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 David Wimhurst, Acting Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

**Secretary-General in Rome

The Secretary-General began his official visit to Italy today, meeting with Italian officials, including the Foreign Minister and the Prime Minister. Tomorrow, he will go on to chair the United Nations Administrative Committee on Coordination, which meets twice a year, bringing together the heads of all United Nations funds, programmes and agencies.

He began with a meeting with Italy’s Foreign Minister, Lamberto Dini, who reported on the latest initiatives on debt relief announced at the Euro-African Summit taking place in Cairo, Egypt. They then had wide-ranging discussions that touched on the situation in the Balkans, specifically in Kosovo, and in the northern Caucasus, including Chechnya. They also reviewed a number of African issues, from the threat of famine in the Horn to peace efforts in Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They discussed Iraq, as well.

The Foreign Minister stressed the importance of preventive diplomacy in order to lessen the need for peacekeeping. They also talked in some detail about Israel’s announced intention to withdraw from southern Lebanon consistent with Security Council resolutions. They also discussed United Nations reform issues, including Security Council reform and cost sharing. The Secretary- General thanked the Foreign Minister for Italy’s support, specifically on debt relief and in East Timor.

Following that meeting, there was an encounter with the press, during which the Secretary-General spoke with reporters about the famine situation in the Horn of Africa. “I urge those with the capacity to give to give generously so that we can save lives”, he said. “It is not too late to save lives if we respond at this point.” We have a transcript of that press encounter available upstairs.

Following his meeting with the Foreign Minister, the Secretary-General then joined Italy’s Prime Minister, Massimo D’Alema, for a tour of a newly restored ancient Roman imperial villa. Afterwards, they met for about three quarters of an hour and then continued discussions over a working lunch. The Prime Minister dwelled on a number of themes in the Secretary-General’s Millennium Report, including the need to strengthen international institutions in the age of globalization and how best to fight poverty and exclusion. The Secretary-General commented on how much the Prime Minister’s ideas were supportive of his own and said he was “encouraged”.

The Secretary-General then visited the new headquarters of the World Food Programme (WFP), where he laid a wreath at a memorial plaque for WFP staff killed in the line of duty. He then addressed several hundred assembled staff and took questions on the humanitarian issue in Iraq, gender issues, and security of United Nations staff in the field. Following that meeting, the Secretary-General is due to address senators and deputies of the Upper and Lower

Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 5 April 2000

Houses of the Parliament, and we believe this is the first such address by a Secretary-General to that body.

We have the text of his speech available to you. It is embargoed until delivered. There will also be a taped broadcast of that speech available in audio only between 2 and 2:30 this afternoon. In his speech, he is expected to emphasize one of the themes contained in his Millennium Report, the need to free human beings from want and to break the cycle of misery that creates extreme poverty, which, the Secretary-General says, is “an affront to our common humanity”.

This evening, the Secretary-General is to meet with Mike Moore, Director General of the World Trade Organization, and then with Eduard Kukan, Foreign Minister of Slovakia and his Special Envoy for the Balkans. Tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. local time in Rome, the Secretary-General is expected to have a press conference. That is 5:30 a.m. New York time, so it will be recorded and broadcast in the house. We will provide the details to you later, including the time of the broadcast.

**Security Council

The Security Council this morning heard a briefing in closed consultations from Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hédi Annabi on the United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission (UNIKOM). Mr. Annabi introduced the Secretary-General's recent report on the Mission, in which the Secretary-General notes that the situation along the Iraq-Kuwait border has remained calm.

The Council will send a letter to the Secretary-General to extend the mandate of the Observer Mission, which is set to expire on Thursday. The Mission, unlike several other peacekeeping operations, does not need to be renewed by the adoption of a new resolution.

Yesterday afternoon, the Council discussed its programme of work for April, and also accepted terms of reference for a visit by a delegation of Council members to Kosovo on 28 and 29 April. The Council mission will be headed by Ambassador Anwarul Karim Chowdhury of Bangladesh and will observe the operations of the UN mission there and convey a message to all concerned on the need to reject violence. Further details on the composition of the mission are still being discussed.

The next meeting of the Council will be on Friday, when Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy will chair an open briefing on Afghanistan.

**Human Rights Commissioner Addresses Commission on Human Rights

Mary Robinson addressed the Commission on Human Rights today in Geneva on her visit to Chechnya, just completed yesterday. She said that during her visit she "heard allegations of mass killings, summary executions, rape, torture and pillage" and "detailed first-hand testimony from witnesses of alleged gross violations of human rights abuses in Chechnya". She added : "The individuals were clearly traumatized by what they had endured, and frightened, but they gave detailed, precise answers to close questioning."

She described the scale of destruction in Grozny as shocking. She said: "The sight of a city which was once famous in the Caucasus region reduced to rubble symbolizes the devastating effect of the conflict." She said that "the primary responsibility for addressing human rights violations, as recognized internationally, rests with the Russian authorities, and I firmly believe it requires a sustained, effective national response". The complete text of her speech is available in room S-378 and United Nations TV will play the audio of her speech on channel 3 at 12:30 p.m.

**Kosovo

Serb representatives are expected to attend next week’s meetings of the Interim Administrative Council, as well as the Kosovo Transitional Council, following the decision by the Serb National Council of Gracanica to participate in the two bodies -– we mentioned this yesterday. The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) says that the decision to join has led to some tensions among the Serb community in Kosovo. For example, a demonstration by Serbs opposed to that decision took place in Gracanica today. Meanwhile, UNMIK is in the process of setting up a radio station so that the Gracanica Serbs can explain their decision to the public.

Today's briefing note from UNMIK has a KFOR report on an angry confrontation yesterday between some 220 United States and Polish troops and 300 citizens (local Serbs) in a village near Prizren in southern Kosovo, which resulted in 12 soldiers being injured. UNMIK police also reported that three police officers from the UN Mission in Kosovo went missing outside Gnjilane in south-eastern Kosovo. It has now been confirmed that these three men were detained by Serbian authorities after crossing the boundary by mistake. The UNMIK is discussing their release with Serbian authorities. We have UNMIK briefing notes for more information upstairs.

**Secretary-General’s Letter on Mission in Haiti

A letter to the President of the General Assembly from the Secretary- General is now public. It concerns the situation on democracy and human rights in Haiti. In his letter, the Secretary-General discusses the lack of financial resources for the International Civilian Support Mission in Haiti (MICAH). He says the Assembly might wish to consider whether, “instead of preserving a presence in Haiti, which has only core staff and is unable to carry out the envisaged activities in the areas of justice, human rights and police, the Mission be closed and its substantive activities be transferred to the United Nations Development Programme". That letter is available today on the racks.

**Afghanistan

Today, Pino Arlacchi, Executive Director of the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (ODCCP), expressed his satisfaction at the announcement by the Taliban that they have destroyed 160 hectares of poppy fields in the Nangahar region of Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan. Mr. Arlacchi said: "I hope this is the beginning of a serious commitment by the Taliban towards eradication of poppy cultivation in Afghanistan."

According to the ODCCP, Afghanistan produced 4,600 tons of opium last year, nearly doubling the output of the previous year. The Office estimates that 92,000 hectares were used for poppy cultivation, and that Afghanistan accounted for 75 per cent of the total world opium production for the season 1998 to 1999.

**East Timor

Sergio Vieira de Mello, the Transitional Administrator for East Timor, gave a press briefing today in Dili that covers a large range of subjects. He discusses the security situation, which has improved, the recently formed Public Service Commission, and the growing judicial system.

Of particular interest is the decision to establish District Advisory Councils, which will bring together representatives from East Timorese civil society and the UN Transitional Administration at the local level. Mr. Vieira de Mello also discussed the decision to appoint Timorese as deputy district administrators and deputy heads of departments within the public administration.

This was quite a lengthy press briefing and we have the full text upstairs, as well as a separate briefing note on the District Advisory Councils. I think it will be particularly useful to those of you who follow East Timor closely, particularly because next week the Transitional Administrator will be here in New York, and we hope to have him as a guest at the noon briefing.

**Miscellaneous

This morning, Belize became the ninety-sixth country to sign the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The Court will enter into force, once 60 nations have ratified the Statute; so far, seven countries have done so.

In a joint press release issued today, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO) praised the consensus reached by health experts that the drug cotrimoxazole can be used in Africa to ward off some infections that strike at HIV-infected people. The drug can be used to combat certain bacterial pneumonias and diarrhoeal diseases.

We also have from the WHO an embargoed press release on World Health Day -- which is this Friday -- and its theme of safe blood supplies for all people; and a fact sheet on food safety and food-borne illnesses.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance has issued a situation report on the floods, triggered by heavy rains at the end of March, that have hit southern Bolivia.

And finally, we have a press release from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), which warns that babies born under 2.5 kilograms have a risk of dying during the neo-natal period, that is 40 times greater than that for other babies, and have a 50 per cent greater risk of serious developmental problems.

This morning in Geneva, Nigel Rodney, Human Rights Special Rapporteur on the question of torture, addressed the Commission on Human Rights. His text is available in room S-378.

And one last announcement: the recently recorded World Chronicle TV programme number 780 with Yakin Erturk, Director of the Division for the Advancement of Women, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, will be shown today on in-house television channel 3 or 31 at 2:30 p.m.

**Questions and Answers

Question: Does the Secretary-General have comments on Iran seizing an oil tanker smuggling Iraqi oil?

Answer: I saw the same media report. As far as I am aware, the Secretary-General has not yet been informed of this incident, but I will apprise you of any information I get.

Question: Is Haiti’s financial crisis caused by United States Congress refusal to transfer the money from a formerly approved mission to the General Assembly mission?

Answer: There is some $9 million available in the regular budget, which will fund the core staff. What is needed is the additional $14.73 million of voluntary contributions, which are coming principally from Canada and the United States. So far, Canada has been able to make available the first tranche of that, which is about $600,000, but that is the only money that has been forthcoming so far. As to why the funding is being held up on the American side, I suggest you contact the United States Mission.

Question: Is the Secretary-General not confident that he is going to get much more money?

Answer: I think what he is pointing out is that the situation is quite serious and that we should be prepared for the worst-case scenario if the funding does not come through.

Question: Can you provide any more information regarding the visit to the Middle East of the Secretary-General’s Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and his Personal Representative to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority?

Answer: All we know is that following his meeting yesterday with the Secretary-General, he went directly to the Middle East and he is currently in Lebanon, where he is having meetings with top officials. Obviously, on the question of the Israeli withdrawal. That is all I can tell you at the moment.

Question: Will Mr. Larsen hold a press conference as soon as he gets back?

Answer: Well, I noted that he refused to speak to reporters upon his arrival, so I do not know what he will do.

Question: Will he meet with the Syrian side afterwards?

Answer: That I cannot tell you.

Question: Concerning the visit to Italy, has the Secretary-General discussed an issue of great importance to Italy, namely, the restructuring of

the Security Council? Also, is the Secretary-General planning to meet the Pope, and what would be the substance of the discussion?

Answer: On the latter, I would have to get back to you. [Shortly after the noon briefing, information was provided to correspondents that the Secretary-General is planning to have a one-on-one meeting with the Pope at 11;30 a.m. on Friday. 7 April.] On the former, I believe that when he was having discussions with the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister, the issue of the United Nations reform did come up. However, I do not know how much detail it was discussed.

Question: Do you have any further details on Italian plane that flew to Baghdad?

Answer: I understand from news reports that the plane was arrested in Jordan. This is a matter that has to be taken up by the Sanctions Committee. This is the body that enforces sanctions, and any illegal flights would be dealt with by that body.

Question: Does the Secretary-General endorse the rather harsh language used by Mary Robinson and her calls for an inquiry by the Russian Government into some of the alleged atrocities in Chechnya?

Answer: When they met yesterday at the airport as the Secretary-General was leaving Geneva for Rome, he was encouraging and supportive of her efforts in the field of human rights violations in Chechnya.

Question: Did Ms. Robinson address the question of five detention centres in Chechnya?

Answer: Again, we will have to get back to you on that. I do not have those details, I am afraid.

Question: Any mention of the memorandum of understanding between the United Nations and the Russian Federation, which would allow aid agencies access to Chechnya?

Answer: That is yet another matter I would have to get back to you on. [Following the briefing, it was announced that such a memorandum had not yet been signed, and that the Spokesman’s Office would inform correspondents when it was.]

Thank you very much.

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