DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
20000428The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by David Wimhurst, Acting Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
**Secretary-General's Trip to West Africa
The Secretary-General arrived in Banjul, the Gambia, from Senegal this morning. At midday, he met with the President of the Gambia, President Yahya Jammeh, for over an hour, most of that time spent on a one-on-one meeting.
After that meeting he had a brief encounter with the Gambian press. He volunteered that he had raised with the President the issue of the recent student riots in the Gambia, and said the President had assured him that those responsible would be prosecuted. Asked for the United Nations position on human rights, the Secretary-General said that the people must know of their rights and do whatever they can to defend them. It's not an issue "that we should leave to governments alone to defend. He then attended a luncheon hosted by the President.
We have a full transcript of his remarks to the press available for you upstairs.
Following that brief press encounter he attended a luncheon hosted by the President, and in the afternoon he is to attend a ceremony renaming Old Cape Road in Banjul to "Kofi Annan Street". He is then to attend the inauguration of United Nations House, which is a facility for all United Nations agencies working in the Gambia, subsidized in part by the Government. In the late afternoon he is to leave Banjul for Libreville, Gabon.
**Security Council Mission to Kosovo
The Security Council delegation began their second day in Kosovo by participating in a special joint session of the Kosovo Transitional Council and Interim Administrative Council.
The delegation leader, Ambassador Chowdhury (Bangladesh), today made a strong appeal to the leaders of the various communities in the Kosovo Transitional Council to shun violence for the sake of Kosovo's future.
Mr. Chowdhury said that the Security Council delegation was there to see for itself "first-hand the situation in Kosovo, the difficulties and obstacles faced by the Mission, the efforts by the United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK) to implement Security Council resolution 1244, and to see what measures we can take to help UNMIK move ahead and bring peace, prosperity and security to Kosovo".
Earlier this morning the eight-member delegation visited Prizren, where they met with leaders of the Turkish, Roma and Bosnian communities. The delegation proceeded to Mitrovica in the afternoon for an overview of the situation there and a look at employment projects and a Kosovo Protection Corps clean-up project. They were also to meet with the leaders of the Serb and Albanian communities. From Mitrovica, they were to fly to Gracanica to meet Bishop Artemije, Serb National Council leader. At the end of the day, they were to meet with Stanimir Vukicevic, of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Committee for Cooperation with UNMIK.
Just to remind you that the Security Council members on that trip are: Bangladesh, Canada, China, Argentina, Ukraine, Jamaica, Malaysia and the Russian Federation.
**Security Council
There is no meeting of the Security Council today. However, Robert Fowler of Canada, who is the outgoing President for April, will give a press briefing in this room at 1 p.m. to review the Council's work over the past month.
Wang Yingfan of China will take over the Presidency of the Council starting on Monday, and is expected to hold bilateral consultations with other members on the programme of work for the month of May.
There may be additional work on the agenda, since Monday will also be the day after the Security Council delegation led by Mr. Chowdhury of Bangladesh returns from Kosovo. It is possible that the delegation will report back to the Council on their trip that day; we'll keep you posted if that is the case.
In any event, the Council members will have a busy few days of travel arrangements, with a seven-member Council delegation, led by Richard Holbrooke of the United States, leaving for the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Tuesday. They are scheduled to return to New York on 8 May
**Democratic Republic of Congo
Also on the Congo -- I'd like to draw your attention to a letter, on the racks today, by Mr. Kapanga of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, addressed to the President of the Council. He conveys a request from his Government to establish a group of independent experts to investigate the illegal exploitation of the natural resources of his country.
The Secretary-General has also written to the Security Council on that subject, and the Council is currently considering a response.
**Georgia
The Secretary-General's latest report to the Security Council on the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) is out on the racks today, and it welcomes the readiness shown by the Abkhaz leader, Vladislav Ardzinba, to engage in a dialogue on the political settlement of the conflict over Abkhazia.
The Secretary-General notes the work the Observer Mission and his Special Representative, Dieter Boden, have done in trying to reduce tensions between the Georgian Government and the Abkhaz leadership.
In particular, he expresses satisfaction over the goodwill demonstrated by both sides, which helped the Observer Mission in bringing about a successful hostage exchange involving four people held by the Georgian side and eight held by the Abkhaz side. The United Nations Mission conducted the exchange, which involved simultaneous helicopter take-offs and landings between both sides. The Observer Mission's current mandate lasts until the end of July.
**Iraq
By the way, I'd like to draw your attention to another report of the Secretary-General that is out on the racks today. The report concerning the high-level Coordinator for Iraq's activities on the return of Kuwaiti and third- country nationals is now out. The Coordinator, Yuli Vorontsov, reported to the Security Council on that subject on Wednesday.
**Lebanon
Members of the Indian contingent of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) came under fire this morning when a rocket exploded inside their position at Ebel Saqi.
Some minor damage occurred as a result of this incident, which took place at about 6:15 local time. Fortunately, no members of the Indian battalion were injured. A second rocket landed some 200 metres from the Indian position.
The Irish contingent, which is based at Tibnine, also reported ordnance exploding close to their position.
**Lockerbie Trial
On the racks today is a letter from the Secretary-General to the President of the Security Council, informing the Council of the names of five international observers nominated by the Secretary-General to attend the trial of the two Libyan suspects in the Lockerbie bombing case.
The Secretary-General named as his observers the following five people: Hairat Balogun of the Organization of African Unity and the Non-Aligned Movement; M.H. Beerenboom of the European Commission; Nabil El-Araby of the League of Arab States; and Hans Koechler and Robert Thabit of the International Progress Organization.
The Secretary-General said that all five represented entities had demonstrated a long-standing interest in the matter of Pan American flight 103. He added that he may nominate additional international observers in the future.
The trial of the two suspects is set to begin in Camp Zeist, the Netherlands, next Wednesday (3 May). The trial, as you know, is held under a Scottish judge and the Scottish legal system, in a special arrangement agreed to last year by the involved Governments.
**Greater Horn of Africa
Mary Robinson, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), appealed solemnly to the international community to help protect the right to life "in the face of a potential disaster in the Horn of Africa".
Speaking at the closing of the annual session of the Commission on Human Rights, Ms. Robinson said: "We cannot allow human beings to die in large numbers before our very eyes. There is a shared responsibility here: the responsibility of the governments involved, and the responsibility of the international community." She called the situation in the Horn of Africa a test case of the practical implementation of the interdependence and indivisibility of human rights. She added that it was her intention, in cooperation with her colleagues in other departments and agencies of the United Nations, to keep the Bureau of the Commission informed of developments concerning the drought in the Greater Horn of Africa, with a view to inviting the Bureau and, through it, the Commission, to watch over the protection of the right to life in this situation.
The text of her statement is available in our office, as well as her concluding statement at the Commission on Human Rights, which ended today. We also have a few copies of the update vote counts for the resolutions passed by the Commission during its session.
**Sierra Leone
There was an incident in Freetown today in which one Sierra Leonean was shot dead, and another wounded. United Nations peacekeepers brought the situation under control. No United Nations personnel were wounded.
One of the four Economic Community of West African States' Monitoring Observer Group (ECOMOG) vehicles that had been stolen on Monday was seen today by ECOMOG soldiers who pursued it and stopped it. A scuffle followed and the driver was shot dead. Another man was wounded. After the shooting the area was described as tense. But the presence of United Nations peacekeepers helped restore calm in that immediate area.
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Oluyemi Adeniji, the Force Commander, Vijay Jetley, and the Civilian Police Chief, Maritz Dutoit, gave a press conference on the work of the Mission. The Force Commander announced that the peacekeeping mission so far has deployed in nine out of 12 districts. The new Zambian battalion is expected to deploy to Koidu in the RUF-controlled diamond region in Eastern Sierra Leone.
**International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia
Today in The Hague, the United Nations and Sweden signed an agreement for the provision of qualified personnel to assist the investigations currently being conducted in Kosovo by the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
The work of the four Swedish forensic teams, who will each be in the region for approximately two weeks, will consist of gathering evidence and assisting in the exhumations of mass graves, in order to obtain evidence for the ongoing investigations of the Prosecutor. The first team of three people will be dispatched to the region within the next few weeks.
That press release from the Tribunal is available in our office upstairs.
**World Conference against Racism
The process leading to next years World Conference against Racism gets formally under way, with the Preparatory Committees first session scheduled to start Monday in Geneva. During the week-long meeting, the Preparatory Committee is expected to take key decisions on the agenda, dates, venue in South Africa and rules of procedure for the World Conference.
High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, who is the Secretary- General of the World Conference, will open the meeting of the Preparatory Committee on Monday, 1 May. The High Commissioner has said that the preparatory process is almost as important as the World Conference itself, as it will see countries and civil society review how they are implementing their commitments to fight discrimination and bigotry.
There is more information at the And we can provide the address for you upstairs.
**United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
The Environment Minister of the Netherlands, Jan Pronk, and the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Michael Cutajar, will sign a Host Country Agreement this afternoon for the next United Nations Conference on Climate Change, which takes place at The Hague from November 13 to 24.
This will be the sixth such conference, and the embargoed press release on this subject, which is available upstairs, provides some useful background information on the previous five.
**United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Today's briefing notes from the UNHCR contain updates on refugee situations in West Timor and Tanzania, and the distribution of aid supplies brought in by convoy to Chechnya this week. They are available for you upstairs.
**International Labour Organization (ILO)
Some miscellaneous press releases:
In Geneva today, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has issued a report saying that some 90 per cent of the world's working-age population is not covered by any pension schemes capable of providing adequate retirement income. The report, titled "Social Security Pensions: Development and Reform", adds that bad management of many existing pension schemes render much of the world's population exposed to the risk of poverty in old age. We have a detailed press release summarizing the report's findings in our office upstairs.
**Afghanistan
The Office of the United Nations Coordinator for Afghanistan has issued a press release from Islamabad today, saying that about some 800,000 people -- or 4 per cent of Afghanistan's population -- are disabled in that country. About a quarter of the country's disabled population are landmine survivors, and the Mine Action Programme for Afghanistan adds that some 400,000 people have been killed or injured by landmines there over the past 10 years.
**Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
We also have a press release from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), warning that the recent economic problems and unrest over land reforms in Zimbabwe may add to an unfavourable outlook for food security there. Recent flooding, followed by the current unrest, have hurt agricultural activities on large-scale commercial farms, during the crucial season for harvesting and processing important crops like maize and tobacco, the FAO says.
And those press releases are available upstairs.
**The Week Ahead at United Nations
Finally, looking at the week ahead:
Tomorrow, Saturday, 29 April: The Secretary-General is to meet with President Omar Bongo of Gabon, Prime Minister Jean-François Ntoutoume-Emane and Foreign Minister Jean Ping, both of Gabon of course, one day after arriving in Libreville from Banjul, the Gambia.
The Security Council delegation to Kosovo, also tomorrow, will visit Gnjilane and Djakovica. They will meet with Kosovo Force (KFOR) contingent commanders and UNMIK police contingent commanders. They will also meet with co-heads of several administrative departments and, at 7 p.m., they will hold a press briefing at the UNMIK Government Building.
Sunday, 30 April: The Secretary-General departs Gabon for Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic, where he is to meet with President Ange-Félix Patasse in the evening.
Monday, 1 May: The Secretary-General is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Anicet Georges Doleguele and other officials of the Central African Republic, and is also expected to hold a press conference in that country. On the evening of Monday, he is to leave for Cameroon.
Also on Monday, from 1 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. in Conference Room 4, Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, Jayantha Dhanapala, will moderate a panel discussion on new conceptual approaches to arms control and disarmament.
Tuesday, 2 May: The Secretary-General, who will by then be in Cameroon on his official visit, will meet with President Paul Biya, as well as the Prime Minister and other senior officials, and will also speak at the University of Yaounde II.
Wednesday, 3 May: The Secretary-General is expected to meet with United Nations representatives in Cameroon, and hold a press conference before leaving that country for London.
Wednesday is also World Press Freedom Day. From 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Conference Room 2, there will be a programme on press freedom, including a speech on that subject by Communications Director Shashi Tharoor, and a screening of excerpts from the film "Cry Freetown", as well as a panel discussion moderated by your colleague Richard Roth of CNN.
In Rome, on the same day, a two-day International Reconstruction Conference for Mozambique will begin. The Mozambican Government is expected to ask donors for $450 million to assist with reconstruction following the floods in February and March. Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), will participate. Thursday, 4 May: The Secretary-General will return to New York from his trip in West Africa.
**Questions and Answers
Question: Is there any reaction to [Russian Federation] Ambassador Lavrov's unscheduled trip to see President Milosevic?
Acting Deputy Spokesman: No, there has been no reaction. The information I gave you is what they did today and what I expect them to do tomorrow. Apart from that, I have no further information.
Question: Has there been any reaction from the Security Council to the letter of the Permanent Representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo? Do you consider it a support letter to the Secretary-General's letter on that issue?
Acting Deputy Spokesman: I think the Council is composing its reply to the Secretary-General's letter on that issue. The Permanent Representatives letter stated the position of his Government, and it is useful and important in moving this issue forward. Both letters are useful and will lead to a solution to this shortly, I hope.
Question: What is the International Progress Institute, mentioned as one of the international observers to the Lockerbie trial?
Acting Deputy Spokesman: I have no idea, I am afraid. I'll try and find out for you.
Question: Is there any news about Larsen's mission to the Middle East?
Acting Deputy Spokesman: There is nothing new for today. We obviously announced yesterday that this trip was taking place. He is coming back on 10 May. He will be meeting with leaders in the region; he is accompanied by advisers. When we do have something I, or my colleague Marie, will bring it to the briefing.
Question: Is there any comment on the letter Hung Sen (Cambodia) sent to the Secretary-General?
Acting Deputy Spokesman: Yes, that has been received and is being studied. That is all I can say.
Question: Ambassador Cabral from Haiti has been seen in the United Nations. Why is he here, and will he come to the briefing?
Acting Deputy Spokesman: I understand he is here for personal reasons. In the course of that, he has visited Headquarters. I don't think it is possible for him to come to the briefing, given that his visit is not an official one. He is here, as I said, for personal reasons.
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