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.

I know it’s not good television to have something in your mouth, but I have a throat lozenge without which I will not be able to speak this morning. I apologize. We're going to start with a statement attributable to the Spokesman concerning Sierra Leone and the release of a certain number of detainees.

**Statement Attributable to Spokesman for Secretary-General

“The Secretary-General would like to acknowledge the important role played by President Charles Taylor of Liberia in the release of detained United Nations peacekeepers in Sierra Leone. One hundred thirty-nine peacekeepers are in Liberia today and will soon be brought back into the mission area in Sierra Leone.

“The Secretary-General will shortly be talking to President Taylor, who has been tasked by West African Governments to facilitate the release of the United Nations detainees.

“The Secretary-General is gratified by the progress made thus far and will encourage President Taylor to press on until the roughly 350 remaining detainees held by the Revolutionary United Front are freed and their weapons and equipment recovered.”

**Sierra Leone

Also on Sierra Leone -- and here is our substantive report of the day. One hundred and thirty-nine detained personnel from the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), mostly Zambians, have been released and are now reported to be in Liberia. The first 15 of these have arrived in Monrovia, Liberia. The rest are reported to be in the Liberian border town of Foya.

Arrangements are in place to airlift the released detainees to Freetown, Sierra Leone, starting with the 15 now in Monrovia. These numbers may shift when we actually confirm the presence of all these people in Liberia. United Nations aircraft are taking food, clothing, medical supplies and other rations to Foya, where the United Nations is establishing a presence. In addition to this 139, it was reported over the weekend that another 18 United Nations personnel were released from detention and transported from Geima to Kailahun, where they had originally been based. They had returned to their offices and premises in Kailahun. The United Nations spokesman in Freetown, David Wimhurst, said that they are "neither detained nor free to move". Kailahun is controlled by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF).

The release comes on the heels of a visit by the Secretary-General's Special Representative, Oluyemi Adeniji, to Monrovia on Sunday to consult with President Charles Taylor of Liberia on the detainee issue, during which the President briefed the Special Representative on the progress made so far. The Secretary-General, upon entering the Building, said he was relieved to hear the news of the release and that work was under way to get the rest freed. He said he had spoken to Mr. Adeniji, as well as the Force Commander, Gen. Vijay Jetley, and reported that morale on the ground was good. The Secretary-General said he had the chance to encourage Jetley and thank him for the leadership and for the work he and his team have done in difficult circumstances. A statement over the weekend also paid tribute to Jetley and those serving under his command.

Bernard Miyet, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, who was in Sierra Leone last week to manage the crisis, is briefing the Security Council on his mission, and he has promised to come here in room S-226 to brief you after the Council session.

On the ground, the overall situation was reported tense, but improving. Sporadic mortar fire was reported overnight in the Port Loko area, where insecurity has caused some new population displacements. Freetown is reported to be relatively calm. The UNAMSIL conducted regular air reconnaissance flights.

The airlift of Indian troops by Canadian Airbus and commercial aircraft is expected to ferry in about half of that battalion by the end of today. On the humanitarian front, the 20,000 newly displaced who had moved into Freetown last week began returning over the weekend to the Waterloo area. New displacements -- ranging from 7,000 to 9,000 -- were reported in the Port Loko area moving towards Lungi, which is the location of the airport, just across the bay from Freetown. Insecurity continued to prevent an assessment of the Masiaka area. Foday Sankoh's whereabouts remain unknown to the United Nations.

**Security Council

The Security Council is being briefed as we speak, on Sierra Leone, by Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Bernard Miyet. This afternoon at 4, the Council will again meet in closed consultations to discuss the latest developments in the conflict that resumed last Friday between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Under- Secretary-General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast will brief them on events over the past few days, during which there have been reports of heavy fighting along the border between the two countries, and we have requested Mr. Prendergast to brief you at the stand-up microphone.

The Council will also discuss the possibility of further action in the Eritrea-Ethiopia dispute. They may discuss the possibility of a further draft resolution on the dispute. You will recall that, last Friday evening, Council members unanimously approved resolution 1297, in which they resolved to meet again within 72 hours "to take immediate steps to ensure compliance with this resolution, in the event that hostilities continue".

The Secretary-General, on arriving at Headquarters today, told reporters, "It's unfortunate that this war had to break out. The differences between the two countries are relatively small, and I think, with a bit of patience and effort and will, it could have been resolved peacefully." He added, "I hope they heed the call of the Security Council."

**International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

Today at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Georges Riggiu, a journalist of Belgian and Italian nationalities who worked in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide, pleaded guilty to two counts of direct and public incitement to commit genocide and crimes against humanity. Riggiu was a journalist and announcer on Radio Télévision Libre des Milles Collines -– Milles Collines Radio was, of course, notorious in 1994 for inciting listeners to attack and kill Tutsis. He had initially pleaded not guilty to the crimes, but later changed his plea and admitted his guilt after "a long reflection during which he became fully aware of the full scope and consequences of the offences he committed in 1994 while in Rwanda". The prosecution has requested the Tribunal to impose a prison sentence of 20 years on Mr. Riggiu.

**Statement by Secretary-General

We have issued this statement earlier this morning concerning the death of former Prime Minister Obuchi of Japan, and I'll read it out. This is attributable directly to the Secretary-General.

“I was profoundly saddened to hear of the passing of Prime Minister Obuchi whom I have had the privilege of meeting on numerous occasions, going back to the days when he was Foreign Minister of Japan.

“I knew him as a true and devoted friend of the United Nations. I highly appreciated his support and sincere interest in all our affairs. I would like to pay the highest possible tribute to his leadership and tireless efforts in seeking to resolve the difficult and complex issues that confront the international community. The strong multilateral vision of Prime Minister Obuchi will be long remembered by us and be an inspiration to all.

“I would like to extend my deepest sympathy to his wife and family.”

**Statement on Western Sahara

======================================================================================================================================================================================= On the Western Sahara talks, the parties met for private face-to-face discussions in London on 14 May under the auspices of the Secretary-General's Personal Envoy, James Baker III. The parties may meet again in June to continue the search for an early, durable and agreed resolution of their dispute in Western Sahara.

======**United Nations Opens Office in Tehran

======On Sunday evening, the United Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan inaugurated its liaison office in Tehran, Iran, which will be headed by the Mission's Senior Political Affairs Officer, Jean-Pierre Castella.

======At the reception to open the office, Francesc Vendrell, the Personal Representative for Afghanistan, said that despite setbacks, the United Nations remains determined to move the parties to find an acceptable solution to the 20-year-old conflict. He urged that countries end outside interference in Afghanistan's internal affairs.

=================================================================================================================================================================================================================== **Press release Media Advisory from UNICEF

The press release issued today said the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and partners in the global effort to eradicate polio today issued a statement calling for intensified efforts and additional resources for the areas of Africa and the Indian sub-continent, where there would be continued transmission of polio virus at the end of the year 2000.

=========================================================================================================================================================================================================================== And the media advisory states that Susan Sarandon, UNICEF Special Representative, will begin her first visit to the field to see first-hand the heavy toll that HIV/AIDS is taking on children's lives in the United Republic of Tanzania. So pick up both of those documents if you're interested.

=============================================================================================================================================================================================== **Istanbul + 5 Preparatory Process under Way

======The first session of the Preparatory Committee for Istanbul + 5 concluded in Nairobi on Friday. Istanbul + 5, scheduled to take place in June of next year, will review and assess progress made since the United Nations City Summit, which took place in Istanbul in 1996. Klaus Toepfer, Acting Executive Director of United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), said: “It will be a chance to refocus the world’s attention on the state of our settlements, the problems of urbanization and the right of the poor to adequate shelter.”

======We have a press release if you're interested.

======================================================================================================================================================================================================================== **Budgetary Matters

================================================================================================================================================================================================================ On budgetary matters, we have the latest status of contributions to all budgets, regular, peacekeeping and the Tribunals, as of 30 April. The Chart indicates that by that date, Member States owed just over $3 billion ($3.033 billion) to the United Nations. Of that, $837 million was owed to the regular budget; $2.1 billion to peacekeeping; and $86 million to the Tribunals.

======================================================================================================================================================================================================================== **Press Conferences

========================================================Finally, press conferences: Bernard Miyet, as we mentioned, will be coming in here as soon as he finishes briefing the Council. And tomorrow, at 11 a.m., “Birds of Hope -– a Travel for Peace” -– an initiative to bring together two groups of young people, one from the south of France and the other from a school in Harlem, New York. They will be accompanied by Wally N'Dow, Special Adviser to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and Edith Bramerie of Airline Ambassadors.

============================================================================================================================================================================================================================ That's all I have for you. Shirley is here, but I'll first take your questions.

==================================================================================================================================================================================================================== **Questions and Answers

=========================================================================================================================================================== Question: What is the status of the Secretary-General's report on Sierra Leone?

=======================================================Spokesman: Because of the rapidly changing situation on the ground, the issuance of that report has been delayed. I am not aware that it is going to be issued today. The tentative thinking over the weekend was that it would be available around Wednesday, around mid-week, but that is not firm . Mr. Miyet, of course, will be briefing on the basis of information that will be contained in the report.

============================================================================================================================================================ Question: Did the meeting between the Secretary-General's Special Representative and President Taylor take place after the 139 peacekeepers were released, or was it before?

===================================================================================================================================================================================== Spokesman: I don’t know the precise time that they moved over the border into Liberia. That seems to have been a process that was in train for some time. If the Special Representative and President Taylor met on Sunday, I suspect that the release was happening, or had just happened, or was about to happen.

================================================================================================= Question: On Friday, Charles King was sentenced here in New York for mishandling United Nations funds. Did he return some of the damage?

============================================================================================================================================================================================================= Spokesman: He was actually given 41 months and has to make full restitution. We have recovered some of those funds, of the $812,000, and we expect to collect it all eventually. Justice was done. We are obviously very pleased.

=========================================================================================== Question: United States Ambassador Richard Holbrooke said that if there was a war between Ethiopia and Eritrea, it would be the worst war we have seen in Africa. Does the United Nations intend to do anything about it?

======================================================================================================================================================================= Spokesman: It is currently in the hands of the Security Council. Every effort was made to talk these leaders out of a return to a war that had erupted over a relatively minor border dispute. The most recent and dramatic was when [United States] Ambassador [Richard] Holbrooke took his Security Council mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and diverted it to the Horn of Africa, and then went back and forth a couple of times to Asmara and Addis Ababa to try to talk sense to the two leaders.

=================================================================When they came back, they reported that there was no progress. There seemed to be a commitment to go to war and then, practically within hours, the fighting had resumed.

========================================================================================================================================= The Council met Friday, as we said. They were discussing, I think, dramatic measures, but they gave Ethiopia and Eritrea 72 hours to stop the fighting. That has not happened. The Council is meeting today, and we will have to see what emerges.

==================================================================================================== Question: What is the latest on the condition of the peacekeepers that are still being detained? There were some disturbing stories over the weekend about one Zambian having been skinned.

Spokesman: We had the impression that the RUF commanders in the field were under orders to treat the detainees well. I had not heard the story about one being skinned. It sounds a bit extreme. We will be debriefing those who are now being released to get some sense of how they were treated. Our hope is that they were all treated well.

================================================================================================================================================================================= **Briefing by Spokeswoman of President of General Assembly

======Good afternoon. The General Committee meets at 3 p.m. today on a request by four countries for the inclusion of an item on HIV/AIDS in the agenda of the current fifty-fourth session of the General Assembly. A draft resolution annexed to the request would have the Assembly convene a special session on HIV/AIDS in May 2001 to review the epidemic in all its aspects, and it would ask the Secretary-General to make the necessary administrative arrangements.

======In a letter dated 24 April addressed to the Secretary-General (document A/54/238), the Permanent Representatives of Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Ukraine and Zimbabwe, acting under Rule 15 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, propose an additional item of "an important and urgent character entitled 'Review of the problem of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in all its aspects'".

======A memorandum annexed to the letter explains that concern about the growing spread of HIV/AIDS has prompted action at the highest levels, both internationally and nationally, and that since the beginning of the epidemic, some 50 million people worldwide, mostly between the ages of 15 and 49, have become infected with the HIV virus that causes AIDS.

======The memorandum states that comprehensive, multi-sectoral responses will be required to face this challenge, and observes that it is, therefore, high time for the United Nations to elaborate a comprehensive agenda for action against HIV/AIDS, to convene a special session to review the problem in all its aspects and to propose new strategies, methods, practical activities and specific measures to strengthen international cooperation in addressing the epidemic.

======In accordance with Rule 15, therefore, the Assembly will most likely take action on the General Committee’s recommendation some time next week.

======[Rule 15 states: "Additional items of an important and urgent character, proposed for inclusion in the agenda less than 30 days before the opening of a regular session or during a regular session, may be placed on the agenda if the General Assembly so decides by a majority of the members present and voting. No additional item may, unless the General Assembly decides otherwise by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting, be considered until seven days have elapsed since it was placed on the agenda and until a committee has reported upon the question concerned."]

======I wish to inform you that Tuvalu will be admitted as the 189th Member of the United Nations at the fifty-fifth Assembly session, not the current session. The ceremony could take place on 5 September, the opening day of the new session, but definitely in September. That information comes from the General Assembly Servicing Branch of the Department of General Assembly Affairs and Conference Services.

======I would like to draw your attention to a message of condolences and sympathy issued on Sunday by the President of the General Assembly, Dr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, following the death of the former Prime Minister of Japan, Keizo Obuchi.

======The President described the late Prime Minister as an unassuming leader who emphasized consensus building and results rather than public popularity. He said he fondly remembered his official visit to Japan in March and the fruitful talks he held with Prime Minister Obuchi. They had discussed the United Nations’ and Japan’s commitment and constructive role in it. They had also exchanged views on the burning issue of debt cancellation for least developed third world countries, and he had been encouraged by the Prime Minister’s personal understanding to be helpful on this issue. The President said he had commended the Prime Minister and Japan for being a model United Nations Member State, and also for generous and sustained economic and technical assistance to Africa and, in particular, to Namibia. ====== ======On behalf of the General Assembly, he extended heartfelt condolences and deep sorrow to the bereaved family, the Government and the people of Japan at this very difficult moment for the whole nation. Copies of the President’s message are available in room S-378. ====== ======The President is continuing his Middle East visit and returns to New York on Wednesday, 17 May.

======Question: When will the drawing take place for the list of speakers in the plenary of the Millennium Summit?

======Spokeswoman: There is still no definite date, but the drawing is expected to take place this month. I will inform you as soon as I know. [The Spokeswoman subsequently announced that the date for the drawing is Friday, 26 May.]

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