DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
19990622
The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by the Spokesman for the Secretary-General, Fred Eckhard.
Good afternoon. I'd like to welcome to the briefing, Sharon Capeling- Alakija who is the Executive Coordinator of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) and she will brief you on the UNVs role in East Timor.
**Kosovo
First on Kosovo, as usual -- with about 175,000 refugees (that was the figure as of last night, it's higher today) already spontaneously returned to Kosovo, Pristina's population is back up to approximately half its normal strength, and the United Nations is seeing a rise in the crime rate. KFOR troops are responsible for maintaining security, including law and order, until the United Nations re-establishes a civilian police force and installs international police monitors to oversee their work.
The acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Sergio Vieira de Mello, and the visiting Special Envoy Carl Bildt, met yesterday with KLA leader Thaci, who goes only by his nom de guerre, and de Mello will meet with him again today. Also, in Pristina, de Mello was expected to meet today with the head of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Committee for Cooperation and Links with the United Nations, Nubojsa Vujovic. In addition to Thaci, there were three other Albanian signatories to the Rambouillet Agreement expected to be in Pristina by the end of this week, and de Mello's intention is to meet with them, as well as at least one local Serb political leader, to discuss forming an Advisory Council and interim political arrangements.
Carl Bildt will be in New York tomorrow, and we've asked him to join us at the noon briefing.
Further on Kosovo, the stream of refugees returning to Kosovo showed no sign of abating. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expects the figure of refugee returns to top 200,000 by the end of today.
The UNHCR staff in Kukes in northern Albania reported earlier today that the camps there, which just a week ago had housed 35,000 refugees, are practically empty, with just a few hundred people remaining.
Heavy traffic was reported on the roads in Kosovo with returning refugees as well vehicles taking in deliveries of much needed humanitarian assistance.
The crucial task of demining was on everyone's mind in Kosovo today following an explosion which resulted in the first casualties in the
international security force on the ground in the province. The United Nations has deployed demining experts as part of the now 40-strong advance team and hopes to have between 50 and 70 deminers on the ground next week.
UNHCR also reported that FilmAid, an organization of concerned film professionals committed to helping refugee children, began showing movies in the camps in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The project is aimed at lifting the spirits of Kosovo's traumatized children.
**Secretary-General in St. Petersburg
The Secretary-General began his second day in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, by laying a wreath at Piskarev Cemetery, on what in Russia is Remembrance Day, marking the anniversary of Russia's entry into the Second World War. Some 1 million inhabitants of St. Petersburg died in that war, of which about half are buried at Piskarev.
He then delivered an address at a conference in honour of the 100th anniversary of the Russian Initiative of the First International Peace Conference, which produced the first international conventions governing conduct during war.
He travelled to Moscow in the late afternoon where he will address the Russian Media Congress this evening.
Copies of the first speech are available in my office. Copies of the second will be ready in the course of the afternoon.
The Secretary-General made brief comments to the press on leaving St. Petersburg and on arrival in Moscow, and transcripts of both encounters are available in my office.
**Security Council Consultations
This morning, the Security Council is holding consultations on Angola. Bernard Miyet, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, has briefed Council members on his recent trip to Angola, where he held discussions with government officials on the future role of the United Nations in the country.
Under other matters, the Council may consider a short item on Iraq.
**Secretary-General's Report on East Timor
The Secretary-General's report on East Timor is due to the Council tomorrow, and we don't know whether we will get copies later today. It was signed off on the thirty-eighth floor just within the last hour.
Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 22 June 1999
Also, tomorrow, the Secretary-General's report on his good offices in Cyprus is due.
**Statement on Humanitarian Mission to Nuba Mountains
We have the following statement attributable to the Spokesman on the humanitarian mission to the Nuba Mountains in Sudan.
"The Secretary-General has expressed his satisfaction in noting that the United Nations inter-agency humanitarian assessment mission to the SPLM/A-held areas of the Nuba Mountains, in the South Kordofan state of Sudan, began yesterday and is proceeding positively. The mission, including representatives of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP), will assess humanitarian needs of vulnerable civilian populations in the area.
"This is the first time that the United Nations is able to assess humanitarian conditions in this particular area since the early 1980s. The mission, which is expected to visit five villages, is scheduled to complete its assessment and return to Khartoum on 24 June.
"The Secretary-General welcomes the cooperation being extended to the mission by both the Government of Sudan and the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), and hopes that United Nations humanitarian agencies will be able to count on their continued support for the provision of relief to all those in need of humanitarian aid throughout the Sudan."
**East Timor
We have the summary of the daily press briefing by the spokesman of our Mission in East Timor. He also issued a press statement and both are available in my office.
**Y2K Meeting
Y2K coordinators from over 170 countries are here at Headquarters today for the second United Nations meeting on this issue. Following opening salutations in a formal meeting, the delegates went into closed consultations. The Chairman, Ambassador Ahmad Kamal of Pakistan, will brief you here at 2:30 p.m., so you can ask him what was discussed.
The Deputy Secretary-General, Louise Fréchette, will address the closing session this afternoon. We'll make her statement available as soon as possible.
Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 22 June 1999
In the meantime, we have a list of participants and their credentials available in the Spokesman's Office.
**UNCTAD
According to preliminary data released today by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), world foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows last year increased by 39 per cent over 1997, to $644 billion.
The increase was due largely to a substantial increase in cross-border mergers and acquisitions among developed country firms.
You can read more in a press release from UNCTAD in my office.
**UNAIDS
We also have a press backgrounder from UNAIDS, which is an update on female controlled methods for HIV and sexually transmitted diseases (STD) prevention.
**WFP
We have a news release from the World Food Programme (WFP) concerning fears of a hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa region.
**Lebanon Pays Dues
We received a payment from Lebanon for over $166,000 which brings them up to date for 1999 and that makes 76 Member States paid in full for this year.
**United Nations International School Graduation
The United Nations International School is holding its 1999 graduation here this afternoon at 2:30 p.m. Garrick Utley, a journalist with CNN, will address the graduating seniors. He worked previously as Chief Foreign Correspondent for the ABC and NBC networks here in the United States.
There's a note on the racks with more details if you are interested and a pamphlet is also on the table in the corner of this room.
**UNCA Announcement
And finally, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos Horta will meet with correspondents tomorrow at 11 a.m. in the UNCA lounge to discuss the latest developments in East Timor.
Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 22 June 1999
**Question-and-Answer Session
Question: Could you comment on reports that the elections in East Timor would either be postponed or cancelled?
Spokesman: Cancelled, no. And the Secretary-General's report that will be out late today or tomorrow will give you the answer to the first part of your question.
Question: Is the decision for the delay dependent on Ambassador Marker's return to New York -- most likely that would be after the report comes out? What's the timing on his return and on the schedule of the registration?
Spokesman: We'll check the report when it comes out tomorrow. I don't know the timing of Ambassador Marker's return.
Question: The Portuguese might find it difficult to accept postponement of elections based on operational reasons. Would the Secretary-General base his decisions on operational or security reasons?
Spokesman: You'll see in his report. He consulted widely before finalizing this report. He was well aware of the position of the Portuguese. He also talked to the Indonesians and to the East Timorese leaders through his Special Representative, and you'll see what he concluded later today or tomorrow.
Question: How does the KLA's draping its flag on institutional buildings and its being allowed to have a standing office in Kosovo complicate the United Nations plan for civil administration?
Spokesman: First of all, the agreement between KFOR and the KLA on disarmament that was signed this weekend was a matter between them. So, we really have no comment on that agreement except that we are glad it was signed. With regard to the stringing up of flags and taking over buildings and laying claim to jobs in the civil administration, Sergio Vieira de Mello has talked to the KLA about that. He will not allow the KLA or any other faction to take over police stations and he has informed the KFOR commander of that and so KFOR will enforce that decision that police stations are not to be occupied.
Otherwise, as various factions of the Kosovar/Albanian leadership return to the country and stake claim to political positions, de Mello's attitude is they can assume those positions only on an interim basis. He would eventually be naming his own political administrators throughout the country and those who carry out their responsibilities in the spirit of the Security Council resolution so that they're serving the people, the people are happy with their representation, they would most likely be allowed to stay. He is talking to
Daily Press Briefing - 6 - 22 June 1999
the four Albanian factions and also to the Serbs about an eventual accommodation of political views in the sharing of political office. All of this is on an interim basis pending eventual elections.
So, in the short term, anyone who claims a job, stays in it and does it right, maybe will keep it. But, he wants to build a consensus around who will do what jobs and all of that is just pending free elections.
Question: What about decisions on police stations?
Spokesman: Police stations are one category he made a firm decision on recently and KFOR will support him. The rest will probably be done on an ad hoc basis.
Question: Who is occupying the police stations and is there a date for United Nations police to arrive? Secondly, why was the United Nations not allowed to make an assessment mission to the Sudan?
Spokesman: The problem of access in the Sudan has been with us for a long time, but I don't want to comment on that.
On the police, it is up to the United Nations civilian mission to reconstitute a police force and to provide international police monitors to supervise their work. Initially, we plan to bring in 150 to 200 police currently serving in Bosnia. None of them has yet arrived in Kosovo apart from an advance team of approximately four. In the KFOR agreement with the KLA, there was a final paragraph saying that they hoped the international community would give due consideration to placing the KLA in policing positions with KLA members being retrained to perform traditional policing duties. I'm sure due consideration would be given.
Question: When would the other 200 be arriving from Bosnia?
Spokesman: They're coming by a circuitous route and it might not be for another week or two. And that may not be all 200, it may be an advance team of 50 or so.
Question: Do you know offhand how many there are in Bosnia?
Spokesman: No. But we could get that number easily for you from my office.
Question: Has the Secretary-General voiced any concern that the United Nations would become the tool for the separation of Kosovo from Yugoslavia?
Spokesman: You know that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is reaffirmed in the Security Council
Daily Press Briefing - 7 - 22 June 1999
resolution. With the return particularly of the Kosovo Albanian political actors, we expect there would be a struggle for power. The United Nations would try to mediate, reconcile, lay the groundwork presumably over a long period for an inter-ethnic community to be re-established in Kosovo on a peaceful basis. The Security Council resolution, as Carl Bildt pointed out to you, is not a peace plan, it is a series of general concepts. That means that Sergio Vieira de Mello and others on the ground are making judgement calls every day, and depending how good those are, the problems of power-sharing and re-establishment of civilian democratic institutions and so on would be more or less successfully resolved, and we will just watch and see how it goes on a daily basis.
* *** *