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, and Shirley Brownell, Spokeswoman for the President of the General Assembly.

Briefing by Spokesman for Secretary-General

Good afternoon. Thank you for waiting, but we were just receiving some additional information on Mozambique and on the situation in Madagascar, which is very bleak.

**Security Council Consultations on Humanitarian Issues

The Security Council began this morning with consultations on today's open debate on humanitarian action and the Council's role, before moving into a formal meeting on that subject. The Secretary-General began the open debate by noting the urgent need for food aid in Mozambique. He said the need for humanitarian assistance has never been greater, and he noted the natural disasters like the floods in Mozambique and Venezuela, and the conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola.

He said that the Security Council needed to consider ways that humanitarian action could help peace and security efforts, to integrate humanitarian concerns into United Nations peace operations and ensure that the legal framework for humanitarian action was strengthened.

The Council's open debate is continuing. There are 27 speakers inscribed and the debate will likely stretch on into the afternoon. At the end of that debate, the President of the Council will read a presidential statement on humanitarian action.

Tomorrow, the Council will hold closed consultations on general issues relating to sanctions.

**Mozambique

Ross Mountain, the Secretary-General's Special Humanitarian Envoy to Mozambique, told us just a few minutes ago that heavy rains in the flood-stricken country have hampered aid efforts all day. He said helicopters and planes were waiting for the rains to ease so they could resume operations as quickly as possible. He also said a plane was scheduled to depart first thing Friday morning to look into unconfirmed reports that thousands might be stranded along the Limpopo River in southern Mozambique.

It was the second straight day of rains and the weather forecast predicted further rains in the days ahead. Mountain said of particular concern was the lack of shelter materials in the camps. "People are cold and we are concerned about their health", he said. An estimated 250,000 people in 74 camps are in need of urgent support. Water levels have not yet risen, but are being monitored very closely. Continuing rains will clearly pose a danger for people who wish to return to their shattered homes.

Here at United Nations Headquarters today, the Economic and Social Council has scheduled a 3:30 p.m. meeting on the situation in Mozambique.

**Madagascar

The following statement is attributable to the Spokesman:

"The Secretary-General is deeply concerned over the effects of flooding caused by Cyclone Gloria in Madagascar. He has learned from preliminary reports that 560,000 people are affected, with 10,000 homeless and an additional 12,000 out of reach. The cyclone has caused heavy damage to houses and vital road links. This disaster occurs at a time when a cholera epidemic has taken the lives of over 1,000 people. In response, United Nations agencies on the ground are undertaking further assessments, prepositioning food and non-food items and providing support in coordinating the relief response. An official appeal for international assistance will shortly be launched.

“The Secretary-General trusts that donors will contribute generously in response to this disaster.”

**Sierra Leone

In his report to the Security Council on Sierra Leone, published today, the Secretary-General notes that "despite the precarious security situation in Sierra Leone, modest progress has undeniably been made towards the implementation of the governance provisions of the Lomé Agreement".

The Secretary-General lists the challenges that lie ahead in the peace process in the areas of disarmament; the extension of State authority throughout the country, national reconciliation and democratization, and the rebuilding of Sierra Leone's own security forces.

He says that he continues to be "very concerned about the often negative and confusing approach taken by Foday Sankoh to key elements of the peace process and the role entrusted of the United Nations". He adds, "For this process to succeed, it is imperative that the leaders of the Government of Sierra Leone, and the leaders of the Revolutionary United Front and other groups show tangible commitment to the implementation of the Lomé Agreement".

**Afghanistan Peace Talks End

The peace talks sponsored by the Organization of the Islamic Conference in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, between the warring factions in Afghanistan ended today, after three days of talks were held separately with the Taliban and the United Front.

The Secretary-General's Personal Representative for Afghanistan, Francesc Vendrell, attended the talks as an observer, and he and Javad Zarif, Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran -- which chairs the Islamic Conference -- met with both parties from Tuesday through today. Although we have received press reports that the parties have agreed to return later next month to Jeddah to resume talks, we cannot confirm those reports at this time. **East Timor

As a symbol of moves toward true independence, East Timor has, for the first time in its history, a tax system to provide the territory with needed revenue. The United Nations Transitional Administrator in East Timor, Sergio Vieira de Mello, yesterday signed regulation 2000/12, which established a provisional tax and customs system for East Timor. It covers imports, exports and domestically produced goods, except for those goods already on their way to East Timor prior to 20 March. The first taxes and duties will be collected by the Border Service of the United Nations Mission in East Timor.

More details on this matter and other news are contained in today's briefing note from Dili, which is available in my office.

**New ICTY Judge

The Secretary-General today announced the appointment of Liu Daqun from China as a new Judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia for a term effective 1 April. Mr. Liu will serve the remainder of the term of office of Judge Wang Tieya, also from China, who has resigned for reasons of health, effective 31 March.

[The Spokesman's Office subsequently announced that Mr. Liu's term would end on 16 November 2001.]

The biography of Liu Daqun is available in my office.

**Peacekeeping Update

We also have available the monthly summary of troop contributions to peacekeeping missions as of the end of February. On 29 February, we had 26,710 military and civilian police serving in 16 missions.

**Treaties

This afternoon, Bangladesh will deposit its instrument of ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty at United Nations Headquarters. Bangladesh becomes the fifty-fourth State party to the Treaty, which has been signed by 155 countries, but it must be ratified by 44 specific countries before it can enter into force.

**Press Releases by WHO and FAO

We have a press release available upstairs from the World Health Organization outlining new duties among several senior managers, and an announcement from the Food and Agriculture Organization that it will launch a study on how government policies affect tobacco production and consumption. That report will be completed early next year.

**Questions and Answers

Question: Is it true that United Nations police were prevented by Kosovo Force (KFOR) troops from investigating the incident that occurred there yesterday? Also, is it true that the United Nations police and not KFOR should conduct the investigation?

Spokesman: It is standard procedure for KFOR first to secure the site, then there should be a joint investigation between KFOR and the civilian police. I think they regret the comment made by the police officer in Mitrovica complaining about KFOR. The mission, as you know from the recent visit of Mr. Kouchner and General Reinhardt, is very proud of the close cooperation between the civilian and the military elements of the mission. However, in this case, it was appropriate for KFOR to secure the site first and apparently after a few hours, when that was done, then the civilian police investigators were allowed in and a joint investigation began.

Question: Did they regret the comment because it was false?

Spokesman: I cannot make that judgement, but I could say that it is standard procedure for KFOR to secure the site. Therefore, the KFOR Commander who kept the police out was acting according to standard procedure.

Question: It is rare to see as much concerted criticism of one individual in the Secretary-General's reports as was done in the case of Foday Sankoh in the latest one on Sierra Leone. What does he intend to achieve by that?

Spokesman: It would not be responsible of the Secretary-General to ignore the problems that have been created by the behaviour of Mr. Sankoh. He has to report these problems to the Security Council, as he has done. Everyone hopes, and he says so in his report, that all of these leaders, Foday Sankoh in particular, will cooperate in implementing the Lomé Agreement. But, there have been problems with Mr. Sankoh's behaviour and we are reporting those frankly to the Council.

Question: What is the purpose of the Secretary-General's meeting this afternoon with such a large number of ambassadors?

Spokesman: It concerns the mission to Cambodia concerning the trial for the Khmer Rouge and these are governments who have expressed specific interest in this issue. Therefore, they are being called together for a consultation prior to the departure of the Secretary-General's team.

Question: Is there any truth that a United Nations report is in circulation which alleges that the Rwandan Government is responsible for the downing of a plane in 1994 with Presidents on it -- the incident that sparked off the subsequent genocide.

Spokesman: I did have a conversation with the Rwandan Ambassador, as was mentioned in the report, and he may have misunderstood what I said because in the press statement issued in Kigali, they quote me as categorically denying the existence of that report cited by the Canadian Post. I cannot do that. That would be for the Tribunal to do. The Tribunal's position is unchanged from the last time I commented on this subject. They reaffirmed it to me just this morning -- that the Prosecutor would not comment on leaked documents. That is as far as I can go.

Question: Would the United Nations investigate it?

Spokesman: It is a Tribunal matter.

Question: Does the Security Council plan to discuss the incident in the Western Sahara in which army troops from Morocco clashed with several students this week?

Spokesman: I don't know that the Council has called a meeting. I have no guidance on that subject. I would have to get it for you.

Question: Any follow-up on the incident?

Spokesman: I do not have any guidance on the subject. I would have to let you know later.

Question: Do you know anything about a curfew being set in Samara and Elayoune?

Spokesman: I have nothing on that. I am sure there is information in the cables that we could review for you and tell you something later.

Question: With reference to the Rwanda issue -- is it true that Louise Arbour, Head of the Tribunal at that time, had closed the investigation?

Spokesman: I can't confirm that either. You would have to address your questions to the Tribunal, but I'm sure they would tell you what they told us -- that they do not comment on leaked reports.

Question: Why are there remaining ashtrays in non-smoking areas throughout the building?

Spokesman: Many of them are bolted into the wall and some of them are elaborate modular granite structures built into the wall. So, I can appreciate the cost for removing them. Also, the Member States have not approved of making this a non-smoking building. Therefore, we have smoking and non-smoking areas.

Question: One day after the Sierra Leone report has been issued, the Council has analysed it, been briefed on it and reacted to it. That is not good news policy.

Spokesman: I would have to look into why that happened.

Question: When is the delegation from Cambodia due back and will Mr. Corell be available to the press?

Spokesman: I do not think there is an estimated date of return. I also think the Secretary-General said the talks would begin on 17 March.

Question: Are more details available on the Secretary-General's trip to France?

Spokesman: No. We are still waiting for those details. You had asked us to announce more in advance and I had said I would give you as early a heads-up as I could. But, the programmes are still being finalized with the Foreign Ministries and until they give us a final programme, we cannot do the sanitized version for you. But, we will do that as soon as it is available.

Briefing by Spokeswoman for General Assembly President

**General Assembly Resolution on Mozambique

The General Assembly will meet at 10 a.m. tomorrow, 10 March, to take action on a draft resolution calling for assistance to Mozambique following the devastating floods that have affected that country.

By adopting the draft resolution (document A/54/L.79), the Assembly would urge the international community, the United Nations, its specialized agencies and bodies, as well as international financial institutions and non-governmental organizations, to respond urgently and to provide assistance to Mozambique in its relief and rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts and programmes following the disaster.

The Secretary-General would be requested to make all necessary arrangements to continue mobilizing and coordinating humanitarian assistance from the specialized agencies and other UN bodies in supporting the efforts of the Government of Mozambique. He would also be requested to continue mobilizing and coordinating assistance for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the country’s infrastructure, and to meet other needs for the normalization of the life of citizens. The Assembly would encourage the holding of an international donors conference to assist Mozambique in its humanitarian relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts. The draft resolution is sponsored by Mozambique.

**Assembly to Take Action on Duration, Format and Chairmanship of Millennium Summit

There will be another plenary meeting next week, at which time the Assembly will take action on a draft resolution submitted by the President, on the duration, format and chairmanship of the Millennium Summit of the United Nations.

Following informal consultations held on 6 March, the President sent a letter to all Member States, setting out his understanding of that had been agreed. The letter stated that the outcome of the 6 March deliberations included agreement: that the Millennium Summit will be held from Wednesday, 6 September, to Friday, 8 September 2000, inclusive; that the overall theme of the Summit will be “The United Nations in the Twenty-first Century”; that a plenary debate will be held during the Summit; that, simultaneously with the plenary, four consecutive interactive roundtables will be held during the Summit; and that, by a practical arrangement still to be worked out, the country holding the presidency of the fifty- fifth session of the General Assembly will share the chairmanship of the Millennium Summit with the country holding the presidency of the fifty-fourth Assembly session.

The President was of the view that the ongoing intergovernmental consultative process was the best mechanism to supervise the preparations of the Summit, and he said he intended to utilize that informal plenary process. Attached to the letter was the resolution on which the Assembly will take action next week.

**2000 Special Session on Women

At that same meeting, the Assembly will consider two draft decisions relating to arrangements on the participation and the accreditation of non-governmental organizations for its special session entitled “Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century”, which will take place from 5 to 9 June here in New York. The drafts were approved, on 3 March, by the Commission on the Status of Women acting as the preparatory committee for the special session. The draft texts appear in documents A/54/L.77 and L.78, respectively. **Working Group on Causes of Conflict in Africa to Hold Its First Session

The Assembly’s Ad Hoc Working Group on the Causes of Conflict and the Promotion of Durable Peace and Sustainable Development in Africa will hold its first session, from 13 to 17 March, commencing with a general exchange of views. That Group was set up to monitor the implementation of recommendations contained in reports of the Secretary-General and the Economic and Social Council.

At an organizational meeting earlier this week, on 7 March, Assembly President Theo-Ben Gurirab told the Working Group that there was need for a focus, speed and resource mobilization worldwide for implementing the Secretary-General’s recommendations, and he believed the Group would best serve the purpose by concentrating on four topics: poverty eradication, the refugee crisis, debt cancellation and financing for development.

The imperative need to treat the political and economic dimensions of the report underscored the point that peace and development are closely linked and must be tackled together, he said. In addition to appointing the Ambassadors of Singapore and Spain [Kishore Mahbubani and Inocencio Arias] as Vice-Chairmen, the President stated his intention to involve the following players closely in the work of the Bureau: the representative of the current Chairman of the Organization of African Unity, the current Chairmen of the African Group, the Non-Aligned Movement, the “Group of 77” and China, and representatives of donor countries and organizations. The provisional agenda for the session is in document A/AC.258/1.

**Fifth Committee to Meet in Resumed Session

The Assembly’s Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) begins a three- week session on Monday 13 March. Among the items before the resumed session will be the scale of assessments for apportioning the expenses of the United Nations (item 125). The Committee is called upon to agree on the elements of the methodology that will be used to prepare future scales of assessments for the regular budget, and to make recommendations to the Committee on Contributions when it meets in June. The current report of the Contributions Committee appears in document A/54/11. The Fifth Committee will consider reports on human resources management (item 164) and various reports of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS).

With regard to peacekeeping operations, the Committee will take up the newly allocated item on the financing of the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (A/54/237). It will also consider the performance report on the financing of the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) for the period from 5 May to 30 November 1999 (A/54/775) and the financing of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) (A/54/769). Those two documents will be issued on 17 March. Documents A/C.5/54/L.40 and L.41 deal with the status of preparedness of documentation and the organization of work, respectively.

In the absence of President Gurirab, who is on an official visit to Singapore and Japan, the Vice-President from Iceland, Ambassador Thorsteinn Ingolfsson, will preside over the plenary.

Question: When will the general debate of the fifty-fifth session begin, and is there a list of speakers for the plenary debate of the Millennium Summit?

Answer: I will find out the answers and get back to you. [The Spokeswoman subsequently announced that the general debate of the fifty-fifth session will commence on Tuesday, 12 September, and will continue for two weeks, probably including Saturdays. On Monday, 11 September, the Assembly will meet to consider the report of the General Committee, which will probably have to meet in parallel with the Summit to consider the organization of the work of the regular session and the allocation of agenda items.

With regard to the list of speakers for the Millennium Summit, no decision has been taken as yet, and there is a proposal for a lottery to determine the order of speakers.]

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