DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
20000512The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
Good afternoon. I'd like to welcome as our guest to the briefing Ambassador Abdallah Baali of Algeria, who is the President of the 2000 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, better known as the NPT. He would like to talk to you about the Review Conference, which is scheduled to conclude on the nineteenth of this month. With your permission, I would like to begin with Ambassador Baali and then I'll go to my regular briefing. [See the separately issued briefing notes, also issued today and available in Room 285 and the Internet, for coverage of Ambassador Baali's statement and questions and answers.]
We also have some visiting journalists in the room -- unless they are leaving -- from India and Pakistan. Welcome to the briefing, goodbye, nice having you around.
**Sierra Leone
On Sierra Leone: As the Secretary-General reported as he walked into the building this morning, the situation in Sierra Leone seems relatively calmer today, as efforts continue to stabilize the situation and consolidate our forces.
The United Nations Mission in Freetown reported to us about the arrival of the Jordanian parachute companies that we mentioned to you yesterday. They did arrive at Lungi airport just a short while ago. That brings the total strength of the Mission to about 9,200.
This afternoon more than 100 civilian staff are expected back from Banjul, in the Gambia, against the backdrop of an improved security situation and the extra support required by the incoming peacekeepers.
Last night, the Security Council held an open debate during which the Secretary-General appealed to the world not to abandon the people of Sierra Leone in their hour of greatest need. He noted that West African leaders had called for a revision of the mandate of the United Nations Mission, and cautioned that the first priority was for the Council to ensure that the United Nations has the capacity to carry out the tasks that its mandate implies.
Recommendations to the Council, in the form of a report, will be worked on over the weekend for presentation some time next week. The Sierra Leone Crisis Action Team will continue to meet over the weekend, as will meetings with troop contributors.
The most recent humanitarian assessment showed that some 20,000 to 30,000 people arrived in Freetown since the beginning of this week. Most of them came from Waterloo, approximately 25 kilometres south of Freetown, and from villages situated on the Songo-Masiaka axis where fighting has been reported in the last few days. It was noted on Thursday that only a small number of people are still coming into Freetown, and many internally displaced persons are now returning to areas near Waterloo. Today, the World Food Programme (WFP) was to start food distribution to these people. There is a WFP note on their assistance activities, if you are interested. It is in my office.
The deployment of the rest of the Jordanian battalion, as well as the Indian and Bangladeshi peacekeepers, will be carried out by a mixture of commercial and military aircraft. The deployment of the Indian battalion is scheduled to start on Monday.
We have requested military load teams in order to increase the number of heavy-lift flights that can come into Lungi airport.
**Ethiopia/Eritrea
I have the following statement on Eritrea/Ethiopia, where fighting resumed today:
The Secretary-General deeply deplores the resumption of large-scale fighting between Eritrea and Ethiopia. He urgently appeals to both countries to cease hostilities immediately and to return to the process of negotiation in order to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.
"The Secretary-General stresses that the differences between the two countries cannot justify in any way the great loss in human lives they already have suffered and stand to suffer further. He is further concerned that the renewed fighting will worsen the already grave humanitarian situation prevailing in both countries and in the Horn of Africa region more widely."
Also on the Horn of Africa: The WFP says it is concerned that the renewed fighting between Eritrea and Ethiopia will further hamper relief efforts, and especially the Emergency Operation to assist the internally displaced in Ethiopia.
WFP reports that there is some movement of people into Mekele from areas closer to the border, and WFP is assessing the needs and the conditions of these newly displaced.
**Aceh, Indonesia
You might have read about the agreement between the Indonesian Government and the Aceh rebel movements. We have the following statement:
"The Secretary-General welcomes the announcement of the conclusion of a Joint Understanding on a Humanitarian Pause for Aceh between the Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) aimed at alleviating the humanitarian situation in the province of Aceh, reducing tension and ending the violence that has claimed many lives. The Secretary-General commends the Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement for the important first step they have taken towards the resolution of the problem in Aceh.
"As he stated during his official visit to Indonesia in February this year, the Secretary-General strongly believes that problems of separatism are essentially political problems that require political solutions. He hopes that through the strict observance of the terms of the Joint Understanding, the involvement of the wider Acehnese community and a strong commitment to peace, a mutually acceptable solution would be found in the near future."
**Security Council
The Security Council this morning began its closed consultations considering changes in a draft resolution, submitted yesterday in the Council, on the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
The draft was circulated yesterday afternoon following a report by French Ambassador Jean-David Levitte on the Council delegation's trip earlier this week to both countries, in which he warned that any resumption of fighting would be "particularly deadly.
Council Members agreed to consider revising that draft resolution in light of the reports today of renewed fighting along the border.
Before returning to the Ethiopia-Eritrea draft resolution, however, the Council first heard a briefing by Ambassador Arnold Peter van Walsum of the Netherlands on the visit by the Security Council delegation, led by United States Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and other countries in the Central African region.
Ambassador Van Walsum noted that the Council team met with the Presidents of the DRC, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, as well as several faction leaders, in an effort to see if the conditions exist for the wider deployment of the United Nations Mission to the DRC.
The team noted that the Secretary-General's decision on that deployment would be complex, but added that, although the events in Sierra Leone inevitably cast a shadow over the dispute in the DRC, "Sierra Leone should not be allowed to cloud the international community's responsibility in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Council also received written reports on the Council delegation's visits both to the DRC and to the Horn of Africa.
I understand that now the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping, Hédi Annabi, is briefing the Council on the latest developments in Sierra Leone.
Then the Council is expected to hold a formal meeting on Tajikistan, in light of the end of the United Nations Mission's mandate there on 15 May. That meeting is now expected to be put off until this afternoon at 3 p.m., and there are 22 speakers inscribed so far.
**Cyprus
We have another announcement here. This is on Cyprus.
The Secretary-General has asked Alvaro de Soto, his Special Adviser on Cyprus, to remain based at United Nations Headquarters for the time being in order to give priority to the good offices efforts under way.
In light of that, and since the term of James Holger as the Secretary- General's Acting Special Representative and Chief of Mission comes to an end on 31 May, the Secretary-General has appointed Zbigniew Wlosowicz of Poland to succeed Mr. Holger as Acting Special Representative and Chief of Mission, effective 1 June.
The Secretary-General has written to the President of the Security Council in this regard.
**Middle East
On the Middle East, I guess you all know that Terje Roed Larsen, the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General, who has just completed a trip to the Middle East, has just begun meeting with the Secretary-General to report on that trip, in which he discussed the implementation of Security Council resolutions calling for Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon.
He will be briefing the Secretary-General on his visits to Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt, and we hope to have some information for you later on these discussions.
The Secretary-General, and Mr. Larsen, will also meet at 3:30 this afternoon with the Foreign Minister of Israel, David Levy, who is here, and that appointment is expected to last about an hour.
Larsen will be here all next week, and he is now scheduled to brief the Security Council on his visit on 18 May.
**Kosovo
Today's briefing notes from the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) report that there are currently 36 prisoners -- 31 of them Serbs and five Roma, or Gypsy -- on a hunger strike at the detention centre in Mitrovica. The hunger strikers have refused all food since Orthodox Easter, to protest delays in their trial proceedings.
In response, and at the urging of the United Nations Mission, the President of the District Court of Mitrovica has rescheduled their trials, the first of which will now start on 6 June. Meanwhile, the hunger strikers are being cared for by four doctors to monitor their health during their strike.
**East Timor
From East Timor: United Nations flags were flown at half-mast today across East Timor after a United Nations military observer from Malaysia died in a Darwin hospital yesterday morning after being admitted a week ago with symptoms of malaria. The final medical report on the cause of death is still to be released by hospital authorities.
This is the third victim to die from a disease in the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) since its deployment last October.
We have available in my office today's briefing note from Dili with more information.
** Franklin Delano Roosevelt International Disability Award
The Secretary-General this morning, a little after 10, greeted the President of Hungary, Arpad Goncz, and then at 11, in the Trusteeship Council, conferred upon him -- and on Hungary as a whole -- this year's Franklin Delano Roosevelt International Disability Award.
He said, "Today we pay tribute to Hungary for its efforts to create a society for all, a society free of discrimination that gives real meaning to the rights of persons with disabilities." He added that many people with disabilities continue to lack access to services worldwide, with 80 per cent of the disabled population living in the developing world.
We have copies of his speech, if you are interested.
**Commencements
It's commencement time at universities around the United States and probably elsewhere in the world as well, and the Secretary-General will be giving commencement addresses at four universities in the coming weeks.
Tomorrow, he travels to North Carolina to speak at Wingate University, which is Senator Jesse Helms' alma mater, and he will be introduced by the Senator at that ceremony.
Then on Sunday, 21 May, he addresses the students of Notre Dame University in Indiana at their commencement. The following Thursday, 25 May, he is the commencement speaker at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C., and finally on Sunday, 11 June, he will be the keynote speaker at the commencement at Stanford University in California.
**Press Conferences
I mentioned them to you yesterday: 2 p.m. on the Draft Charter for Public Service in Africa.
2:45 p.m.: "Greed and Grievance: Economic Agendas in Civil Wars", that is a new book by Mats Berdal and David Malone.
**Week in Review
The Week in Review is out. A few highlights:
Sunday: The Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara, James Baker, will hold talks in London with the parties to the Western Sahara dispute -- Morocco and the Polisario Front -- as well as with neighbouring countries, Algeria and Mauritania. Those talks will be held at the ministerial level.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, on Sunday, begins an official visit to Brazil, which will last until 18 May.
On Monday, a special two-day donors' meeting on security and development in the Central African Republic will begin at United Nations Headquarters. Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette will open that meeting, and the Central African Republic Prime Minister will lead his country's delegation. The Secretary-General on Monday will also issue a message to mark the International Day of Families, which is designed to increase awareness of family issues.
The first session of the Group of Governmental Experts on small arms will take place, and that will last through 19 May. The Group, comprising 20 experts from governments, will be chaired by Peggy Mason, Adviser on Small Arms and Light Weapons in Canada's Foreign Affairs Department.
On Tuesday, the Secretary-General will issue a message of solidarity with the people of non-self-governing territories.
On Wednesday, the Security Council is scheduled to hold an open meeting to discuss the trip earlier this month by a seven-member Council delegation, led by Ambassador Richard Holbrooke of the United States, to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the region.
On Friday, the Council has scheduled consultations on Sierra Leone.
**Questions and Answers
Question: Latest whereabouts on Foday Sankoh and on the hostages? Has the Secretary-General been in touch with President Taylor or with Jesse Jackson? Any movement there?
Spokesman: I'm not aware of any further contact with President Taylor since yesterday. I don't know that he's spoken to Jesse Jackson, who was just appointed by United States President Bill Clinton as a special envoy. We have no new information -- we have no information on the whereabouts of RUF leader Foday Sankoh. So nothing has changed.
Question: Is Jesse Jackson staying in touch at all with the United Nations throughout this?
Spokesman: I honestly don't know. I can just say that I'll have to check to see if there might have been any discussions between the Secretary-General and Jackson. The Secretary-General did speak to Clinton yesterday, which I think you've seen reported in the papers. And one of the things they discussed was Sierra Leone, the other thing was AIDS.
Question: They said that it was calm in Sierra Leone?
Spokesman: I don't know. You'll have to ask the RUF. All I know is that we have been able to continue to deploy and we have been able to send out our military observers in vehicle patrols. We've carried out aerial reconnaissance. And although there have been some reports of firing in the night, the daylight observation missions we've carried out showed no signs of fighting and no movement of troops. So I think Freetown is calming down.
Question: Yesterday the Nigerians, as part of the United Nations force, apparently fought back quite well. I even saw reported that they have artillery. I wasn't aware they had access to that.
Spokesman: You better watch out -- some of the things that are being reported. I'm not sure we can confirm all of these things. There is some artillery coming in at the moment. The United Nations does not now have artillery.
Question: When would the Government forces send a strong message to RUF forces?
Spokesman: Im not even confirming to you what you've just said, that we were involved in fighting yesterday.
Question: I must push you to another part of the world. It was pretty messy in Bosnia yesterday apparently when the bus was stoned by the Serb population in Bratunac in eastern Srebrenica. And apparently, four out of 60 police International Police Task Force (IPTF) officers were wounded. Twenty- two people are detained by those police officers. Do you have any other knowledge about this incident?
Spokesman: No. I apologize. I probably should have had something on that. But if you check with me right after the briefing, I'll give you whatever we have in the cables.
I was just told that Ambassador Van Walsum is about to speak at the stakeout on the Democratic Republic of the Congo. So if you want to run to that, feel free.
Question: I heard that United Kingdom troops are providing logistical assistance to the United Nations. I'd like to know what are the specifics of the agreement between United Kingdom troops and UNAMSIL.
Spokesman: There's no specific agreement, and the United Kingdom has told us that the reason they are in Freetown is to be prepared to evacuate United Kingdom nationals, if necessary. We did report that in addition to securing the airport, they also secured our headquarters compound. They are assisting us in other ways, but I can't go into details, and it's not on a basis of any formal agreement. They just seem to be helping us out in any way they can.
Question: On the deployment of troops to Sierra Leone, do we know how many flights per day the air movements unit at Lungi can now handle?
Spokesman: How much can Lungi handle is the question?
Question: Yes, because obviously earlier in the week, there were five flights a day.
Spokesman: I'm not sure -- depending on the aircraft. But I think the kind of aircraft were talking about now, two to three flights a day is the airport's limit, and I think three is stretching it.
Question: Is the Secretary-General concerned about possible fighting between Uganda and Rwanda?
Spokesman: Well, we've indicated our concern at the reports of the buildup of troops on the border. And at the same time, were pleased that the two presidents seem at least to be talking. And our hope is that nothing foolish will be done on that border. We've got enough trouble as it is. Question: Do you have a new date or venue for the upcoming Cyprus talks? There are some reports from Cyprus saying that they are going to be held on 26 May in Geneva.
Spokesman: No, we have nothing. I think we're still discussing with the two sides, since we had to postpone the dates because of Mr. Clerides' illness.
Thank you very much.
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