DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
20000831The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
**Olympics
Good afternoon. We're going to start with the Olympics. In a message to the twenty-seventh Olympiad, which will be held in Sydney, Australia, from 15 September to 1 October, the Secretary-General says that "together, the Olympics and the United Nations can be a winning team. But the contest", he added, "will not be won easily. War, intolerance and deprivation continue to stalk the earth. We must fight back. Just as athletes strive for world records, so must we strive for world peace".
He considers it a matter of great significance that the International Olympic Committee revived the ancient Greek tradition of the Olympic Truce, calling for all hostilities to cease during the Games. The Secretary-General joins the United Nations General Assembly "in urging all those at war to observe the Olympic Truce. This may sound unrealistic", he said, "but as any athlete will tell you, nothing happens without a dream".
The Secretary-General has designated his Special Representative in East Timor, Sergio Vieira de Mello, to represent him at the opening of the Olympic Games in Sydney. And the United Nations flag will fly over the Olympiad, which is a young tradition that started in 1996. In addition, following a request by the Secretary-General, the International Olympic Committee authorized several East Timorese athletes to compete in the Games as individuals, under the Olympic flag.
The International Organizing Committee of the Sydney Olympiad has also announced that two United Nations representatives will run in the Olympic Torch relay in the lead-up to the official opening on 15 September.
Copies of the Secretary-General's full statement are available in my Office.
**Iraq
Out on the racks today is the second quarterly report to the Security Council of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, also known as UNMOVIC. Dr. Hans Blix, the Commission's Executive Chairman, reports that 44 persons from 19 different countries have completed the first UNMOVIC training course.
In the report, Dr. Blix states that with the completion of the first training course and the continuing recruitment of professional staff, the Commission could plan and commence a number of preparatory inspection activities in Iraq as envisaged by the Security Council.
The UNMOVIC, which replaced UNSCOM as the weapons inspection commission, was created by a Security Council resolution in December of last year. An UNMOVIC team has yet to receive permission from Baghdad to travel to Iraq.
Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 31 August 2000
**Sierra Leone
The United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) reports that the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) has returned six armoured personnel carriers (APCs) that had been seized from the United Nations Mission's Zambian troops last May. The new RUF leader, Issa Sesay, had promised last week to return seven APCs as a first batch of returns of vehicles and weapons belonging to the Mission.
Yesterday, the Deputy Force Commander, Brigadier General Muhammad Garba, received six of the vehicles from the RUF at Makut, which is about 12 kilometres from Makeni. The seventh vehicle was reported to have broken down on the way to Makut, reportedly from lack of fuel, but the Mission has sent more fuel in to retrieve it. The Mission has transported five of the six vehicles to Port Loko, and plans to transport the remaining two vehicles by helicopter shortly. The Deputy Force Commander is making further contact with the RUF to receive all the remaining equipment and weapons that had been taken months ago by the rebels.
In other positive news, five of the 11 British soldiers seized last Friday by the so-called "West Side Boys" rebel group were returned yesterday, and a dialogue is continuing to secure the release of the remaining six British hostages and one Sierra Leone army soldier. The United Nations Mission provided security and logistical assistance to help bring about the release of the initial batch of hostages and is continuing to support the efforts of the British Government to resolve the situation as soon as possible.
**Ethiopia-Eritrea
As I mentioned yesterday, the Secretary-General sent to the Security Council a letter containing a list of the 19 Member States seeking to contribute the initial military personnel for the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE).
That Mission intends to deploy an initial 100 military observers in the coming weeks. The 19 nations who intend to contribute the first batch of military observers are: Algeria, Austria, Canada, China, Finland, Ghana, India, Italy, Kenya, Nepal, Peru, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay and Zambia.
We have copies of the Secretary-General's letter, which went to the President of the Council on Tuesday, in my Office if you're interested.
**Security Council
The Security Council is holding closed consultations this morning. The first item on their agenda was a briefing on Burundi by Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast. As you know, Mr. Prendergast has just returned from Arusha, United Republic of Tanzania, where he represented the Secretary-General during the signing of the Arusha Agreement mediated by former President Nelson Mandela of South Africa.
Following that discussion, Council members are expected to review the draft of their report to the General Assembly. That's an annual report. They are also expected to finalize the preparations for the meeting of the Council at the level of heads of State, which is planned for 7 September.
**East Timor
The Special Representative in East Timor, Sergio Vieira de Mello, began today a two-day visit to Jakarta. Today, he met with Indonesian Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab. Discussions focused on the refugee problem and the security situation at the border with West Timor following growing concerns over the rise in militia activity there.
A meeting with Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid is scheduled for tomorrow, and that is to be followed by talks with members of the new Indonesian Cabinet, including Defence Minister Moh Mahfud and Susalo Bambang Yudhoyono, the Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs.
Meanwhile in Dili, a 10-day operation to reinforce routine security measures in the Timorese capital concluded yesterday. Eleven knives were confiscated after the United Nations Civilian Police searched over 3,000 vehicles. No firearms were found and no credible threats were made.
For more details, pick up the briefing note from Dili.
**Inter-Parliamentary Union
At their meeting yesterday, the Speakers of the Parliaments set an example that the Secretary-General hopes the heads of State will follow during their meeting here next week.
They began their session exactly on time, prompting the Secretary-General to say in his opening remarks: I am very struck and impressed by the fact you started this meeting at 3 p.m. on the dot. I think this is a good lesson for those of us who live in this house, and it shows that it can be done.
Each speaker kept strictly to his or her allotted five minutes and their meeting finished right on schedule. And this morning, when the Secretary-General arrived for the group photo, some 150 parliamentarians were already in position, enabling him to finish in a matter of a few minutes. So we hope others are watching.
**Rwanda Tribunal
From the Arusha Tribunal, yesterday in Mbabane, the capital of Swaziland, the United Nations and Swaziland signed an agreement on the enforcement of sentences passed by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. With this agreement, Swaziland promises to provide prison facilities for persons convicted by the Rwanda Tribunal. Mali and Benin were the only other two nations to have signed this agreement.
**Conference on Environment and Development in Asia and Pacific
Today in Kitayushu, Japan, the Fourth Ministerial Conference on the Environment and Development in Asia and the Pacific got under way, with senior environment officials from 43 countries discussing the region's environmental problems.
In his opening statement, Kim Hak Su, Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), said that the nearly 1 billion poor inhabitants of the region are affected worst by environmental problems, since they have to live close to dirty rivers, smoky factories, busy roads and contaminated dump sites.
The ministerial-level segment of this Conference will be held next Monday and Tuesday. We have further details in a press release upstairs.
**Dialogue among Civilizations
The launching of the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations will be on 5 September -- that's next week -- here at United Nations Headquarters. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in cooperation with the United Nations Secretariat and with the support of Iran, is organizing a round table in the morning of 5 September in Conference Room 4. The Secretary-General will address that meeting. Several heads of State or government are expected to speak, starting with President Seyed Mohammad Khatami of Iran. The Director-General of UNESCO, Koichiro Matsuura, will moderate the discussion. At the end of the morning session, he will hold a press conference.
In the afternoon, in Conference Room 2, there will be a free exchange of views among personalities from intellectual and cultural circles. The session will be chaired by the UNESCO Director-General and moderated by Giandomenico Picco, the Personal Representative of the Secretary-General for the Year of Dialogue among Civilizations.
**Payments
In budget news, Romania became the 119th Member State to pay its dues for this year in full. That was with a check for about $93,000.
**Press Conferences
Press Conferences -- I'll go through them quickly: 12:30 p.m., right after this briefing, Avraham Burg, the Speaker of the Israeli Knesset; 2 p.m., the IPU will update you on the proceedings of their conference.
Tomorrow, at 11 a.m., Theo-Ben Gurirab, the President of the fifty-fourth session of the General Assembly -- the current session -- will launch a book entitled, Imaging Tomorrow: Rethinking the Global Challenge. It is a compilation of essays of prominent personalities, put together by the Permanent Representative of India, Kamalesh Sharma.
Tomorrow at 1:15 p.m., the IPU will hold its wrap-up press conference here. And we've arranged at tomorrow's noon briefing to bring in someone from the Department of Public Information to launch their redesigned Web site and illustrate it for you. We think it will even more helpful than it was before as we go into Millenium Assembly week.
That's all I have. I'll take any of your questions.
**Questions and Answers
Question: On Sierra Leone, I'm just wondering if you might be able to shed any light. There's a bit of disparity concerning the capture of the British soldier between the British army and the United Nations. The British army
initially said that the soldiers were liaising with Jordanian peacekeepers and were on their way back to Freetown. And I see that the United Nations commanders are saying that actually the Jordanians didn't know anything about them. The Deputy Commander in Sierra Leone is quoted as saying he's concerned that the British are trying to shift the blame to the United Nations, and it was the soldiers that went off on their own into the territory of the West Side Boys.
Spokesman: I don't think it's helpful to comment on how the British soldiers got into the predicament that theyre in, particularly when there are still some of them that are being held. So I will not comment. After they're all safely home, we can maybe look into what exactly happened. But I will not comment on or amplify any of General Garba's comments of yesterday.
Question: I'm sure you've been asked this before, but can you give me the official United Nations position on Tibet? Was it occupied by China?
Spokesman: Why do you ask me these questions? See me after the briefing. I'll consult the legal department. I'll give you very precise wording.
Question: Back to Sierra Leone. Can you clarify how closely the United Nations is involved in negotiating the release of the remaining detainees?
Spokesman: No. The British and the Sierra Leonean Government are doing the negotiating. The United Nations is just facilitating in any way it can, either through communications or whatever else we can do to support the effort. It's principally the United Kingdom and the Sierra Leonean Government. Thanks very much.
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