DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
20000621The following is a near-verbatim transcript of todays noon briefing by Manoel de Almeida e Silva, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
Noon Guest
Our guest at the noon briefing is Carol Bellamy, the Executive Director of the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), who will be telling us about the mission she just concluded, a five day mission to five countries in the Horn of Africa. There is also a press release on this trip available in the Spokesmans Office upstairs.
Secretary-Generals Travels
Now we go on to the Secretary-General, who today traveled overland from Amman, Jordan, to Jerusalem. He met with Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy at the King David Hotel for about an hour, during which they discussed southern Lebanon. The Secretary-General said it was remarkable that Israels withdrawal had happened so quickly and without incident, and that he appreciated Israels close cooperation with the United Nations, as well as that of other actors in the region, which made this possible.
The Secretary-General gave an account of the concerns that had been raised with him in Beirut, including allegations of Israeli encroachments into Lebanese territory, which were being investigated by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). It was important to avoid even the perception of violations, he said, as this could be destabilizing.
At midday, the Secretary-General met with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. The talk focused primarily on southern Lebanon, but also touched on the Middle East peace process as a whole. The Prime Minister then hosted a luncheon for the Secretary-General and his delegation. Afterwards they had a press conference, which the Prime Minister opened by saying he believed the Secretary-Generals commitment and devotion to the cause of making peace had contributed to the future stability of the region. The Secretary-General responded that he felt that the Israeli Defense Forces withdrawal from Lebanon was an important building block on the long road to peace. We do not yet have the transcript of that press conference. Once its available, well be sharing that with you.
Other issues discussed during the Secretary-Generals visit included the representation made to him by the Lebanese Government about their nationals held by Israel. At their request, the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Kieran Prendergast, met with the families of Israelis missing in action and received on behalf of the Secretary-General a letter from the inhabitants of Ragar.
In the afternoon, the Secretary-General visited Government House, the headquarters of the United Nations Troop Supervision Organization (UNTSO), the first United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Middle East. He met privately with UNTSOs chief of staff, Major General Franco Ganguzza, before addressing the staff. In the evening, he was to attend a dinner in his honour, hosted by the
Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 21 June 2000
President of Israel, Ezer Weizman. The Secretary-General will spend the night in Jerusalem and will proceed tomorrow to Ramalah and Damascus.
Security Council on Sierra Leone
Today, the Security Council is holding a private meeting in the Council chambers to hear from the six-member delegation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Mediation and Security Council Committee. The delegation, headed by the Foreign Minister of Mali, Modibo Sidibe, and including the Executive Secretary of ECOWAS, Lansana Kouyate, has just completed a visit to Sierra Leone, where members met with President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah. They also met in Monrovia with Liberian President Charles Taylor, and emphasized the need for freedom of movement by the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) and the release of the 21 United Nations detainees held by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) at Pendembu.
There has been no change in the condition of the 21 Indian detainees at Pendembu, or in the standoff situation in Kailahun, where 233 personnel remain surrounded by RUF forces. UNAMSIL has continued to deliver rations to the soldiers at Pendembu and Kailahun. The situation in Sierra Leone is described as calm, but unpredictable. The number of peacekeepers deployed in the country is now at 12,394, following the arrival earlier this week of the remaining soldiers in the Bangladeshi contingent.
Just before the Security Council started the meeting on Sierra Leone, Council members adopted, in a formal session, a resolution extending the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina by one year, until 19 June 2001.
Democratic Republic of Congo
Still on Africa, according to the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), the situation in Kisangani, although tense, continues to be marked by the departure of Ugandan and Rwandan forces, respectively, to the north and the south of the city. United Nations observers have monitored their departure, although they have also noted the continued presence in Kisangani of forces from one Congolese armed faction.
Yesterday in Kinshasa, members of the Congolese security services entered the office of the Facilitator of the Inter-Congolese Dialogue, ordered the people inside to leave and then sealed the office. The private security guards in the office have remained on duty there. MONUC notes with concern the closure of the Office and is urgently seeking further information concerning the incident. It reiterates the need for full cooperation by the Congolese Government with the work of the neutral facilitator.
Kosovo
Today in Pristina, Kosovo, the Special Representative of the Secretary- General, Bernard Kouchner, and the Prosecutor of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Carla Del Ponte, along with the members of the Kosovo Transitional Council, laid a wreath on the spot on Mother Teresa Street, where two Serbs were shot and seriously injured on Tuesday evening. The two were shot by unidentified suspects last night and are reported to be in stable condition. Kouchner condemned the attack and urged all sides to stop the violence.
Prosecutor Del Ponte, who is visiting several areas in the region, addressed the Transitional Council today and told them that her investigators would continue their forensic work in Kosovo to gather additional evidence on indictments, including that of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. She told reporters in Pristina that she has "no intention" to withdraw that indictment.
Today, Kouchner is leaving for Brussels, Belgium, where he will address the European Parliament tomorrow on the management of European Union aid to Kosovo. We have in our office two press releases on this, as well as the briefing notes from Pristina.
East Timor
Sergio Vieira de Mello, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for East Timor, arrived in Lisbon, Portugal, this morning, where an East Timor donors meeting jointly chaired by the World Bank and by the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), is being held from 21 to 23 June. Representatives from East Timor, multilateral institutions, donors and non-governmental organizations will be discussing resource mobilization for East Timors civil service and for UNTAET. They will also review plans set forward at the East Timor donors meeting last December in Tokyo.
International Court of Justice on India and Pakistan
The International Court of Justice today declared that it had no jurisdiction to adjudicate upon the dispute brought before it by Pakistan against India in the case concerning the destruction on 10 August 1999 of a Pakistani aircraft. The decision was taken by a vote of fourteen to two. In our office we have a press release issued by the Court with more details on the decision.
WHO World Health Report 2000
The World Health Organization (WHO) has carried out the first ever analysis of the worlds health systems. In examining 191 Member States, it finds that France provides the best overall health care, followed among major countries by Italy, Spain, Oman, Austria and Japan. The findings are published today in the World Health Report 2000/Health Systems: Improving Performance.
The Director-General of WHO, Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, stated that the main message from this report is that the health and well-being of people around the world depend critically on the performance of the health systems that serve them. We have a press release with more details and we hope to have copies of the report in the Spokesmans Office later this afternoon.
United Nations Volunteers 1999 Annual Report
Another report, this time by United Nations Volunteers (UNV). A record 4,383 mid-career professionals served with the UNV programme in 1999 on development projects and in the expanding areas of electoral support and humanitarian relief, according to UNVs Annual Report for 1999, which is entitled, Getting to the People. It was published yesterday in Geneva. United Nations Volunteers represented 149 nationalities and worked in 139 countries, with large contingents of specialists heading off to prepare a ballot in East Timor and carrying out urgent reconstruction tasks with the people of strife-torn Kosovo. A press release by UNV is available upstairs.
Ralph Bunche Film Screening
I have two announcements to make before concluding this briefing. The first one is that on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Ralph Bunche, the documentary film, Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey, will be screened tomorrow, 22 June, at 1 p.m. and then again at 6:15 in the evening in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium. At the evening screening, Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette will give brief introductory remarks, and the films producer, Emmy Award winner William Greaves, will introduce the film. Members of permanent missions, Secretariat staff, NGOs and the media are invited to attend.
Geneva Launch of Poverty Reduction Report
And just in, were informed by the Department of Public Information (DPI) that available now in the Spokesmans Office is a revised media advisory on the Better World for All report we announced yesterday. This report, as you know, will be launched by the Secretary-General while hes in Geneva next Monday, 26 June. The revision notes a revised list of speakers at the event.
Since there are no questions, well move on to our guest.
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