DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Press Briefing

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Manoel Almeida e Silva, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon. We have a slow day today -- a short briefing -- which may be good news on a summer afternoon.

**Security Council Consultations

The Security Council met this morning in a formal session to adopt a Presidential statement on East Timor. In that statement, among other things, the Council appreciated the progress made by the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) and condemned the murder last week of a private from the New Zealand contingent of the United Nations peacekeeping force. It also called on the Indonesian Government to take effective steps to establish secure conditions in the East Timorese refugee camps in West Timor.

After that meeting, the Council went into a private meeting in the Council chambers to receive the Human Rights Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Leonard She Okitundu. The private meeting -- attended only by the 15 Council Member States and the representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo -- began with a briefing by Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hédi Annabi on the latest developments in that country, before the Council members heard from the Human Rights Minister.

This afternoon, at 3:30, the Council will hold closed consultations on Sierra Leone to consider the Secretary-General's recent report on that country, issued earlier this week, and to discuss a draft resolution that the Council intends to vote on tomorrow.

That draft resolution concerns the extension of the United Nations Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL), whose current mandate is to expire next Monday. The draft resolution on the trial of Sierra Leonean nationals, meanwhile, is expected to come up in consultations later next week, tentatively on Thursday.

**East Timor

A soldier from the Bangladeshi Battalion of the United Nations Mission in East Timor was killed today as a result of a blast from unexploded ordnance. Another soldier was lightly wounded in the same incident, which occurred while 15 Bangladeshi soldiers were in a clean-up operation at one of Dili's beaches to ensure the area was free of unexploded ordnance.

The beach had been sealed off to the public on 1 July, when unexploded ordnance wounded three Portuguese peacekeeping soldiers. Part of the beach was used as a training ground for small-arms practice by the peacekeeping force.

Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 3 August 2000

Though the device that went off is still to be identified, the United Nations Mission in East Timor says that it was left there prior to the deployment of the peacekeepers. The Mission has established a Board of Inquiry to investigate the incident.

More details in the Briefing Note sent from Dili, which is available in our office.

**Humanitarian Assistance for Maluku Province

The United Nations has established a humanitarian presence in Ambon in the Maluku province to support local and international efforts to assist some 300,000 displaced persons throughout Maluku. The team is comprised of five United Nations staff from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

The presence established on Monday follows consultations between the United Nations and the Government of Indonesia, and follows several joint assessment missions to various parts of Maluku province. The United Nations has also established a smaller presence with a two-member team in Ternate, the capital of North Maluku province.

**Negotiations Continue with Taliban on Ban of Women from Working with Organization

Negotiations between the United Nations and the Taliban are continuing in an attempt to get the Taliban to reconsider the 5 July edict barring Afghan women from working with United Nations organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). One mission is currently in the Afghan capital, and another is scheduled for Sunday.

There have been numerous missions to Afghanistan by United Nations officials, and donors based in the Pakistani capital have lodged a complaint to the Taliban representative in Islamabad. Despite these efforts, we are now faced with an edict signed by Mullah Omar, the head of the Taliban himself, who last week informed the Taliban Council of Ministers that the employment in organizations of women has "paved the way for immorality". Because of this, Afghan women are not to work in organizations any more except for the health sector.

United Nations humanitarian assistance activities, meanwhile, continued in Afghanistan, as reported in the weekly update available upstairs.

**Budget

Indonesia has become the 105th Member State to pay its regular budget dues in full for this year, with a contribution of nearly $686,000.

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 3 August 2000

**Questions

Question: Who is spearheading the negotiations with the Taliban?

Deputy Spokesman: The Head of our Office there, Eric De Mul [United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator] for Afghanistan, has been in charge of contacting them.

Question: What about the report of the task force headed by Ambassador Brahimi?

Deputy Spokesman: We are hoping that it will become public in about 20 days -- 24 August, that is.

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