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 Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

** East Timor

Good afternoon. The United Nations Mission in East Timor decided about six hours ago to withdraw most or all of its remaining personnel from the Territory, in view of the continuing threats to their safety by the militia that have been rampaging through East Timor, unchecked by the Indonesian authorities. Arrangements are being made with Indonesia and Australia to relocate United Nations international staff, as well as United Nations local staff and their immediate dependants to Darwin, Australia.

The decision was taken after a day in which a United Nations convoy, escorted by Indonesian military, went from their compound down to the port in Dili to retrieve supplies from the United Nations warehouse. They were confronted by militia, who pulled a United Nations driver from one of the vehicles and threatened him. The military advised the United Nations personnel to return to their compound before they were killed by the militia.

The Secretary-General attended an emergency meeting of the Security Council this morning, at which Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast briefed the Council on the situation. He said he saw no improvements in the security environment in the last 24 hours. Coming out of that meeting, the Secretary-General said he had not yet decided if the withdrawal would be total, or whether some United Nations military and police could remain behind with the roughly 2,000 internally displaced persons who have taken refuge in the United Nations compound and an adjacent school building.

"We are not only concerned about our staff", he said, "but we are also concerned about the East Timorese, particularly the 2,000 internally displaced persons in our compound, and that is why I'm taking measures to try and see if we can thin out, rather than withdraw completely, so that we can maintain our premises, on the understanding that the military around the building will continue to provide protection".

There are 192 international staff in the compound and 163 local staff. With dependants, the number of local staff is 350. In addition, there are 23 journalists, nine international observers and two medical volunteers.

The Security Council mission reached Jakarta today and had a number of meetings, starting with a briefing by United Nations staff in Jakarta. They then met with Ambassadors of concerned countries before having more than two hours with Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas. Their last meeting of the day was with opposition leader Megawati.

Tomorrow they are expected to meet in the morning with President Habibie and are also scheduled to meet with East Timorese leader Xanana Gusmao. They are hoping to meet with General Wiranto on Thursday.

**Kosovo

The Kosovo Transitional Council held its weekly meeting in Pristina today. There was general concern about the security situation in the province. In remarks to the press following the meeting, which we have upstairs in my office, the Secretary-General's Special Representative, Bernard Kouchner, said there was an increase in the number of assaults and murders over the past week. In response, the Council agreed that a joint security committee should be created. Each Council member will nominate a representative for that body, which will involve KFOR and the United Nations Mission.

Kouchner also repeated his call for the Kosovo Transitional Council to take on more executive functions. Members agreed to expand the scope of the Council's work towards this end. We have a press release upstairs with more details on the meeting, including the names of the participants.

Last night, Kouchner took part in a debate with students at the University of Pristina, emphasizing his goal of building a democratic, multi-ethnic Kosovo with their participation. He appealed for a halt to ethnic violence, especially against elderly Serbs, and called for all political parties to work together for free and fair elections. We have a press release upstairs which summarizes his encounter with the students.

Also on elections, the United Nations Mission now has plans to begin registration of all people in Kosovo, including Kosovar Albanians who left after 1989 and Serbs who have left recently. This process will start on the first of October, and the Mission will begin issuing ID cards at the end of that month. The registration will be conducted by United Nations Volunteers (UNVs), with the support of local volunteers. The first 51 of 200 expected UNVs will start arriving by the end of September. You can read more in the Pristina briefing notes available upstairs.

And as we told you yesterday, Kouchner is headed to New York to brief the Security Council on Friday. I believe he arrives this afternoon.

**Western Sahara Report Delayed

We told you last week that the Secretary-General's report on the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) would be out today, but it's still being approved. We expect the report perhaps later this afternoon, and we'll squawk it as soon as it's available.

The Council is now scheduled to hold consultations on Western Sahara tomorrow at 10:30 a.m.

**Afghanistan

The Office of the United Nations Coordinator for Afghanistan is reporting that over the past month, over 43,000 displaced people have arrived in Kabul. The United Nations has repeatedly requested official permission to survey the internally displaced population in the capital city, but this permission has not been granted. Meanwhile, between 200,000 and 300,000 people in Hazarajat are facing hunger and poverty. The United Nations, working with its NGO partners, is providing food to 30,000 households there.

On a positive note, the German Government has just pledged $1 million for Afghanistan's Mine Action Programme. Just last week, over 60,000 square kilometres of agricultural and residential land in the Paghman District of Kabul Province was cleared and handed over to the owners. In addition, the clearance of four residential areas in Kandahar has allowed some 300 families to rebuild their houses there.

**Former President of Former Yugoslavia Tribunal Resigns

We have a press release from the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia saying that its former President, Judge Antonio Cassese, is resigning from the Tribunal in order to resume his academic activities at the University of Florence. Judge Cassese's resignation will be effective on 1 February 2000, or as soon as the Kupreskic and others trial, which he is currently presiding over, is completed.

**Report of Secretary-General on Work of the Organization

This morning you had a background briefing by a senior United Nations official on the Secretary-General's annual report on the work of the Organization. The main theme of the report this year, which is outlined in its introduction, is “Facing the Humanitarian Challenge - Towards a Culture of Prevention”.

We now have embargoed copies of the report in my office, and we also have some copies of a booklet prepared by the Department of Public Information, which contains the text of the thematic introduction. Let me remind you that the embargo is until tomorrow, 10 a.m. New York time.

**NGO Committee on Christian Solidarity International

The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations yesterday voted 14 in favour to one against, with four abstentions, to recommend that the Economic and Social Council withdraw the consultative status of Christian Solidarity International. All participants were satisfied that due process had been followed.

The Economic and Social Council must endorse this decision for it to take effect. ECOSOC will meet on 16 September to take the matter up.

**Assembly’s Special Session on Small Island Developing States

Tomorrow begins a two-day resumed session of the Preparatory Committee for the General Assembly special session on small island developing States, which will take place from 27 to 28 September. The Committee will attempt to finalize the document to be adopted at the special session. Sticking points include issues of trade and globalization and the transport of radioactive waste. The press kit on the special session is available at the documents counter. A background briefing for the press corps will be held on 23 September, at 11 a.m. Speaking at that briefing will be Ambassador Neroni Slade of Samoa, the current Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States, and JoAnne DiSano, Director of the Division for Sustainable Development.

**Payments

Today Japan and Mongolia paid their regular budget dues for 1999, bringing the total number of Member States which have paid so far this year to 98.

**Announcements

There will be a press conference following this briefing in room 226, at 12.45 p.m. today, by Ambassador Antonio Monteiro, Permanent Representative of Portugal to the United Nations. I assume he will be talking to you about East Timor.

Also, the Correspondents’ Association has asked me to remind you that the annual Dag Hammarskjold Memorial Scholarship luncheon in honour of the Secretary-General will be held on Tuesday, 14 September, in the Delegates Dining Room. Correspondents are reminded that 9 September is the last day to purchase tickets. Tickets will not be available on the day of the luncheon. You can get the tickets from Judy Aita in Room C-130.

**Questions-and-Answers

Question: Can you describe the Secretary-General’s mood: does he feel betrayed by the Indonesian Government? Is he shocked, embarrassed, angry?

Answer: He is always looking forward to how to best achieve his objective, which, in this case, is to get peace and security restored to East Timor. He is particularly concerned about these internally displaced people who have taken refuge in our compound. He is pressing the Mission to consider, perhaps on a voluntary basis, for some military and civilian police to stay behind with these people and to keep the United Nations flag flying.

He was up several times last night. He had two conversations during the night with President Habibie. He is calling on the Security Council today to pressure Indonesia to accept an international intervention force, because most of the troop contributors that he has identified for an intervention force have said that the condition for their going in would be that Indonesia would accept. Indonesia has indicated a certain reluctance on this point, and so he feels that the key to success would be either for the Indonesians to get the situation quickly under control through this fresh infusion of the military to East Timor, or -- failing that -- to agree to international assistance.

Question: Does he feel his reputation is on the line?

Answer: I do not think he thinks about reputation. He is focused on the problem.

Question: Does the 48-hour deadline still stand?

Answer: Remember the context in which he said that. The Indonesians said that they were going to impose martial law. He realized that there was a credibility problem with that proposal. So he wanted to set a time-limit, so that if the martial law does not work, we can move on to the next steps, which would include discussion of an international intervention force. Thus he said, “Let us wait 24 to 48 hours to see if that works”. His announcement was made in the evening of Monday, but martial law was not imposed until a few hours after that. That is a technicality. We are not looking at hours and minutes, but at a brief period of time -– a couple of days -- to see whether martial law can restore law and order. If it does not, then let us turn to some other solution.

Question: So what is the point at which the United Nations or the responsible entities within the United Nations will sit down and say whether the martial law is working or not?

Answer: Do not forget that the Security Council mission is in Jakarta and they have tentatively scheduled -– it has not been finally confirmed -– an 11 a.m. meeting with President Habibie. The 48 hours, I think, will have passed by that time, and I think that could provide a basis for a discussion with the Indonesian President, depending on the situation on the ground in East Timor. But I already said that the reports that Kieran Prendergast gave the Security Council today indicated no improvement in the security situation over the last 24 hours.

Question: Would you say 11 p.m. local time?

Answer: Local time, which would be 11 p.m. tonight New York time.

Question: Do you think you will really need a resolution to send an international force to East Timor if the Indonesian Government keeps rejecting the intervention of the international community?

Answer: With or without Indonesia’s consent, the sending of any international force under the terms of the United Nations Charter should have the approval of the Security Council, which would be expressed through a resolution. As I was explaining to you yesterday, they have the option of doing it with Indonesia’s consent, which I think would be easy to do and easy to get through the Council, or they could also do it over Indonesia’s objections. That, politically, would be a much more difficult thing to do and to get through the Council.

Question: Is there any indication of what the opposition told the mission?

Answer: No, I did not get a readout. I can maybe give you Andrew Lloyd’s cell-phone number, but I won’t until he has had a few hours’ sleep.

Question: Ambassador Wibisono of Indonesia has said this morning that the shooting and arson have stopped, the situation is under control and that there is no need for Blue Helmets there. Either he is lying through his teeth, or he is just not being told what is happening there on the ground. That just makes me wonder what information the mission in Jakarta is basing its work. The information provided by Indonesia contradicts what UNAMET is saying.

Answer: What do you want me to give you -– the UNAMET line? I have already described the incident of today when they got out of the compound and, driving to the port, they got some limited sense of the situation in Dili. They say that the residential parts of the city are almost completely deserted; not just people hiding in their homes, but people abandoning their homes. They have been driven out, and the major buildings in Dili -– the banks, the telecommunications facilities, the Government buildings have all been burned. So this seems to be an advance stage of desolation and destruction, and the militia continue to threaten our people in the presence of the Indonesian military. The Secretary-General did report to the Council this morning parts of his conversation with President Habibie, in which the President told the Secretary-General that there has not been enough time to let the martial law take effect, that they were sending in additional troops; that they had named a new commander; and that we needed to allow more time for things to settle down.

Question: Is that too little too late?

Answer: I don’t know, we’ll just have to see. The objective is to try to restore the confidence in the people that they can live without their property and their lives being threatened. If many have left, it is also possible that they could go back. If the houses have been abandoned, but not destroyed, it is not too late to start putting pieces together again. But we need a secure environment.

Question: I just want to get a sense of the thinking at the time when the agreement was signed. By way of analogy, if Serbs had said that they were willing for the Kosovars to have a referendum, but they wanted to control the security there, I doubt they would have been believed. Yet, a very similar situation has happened in Indonesia. Why were they believed?

Answer: I do not think this is exactly comparable. You had dramatic political change taking place in Indonesia, which was followed by a dramatic reversal of their position on East Timor. That was met with a very positive response by the international community: “Let us sit down and plan this referendum.” Indonesia, however, said, that it wanted to be in control of peace and security. The security situation for the second phase following the announcement of the results of the ballot was discussed. Indonesia’s position was firm, and the decision was made to take their commitment at face value.

Question: Even though the role of the Indonesian military over recent history was well known? They are not easily controlled by civilians.

Answer: That was a gamble, and things have fallen apart. It is a great pity, but it is not too late to start putting it back together.

Question: Given that it was a gamble, why weren’t contingency plans made when the first reports of UNAMET started coming back and there were numerous reports of violence in the press, especially in the light of the United Nations emphasizing prevention?

Answer: These were the terms of the agreement. I said it was a gamble, but clearly in our minds and in the minds of our two other partners in this agreement -– Portugal and Indonesia -– it was a gamble worth taking. What has developed is a worst-case scenario, and I guess we have to take responsibility for that, but we have no other option now but to continue to pressure Indonesia to turn this situation around to get it back on track. Failing that, I do not think we have a realistic option, unless public opinion should turn very dramatically in favour of intervention over the objection of Indonesia.

Question: Yesterday the Pentagon spokesperson said that the martial law appeared to be working and that the military appeared to be making a better job of protecting UNAMET. What do you make of those remarks? Are they misinformed, or is there something else going on?

Answer: I do not know. I do not want to comment on what other spokespeople say. I am giving you our take on the situation, and our Mission made the decision to withdraw based not on the experiences of just the last day, but of the last several days. Before we pulled out of Baukau, there was automatic weapon fire at body height into the United Nations building there. If the people had not hit the ground, they would be dead. These threats are serious, and they have a cumulative effect. With today’s incident, the Special Representative decided to call for a pull-out.

Question: Is it frustrating for you that some official spokesmen, including some of the Indonesians, appear to be taking liberties with the truth?

Answer: I do not want to say that we have monopoly on the truth. We no longer have our eyes and ears all over East Timor. We are concentrated at one location in Dili; we occasionally get out for a sortie to the docks to pick up some supplies from the warehouse. I do not know that anyone has a good fix on what is going on throughout East Timor. Our decision is based on our experience that I have described to you.

Question: What facility does the United Nations have for punitive action against Indonesia for breaching security agreements?

Answer: That is a matter for Governments to discuss. I think they are currently still focused on the two options that I have just described to you. There was, however, in the first 24 hours, a number of statements out of the capitals talking about tying up loans from international development banks, holding up military supply contracts. I am sure that individual governments can take a number of punitive actions against Indonesia, should the worst-case scenario prevail.

Question: Is nothing built into the United Nations system that says that if you are a signatory to an agreement and you breach that agreement, you face certain consequences?

Answer: No, it is not automatic.

Question: Is there concern that the United Nations is being set up as a “whipping boy” in the case of East Timor?

Answer: No, but I am sometimes surprised by question of well-meaning people who ask, “Why don’t you do something? Something very wrong going on in East Timor -– where is the United Nations?” As if it were a world government with a world military and police force and a power of intervention. We just do not have that option: we are an organization of governments. We try to do the right thing, but it requires a consensus.

Question: There are reports that some 100 people who had taken refuge in a church in Dili were massacred. Do you have any further information on that?

Answer: I do not have confirmation of that.

Question: Is there a possibility of Security Council sanction against Indonesia?

Answer: That has not been brought up, to my knowledge, but it is a hypothetical possibility.

Question: Were there Indonesian army or police present at the time of the incident with UNAMET convoy in Dili this morning?

Answer: Yes. We are not moving out of the compound now without an Indonesian military escort. So we were accompanied by an Indonesian military escort down to the port area where the incident happened. Then it happened in the presence of the military who, instead of dealing with the militia, turned to UNAMET personnel to tell them to go home.

Question: Would you elaborate on the mood in the Security Council regarding sending a military mission without consent of the Indonesian Government?

Answer: The Secretary-General told the Council this morning that troop contributors that he has been talking to are all operating under the assumption that they would go in only with Indonesia’s consent.

Thank you very much.

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