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.

With me at the briefing today is Hansjoerg Strohmeyer, the Deputy Legal Adviser to the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNTAET). There have been a number of interesting legal and judicial developments in East Timor -- recent agreements with Indonesia for investigations and prosecutions -- so I think you might find of interest what Mr. Strohmeyer will say, and you'll have a chance to ask him questions.

**Security Council Notes: Secretary-General Calls Protection of Civilians in Conflict 'First Duty' of UN

The Security Council this morning went into closed consultations to discuss the draft of a Presidential Statement on Lebanon, as well as the draft text of the resolution on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, which is to be approved at the end of the formal meeting that's now being held on that topic.

The Council is in the formal meeting now, which is being chaired by the Foreign Minister of Canada, Lloyd Axworthy.

The Secretary-General began the open debate by noting his report from last September on that topic, which urged the creation of a rapid deployment force to respond quickly to crises; the importance of preventive deployment; and the need for improved security in refugee camps.

Today's debate, the Secretary-General said, "bears vivid testimony to a growing recognition that our first duty in any conflict is to protect the innocent civilians".

The Council debate then proceeded; among the participants in today's debate is the new President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Jakob Kellenberger.

As for Lebanon, the Security Council is continuing to discuss its draft Presidential Statement and may adopt it later in the afternoon if the members arrive at an agreed text by then.

We'd also like to draw your attention to a letter on the racks today by the President of the Security Council, which notes the composition of a delegation of nine Council Ambassadors travelling to Kosovo next week. The delegation, led by Ambassador Anwarul Karim Chowdhury of Bangladesh, will leave New York for Kosovo on 26 April.

Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 19 April 2000

**Bertini Says Famine, Deaths in Horn of Africa Can Be Averted with 'Swift' International Response

The Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Drought in the Horn of Africa, Catherine Bertini, ended her mission to the region today saying that "timing is absolutely critical" to prevent a disaster in the area.

"The international community has a rare opportunity of prevention", Ms. Bertini told a news conference in Nairobi earlier today. She, of course, is also the Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP). The audio portion of that 50-minute news conference was replayed for you on in-house television a short while ago.

If the response is swift, she said, famine can be averted and deaths from various diseases from the lack of basic needs can be prevented.

Ms. Bertini, who visited Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea and Kenya to raise consciousness and attract donor support during her nine-day mission, outlined five priority areas: water, basic medicines, food aid, security and technical support in transport, and infrastructure to ensure distribution of aid.

On behalf of the Secretary-General, Ms. Bertini appealed to the international community to be generous in their contributions.

We have a fact sheet from the WFP and an update from Ethiopia available for you.

**Tribunal Prosecutor 'Deeply Alarmed' at Decision to Release Accused War Criminals

This morning, in The Hague, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia rejected the Prosecutor’s appeal against the provisional release of Miroslav Tadic and Simo Zaric, in what is commonly referred to as the Bosanski Samac case. The Court ordered provisional release of the two to proceed.

The Prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, issued a statement saying that she is deeply alarmed at the decision of the Tribunal to release the two accused.

Ms. Del Ponte added that she will monitor closely the activities of the two accused, who are on their way to Republika Srpska. She said: "If there is any suggestion that they, or persons on their behalf, are interfering with witnesses or evidence, I will not hesitate to seek the re-arrest of the accused." The statement adds that since Republika Srpska has never surrendered any fugitive to the Tribunal, it is likely that the Prosecutor will have to turn to the Stabilization Force (SFOR)to re-arrest these accused if they refuse to return to the Tribunal for trial when required.

The press release from the tribunal and the statement from the Prosecutor are available in my office.

**Iraq Programme Update Available Today

The regular weekly update from the Office of the Iraq Programme is available upstairs and is also on the Office's Web site.

It shows that in the week ending last Friday, Iraq exported 15.2 million barrels of oil. That brings the revenue for the current phase to around $5.06 billion.

In terms of spending the money, the Sanctions Committee has now approved contracts for humanitarian supplies worth $5.6 billion and for oil equipment worth $718 million.

There are currently $1.718 billion worth of contracts on hold.

**Special Representative Otunnu to Visit West Africa

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Olara Otunnu, will visit West Africa for two weeks beginning tomorrow. He will participate in the West Africa Ministerial Conference on War-Affected Children, sponsored by the Governments of Canada and Ghana, to be held in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, from 27 to 28 April. He will also go on to Mali and Sierra Leone.

If you want more information on that, his Press Officer is Fergus Nicoll, who can be reached at (212) 963-8460.

The report on the 30 January cyanide spill in Romania was released in Geneva this morning by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. According to the report, the spill of some 50-100 tonnes of cyanide and heavy metals into the shared river systems of Hungary, Romania and Yugoslavia, was probably caused by a combination of inherent design deficiencies in the industrial processes involved, inadequate operating conditions, and bad weather.

The report can be found on the Web site dedicated to this issue.

**Payments

In budget news, Ethiopia has become the seventy-ninth Member State to pay its 2000 budget dues in full, and that's with a cheque for $63,000.

**Notes from Kosovo

We have the press briefing note from Pristina, Kosovo, which refers to a joint statement against violence issued by Bernard Kouchner, the Secretary- General's Special Representative, the European Union and members of the Interim Administrative Council, and the Kosovo Transitional Council.

The United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) also reports that a plane load of antibiotics is on its way to treat an outbreak of tularemia, a rat-borne disease that causes high fever, body aches and swollen glands. So far 480 cases have been identified, but the Mission says the disease is easily treated with antibiotics, and avoided by disinfecting or boiling water.

**Press Releases Today

We have a note from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) saying that a report on a just completed crop and food supply assessment mission to East Timor will be made available tomorrow.

We also have a press release from the World Health Organization (WHO) on a global initiative to eliminate avoidable blindness, and the weekly humanitarian update from Afghanistan.

Finally, there is a press release from the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (HABITAT). In it, Klaus Topfer, the Acting Executive-Director of HABITAT, supports the call by the Secretary-General to refine sanctions to ensure the protection of the most vulnerable communities and ordinary citizens in places like Iraq.

**Press Conferences

The United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) has asked me to inform you of a briefing today in the UNCA Lounge at 1 p.m., on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Review Conference. Journalists will be briefed by Daniel Plesch and Christine Kucia of the British American Security Information Council. There will be a light lunch.

At the noon briefing tomorrow, we will have Jayantha Dhanapala, the Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs.

And then, at 1 p.m. tomorrow, information technology leaders who have made information technology work for the developing and transition countries will announce a global action plan.

We have a background note on that in my office.

I've just been told that the Foreign Minister of Canada, Lloyd Axworthy, has cancelled a press conference that had been scheduled for today, but he will talk to you at the stake-out following this morning's Security Council session.

That's all I have for you. Are there any questions before we go to Mr. Strohmeyer?

**Questions and Answers

Question: There's a report on the wires that an Australian citizen working for the United Nations was caught spying inside Indonesian territory in West Timor. The United Nations has supposedly sent a written apology to the Indonesian Government. Do you know anything about that?

Spokesman: Well, you've caught me flat-footed on that one. I'll have to look into it and get back to you. We’ll have to get something official for you.

[Following the briefing, the Spokesman's Office released the following statement:

A young Australian soldier serving with the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in East Timor has been repatriated, following an incident in which he asked a Timorese travelling to West Timor to inform him of certain activities.

The soldier, who is considered inexperienced, paid the Timorese about 100,000 rupiah (US$20) to let him know of any military activity.

On 17 April, United Nations Force Commander Jaime de los Santos expressed his regret for this incident to General Widido, Commander of the Indonesian Armed Forces in West Timor. General de los Santos said that such information- gathering activities were not permitted.

This incident is considered closed.]

Question: Anything new on tribunal discussions in Cambodia?

Spokesman: No. The Legal Counsel has intended to contact his opposite number in Cambodia. You will recall that in Havana, Hun Sen presented us with a half dozen options of ways to resolve the outstanding issue on the agenda. The Legal Counsel has drafted a response and he will be discussing that with the Secretary-General, and then sending a letter back to the Cambodian Government. So, we're still going around on that remaining issue.

Question: Have the [Cambodian Tribunal] proposals been rejected or are they still very much in play?

Spokesman: I said at the time that [the proposals] were handed over to the Secretary-General that we would study them, but that we did not consider them an exhaustive list of the options. So, I can't tell you what the Legal Counsel's reaction to the six options would be. We'll have to see after he's consulted the Secretary-General and then sent a letter to the Cambodians.

Question: Do you have any update on whether the most recent ceasefire agreement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is holding? And do you have a date for the Security Council's visit?

Spokesman: The tentative dates of the trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo are 2-8 May, but the Council has not confirmed those dates, and again, they are tentative.

Surprisingly, our reports are that the ceasefire continues to be largely effective. There were some reports of skirmishes last Friday. There was a report of a single clash, I believe, in South Kivu, yesterday. But with those exceptions, the ceasefire seems to be holding.

Question: What's the status of the Vorontsov report?

Spokesman: Well, it's making its way from the thirty-eighth floor to the second floor. I know it's been making its way for two days now, but we're told that it will reach the Security Council today; just when, I don't know. I know that the Secretary-General has signed off on it. A cover letter was being drafted this morning, and I would expect by early afternoon, it should go to the Council.

My understanding is, though, that it will not be circulated as a document.

Question: Has the Secretary-General had time to respond to the letter from President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa about the HIV/AIDS problem there?

Spokesman: Not yet. He has spoken to President Mbeki. He has read the very long and detailed letter, though, and a response is being drafted. I think that's all I can say at this point.

Question: Given how detailed the letter is, statements were included from some South African doctors who questioned the link between HIV and AIDS. Will the Secretary-General be addressing that issue in his response, as it differs greatly from the views of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)?

Spokesman: I can't say what will be in the Secretary-General's response. I do know that both WHO and UNAIDS have stated that HIV, in their words, “has been definitively established as the cause of AIDS”. So that seems to be the United Nations position. Whether or not the Secretary-General will get into that in his response, I really can't tell you. We'll just have to see.

Question: Have the exact dates and location for the next round of talks on Cyprus been announced yet?

Spokesman: I don't know off the top of my head. I'll have to check and get back to you.

[It was later announced that the next round of Cyprus talks will take place in New York starting 23 May.]

* *** *