DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
20000522The following is a near-verbatim transcript of todays noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
**Sierra Leone
We'll start with Sierra Leone. Last night, 54 more United Nations personnel who had been detained in Sierra Leone -- 42 Zambians, 10 Kenyans and two military observers, one from Malaysia and one from Norway -- arrived in Freetown. Most of them were in good shape, except for three -- all Kenyans - who were wounded.
The latest group of freed detainees had been transported Sunday afternoon to Monrovia, Liberia, from the Liberian border town of Foya, where another helicopter was dispatched today.
The Secretary-General, on entering the Building this morning, said he expects more United Nations personnel -- now believed to number around 300 -- to be released this week.
The overall security situation in Sierra Leone was reported calm, but the United Nations Mission reported that two Nigerians were killed and another wounded in an attack in the middle of the night, last night, on a Nigerian post in Freetown. An investigation is under way into the incident. But we understand it did not involve Revolutionary United Front (RUF) personnel.
The report by the Secretary-General to the Security Council on Sierra Leone has been formally released today. The Secretary-General noted that of immediate concern is the safe return of United Nations personnel still being held, an end to the hostile acts of the RUF fighters, and their full cooperation in retrieving the dead, wounded and missing. He called on those with influence with the RUF to continue to work towards that end.
In that context, he said the Council might wish to consider a strengthening of the sanctions regime, including measures to prevent RUF commanders from reaping the benefits of their illegal exploitation of mineral resources, in particular diamonds. The Secretary-General elaborated on this in his impromptu remarks as he entered the Building this morning. He singled out RUF leader Foday Sankoh for his role in the recent events, and said the international community should hold him accountable for his actions.
For the purpose of stabilizing the situation under the present mandate, the Secretary-General recommended an increase of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone's strength to a level of 16,500 military personnel. Once those additional forces have arrived, it would be appropriate to consider additional steps. Such steps might involve strengthening the force above the new proposed ceiling.
He noted that the United Nations will have to draw lessons from the experiences in Sierra Lone. The force, which he said had been designed, equipped and deployed as a peacekeeping force, was quickly thrust into actual
Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 22 May 2000
combat with one of the parties that had pledged to cooperate with it. The Secretary-General said that in the course of those events, many problems had emerged with the Mission, including with regard to command and control, cohesiveness of the force, the flow of information, equipment and preparedness of troops, and coordination between and within the Mission's various components. The Secretariat is taking urgent steps to assess those problems and to address recognized equipment shortfalls in close coordination with the troop- contributing countries.
Meanwhile, humanitarian concerns focused on concerns about the food situation in the Makeni area. Road access has been restricted, forcing the price of rice to increase some fourfold and increasingly limiting the civilian diet to mangoes.
**Ethiopia/Eritrea
We have the following statement attributable to the Spokesman on the situation in Ethiopia/Eritrea:
"The Secretary-General has been following closely, and with increasing concern, the resumption of large-scale hostilities between Ethiopia and Eritrea. He has, from the outset two years ago, sought to promote a peaceful settlement of the border dispute between the two countries. In addition to his own efforts with Prime Minister Meles and President Afwerki, both directly and through his Special Envoy, Ambassador Mohamed Sahnoun, the Secretary-General has given strong support to the peace initiatives of the OAU (that's the Organization of African Unity) and others. He has been liaising closely with the current Chairman of the OAU, President Bouteflika of Algeria, whose efforts he fully supports.
"The Secretary-General is immensely saddened at the resumption of what is an increasingly incomprehensible war. There can be no justification for such large-scale death and suffering, especially at a time when both countries are wracked by drought and hunger. The parties have already agreed to settle their conflict through the restoration of the status quo ante as of 6 May 1998, and delimitation and demarcation of their entire border with the help of the United Nations. Furthermore, they are already also in agreement on the sequence of mutual withdrawal from occupied territories in order to return to the status quo ante. That is why the Secretary-General had repeatedly stressed that the differences between the two countries cannot justify in any way the great loss in human lives they have already suffered and stand to suffer further.
"The Secretary-General wishes to take this opportunity to express his full support for the current mission of Mr. Ahmed Ouyahia, the special envoy of the OAU Chairman and Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, and for the efforts of other peace envoys. He urges the Governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea to seize this opportunity and calls, in the strongest possible terms, for an immediate ceasefire in accordance with Security Council resolutions 1297 and 1298, so as to give peace a chance. History will not easily understand or forgive if there is any further killing and unnecessary humanitarian suffering."
Also, on the humanitarian side of the situation in Eritrea, any reporters wishing to fly to Eritrea can take a World Food Programme (WFP) flight, leaving Nairobi, Kenya, tomorrow for Asmara. The WFP says there are ample seats available on that flight. If you are interested, contact Brenda Barton in the WFP Nairobi office at 254-2-622-594.
**Lebanon
Today, on entering the Building, the Secretary-General responded to a question from a reporter on Lebanon by noting that his report to the Security Council on Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon will be issued today.
The latest information we have is that the report is expected to go to the Security Council in all official languages tomorrow, but an advance copy in English may be distributed to Council members later today. We'll keep you posted.
He added, in response to a question on reports about splits in the de facto forces, called the South Lebanon Army (SLA), that he had heard reports of events on the ground, but hoped that what is happening "will not unduly affect the plans" detailed in his report.
On the ground in Lebanon today, firing incidents involving the armed factions and the Israeli Defence Force were reported by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) at several locations, but it did not report any casualties among its personnel.
**NPT Conference Concludes
I'd like to draw your attention to the agreement by the 187 States parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to a consensus statement on Saturday evening, following several days of negotiations to clear up deadlocks on the text.
A statement issued by this Office on Saturday emphasized that, for the first time in 15 years, the States parties were able to reach a historic consensus on several key issues. The Secretary-General, in particular, emphasized a consensus on new efforts towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons and towards a halt in the global spread of such weapons.
Among other key accomplishments, the consensus statement included steps by all nuclear-weapon States to lead to nuclear disarmament, including further efforts to reduce nuclear arsenals and non-strategic nuclear weapons. We have copies of the final remarks by the President of the Conference, Ambassador Abdallah Baali of Algeria, which include further details on the agreement.
**West Timor
We have a media briefing note from Dili, East Timor, saying that the death toll from the floods in West Timor has risen to 98 confirmed dead. In addition, 11 people are still reported missing. Initial reports indicate that between 100 and 200 houses have been swept away. More precise assessment of the damage wrought by the floods is not yet possible as bridges have been washed away and roads remain impassable.
**NGO Millennium Forum
The Secretary-General addressed the opening session of the Non- Governmental Organization (NGO) Millennium Forum in the General Assembly Hall this morning, and urged the civil society representatives gathered there to include the world's poor among the beneficiaries of globalization.
He said, "I believe the overarching challenge of our times is to make globalization mean more than bigger markets." He urged civil society leaders to urge governments to open access to their markets, to unlock "the shackles of debt", and to address the decline in official development assistance to the developing world.
He also asked that those gathered for the Forum help "translate the goals of the Millennium Report into practice". We have copies of his address available in my Office.
Also, I'd like to draw your attention to a press conference at 3 p.m. today with Techeste Ahderom, Co-Chair of the Millennium Forum, and Brad Pokorny, the Forum's Media Coordinator. They will be discussing today's opening session.
**Senior Management Seminar 2000
This morning in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium, Under-Secretary- General for Peacekeeping Operations Bernard Miyet opened a session of the United Nations Senior Management Seminar 2000, which is being organized by the United Nations Secretariat and the Norwegian Government.
The Seminar, which is held under the joint auspices of the Governments of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, is intended to prepare civilian and military personnel for top leadership positions in United Nations-mandated peace operations.
Today's session follows the first part of the Seminar, which was held in Oslo, Norway, last week. This part, which is to last until 26 May, will focus on the role and functions of the United Nations system and other key parties that deal with peace operations. For more information, you can see the Seminar's Web site, and we'll give you the address if you're interested.
**General Assembly Informals on Millennium Report
Shirley Brownell asked me to tell you that tomorrow at 10 o'clock, the General Assembly will hold informal consultations for an exchange of views on the Secretary-General's Millennium Report. The Secretary-General himself will address that meeting. We will share his remarks with you in the morning.
**Payments
On budget news, El Salvador became the eighty-ninth Member State to be paid in full for the year 2000. That was with payment of just over $126,000.
**Condolences
And finally, a sad note about Joyce Rosenblum. For those of you who perhaps use the Department of Public Information Photo Library, you probably knew Joyce as an always helpful resource. Over the weekend, while driving her daughter back from college, she was killed in a highway accident. I'm sure you'll join me in extending our sincere condolences to her husband, her two daughters and the rest of her family and friends in their hour of grief. Memorial services are being held early this afternoon.
That's all I have for you. Any questions?
**Question and Answer
Question: Apparently, there's a wire report that six United Nations peacekeepers' bodies have been found in Sierra Leone. Do you know anything about that?
Spokesman: We spoke to David Wimhurst just before the briefing about that. He has viewed the film footage and while it appears that some of the bodies, which are badly decomposed, do have United Nations uniforms, because United Nations uniforms had been stolen by the RUF, we can't, on the basis of that, conclude that these are United Nations personnel. So, we have to conduct a deeper investigation before we can say anything.
Follow-up Question: Do you know anything else about the circumstances of that film?
Spokesman: No, we were told that the location was Rogberi Junction, where there had been exchange of fire and fighting, I believe, a week or so ago. But I dont think we can even firmly say at this point where the location of ...
Follow-up Question: Are there six people who could have been at Rogberi Junction, who are missing?
Spokesman: Because we dont know the precise number of people detained, we can't really say that there might be six people missing. There could be 20 or 30 people missing ...
Follow-up Question: I mean Rogberi Junction is a helluva lot closer to Freetown than places where people went missing from, isn't it?
Spokesman: It was, it is.
Follow-up Question: Nobody's gone missing from Rogberi Junction as far as we know, right?
Spokesman: There was an exchange of fire with RUF, followed by an attack by the government helicopter gunship. There were a number of casualties at that time. These appear though to have been shot not by rockets, but by hand-held weapons at close range. So, I can't say if there's any link between this footage and those events at Rogberi. But Rogberi was largely wiped out by the fighting that had taken place there in the past.
Question: In his remarks to the Millennium Forum gathering, the Secretary-General apologized for being late, saying he was dealing with a crisis. Which crisis might that be since we have several going?
Spokesman: I think it must have been Lebanon. He's had a number of calls this morning on Lebanon.
Question: The Journal shows that the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) will be holding its first plenary meeting tomorrow. Does this mean they are reaching completion of recruitment of staff and are ready to move to another phase?
Spokesman: You'll have to ask their press person what he can tell us about tomorrow's meeting. So, we'll do that for you or you can do it yourself.
Question: The Israeli Army, I think, accused UNIFIL of not being able to stop Hezbollah from moving into these positions in southern Lebanon. Is there a United Nations response?
Spokesman: No, I haven't seen those comments, but I have not heard that there was any direct complaint to the Secretary-General.
Follow-up Question: What can you tell us about the ongoing developments in southern Lebanon other than the firing? It seems like this could be another Secretary-General's report which could be outdated by developments on the ground.
Spokesman: You just have to see how things go there. I already reported to you what he said this morning coming in, that he hoped that developments on the ground would not change any of the planning contained in his report that's about to come out.
Question: Will there be video access to tomorrow's consultations on the Secretary-General's Millennium Report, or is that a private thing?
Spokesman: I dont know. Let's check with Shirley, and we'll get back to you.
Question: In the Sierra Leone report, does the Secretary-General call for a change in mandate of UNAMSIL, and if not, why not? Or, why is he satisfied with the current peacekeeping mandate?
Spokesman: [No, he does not.] As we already reported, he said the numbers could even get higher than the 16,500. I've already said in the past that there is a substantial amount of robust language in the existing mandate and the problem has not been a weak mandate, but the lack of the resources to enforce it.
Question: Has the Secretary-General spoken with Mr. Larsen [Special Envoy for the Middle East Terje Roed Larsen] today? Is he still in New York awaiting the meeting on Wednesday?
Spokesman: He is here and I can't tell you whether they've spoken, but there was a lot of interaction going on all morning.
Follow-up Question: Is he in the Building?
Spokesman: He is in the Building, yes.
Question: Do you know if Mr. Larsen is going back to the Middle East?
Spokesman: I'm not prepared to announce his travel plans at this time.
Question: Is the Secretary-General aware of how difficult it has been for African NGOs to register for the Millennium Forum? He alluded, in his opening remarks to the Forum, to the fact that only 1 per cent of Africans have access to the Internet, and since registration is via the Internet, it has shut out?
Spokesman: I'm not aware of that problem, but its easy enough for us to look into.
Question: Will the Secretary-General meet with President Clinton on Thursday in Washington? Is that planned at all?
Spokesman: Nothing to announce yet.
Follow-up Question: With Senator Gregg?
Spokesman: Not with the good Senator either.
Thank you very much.
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