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.

**Secretary-General to Meet Pope

As we announced earlier this morning, the Secretary-General is leaving for Rome this evening, where he will have a working lunch tomorrow with His Holiness Pope John Paul II to discuss the moral and political issues underlying the crisis in Kosovo.

The invitation came from His Holiness and I understand it is a rare occurrence. Such an invitation has been extended by a Pope only one other time in the last 40 years. At least that is what we're told by our Information Office in Rome.

While in Rome, the Secretary-General will also take the opportunity to meet with the President of Italy, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. That will happen at mid-day.

The Secretary-General will then return to New York in the afternoon.

**Security Council

The Secretary-General is scheduled to attend the briefing of the Security Council by Sergio Vieira de Mello, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, on his mission to Kosovo and the rest of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. That was scheduled to begin around 11:30 a.m. -- I think it's underway now. Mr. Vieira de Mello is scheduled to brief you in this room at 3:30 p.m.

Earlier this morning, the members of the Security Council adopted their programme of work for June. The Secretary-General then briefed them on his visit to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Albania.

Under other matters, the Council discussed the situation in Guinea- Bissau, the border conflict in Eritrea/Ethiopia, the recent attacks on UNIFIL peacekeepers in Lebanon and a letter from the Staff Union on the issue of staff security.

**ICJ Ruling on NATO Bombing

Earlier today, in The Hague, the International Court of Justice rejected a request by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to order an immediate halt to the NATO bombing campaign.

Belgrade made that request pending a final decision by the Court on 10 separate cases it brought against 10 NATO member countries. Yugoslavia had asked the Court to order those countries to immediately cease their acts of force and refrain from any threat or use of force.

The Court can only grant a request for provisional measures, like Yugoslavia's request that it order a halt to the bombing, if it finds that it has prima facie jurisdiction in the case, meaning that it has jurisdiction "at first sight". So in this instance, the Court looked at the cases and found that, at first sight, it did not have jurisdiction. It also found that it manifestly lacks jurisdiction in two of the cases -– those against Spain and the United States -– so it dismissed them outright, while deciding to consider further the question of whether it has jurisdiction in the remaining eight cases.

At the same time, the Court expressed its deep concern "with the human tragedy, the loss of life, and the enormous suffering in Kosovo which form the background" of the dispute and "with the continuing loss of life and human suffering in all parts of Yugoslavia". It said the use of force in Yugoslavia "under the present circumstances ... raises very serious issues of international law".

We have 11 press releases from the ICJ in my Office -- one for each of the 10 cases and an umbrella press release that you are invited to look at.

Yesterday I was asked if the Secretariat has responsibility to enforce ICJ decisions, and I replied, apparently correctly, that the Secretariat does not have a policing responsibility on World Court decisions. However, I also said that Member States do, but I should clarify that decisions of the ICJ have no binding force except between the parties to the dispute in question. So no country would be obliged to implement an ICJ decision unless it was a party to the case.

**Refugees in Europe and Africa

The UNHCR remains seriously concerned about the deteriorating security situation along the Kosovo and Albania borders. The fighting in the border areas is hampering access to that area for humanitarian workers and has even caused displacements among the local Albanian population.

If you want more details on that, please see the UNHCR Update for today.

According to an Africa Fact Sheet issued today by UNHCR, Sierra Leone is at the top of the list of refugee-producing countries on that continent, with 410,000. Somalia is second with slightly over 400,000; the Sudan follows with more than 370,000; then comes Eritrea with over 340,000; and finally Burundi with nearly 300,000.

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 2 June 1999

Countries hosting the biggest numbers of refugees are Guinea, with more than 410,000; Sudan, more than 390,000; Tanzania, more than 340,000; and Ethiopia, more than 260,000.

These refugees are among 3.3 million in Africa, which also is home to some 2.1 million internally displaced persons and 1.1 million former refugees who have recently returned home, according to the figures of so-called "people of concern" to UNHCR in Africa.

We have copies of that fact sheet in my office.

In addition to refugees assisted by UNHCR, Angola and Congo-Brazzaville are two African countries in conflict which have generated very large displaced populations. They are not assisted by UNHCR and therefore are not part of the statistics I just read out.

**UNCTAD/Foreign Investment Flows

Two press releases to flag for you today:

From UNCTAD, one saying that foreign direct investment flows into the Russian Federation fell drastically last year, from $6 billion in 1997 to just $2 billion in '98. That is according to the most recent figures released today by UNCTAD.

UNCTAD also found that foreign direct investment flows into other Central and Eastern European countries reached a new high, moving from $13 billion in '97 to $16 billion in '98.

We have a press release with more details.

**FAO/Deadly Cattle Disease

Finally, the Food and Agriculture Organization issued a warning today about the potential spread of a deadly cattle disease called rinderpest. Right now, the disease exists only in southern Sudan, southern Somalia and parts of Pakistan. FAO is asking donors to contribute to a major effort aimed at eradicating the plague.

We have a press release on that if you're interested.

Any questions? Quiet day. Okay, run out to the stand-up mic.

We're going to ask Sergio de Mello, in response to requests from you, if he would consider talking to you at the stand-up microphone, instead of here in Room 226 at 3:30 p.m. When he comes out of the Security Council, there is a chance he'll speak to you there, in which case we'll announce the cancellation of the 3:30 press briefing here by him. Okay?

Thank you very much.

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