In progress at UNHQ

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

7 February 2000



Press Briefing


DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

20000207

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General:

**Secretary-General's Itinerary

At mid-day tomorrow, the Secretary-General will leave New York for Bangkok, Thailand, where he will have an official visit on Thursday and Friday and then attend the opening of the tenth annual meeting of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on Saturday.

On Saturday, he will also address a summit meeting of the United Nations and the Association of South East Asian Nations, or ASEAN.

On Sunday, he will begin a series of other official visits, starting with Singapore. On Tuesday, 15 February, he will arrive in Jakarta, Indonesia.

On Thursday, 17 February, he will visit the United Nations Mission in East Timor, travelling that same day, weather permitting, to Atambua in West Timor.

He will then travel to Australia on an official visit, starting with Darwin and Sydney on 19 February, and then the capital, Canberra, on 20 February.

He will conclude this odyssey in Wellington, New Zealand, where he will arrive very late on 22 February. And then he'll leave New Zealand for New York on Thursday, 24 February. And because he'll be travelling with the sun, he'll arrive in New York that same day, again late at night, and probably won't be in the office on Friday.

Nor will I. I'll be travelling with him, and in my absence John Mills, the Acting Deputy Spokesman, will be doing the briefings here, and he will be backed up by Marie Okabe, the Deputy Spokesman.

And we've done a fairly detailed programme of this trip, what we call a sanitized programme, as we do for you every time. And you can pick up a copy of that in my office.

**Security Council

The Security Council met for closed consultations on the “oil-for-food” programme for Iraq this morning. Benon Sevan -- the director of the Iraq Programme -- gave a short briefing on oil spare parts and implementation of the humanitarian programme -- those documents were released in mid-January. In his briefing, Mr. Sevan said that Iraq's oil revenue in the current phase would be about $6.6 billion. This estimate is based on the current level of contracts and current oil prices. Phase VII runs for six months from 12 December. Mr. Sevan's remarks are available upstairs if you're interested.

The other issue on the agenda for today is Sierra Leone. The Council will hear from the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping, Hedi Annabi, and is expected to adopt a resolution expanding the size of the force in Sierra Leone from 6,000 to 11,100 soldiers, with a number of additional responsibilities.

Still on Sierra Leone -- the World Bank has pledged $130 million to speed up the pace of disarmament and help repatriate the 400,000 Sierra Leonians currently in Guinea. The pledge came at the end of a two-day mission to Sierra Leone by officials of the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme and the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees.

**Notes from Kosovo

Bernard Kouchner, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Kosovo, today denounced what he described as “the madness” that has left two Serbs and eight Albanians dead over the past few days.

Mr. Kouchner, who had cut short his visit to Japan to fly back to Kosovo and who went straight to Mitrovica on Sunday where he met with local Serb and Albanian leaders, said that he was not abandoning, “not for one minute”, the goal for a united Mitrovica and a united Kosovo.

He said security in Mitrovica was being reinforced with one Danish battalion in the northern part of town, and one French battalion in the southern part. Two German platoons and one Military Special Unit, that is a riot control unit, were also deployed in Mitrovica.

The situation in that town was reported quiet last night. An 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew is in effect.

The United Nations mission just reported that an Albanian-owned apartment in the northern side of the town, which is Serb majority, came under grenade attack Monday afternoon, but no one was injured in that violence.

We have the briefing notes from Pristina with more details.

**Notes from East Timor

We also have the daily briefing note from East Timor, which advises that a religious service was held today in the Human Rights Centre in Dili for the victims of the Passabe massacre, and that was in the Oekussi enclave.

The week-long investigation at Passabe resulted in the exhumation of 37 bodies and another nine sets of human remains. Two other bodies were located, but couldn't be recovered. And another eight bodies are believed to be buried there.

The United Nations is in the process of screening 200 former East Timorese police for assignment as part of a new Police Assistance Group. The first 50 should be deployed by the end of the month to provide advice on community and cultural matters to the United Nation's civilian police during their daily duties. They will not have the powers of arrest.

Portugal and Australia are helping rebuild the physical infrastructure of the court system. Portugal has sent a team to assess what's needed to rebuild the Dili Court House and Australia's Northern Territory government has promised to send furniture and equipment for the court.

An Indonesian military aircraft landed at Dili today bringing medicine, food, clothing and education supplies provided by religious groups from Indonesia. The aircraft was made available by President Wahid of Indonesia ahead of his planned visit to East Timor on 24 February.

**Secretary-General to Address Town Hall Meeting

Starting at 2:30 p.m. this afternoon in Conference Room 1, the group African Amicale -- a United Nations-based association of African staff and people concerned with African issues -- is organizing a town hall meeting about the African perspective on the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

The Secretary-General will introduce the meeting with remarks. In them, he emphasizes that “the international community is finally beginning to acknowledge the extent of the problem of AIDS in Africa. We are beginning to raise awareness, and to build helpful and constructive partnerships.”

He warns, however, that recent encouraging developments are not enough, adding, “Our task now is to replicate and consolidate the advances we have seen so far -- to build on them and to put together a coherent and coordinated strategy.”

Other participants at the meeting, which is to last until 4:30 p.m., include United States Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke and the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, Mark Malloch Brown.

**Angola Report

On the racks today is a report by Ambassador Robert Fowler of Canada, the Chairman of the Security Council Sanctions Committee dealing with Angola, about the Committee's work over the past year.

**Brazil Signs Rome Statute

Today at noon, Brazil signed on to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Brazil becomes the Statute's ninety-fourth signatory. So far, six countries have ratified. You need 60 ratifications to bring it into force.

**WFP Briefing

Some of you asked during one of the briefings of last week about getting Catherine Bertini, the head of the World Food Programme, here to speak with you. You'll have a chance to meet her on Wednesday of this week after she briefs the Security Council, which is having an open debate on the protection of United Nations and humanitarian personnel in conflict. She's agreed to be at the stakeout.

**Rwanda Genocide Arrest

On Saturday, British authorities arrested Lieutenant Colonel Tharcisse Muvunyi, who was indicted for genocide last month by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Muvunyi, who was the Commander of a military school in Butare, Rwanda, is accused of having ordered massacres of Tutsis in 1994, and of having provided weapons to militia to kill Tutsis. A press release from the Tribunal with more details will be out later today.

**Population Aging Forum

Tomorrow, there's a forum on population aging, critical issues and policy responses. It will be at 10:30 a.m. in Conference Room 6. All correspondents are invited to attend. It's organized by the United Nations Population Division.

**Press Briefings

And press conferences tomorrow. At 11 a.m., the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) will hold a press conference to introduce the UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador for Botswana, who is also Ms. Universe Mpule Kwelagobe. And then at 12:30 p.m., Urban Jonsson, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)'s Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, will discuss the challenges facing children and women, particularly in eastern and southern Africa, where Executive Director Carol Bellamy will begin an extensive mission this week.

Any questions?

**Questions and Answers

Question: What about the report that the crisis of disarmament and demobilization in Sierra Leone is going the wrong way around? And that United Nations peacekeepers are giving up their weapons to rebels and not vice versa?

Spokesman: I think we're in a delicate transitional phase here, where new troops are being brought in and the ECOMOG troops from the West African States are either rehatting or turning over to United Nations troops. There were three incidents where, in confrontations with the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), some weapons were taken, in two cases from United Nations troops. The largest number of weapons was taken in the third case -- something like 500 rifles, from what was, at that time, still an ECOMOG unit. The Force Commander, I think, will be reminding all of the new United Nations troops, as the troop contributors were on Friday at a special meeting here at Headquarters, that this resolution gives them [United Nations Charter] Chapter VII authority for their own protection. I don't think we expect to see any incidents like this again.

Question: Any timetable for when flights to the Sudan may resume?

Spokesman: Not that I've heard, no. Question: The Secretary-General speaks about a coherent strategy for Africa. Could you tell us a little bit more about that strategy and how it would be implemented? Spokesman: I don't want to go into the details of all the discussions that took place here, primarily starting with the month of Africa, which had a full-scale debate on HIV/AIDS. There's a question of getting medication to Africans at prices they can afford. These kinds of approaches do have to be coherent and comprehensive in the sense that they involve not only governments, but private businesses. So I think that is one example of what the Secretary-General means by coherent.

Question: Can you give us any update on the comings and goings of Hans Blix?

Spokesman: No. You saw him quoted from Stockholm, where he met with the press on his arrival there last week. We don't expect him to come here before the end of this month, or the beginning of March, at which point his new functions become official, and he assumes his title and begins his work. What he'll be doing in these coming weeks, I assume, is disengaging from other obligations he had and preparing for his new assignment.

Question: Again on Blix. Will he be consulting with the Security Council and the Secretary-General on the composition of his staff and of the College of Commissioners? Is that underway now, because of that 45-day clock?

Spokesman: I’d have to double-check when that 45 days -– well, it was 30 days for the selection of the Executive Director and 45 days for the selection of the staff -- whether that 45-day period kicks in when he's named or when he assumes his functions. I think it's when he assumes functions. He would be consulting, I think the resolution says, with the Secretary-General, which in this case, means most immediately with Jayantha Dhanapala, head of the Disarmament Department.

Question: But the College of Commissioners, is that being formed?

Spokesman: I think all those decisions on personnel are to be made in consultation with the Secretary-General during that 45-day period, if I'm not mistaken.

Question: On the Secretary-General's trip to Thailand specifically, what's his message going to be, in general terms, to ASEAN and UNCTAD?

Spokesman: He will have an address at UNCTAD, which we will make available to you, as soon as we can, on an embargoed basis. The major themes, though, will be ones that are familiar to you, from his Seattle speech, that international markets should be opened on a fair basis to developing countries so that they can trade their way out of poverty, rather than rely on aid and handouts. I think that's the main thrust.

Question: What has prompted the change in the Secretary-General's mind about traveling to the subcontinent, when he was originally planning to travel there on his way back from the UNCTAD conference. This is the second time he couldn't make it to the subcontinent. Spokesman: In both cases, I mean, it has been his intention for some time, to visit India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. And indeed, we don't normally discuss plans that don't come to fruition, but since you ask about it, there was indeed a plan to include those nations on this latest Asian trip. But the dates were not convenient for all three of those nations, and they go as a package. And so he was asked to postpone his latest plans. So it's still his intention to visit, but it was not possible to do it at this time.

Question: What is the main reason that India could not accommodate the dates for the Secretary-General?

Spokesman: I don't want to specify which country said what, but just that it didn't work out this time. I'm sorry.

Question: On the HIV question in Africa. What role do we expect WHO to play?

Spokesman: Well, WHO, with Gro Harlem Bruntland as its new head has a fresh dynamism. I think we would expect them and UNAIDS, a consortium of which they are a part to take the lead. There's a limit to what any United Nations agency could do without government support. Governments are going to have to, as I already mentioned, get the cooperation of the pharmaceutical firms if we are to change the access that governments in Africa would have to affordable drugs and other medical treatment.

A number of governments in Africa have already shown dramatic improvements in reducing the level of infection, thanks to aggressive information programmes. This is something governments can do themselves. They might need, perhaps, a little financial support, but it is within their means to confront the issue openly, directly, honestly with their populations and say, unless you take measures to protect yourself and protect those you're with, this epidemic is going to spiral out of control.

I think WHO and UNAIDS could probably counsel governments on how to package that message, how to formulate it, how to carry it out. I'm just speculating now.

Question: In the case of the Russian oil tanker, which was seized by United States troops, they are testing this oil to see whether its from Iraq or Iran. Is the United Nations playing any role in regard to the testing and the result?

Spokesman: No. As I said last week, that interception mission is sanctioned by the Security Council, but it's governments who carry it out, governments who do the testing, and governments that need to answer your question.

Question: Is there any news from the hijacked plane in Sudan?

Spokesman: We, of course, are in touch with the situation there. Some of our people are en route now to the place where the pilots and one or two of our staff have been detained. I'm not sure we want to call it a hijacking, but one of our planes, its pilots and one or two United Nations staff on board, are being detained in the Sudan. So we don't have enough details now to say anything more than that.

Thank you very much.

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For information media. Not an official record.