy Spokesman: I'll have to find out about this investigation and let you know.
Question: Can you elaborate on the statement by the Secretary-General on Kosovo that was put out yesterday? Did it come out of Sweden or New York?
Deputy Spokesman: It came out late in New York yesterday, and basically, it is the Secretary-General reiterating a concern regarding the importance that humanitarian work is to be coordinated and led by civilians. That's the basic message of that statement.
All right. If there are no more questions, it is my pleasure to invite our two guests.
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