DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

Press Briefing

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, and Susan Markham, Spokeswoman for the President of the General Assembly.

Briefing by Spokesman for Secretary-General

Good afternoon. We are beginning earlier than usual today. We want to get this weekend started as quickly as possible.

Our guest today is going to be Bernard Miyet, the outgoing Under- Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations. He will be here to talk to you about the Secretary-General’s latest report on the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I will have more on that in just a minute.

**Security Council

The Security Council met in closed consultations this morning to hear a briefing by Dr. Hans Blix, the Executive Chairman of the United Nations Monitoring, Observation, Verification and Inspection Mission (UNMOVIC) for Iraq.

Dr. Blix told the Council that with the recent completion of the first training course by 44 individuals, as well as the on-going recruitment of other professionals, the Mission could be in a position to conduct a number of preparatory inspection activities in Iraq as mandated by the Council -- if and when Baghdad granted them permission to enter the country.

As you know, UNMOVIC was created by the Council last December to replace UNSCOM as the weapons inspection commission for Iraq. UNMOVIC has yet to receive permission from Baghdad to travel to Iraq.

**French Humanitarian Flight to Iraq

As most of you know from media reports, a chartered plane carrying more than 60 people on a humanitarian mission arrived in Baghdad this afternoon, after a five hour non-stop flight from Paris.

The Government of France notified the Iraq Sanctions Committee of the flight just before 5:00 p.m. last night. The United States and the United Kingdom both asked for a delay in the departure pending more information on the exact humanitarian nature of the flight.

The plane departed Paris early this morning without having received approval from the Committee.

**Iraq Compensation Commission to Hold session

Also on Iraq, we have available upstairs a press release from the United Nations Compensation Commission announcing its 37th session, which is to be held next week in Geneva from 26 to 28 September.

Daily Press Briefing - 3 - 22 September 2000

The Commission, as you know, was established by a Security Council resolution to pay compensation for losses and damages suffered by individuals, corporations, national governments and international organizations as a direct result of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.

The release also contains some good background notes on the workings of the Commission.

**Secretary-General Releases Report on DRC

The Secretary-General, in his report released today on the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), says he regrets to inform the Security Council that there has been little progress, if any, in the implementation of the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement.

The Secretary-General recommends that the Security Council consider extending the mandate of the Mission for a period of two months.

He says he hopes that this short-term extension will be used wisely by the parties to relaunch the peace process. He concludes by saying that “Lack of any progress in the peace process would make it difficult to justify not only the commencement of the second phase of United Nations deployment but also the continuation of the current level of the mission’s presence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is clear that United Nations peacekeeping operations,” he says, “cannot serve as a substitute for the political will to achieve a political settlement”.

**Parties to Western Sahara Dispute to Hold Direct Talks

The parties to the Western Sahara dispute will hold direct talks next week in Berlin, under the auspices of the Secretary-General's Personal Envoy, James Baker.

The talks, which are to be held on 28 and 29 September, are intended to resolve the multiple problems relating to the implementation of the Settlement Plan for Western Sahara and to try to find agreement on a mutually-acceptable political solution to the dispute.

As has been the case with previous rounds of direct talks, Morocco and the POLISARIO Front will participate, and Algeria and Mauritania have been invited as observers.

**Secretary-General’s Report on Kosovo Released

The Secretary-General’s report on Kosovo to the Security Council is also out today.

The Secretary-General said that the United Nations mission in Kosovo is committed to the development of democracy, and will continue its preparations over the next two months for holding free and fair municipal elections there. He said, ”The real key to success on 28 October lies with the people of Kosovo. I join my Special Representative in calling upon all registered voters to take part in the electoral process.”

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Kosovo, Bernard Kouchner, will be here in town next week and is scheduled to give a background briefing to you at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, prior to his appearance in a public meeting of the Security Council in the afternoon of the same day. And our intention then is simply to embargo what he tells you at 12:30 p.m. until after the public meeting.

We also have today’s briefing notes from Pristina. The United Nations mission reports that, together with KFOR, they will follow activities on Sunday very carefully and take the necessary measures to prevent any security incidents. The United Nations mission will witness to see if any inflated claims related to the elections in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia take place in Kosovo.

**Deployment of Observers Begins in Ethiopia/Eritrea

The deployment of the first teams of United Nations military observers began on schedule today to operational positions in Ethiopia and in Eritrea. Their deployment marks the launch of the second phase of the United Nations mission there.

Over the next two days, eight teams totalling 40 observers will be deployed –- four teams from Asmara and four from Addis Ababa -- to cover four sites on each side of the border. See the press release for more details.

**Weapons Collection Starts in West Timor

Media reports indicate that the collection of weapons from militia in West Timor has started. As you know, all international personnel left West Timor following the killing of three UNHCR staff there on 6 September. As a result, the United Nations is not in a position to observe the weapons collection by the Indonesian military and police.

Meanwhile, today in East Timor, that territory joined 120 countries in the Clean-Up the World Day, the world’s largest grassroots environment movement.

Community groups, NGOs, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations mission in East Timor worked together to clean streets and the countryside as well as to raise awareness. The United Nations mission has designated 15 protected areas of special natural beauty and importance in East Timor. Two of these are in Dili, at the Dili beaches, which were cleaned up by Timorese scouts.

The United Nations mission also announced today the establishment of a recycling program in Dili, which will make it possible for aluminum cans and plastic bottles to be recycled by the end of the year.

You can get more details from the briefing notes from Dili.

**Cyprus Talks

The Cyprus talks today began this morning with the Special Advisor on Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, meeting with His Excellency Rauf Denktash at 11:30 a.m., and then, this afternoon, he is scheduled to meet at 4:00 p.m. with His Excellency Glafcos Clerides. Please read nothing into the sequence of those meetings.

**UNHCR Sends Envoy to West Africa

From Guinea, the Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees, Soren Jessen- Petersen is beginning a five-day mission to West Africa at the request of High Commissioner Sadako Ogata. The mission follows the murder of UNHCR staff member Mensah Kpognon and the abduction of a second staff member, Laurence Djeya, during an attack by unidentified armed men on Sunday in the town of Macenta in Guinea. Djeya has not been seen since she was taken away by the attackers.

Meanwhile, UNHCR is also reporting many civilians are fleeing the border area of Gueckedou in Guinea where the refugee agency is assisting close to half a million refugees from Sierra Leone and Liberia.

**ICTY Report

You will see on the racks today is a report from the President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Judge Claude Jorda, about ways to adjust the structure and procedures of that Tribunal to handle its caseload more quickly.

**Secretary-General to Perform Wreath Laying Ceremony

On Monday, the Secretary-General will lay a wreath during a ceremony commemorating the 39th anniversary of the death of Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld and the 15 United Nations staff who accompanied him on his last mission of peace. The ceremony will take place in the Visitor’s Lobby outside the Meditation Room starting at 10:00 a.m.

**Press Releases and Reports

We have a number of press releases available upstairs today. The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a press release on malaria. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) issued one on the importance of veterinary services. There are two releases from the World Food Programme (WFP), one on East Timor and the other on floods in Viet Nam, and the OCHA situation report on Viet Nam is also available. And finally from the Committee on the Rights of the Child, there is one on violence against children in state institutions. We also have a brief note on Catherine Bertini’s (Executive Director of the World Food Programme), trip to the Horn of Africa. She is in Ethiopia today.

Also on the racks today, the report of the Joint Inspection Unit, for you insiders who follow the bureaucracy closely.

**The Week Ahead

We have the week ahead saying that Monday is Staff Day, as you know, and at 9 a.m. it will begin with a memorial service to commemorate staff who have died in the line of duty. And then the Security Council will hold consultations on Afghanistan, including a briefing by the Secretary-General's Personal Representative, Francesc Vendrell. And the Council will also discuss the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) and Guinea. Following his briefing to the Council, Vendrell will be available to take questions from you either here at the briefing, if the timing works out, or else at the Security Council stakeout. You can get the rest of the week ahead from the handout.

**Questions and Answers

Any questions before we go to Sue?

Question: On the Democratic Republic of the Congo, what is the status of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General –- the Nigerian General? Is his mission over?

Spokesman: We have Bernard Miyet coming here to brief you on the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Secretary-General’s mission there so I will defer that question to him.

Question: To what extent is the presence of foreign envoys on Cyprus helpful to the work Mr. de Soto is doing with the two sides? Could you tell us if he meets all these envoys who are coming around?

Spokesman: I think I answered your second question earlier this week when I said that he does meet with the representatives of the guarantor powers and other special envoys, but we don’t give out any details of those meetings. And, yes, certainly, the involvement of these envoys is helpful. Unless there is a group effort here, it is not likely that we will make any progress at all.

Question: Is it vital to the work that Mr. de Soto is doing.

Spokesman: It is helpful, as I’ve said.

Question: Could you elaborate on the humanitarian plane that went to Baghdad? What was it carrying?

Spokesman: We only have press reports of who was on the plane. I am not in a position to confirm. From our point of view, I did mention that two members of the Sanctions Committee had asked for more details from France concerning the passengers and the humanitarian nature of the flight. That information was not submitted and the flight took off today and landed today in Baghdad. It is really a Security Council matter. I don’t think I can go beyond what I have already said.

Question: On the Indian battalion in Sierra Leone, there are some press reports saying that they are removing their troops in Sierra Leone.

Spokesman: Yesterday we confirmed that India had informed the Secretary- General that they would be pulling out their troops. They did tell us that it would be gradual in the hope that that would give us the time to find replacement troops. The recruitment of troops is going ahead. We are making reasonably good progress. I don’t know whether Bernard (Miyet) would like to add anything to what we said yesterday about the recruitment process in Sierra Leone. But the Secretary-General is reasonably optimistic that we will get the troops and I think that I also said yesterday he hopes that India would be flexible in their withdrawal schedule to allow us to have a smooth transition.

Question: By flexible do you mean a reconsideration?

Daily Press Briefing - 6 - 22 September 2000

Spokesman: No, in terms of the timetable.

Question: There is no discussion about reconsideration?

Spokesman: No. Can we just go to Sue and then we’ll leave it to Bernard.

Briefing by Spokeswoman for Assembly President

The General Assembly is expected to conclude its general debate this morning. There is one additional speaker on the list that had been distributed in today's journal. That is Cameroon, which was supposed to speak on Wednesday but could not. They could be the last speaker or the second to the last speaker of the morning. That would bring us to the end of the debate and then the President, Mr. Harri Holkeri, will sum up. Copies of his statement are available.

Looking ahead for next week, as already mentioned, the committees will start to work on Monday. A schedule is now available for the first month of the committee work leading to the end of October. The schedule is available in the briefing room or in the Spokesman’s Office.

The highlights include the Security Council elections scheduled for 10 October in the Plenary; a discussion on 3 October on AIDS –- there will be a special session of the General Assembly on AIDS next year on a date yet to be decided. There are a number of conferences coming up in the next 12 months. A calendar of those conferences will also be available. The preparations for those conferences will be discussed in the main committees.

The scale of assessment starts on 2 October in the Fifth Committee.

Monday is Staff Day and Mr. Holkeri will be addressing the staff, as President of the General Assembly. He will focus on the issue of staff security. He is continuing his meetings next week with the regional chairs, the chairmen of the committees and the vice-chairmen of the Plenary so that he can continue the organization of the work of the General Assembly and ensure its efficient and smooth functioning.

The Spokeswoman promised to get back to a correspondent who wanted to know when the Forth Committee would take up peacekeeping.

In response to a question about the seating of the Taliban delegation from Afghanistan in the General Assembly, she said that the Credentials Committee was not scheduled to hold a meeting until the last part of October. All credentials of all member States had to go through the Credentials Committee.

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