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.

Okay. Good afternoon. I'd like to welcome to the briefing Dr. Peter Piot, the Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) who will be discussing the impact of HIV/AIDS on population and development issues.

**Kosovo

First, the announcement, I think, you all have been waiting for. The Secretary-General, a few moments ago, informed the President of the Security Council of his intention to appoint Bernard Kouchner of France as his Special Representative to head the United Nations Mission in Kosovo. He also appointed James P. Covey, also known as Jock Covey, of the United States, as Principal Deputy to the Special Representative. We had announced two out of four of the deputies heading the four legs of the mission -- that is, Dominique Vian of France, in charge of the Interim Civil Administration, and Dennis McNamara of New Zealand, in charge of the Humanitarian Affairs leg.

The Secretary-General today announced the two remaining Deputy Special Representatives in charge of Institution Building, which will be carried out by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). He confirms the nomination by the OSCE of Daan Everts of the Netherlands. On Reconstruction, the fourth leg, he appoints Joly Dixon of the United Kingdom. And we have bios on most of these people in my office.

In Pristina, the Secretary-General's acting Special Representative, Sergio Vieira de Mello, called together leaders of the Albanian and Serbian communities to focus exclusively on the pressing issue of security for all people in Kosovo. This is the first time that Albanian and Serb leaders of Kosovo have sat down to discuss concrete issues.

De Mello said earlier today that despite efforts of the international security force, it was felt that the security situation was deteriorating and the spiral of violence was widening, affecting greater numbers of people, and Serbs in particular.

We have just learned that a joint statement by the leaders of both communities has been issued. The statement calls for restraint and respect for human life. We have copies upstairs for you.

The United Nations mission in Kosovo is broadcasting the joint statement. Both radio and television stations of Pristina are being brought back to operation for this purpose. In addition to issuing the joint public

statement, the two sides also agreed to form a crisis group to respond rapidly to security emergencies and a hotline linking all parties.

Please see the briefing notes from the mission in Pristina for the names of the eight participants -- four from each side -- and the details of these talks.

As the number of refugees returning to Kosovo topped 530,000 today, the United Nations Mine Action Programme set up in Pristina said it has received thousands of requests from returning refugees who want mine experts to inspect their homes, which they suspect have been mined or booby trapped.

In Pristina today, Lt. Col. John Flanagan of the United Nations Mine Action Programme also said that it had received 425 reports of mine fields so far. The Mine Action Programme is currently undertaking a rapid assessment of the threat of mines and booby traps. We hope to know the extent of the threat within three to four weeks. The programme has deployed 13 organizations and dozens of teams from as far away as Mozambique and Cambodia, which include dog teams from the group Handicap International.

We hope to have cleared key areas before the first snow falls and winter sets in as those conditions would make demining an even more difficult task. Please see a two-page handout on the programme that we have in my office.

**Security Council

In New York, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Bernard Miyet, is briefing the Security Council on the Kosovo mission.

Following a second meeting Miyet convened with potential police contributors at United Nations Headquarters, the number of police pledged for Kosovo has now reached 2,486.

According to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which is charged with institution-building for Kosovo, recruitment of local police is a top priority and it hopes to have a police academy in place by the end of the month.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Sadako Ogata will travel Sunday to Skopje and proceed the next day to Kosovo with an organized repatriation convoy.

The Food and Agriculture Organization has highlighted the need to bring fuel into the province to allow for the July harvest.

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 2 July 1999

**Libya Report Out

The Secretary-General's report on Libya is out on the racks today (S/1999/726).

Its scope is limited to the mandate that the Security Council gave the Secretary-General, and he stresses that does not provide a comprehensive review of the tragic events related to the bombings of UTA flight 772 and Pan Am Flight 103.

That said, the Secretary-General reviews the requirements for the lifting of the sanctions against Libya set forth in various Security Council documents. These include full cooperation in bringing to justice those responsible for the two bombings, paying compensation to the victims, and renouncing terrorism.

The Secretary-General then reviews Libya's compliance with these provisions. For their part, the French authorities have, on the whole, been satisfied as regards UTA Flight 772, and have convicted six persons in absentia for the crime.

Regarding Pan Am Flight 103, the Secretary-General notes that since the suspects have already arrived in the Netherlands for trial before a Scottish Court, from this point on Libya can only provide assurances of its commitment to comply with the remaining requirements, including cooperation with the Court and compensation in the event of a guilty verdict.

The Secretary-General notes that Libya has provided these assurances, and has renounced all forms of international terrorism. Towards that end, Libya has cooperated with the British authorities in countering terrorist activities. The United Kingdom reported that there were omissions in Libya's replies to their questions on links with the Provisional Irish Republican Army, but, on the whole, London was satisfied with the answers and hoped that Libya would continue to follow the path of renouncing international terrorism.

For its part, the United States stated that Libya "has not taken similar steps with regard to its support for other terrorist organizations".

The Secretary-General reports on his mid-June meeting with representatives of Libya, the United Kingdom and the United States, which aimed to assist them in clarifying the outstanding issues relating to the lifting of the sanctions against Libya. The participants agreed on the need for a follow-up meeting. The Secretary-General expresses hope that further contacts will eventually lead to a normalization of relations among the parties.

Daily Press Briefing - 4 - 2 July 1999

**East Timor

On East Timor, five electoral officers of the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET), who had left Maliana for Dili following the incident of last Tuesday, returned to Maliana today. The other three are expected to go back tomorrow.

Electoral officers who were based in Vikeke and went to Dili after another security incident on Wednesday are not expected to return to Vikeke before Sunday. At around 1 a.m. today some people tried to enter a residence of a United Nations staff, and Indonesian police guarding the residence fired a warning shot. The would-be intruders ran away. As a result, UNAMET is reassessing security conditions in Vikeke, before authorizing the return of the electoral officers.

For more details on developments in East Timor, we have available in my office the summary of UNAMET's daily press briefing, which was done today by someone well known to you all, Hiro Ueki, formerly of my office who is now the Acting Spokesman, while David Wimhurst is on a short mission at UNAMET's Darwin training centre.

We also have available the transcript of the press conference this morning in Sydney of the Personal Representative of the Secretary-General, Ambassador Jamsheed Marker. He gives a very comprehensive overview of where the process is and what lies ahead.

**Vienna Award Winners Announced

Four winners of the first United Nations Vienna Civil Society Award, which honours individuals or groups for outstanding work in fighting global crime and drug abuse, were announced today by Pino Arlacchi, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna and Executive Director of the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (ODCCP).

The winners include two drug abuse centres from Japan and from India, a Mexican Foundation that set up a hotline for addicts, and a Ugandan citizen, who has set up pioneering projects to reduce demand for illicit drugs in his country.

The Secretary-General will present the awards at a Vienna City Hall ceremony on 19 July. The winners will receive an Award Medal and Certificate as well as prize money of $100,000, which will be shared among them.

We have a press release with details.

Daily Press Briefing - 5 - 2 July 1999

**New Judge for Tribunal

In a letter that you will find on the racks today the Secretary-General informed the President of the Security Council of his decision to appoint Patricia McGowan Wald to replace Judge Gabrielle Kirk McDonald for the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Ms. Wald, whose candidacy was presented by the United States, is currently Judge at the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Her bio is in a previously release document (S/1999/727).

**Guinea-Bissau Report Out

We also have the Secretary-General's report on Guinea-Bissau today. In it he reports on the latest developments in that country as well as the events of last May that had led to the President's ouster from office and their impact on the peace process.

He also spells out a revised mandate for the United Nations Peace- building Office in Guinea-Bissau to adjust it to the new situation. As part of its new tasks the Office will support national efforts towards national reconciliation, tolerance and peaceful management, and will encourage initiatives aimed at building confidence and maintaining friendly relations between Guinea-Bissau and its neighbours and international partners.

**Afghanistan

One million explosive devices have been removed from Afghan soil since the United Nations Mine Action Programme began operating in Afghanistan in 1989.

For details on that, see a press release in my office.

**Press Conferences

This afternoon, at 2 p.m. in this room, United States delegation to the special session will assess the outcome, and that is headed by Frank Loy, the Under-Secretary of States for Global Affairs.

**Goodbye to John Goshko

This week we all say goodbye to John Goshko, the veteran reporter for the Washington Post who came up from Washington a number of years ago to report hear on the United Nations. John is retiring and we wish him a bit of rest and much good luck.

We also will like to congratulate Colum Lynch, formerly of the Boston Globe, who took over from John as the new Washington Post correspondent here.

Daily Press Briefing - 6 - 2 July 1999

And the domino effect then passes to Joe Lauria also known to you, who replaces Colum as the Boston Globe correspondent here.

We have the week ahead for you. I won't go into reading the highlights because we have run out of time. Any questions before we go to Jadranka?

Question-and-Answer Session

Question: Anything you can tell us, Fred, about the qualities of the candidates appointed by the Secretary-General for the Kosovo position?

Answer: Of the candidate or candidates?

Correspondent: Kouchner.

Spokesman: Kouchner is well known to all of you as a proponent of humanitarian issues. He was extremely outspoken during the Bosnia war in support of humanitarian objectives. So he has these qualities. I think the Secretary-General said he was looking for vision, the ability to manage and knowledge of the region. And so I think he's looking forward to seeing Bernard Kouchner get into the field. I believe that he would be meeting Kouchner this afternoon. He's in New York right now. I think that's a new addition to his agenda. It would happen about 4 p.m. today. And so the team is now complete, and we're pleased that we can move on to the next phase.

Question: Will there be a press availability with Kouchner today?

Answer: We can try for that. I also have the Secretary-General and his busy schedule -- if he can find a microphone somewhere between his office and the door before he leaves his office today, and maybe talk to you.

Any other questions? Jadranka.

**Briefing by Spokesman for President of General Assembly

Jadranka Mihalic, spokesman for the President of the General Assembly, in her briefing, said:

This morning, the Assembly first approved the report of the Credentials Committee of the twenty-first special session before proceeding with the general debate. For this morning 20 speakers have been inscribed, as well as another 20 for this afternoon, and 21 at 7 p.m. tonight.

At the conclusion of the meeting this evening, the Assembly will consider the report of the Ad Hoc Committee of the Whole containing the text of the final document that was approved late last night by the Committee. The document will come out some time in the course of the day. The symbol is A/S-21/5.

Daily Press Briefing - 7 - 2 July 1999

Of course, you were just briefed a short while ago by the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Dr. Nafis Sadik on the success of the negotiations. Of the text, she said in the briefing that the outcome would move the Cairo agenda forward, adding that by focusing on the actions that need to be taken, it has enhanced the Cairo Programme of Action while preserving its basic principles.

She also said that the agenda has moved forward, in particular, in the area of adolescent reproductive and sexual health. Participants also agreed that in all circumstances of unsafe abortion women's health must be protected and, where it is legal, health services and providers must be trained to provide safe and accessible services.

A lot of you have been asking about the document. Some advance copies -- in fact the old copies marked with the additions -- are available for consultations in the press office.

Tomorrow, the President of the fifty-third session of the Assembly as well as of the special session, will be leaving for a five-day visit to China at the invitation of the Chinese Government. During his visit, he is scheduled to meet with the President of China, Jiang Zemin, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Qian Qichen, and other officials. After his talks in Beijing, he will travel to Shanghai before returning to New York on 11 July.

And, as most of you probably know, yesterday afternoon, according to the established practice, the drawing of lots took place to identify the Member State which will take the first seat in the General Assembly Hall during the fifty-fourth session of the Assembly -- that is looking from the back of the Hall, the first desk on the left.

The Secretary-General drew the name of South Africa, so all the other Member States will follow South Africa in the English alphabetical order that would be valid for the fifty-fourth session itself, any special session scheduled to take place during the period and in the Main Committees of the General Assembly.

And that's all I have.

Spokesman for the Secretary-General: I know you're going to be suspicious of that -- but it really came out that way. Mr. Yongjian Jin, Under-Secretary-General of General Assembly Affairs and Conference Services, presided over the event. Television cameras, lots of witnesses. South Africa... congratulations.

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