DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
20000601The following is a near-verbatim transcript of todays noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
**Lebanon
This afternoon in Beirut, at about 1 p.m. local time, the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General, Terje-Roed Larsen, and his full team of cartographers and other experts met with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud and Prime Minister Selim el-Hoss who were accompanied by their advisors. The meeting was devoted to technical issues having to do with the identification of the practical line corresponding to the international border of Lebanon for the purpose of withdrawing Israel's troops from Lebanon in compliance with Security Council resolutions 425 and 426.
The meeting was adjourned after two hours to allow the cartographers and other experts to revisit portions of the withdrawal line. For the past two days, Lebanese and United Nations experts had jointly been inspecting the border in an effort to identify this practical line on the ground. Mr. Larsen will meet again with President Lahoud and Prime Minister Hoss tomorrow at a time to be determined.
The situation on the ground remains calm. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) today reported that the Lebanese Government has set up permanent gendarmerie posts in several southern Lebanese towns and that Lebanese customs officials were active in the town of Marjayoun.
**Eritrea
The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has mounted an assistance program for thousands of Eritreans, following reports that more than 150,000 people were uprooted by the recent fighting between Ethiopia and Eritrea and are scattered along Eritrea's border with the Sudan. Many of those refugees lack adequate food and water, UNHCR says. UNHCR is already deploying staff to the region to coordinate relief efforts inside Eritrea, but staff in Asmara are awaiting confirmation of Ethiopia's announcement that its troops will withdraw from Eritrea so that they can have unhindered access to the displaced population.
So far, UNHCR has registered around 41,000 Eritreans who are seeking asylum in the Sudan, while thousands more camped along the border are expected to arrive in the Sudan once their provisions run out. In addition, the agency reports that some 450 people displaced by the fighting, mostly Eritrean, have arrived by boat in Yemen and another 250 have traveled over land to Djibouti. We have a press update from UNHCR with more details.
The Ethiopian and Eritrean Governments are currently in their third day of proximity talks in Algiers, under the auspices of the Chair of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Meanwhile, the Security Council is expected to take up the Ethiopia/Eritrea conflict next week, possibly on Monday.
Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 1 June 2000
**Sierra Leone
The United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL) said today that the town of Lunsar, about 50 miles west of the capital Freetown, was in the hands of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) following heavy fighting with the Sierra Leonean Army yesterday. There continue to be no reports of fighting involving United Nations troops. However, last night United Nations peacekeepers came across a gang trying to steal fuel in the port area. The thieves opened fire when challenged by the United Nations patrol and the patrol returned fire, killing one of the thieves.
The Spokesman of the Mission, David Wimhurst, said today that he hoped a resolution was near concerning relaxation by the RUF of the restriction of movement of United Nations peacekeepers at two locations, Kailahun and Kuiva.
Meanwhile, emergency feeding of some 25,000 displaced persons in the Port Loko area continues to be carried out by the World Food Programme.
**Secretary-General in Atlanta
The Secretary-General took part in the twentieth anniversary celebration of CNN in Atlanta, Georgia, today, which began with a breakfast with former United States President Jimmy Carter. The Secretary-General was then the featured guest in a one-hour CNN news programme called "Global Forum" where he answered questions posed by international journalists. That will be rebroadcast here on the national channel on Sunday at 2 p.m. on the World Report.
He was introduced by our very own Richard Roth, who described him as the "reigning diplomatic heavyweight champion of the world" and he responded to a number of questions on peacekeeping and peacemaking, among others. In response to questions about the recent crisis in Sierra Leone, the Secretary-General reminded the audience that the response of the United Nations has been to reinforce itself as a way to dissuade those who think they can intimidate peacekeepers.
The Secretary-General is scheduled to meet with Lloyd Axworthy, Foreign Minister of Canada, who was also in Atlanta, before flying back to New York later this afternoon.
**Security Council Consultations
There is no Security Council meeting scheduled for today. Instead, the President of the Council for the month of June, Jean-David Levitte of France, is holding bilateral consultations with Council members to determine the programme of work for this month. If you want to be updated on the work of the Council presidency this month, you can consult France's Web site, in English and French, for information (the address is http://www.un.int/france/sc/presidencysc).
Yesterday afternoon, the Security Council voted to extend two peacekeeping missions: the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) on the Golan Heights and the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). The Council unanimously voted in favor of extending the Disengagement Observer Force until the end of November, and issued a presidential statement concerning the Golan Heights.
It then voted to support a two-month extension of the Western Sahara Mission, by a vote of 12 in favor to one against -- Namibia -- and two abstentions, which were Mali and Jamaica.
The Council is expected to discuss the programme of work for June tomorrow, and it may also hear a briefing from Carla del Ponte, the Prosecutor of the two International Criminal Tribunals, who is in New York today and tomorrow.
**Rwanda Tribunal Sentences Former Belgian Journalist
In Arusha today, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda sentenced Georges Ruggiu, a former journalist and broadcaster of Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines, to 12 years in prison. Ruggiu, who had initially pleaded not guilty, had entered a plea of guilty to two counts of Direct and Public Incitement to Commit Genocide and Crimes against Humanity on 15 May.
He was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the first count and to 12 years for the second count. Trial Chamber I decided that he should serve his multiple sentences concurrently. He is the eighth accused person to be convicted by the Tribunal and the third to plead guilty to charges of genocide and crimes against humanity committed in Rwanda in 1994.
**Secretary-General's Report on Cyprus Says Situation Stable
The Security Council yesterday received the Secretary-General's latest report on Cyprus, which notes that the situation along the ceasefire lines has remained stable over the past six months. The Secretary-General says in his report that contacts between Greek and Turkish Cypriots have increased in recent months, and he also notes the "welcome decision by the Turkish Cypriot authorities to lift unnecessarily onerous measures affecting visits to the Greek Cypriots and Maronites in the north".
The third round of proximity talks on Cyprus, which was originally scheduled for 23 May in New York, will now be held on 5 July in Geneva; the round had been postponed in deference to health considerations involving His Excellency Glafcos Clerides. The Secretary-General also recommends a six-month extension, until December 15, of the mandate of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus; that mission is currently set to expire on 15 June.
**United Nations Children's Fund
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) issued a press release today saying that it has received a donation of $28.6 million from Japan. The contribution will provide crucial support to the polio eradication programmes in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Nigeria and Sudan -- six of the 30 priority countries where the disease continues to threaten millions of children with paralysis and death.
We have a press release available in my office with more details.
**United Nations Environment Programme
Also available on the racks is a press release from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) announcing this year's winners of the UNEP Global 500 Award for outstanding achievement in environmental protection. The 14 winners include an aboriginal community in Australia, two journalists from Spain and the United States and a wildlife orphanage in South Africa. They will be officially
recognized on Sunday, 4 June, at a special award ceremony in Adelaide, Australia. The event, hosted by UNEP and the Australian Government, is part of the celebration of World Environment Day.
**Press Briefings
Today, from 2:30 to 3 p.m. in Conference Room E, there will be a book launch. The book, "Children's Rights: Turning Principles into Practice", is a collection of essays prepared by Save the Children Sweden and the UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia. The launch will include a panel discussion chaired by Bacre Waly N'Diaye, the Representative for the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights. You are all welcome to attend.
Press conferences tomorrow -- from 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon, there will be a briefing by the General Assembly President, Theo-Ben Gurirab and others on next week's General Assembly special session, "Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-first century". A media advisory is available on the racks and in my Office.
Just after the noon briefing, at 12:30 p.m., after she briefs the Security Council, Carla del Ponte, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals, will hold a press conference in this room. At 3 p.m., the President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Fawzi al-Sultan, will talk about the Fund's recent activities in the area of gender mainstreaming in rural development projects.
**Questions and Answers
Question: There has been a report that the Secretary-General telephoned the Iranian Foreign Minister yesterday and said he hoped "the Hizbullah would have a key role in the future of Lebanon". Could you explain that statement?
Spokesman: I was not told about that telephone call yesterday. However, I can double-check and see if I can obtain a read-out.
[The Spokesman afterward clarified that what the Secretary-General had said to the Foreign Minister was that he believes that the Hizbullah has a role to play in keeping Southern Lebanon calm and peaceful.]
Question: Could you say what is being done to soothe tensions building between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan due to reports of violations of Afghan airspace by Uzbek airplanes?
Spokesman: The United Nations Special Mission in Afghanistan has received a letter of protest from the Taliban. However, the United Nations does not have any substantive information to support or deny the allegations.
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