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.

**Kosovo

Good afternoon. I've got a news encyclopedia to read. Sorry. The less staff I have, the more they produce. First on Kosovo, which is still dominating the news.

The spontaneous return of Kosovar refugees has been gaining momentum all day. At Morini, the main crossing point from Albania, 9,000 people had crossed over by 3 p.m. and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was predicting the total would well exceed 10,000 by the end of the day. Most people were travelling in their own cars or tractors and were headed for the town of Prizren. From the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), the same phenomenon was occurring, although the numbers were lower: 1,800 had crossed by 3 p.m. Most of these refugees had been living with host families and were driving their own vehicles. Some had hired taxis in Skopje.

The UNHCR is redeploying its international staff from Albania and FYROM to Kosovo: 20 were ordered to cross over today. The UNHCR is also providing mine-awareness materials to the refugees as they cross the border. With non- governmental organizations, they've established two way-stations on the road to Prizren to provide water, medical services and tow ropes for tractors that seem likely not to make it under their own steam.

**Acting Special Representative of Secretary-General

Meanwhile, inside Kosovo, the Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Sergio Vieira de Mello, visited some areas he had not been able to see during his assessment mission last month. He has asked KFOR (Kosovo Force) to do aerial assessments of the location of internally displaced people so that the World Food Programme (WFP) can deliver food to them. The WFP today delivered 20 tonnes of bread to the town of Prizren from their mobile bakery in Kukes, Albania.

Sergio Vieira de Mello's advance team now numbers about 30 persons. They continued their consultations with provincial authorities to identify gaps in order to determine the degree of penetration that the United Nations civil administration would need to take. As we speak, he and the KFOR Commander, General Michael Jackson, are appearing on local television, appealing to the Serb civilian population not to leave Kosovo. The UNHCR though announced that, according to the Yugoslav Red Cross, 24,000 Kosovar

Serbs had entered Serbia, and 9,000 more had gone into Montenegro. The United Nations is also working today to restore the water supply to Pristina, and a United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination team is expected tomorrow to begin working on other utilities.

Sergio Vieira de Mello also met with the United Nations Police Commissioner today. They plan to bring into Kosovo 150 to 200 United Nations civilian police monitors from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and this, of course, would be the forward contingent of a United Nations police contingent that could eventually number more than 2,000.

**Deputy Secretary-General

In Geneva this morning, the Deputy Secretary-General, Louise Fréchette, met with a delegation from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the last of three bilateral sessions with the main non-United Nations lead agencies, under the overall authority of the Acting Special Representative heading the United Nations civilian mission in Kosovo. The Deputy Secretary- General then brought together: the European Union and the European Commission, which will play the lead in reconstruction and rehabilitation; the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), responsible for institution- building; the UNHCR, the lead agency for refugee return; along with the NATO delegation and other organizations, to wrap up the work of the bilateral sessions.

At a news conference following the meeting, the Deputy Secretary-General said that the Secretary-General's preliminary operational concept plan for Kosovo "won the support of all the actors"; that there was general agreement on the division of labour as outlined in the Secretary-General's report; and she looked forward to making it work as a team. The transcript of her press conference is coming in from Geneva now. I think we have the first three pages upstairs for you. A more detailed operational plan is being prepared by Sergio Vieira de Mello's advance team, and includes inputs generated from the follow-up from today's meeting in Geneva.

**International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia

We had indicated to you earlier in the week that the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has now an initial forward- planning presence on the ground in Kosovo, making preparation for the bulk of the team of investigators to arrive. They're there to conduct preliminary work for about a week, specifically, mapping and surveying crime scenes. About 40 forensic investigators are ready to hit the ground once the go-ahead comes from KFOR. We expect to receive the weekly briefing notes from the Tribunal later today.

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**UNEP Balkans Task Force on Environment

We have a press release from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) saying that a team from the UNEP Balkans Task Force will hopefully travel soon to Serbia, Kosovo and Montenegro to start work on providing a detailed assessment of the environmental impact of the Balkans conflict, and that was announced by the head of UNEP, Klaus Töpfer, in London today. You can pick up the press release for more details.

**Security Council

The Security Council is holding consultations today on East Timor. Council members have been briefed by Ambassador Jamsheed Marker, the Secretary-General's Personal Representative. That's on the current situation in East Timor before Ambassador Marker leaves for the region tomorrow.

**East Timor

Now, on developments in East Timor, the public information campaign, which started last Sunday, has a very important added feature as of today -- a message by the Secretary-General to the Timorese on the popular consultation and the role of the United Nations Mission in East Timor. The message starts to be broadcast in East Timor this evening local time, which is about now, as we speak. The text of the message is available in my Office, if you're interested. United Nations Television will play the video message on in-house TV channels right after the noon briefing. If you're interested in the video and sound of the message, please contact United Nations Television.

The Chief Electoral Officer of the United Nations Mission, Jeffrey Fischer, arrived in Dili. Currently, we have 127 international staff on the ground. The first group of 42 civilian police arrive in Dili this Saturday after having gone through a four-day training programme. They are from Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Spain, United Kingdom and Zimbabwe.

The Secretary-General has appointed Alan James Mills of Australia, as we mentioned yesterday, as Civilian Police Commissioner of the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET). Mr. Mills, who's already in Dili, will assume his post immediately. He has served in the Australian Police Force since 1962. He was recently Assistant Commissioner and Special Advisory member to the Australian Federal Police Commissioner. He served with the United Nations Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) from 1989 to 1991.

**Committee on New Members

We had a question earlier this week about the membership applications of Nauru and Kiribati, and on that, we understand that the Committee on New Members, of the Security Council, will meet next Tuesday, 22 June, on that subject and will report back to the Security Council.

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**Secretary General to Nelson Mandela

Today, the Secretary-General wrote to outgoing President Nelson Mandela of South Africa on the occasion of his retirement. "Even today", the Secretary- General observed, "five years after apartheid, no citizen of the world can remain unmoved by the magnitude and depth of your achievement." The Secretary-General wrote that the path of peace, reconciliation and equality, which President Mandela forged for the people of South Africa, is a model for every nation and for all peoples. "We are, all of us, in your debt", he said. If you want the full text of that letter, pick it up in my Office.

**Special Envoy for Democratic Republic of Congo

Moustapha Niasse, the Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the peace process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is in South Africa today, where he represented the United Nations at the inauguration ceremony of President Thabo Mbeki. He will stay in South Africa for a couple of days to attend the consultations on the Democratic Republic of the Congo to be held tomorrow among members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) member States, and will also include Uganda and Kenya. Those consultations are taking place ahead of the Lusaka Summit on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, scheduled for 25 June, during which it is expected a ceasefire agreement will be signed. Mr. Niasse will brief the Security Council upon his return, the end of this week or the beginning of next. We'll keep you posted.

**Bosnia and Herzegovina Report

The Secretary-General's latest report on the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH) is out on the racks today as document S/1999/670. The Secretary-General reports considerable progress in the Mission's efforts to restructure the police. The authorities in the Republika Srpska have, for the first time, agreed to the principle of multi-ethnic policing in their entity, and to concrete steps for making this a reality. But despite this and other positive signs, the number of minority police officers remains disappointingly low, reflecting deep-rooted resistance to multi-ethnic policing among some of Bosnia's dominant political forces. The Secretary-General appeals to the Security Council members to fully support the Mission, and recommends that they extend its mandate for a further 12 months.

**UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Appeals in Death Case

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, appealed to the United States Government and to the Virginia State authorities to stop today's scheduled execution of Douglas Christopher Thomas, and reaffirm the customary international law ban on the use of the death penalty on juvenile offenders. Speaking after a visit to a detention centre in Moscow, where a number of detainees should be taken out of the death row following Russia's recent suspension of the application of capital punishment, Mrs. Robinson said

Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 16 June 1999

the execution of Mr. Thomas, convicted of murders committed when he was 17 years old, would run counter to established international principles. You can get a press release on that, if you're interested, in my Office.

**UNICEF on Debt Relief

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) today urged the G-8 countries meeting in Cologne this weekend to break the debt bondage of the world's poorest nations. The UNICEF said that perpetuating the debt crisis denies the social and economic rights of hundreds of millions of impoverished women and children. UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy said that when nations are freed from their debt burdens, they can use their resources to help secure basic rights to education and health. There's a press release on that.

**Malnutrition in Angola Hundreds of thousands of Angolans face an increased risk of malnutrition, according to a new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the WFP. The agencies say that escalating violence in Angola is severely disrupting agriculture, with a number of farming areas engulfed by the fighting. Some 1.7 million displaced people are virtually isolated because of the ongoing fighting, putting them at great risk. Less than one third of the needed aid has been pledged by donors, and the agencies say that without this support, food shortages will only worsen in the coming months. See the press release.

**WHO on Smoke and Children's Health

The World Health Organization (WHO) today issued a new report on how tobacco smoke damages children's health. Adverse effects of environmental tobacco smoke can include pneumonia, bronchitis, coughing, wheezing, worsening of asthma and middle-ear infections. Children's exposure to tobacco smoke may also contribute to cardiovascular disease in adulthood. According to the WHO, some 700 million of the world's children live in the home of a smoker. The agency concludes that the effects of environmental tobacco smoke on children constitute a substantial public health threat. See the press release.

**Soccer and Secretary-General

Soccer fans: Saturday, 19 June, the Secretary-General will officially launch the Women's World Cup, immediately prior to the first game starting at 3 p.m. at Giants Stadium, just across the river in New Jersey. The International Soccer Federation (FIFA) Women's World Cup Games are being held in the United States through 10 July.

And let me remind you that Friday, 18 June, the Secretary-General and the President of FIFA will hold a press conference on the North Lawn at 11:30 a.m. The two organizations will announce that FIFA has agreed to fly the United Nations flag at all World Cup Games beginning with the Women's World Cup Games the next day. We have a media advisory for you on the racks.

Daily Press Briefing - 6 - 16 June 1999

**Treaties

Luxembourg has just ratified the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction. There are now 82 parties to that treaty, which has 132 signatories, and, of course, it came into force on 1 March.

**Mexico Earthquake

An earthquake hit Mexico yesterday at 1542 hours local time. The epicentre of the quake was about 140 miles south-east of Mexico City. The earthquake measured 6.5 on the Richter scale. Our Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is in close contact with the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Mexico City and the international relief community. The United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination team has been alerted, and we have a situation report in my Office.

**Press Conferences

On Friday at 3:15 p.m., the members of the Secretary-General's panel investigating the actions of the United Nations at the time of the genocide in Rwanda will give a press conference here in room S-226. The panel is headed by Ingvar Carlsson, a former Prime Minister of Sweden. The other two members are Han Sung-Joo, the former Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea, and General Rufus Kupolati of Nigeria, who served three years as head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission based in Jerusalem. They are in New York this week beginning their work.

**United Nations Correspondents Association Party

Finally, from the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA), you're invited to a party. It's the annual Directory Party. It's at the UNCA Club, 5:30 p.m. today. And, go pick up your directory and have a drink. That's all I have for you.

**Question-and-Answer Session

Question: The Secretary-General's message to East Timor. Is that on videotape?

Spokesman: Yes. It's a video message --

Question: Which we can get from United Nations TV?

Spokesman: Yes. Question: And does the Secretary-General, in any way, have any comment on the various drafts and resolutions that are floating around regarding Iraq? Britain has proposed something that I think is a little more forward in its

Daily Press Briefing - 7 - 16 June 1999

allegation regarding possible suspension on sanctions regarding exports if there's progress on disarmament.

Spokesman: No, he's waiting for something concrete to emerge from the Council.

Question: Do you have any figures on the number of Serbs left in Kosovo? Is there a figure we're working with?

Spokesman: Unfortunately not. I think I mentioned yesterday that the Serb population of Kosovo is estimated at something like 100,000 to 200,000, so it's rather a wide gap of an estimate, I don't think we can say how many are left.

Question: Which day is the Rwanda panel?

Spokesman: He meets with them on Friday at 12 noon for about an hour, and then he'll have lunch with them, so they'll be together a few hours, and then after lunch they'll come here to brief you.

Question: Is there a readout on the Secretary-General's meeting with his predecessor as Secretary-General? Did you get anything from their lunch, anything interesting in his return to the Building for the first time?

Spokesman: No, I didn't. It was a cordial, friendly lunch. The former Secretary-General described his new responsibilities as head of the Francophonie, compared it to his work here at the United Nations, as to what governments can find to disagree over and so on. But that's about all I have on that lunch. Question: Did he have anything to say about his book?

Spokesman: I don't know. You heard the Secretary-General do a plug for the book when he introduced the former Secretary-General. They might have discussed it over lunch, but I don't know.

Question: Is there anything the Secretary-General wants or needs in this latest Moscow visit coming up?

Spokesman: As I mentioned, it was a previously scheduled official visit, unlike the last one he made, which was Kosovo-specific. This visit should be more general. I have to assume that Kosovo will be near the top of the agenda, as it is here at the United Nations.

Question: Are we getting closer to naming the Special Representative?

Spokesman: Well, we're creeping closer, but I would not predict that it would happen this week. I don't rule it out, but it doesn't look likely that it'll happen this week.

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Question: Are we creeping any closer to having a ballpark figure of total amount of civilian staff for Kosovo, or budget?

Spokesman: No, the principles of funding that I described to you, I think yesterday, were reaffirmed in Geneva at the Deputy Secretary-General's meetings, namely, that the United Nations Member States will be assessed for the cost of the United Nations part of the operation, which includes the administration of the presence there, whereas the other organizations, principally the OSCE and the European Union/European Community, will fund their respective activities. But I don't think we're ready to give you a ballpark figure on either the money or the size of the mission. Probably not until the Secretary-General presents his detailed concept paper to the Security Council.

Question: When?

Spokesman: That's probably the one that's promised within 30 days of the adoption of the resolution.

Question: The British Government yesterday pledged that it would make an all-out effort to get contracts for rebuilding Kosovo because of their feeling that they were left out after the Gulf War with the rebuilding of Kuwait, and various other nations are also fighting to get contracts. I'm wondering what kind of pressure the Secretary-General is coming under, and the United Nations Organization as a whole, from various different governments trying to get a piece of the pie?

Spokesman: I'm not aware that there have been any specific approaches by governments. Again, if the operation works the way we've planned it, the European Union will do reconstruction and development under the overall supervision of the Special Representative. I don't know how, and they probably don't know yet either, the basis on which they would issue contracts. It's normal for all nations to be interested in getting those contracts, but I don't know that there's any specific procedure yet approved for those organizations. If it's a United Nations contract, we have very specific guidelines to make sure that the contracts are issued in an impartial way to the lowest bidder who is the best qualified to do the work.

Question: And that function is being handed off to the European Union, basically, is that it?

Spokesman: No, I'm not sure that a final decision has been made on that. I don't know if the procedures -- I don't think the European Union has firmed up their procedures, and I don't know whether United Nations procedures will apply. It's probably still one of those things that still needs to be worked out. Thanks very much.

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