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:

Good afternoon. Anyway, you see David Wimhurst is back on the job. It's nice to have him here.

**International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia

This morning at The Hague the trial of Radislav Krstic began at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Radislav Krstic is accused of planning, ordering, aiding and abetting the murder of Bosnian men and boys after the fall of Srebrenica in July 1995. He is specifically charged with genocide, complicity in genocide, extermination, persecution and deportation, both in his individual criminal responsibility and in his capacity as Commander of the Drina Corps of the Army of Republika Srpska.

In his opening statement, Mark Hamon, the Prosecutor presenting this case, said that following their conquest of Srebrenica the "victors abandoned all semblance of humanity and committed atrocities of a type and on a scale not seen in Europe since the Second World War".

We have the full text of the Hamon statement.

**Secretary-General's Official Visit to United Kingdom

The Secretary-General began an official visit to the United Kingdom today with an on-the-record breakfast meeting with senior editors at the Royal Commonwealth Society. We hope to have a transcript of that exchange shortly. He then met with representatives of civic groups at a luncheon hosted by the United Nations Association of the United Kingdom. He then went on to attend a multi-faith church service at Westminster Abbey to mark Commonwealth Day. That service was also attended by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, His Royal Highness Prince Charles and Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The Secretary-General and the Prime Minister then took advantage of the uncommonly fine weather in London -- meaning it wasn't pouring buckets -- to walk from Westminster Abbey to the Prime Minister's Office at 10 Downing Street, stopping to chat with some school children along the way. They then were to have met for about a half hour, and that should have ended about 25 minutes ago, but we didn't get a call, so it may have been extended, I don't know. We don't yet have a read- out of that meeting.

This evening there is a Commonwealth Day reception that he'll be attending at which he's expected have an opportunity to chat with the Queen and Prince Charles.

**Security Council Notes

The Security Council met at 10:30 a.m. this morning in closed consultations for a briefing on Western Sahara by Hedi Annabi, the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations. They're now talking about other matters and following

Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 13 March 2000

those discussions they are expected to move into an open meeting on Sierra Leone, where the briefing will again be given by Hedi Annabi.

**Sierra Leone

This morning in Sierra Leone, despite the agreement of last Thursday that there would be unhindered access to United Nations peacekeepers throughout the country, a patrol of 107 Indian peacekeepers and six military observers were stopped by a group of rebels on their way from Daru to Koidu in south-east Sierra Leone. The rebels -- all of them from the Revolutionary United Front or RUF -- argued that they did not have clearance to let an armed escort move forward. The peacekeepers returned to their base this afternoon, four hours after they were stopped.

**Mozambique Floods

With waters receding and no rains reported for two days, aid operations in Mozambique were reported in full swing to some 97 centres, housing 329,000 people displaced by the flooding. Secondary roads were beginning to be opened up. The Mozambique Government also confirmed today 492 dead. This is the number of corpses picked up and buried. That number is expected to rise in the days ahead.

There will be a Summit Meeting of the Southern African Development Community in Maputo tomorrow on current coordination arrangements and the way forward. This will be a follow-on to the Pretoria meeting that was held on 3 March.

Meanwhile in Madagascar, World Food Programme (WFP) airlifts continued over the weekend. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that preliminary indications point to almost total crop losses in low-lying areas.

**United Nations Mission in Kosovo

The United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) reported four murders and several cases of arson and explosive attacks in the province over the weekend. It also reports that Bernard Kouchner, the Secretary-General's Special Representative, will launch the first release of new postage stamps tomorrow, a significant step forward in restoring communication within Kosovo, and ultimately to the outside world. Mail service inside Kosovo is expected to begin this week. International service won't get under way until mid-May. The French Postal Service printed eight million stamps.

The United Nations mission has not announced this formally but we can confirm reports that retired General William Nash, a United States national, has been appointed the next Civilian Administrator of Mitrovica. He succeeds Mario Marconi of Italy whose contract expired and returned to Italy.

**Korean Peninsula

I was asked a question about Korea on Friday. I said I would get back and, in fact, I now have a formal response:

“The Secretary-General welcomes the increasingly positive signs related to the Korean Peninsula. While the issues in question remain most challenging, he believes that they can be successfully addressed through dialogue and determination. He looks forward to the forthcoming visit to Washington, D.C., by a high-level representative of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. He also notes that the Republic of Korea President Kim Dae-jung has made, in his speech in Berlin on 9 March, a number of proposals on increased economic cooperation in the Peninsula and on other issues. The Secretary-General considers it to be of particular importance that a dialogue be opened without delay between the two Member States of the United Nations.

“The United Nations system is exploring ways of enhancing its humanitarian and development effort in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The Secretary- General stands ready, if requested by those concerned, to contribute to the efforts aimed at reducing tensions and promoting mutual confidence in the region.”

**Payments

We've got some more money today. The Republic of Korea has become the seventieth Member State to be paid in full, and that's with a payment of about ten and a half million dollars.

**Peacekeeping Background Note

We also have an updated background note on United Nations Peacekeeping Operations from the Peace and Security Section of Information Department.

This new version reflects updated troop figures for the United Nations Mission in East Timor -- UNTAET -- which at present is the largest United Nations mission in terms of actual troop deployment. It is followed closely by the mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL). And then the third in the list is the mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL). So you can get copies of that handout in my office.

**List of Human Rights Documents Available

We have also in my office the list of all documents available so far for the fifty-sixth Session of the Commission on Human Rights, which will be held from 20 March to 28 April in Geneva.

**Press Conference

Press Conference tomorrow at 11:15 a.m., Francis Kissling, the President of Catholics for a Free Choice, will be here in room 226 to discuss human rights, religion and the United Nations. And that's sponsored by the United States Mission.

**World Chronicle TV

And finally the World Chronicle TV programme will feature Mary Robinson, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and you can watch that on in-house television channels 3 or 31 today at 2:30 p.m.

**Questions and Answers

Question: Fred, do we have any statistics on the number of murders in Kosovo in the last few months. The reason I ask is because the United Nations Police Commissioner told us not long ago that the murder rate had actually dropped, yet four people were killed on the weekend.

Spokesman: We'll see if we can get that for you.

Question: On the Fowler report, why is it important to the process?

Spokesman: Well, you saw that the report leaked, so we're not very happy about that. Although as far as I know there's been no change in Ambassador Fowler's programme. He will brief the Security Council on Wednesday and then brief you.

What's interesting I think about Ambassador Fowler's committee is the aggressive nature of how he's approached his job. He wants to document where sanctions are not being honoured, and point fingers at specific individuals who might be involved. I realize that there's already been a reaction to the leaked report of various people denying responsibility for weakening the sanctions regime. But I think the credibility of the Security Council overall is at risk here if these regimes are not respected by all. So I think that's Ambassador Fowler's main contribution.

Question: I just have a legal question, Fred. If any one individual is named as a sanctions buster in this report, do they have recourse to sue the United Nations?

Spokesman: As far as I know, the diplomatic immunity of the Vienna Conventions would most likely apply, at least as far as trying to take any individual to court. The Council as a whole, I assume would stand behind this or any other report that was produced.

Question: In Havana, the G-77 Summit meeting, is the Secretary-General scheduled to attend this meeting?

Spokesman: I'm not able to confirm that at this time. I wouldn't exclude it, I just can't confirm it.

Question: One hundred and seven soldiers seems like quite a big patrol in Sierra Leone. Do you know what they were doing and how big the force was that stopped them?

Spokesman: There will be a cable report probably overnight. But if Miriam can get to the mission immediately after this briefing, she'll try to get that additional information. But it was not in what they gave us over the phone just a short time ago.

Question: There was a British official who left the UNTAET mission in East Timor, highly critical of bureaucratic procedures, said it was a failure and left in frustration. Does the United Nations have a reaction?

Spokesman: I don't think we comment on these kinds of personnel matters. There was someone who was disgruntled and either was fired or quit, I don't know which, and made some extravagant comments to the Sydney Morning Herald about his bosses being Stalinist. I think we just like to treat that as an internal matter.

Question: Paschke's successor’s first day -- do you know when that is, off- hand?

Spokesman: There's still an interviewing process. No, I'm sorry. Paschke, I was thinking of the Iraq scenario. So now you'll ask me, what do you have to say about the humanitarian coordinator for Iraq? The short list is down to three interviews, this is for the humanitarian coordinator in Iraq. We expect that maybe by the end of next week we'll have that announcement.

And now you want to know about the Singaporean that's replacing Karl Paschke. We'll have to check for you.

[It was later announced that Dileep Nair's contract starts on 24 April.]

Question: When is the Iraq report coming out?

Spokesman: Well, we were talking to John Mills this morning, and he doesn't think it actually leaked. He thinks though that at least one journalist saw the report. And it's still being translated. So his estimate on Friday was that it wouldn't be out until Wednesday earliest. And I think that's still his estimate.

Question: Will the Secretary-General be in the building here Friday?

Spokesman: He does have a breakfast meeting, and I believe it's in this building, that he intends to keep. Whether he will let his programme fill up for Friday or go home and take a rest, it's not yet clear.

Thanks very much.

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