DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
Press Briefing
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING OF OFFICE OF SPOKESMAN FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL
20001005The following is a near-verbatim transcript of todays noon briefing by Fred Eckhard, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, and Susan Markham, Spokeswoman for the President of the General Assembly.
Briefing by the Spokesman for the Secretary-General
Everyone is following Belgrade I take it. Good afternoon.
**Secretary-General in Brussels
The Secretary-General is in Brussels today, where he's had meetings with a number of high-level officials, including the Belgian Prime Minister, Guy Verhofstadt, the European Union High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, the NATO Secretary-General, Lord Robertson, and the Deputy Supreme Allied Commander for Europe, General Rupert Smith.
With the Prime Minister, his talks focussed on the situation in the Middle East and on Belgium's efforts to revive the peace process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which as you recall was a former Belgian colony. At a press encounter afterwards, on the subject of the Middle East, the Secretary- General said that he was in almost daily contact with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat and that the United Nations "was going to continue to work with them to calm the situation".
Yesterday was a particularly hectic day in Paris. The Secretary-General was in constant contact throughout the day with the various parties, and of course was in a meeting at the end of the day, actually late into the night with President Chirac, Secretary of State of the United States, Madeleine Albright, as well as Barak and Arafat and we put out a short statement last night following those meetings.
With Javier Solana, the Secretary-General discussed the proposed European Rapid Reaction Force and how it could support UN peacekeeping operations. Then they spoke to the press.
After his meeting with Lord Robertson, the Secretary-General met with the Atlantic Council and took questions from its members. These discussions focused on NATO's role side by side with the United Nations in the former Yugoslavia, as well as on the Brahimi Panel report on UN peacekeeping.
The third press encounter of the day came after those NATO meetings, at which the Secretary-General was asked about the dramatic events in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He said: "The people of Serbia have spoken, they have made a clear choice. They are asking for democratic rule. They want to have a say in the decisions affecting them, and I hope this choice and their voice will be heard."
Daily Press Briefing - 2 - 5 October 2000
We have the transcript of the first press encounter of the day, and we expect the transcripts of the other two in the course of the afternoon.
The Secretary-General returns to Paris tonight, and he will fly out to New York from there tomorrow.
**Sierra Leone Special Court
This morning, the Security Council received copies of the Secretary- General's report on the establishment of a special court for Sierra Leone. That report will be discussed by the Council in closed consultations tomorrow, when the UN Legal Adviser Hans Corell is expected to brief Council members.
The Secretary-General, in his report, calls for a court that would try persons deemed to be "most responsible" for war crimes, crimes against humanity and other violations of international humanitarian law. Its jurisdiction would apply to crimes committed following the conclusion of the Abidjan Agreement, the first comprehensive peace agreement for Sierra Leone, which was concluded on the 30th of November 1996.
It would be comprised of two trial chambers of three judges each and an appeals chamber consisting of five judges. The Secretary-General would appoint an international prosecutor and a registrar of the court, while the Government of Sierra Leone would appoint a deputy prosecutor.
On the question of prosecuting children between the ages of 15 and 18, the report suggests that, if the Security Council chooses to allow such prosecutions, the provisions elaborated for the court's statute would "strike an appropriate balance between all conflicting interests and provide the necessary guarantees of juvenile justice."
Last, the Secretary-General concludes that assessed contributions are the only viable and sustainable way to finance the special court.
**Security Council
The Security Council began its discussions this morning with a briefing on the UN Peace-building Support Office in Guinea-Bissau, on which Council members received a briefing from the Secretary-General's Representative, Samuel Nana- Sinkam.
Nana-Sinkam presented the Secretary-General's latest report on Guinea- Bissau, which noted concerns about the role of the military in that country's affairs and border tensions with Senegal.
After that briefing, the Council discussed the UN Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission, on which the Secretary-General also issued a report, which said that the Mission's work has proceeded smoothly and that it should be maintained. The Observer Mission, by the way, does not require regular votes by the Security Council in order to be extended, although the Council does review its mandate every six months upon receiving regular reports of the Secretary-General.
Last, the Council will hold consultations this morning on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. This afternoon, starting at 3, the Council's open debate on that topic will resume, with at least 11 speakers inscribed; the formal meeting has been proceeding now for three consecutive afternoons.
**Iraq flights
Several more Arab nations are bringing humanitarian flights into Iraq. Yesterday, Tunisia conducted a flight into Iraq after receiving authorization by the Security Council Sanctions Committee, and today, the United Arab Emirates has done the same. Algeria is also expecting to fly a plane with humanitarian supplies into Baghdad today.
Those flights would bring the number of countries that have flown into Iraq in recent weeks to eight, following flights by Russia, France, Jordan, Yemen and Morocco.
By the way, the 661 Sanctions Committee will hold a closed session today at 3:30 in Conference Room 7.
**International Day of Older Persons
The Under-Secretary-General for Public Information, Kensaku Hogen, this morning delivered a message on behalf of the Secretary-General on the occasion of the 10th commemoration of the International Day of Older Persons. In his message, the Secretary-General called for a "reorientation of attitudes, ideas and policies towards ageing" and said that "rigid and dismissive notions of 'age' and 'ageing' have no place in today's world".
Focus during the next year will be on the Second World Assembly on Ageing to be held in Spain in 2002, which the Secretary-General said should be used to rethink attitudes, reform policy and reaffirm commitment to build a society of all ages in the 21st century.
**Bosnia and Herzegovina
In the latest press briefing notes from Sarajevo, the UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina notes that a class of 130 cadets -- including 95 Bosniaks and 7 Croats, as well as 26 Serbs -- has been selected to attend the Republika Srpska Police Academy starting next Monday. The class is the largest ever for the Academy, with the high percentage of non-Serbs helping the Republika Srpska to meet targets for multi-ethnic recruitment.
The Mission adds that the pace of hiring minority police officers has improved greatly, with academy class sizes expanding and the process of redeploying officers improving.
**World Food Programme
The World Food Programme has announced the widening of its assistance to victims of floods in Laos. Some 30,000 people affected by the floods in the Mekong River delta are being given emergency food aid after their rice fields were severely damaged in the worst disaster in the area in 30 years.
More information is available in a press release.
**Food and Agriculture Organization
The Food and Agriculture Organization has announced the launch of its annual The State of Food Insecurity in the World. That is the report for the year 2000. The launch will take place on World Food Day, October 16, simultaneously in London, Washington, Nairobi and several other cities. I know you love those multiple site launches.
More information is available upstairs in a note to correspondents.
And then tomorrow, at a press conference at 12:30 in this room, Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock of the United Kingdom will be here to talk about the Security Councils mission to Sierra Leone and the region, which he will be heading, and which I think is leaving on that same day, later on Friday.
So, that is all I have for you, before we go to Sue, do you have any questions from me?
**Questions and Answers
Question: Was the press release of October 4th with the title Secretary- General gratified by progress made at Paris Middle East Peace meeting released before the breakdown of talks or after that?
Answer: That was after the meeting at the Elysee Palace, which President Chirac had called and at that time the intention of the two parties was to meet today in Egypt. So I think it was not until this morning that Prime Minister Barak of Israel must have decided not to go to Egypt and instead to return home. So it was while there was still the expectation that everyone would go to Egypt for further talks at Sharm-al-Sheik today.
Question: What is the next step regarding the collaboration between the European Union and the United Nations? Mr.Annan welcomed yesterday the idea to forge a closer relationship between the two -- what is the next step?
Answer: The Secretary-General yesterday, I think it was, did suggest that the Council of Europe establish a liaison office with the United Nations and all along during the several weeks they have been talking about establishing some kind of formal mechanism to improve coordination. So I think that might be the next step. I am sure that our peacekeeping department will continue the contacts concerning the plan for a 50,000-60,000 member European Rapid Reaction Unit, which they have said, could be put to use in United Nations peacekeeping operations. That would be an important asset, but, of course, the coordination for that would take a lot of work. Probably those are the two things we would be working on most directly.
Question: Do you have any idea where the office would be?
Answer: That was not clear, I kind of assumed it would be here in New York, but we better check with them to see what they are thinking of.
Question: Belgrade? What are your plans right now, are things getting a lot worse?
Answer: What I have is what the Secretary-General said just a few hours ago. He is obviously watching the situation, and I think we all are watching on the television screens the dramatic developments in Belgrade today. But his voice has been clear and he has consistently said that the people have spoken and he hopes that their wishes will be respected and that democratic rule can be respected in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Sue?
Briefing by the Spokeswoman for Assembly President
Thank you, the First and Second Committees today continue with their general debates. Tomorrow, the Second Committee will take up its agenda item on macro-economic questions including science, technology and financing for development. And also tomorrow, under the auspices of the First Committee, there will be informal consultations in connection with the forthcoming United Nations Conference on Small Arms, under the chairmanship of Ambassador Dos Santos of Mozambique.
Today, the Fourth Committee continues its discussion on decolonization issues. You also might have noticed on its agenda the medium-term plan for the period 2002-2005. I was a little surprised, I thought that was something only the Fifth Committee discussed, but apparently it goes before each of the main committees. Today is the day of the Fourth Committee and I think the Third Committee takes it up on the 19th of October.
The Fifth Committee continues today its discussion on the scale of assessment for peacekeeping, and this will finish tomorrow -- at least the first phase of the discussions.
If we are looking ahead to Monday, there is going to be an interesting presentation in the Sixth Committee on the report of the United Nations Commission on the International Trade Law, by the Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Jeffery Chan Wah Tek of Singapore. As you know on Tuesday the Security Council elections will be held in the General Assembly and, also on Tuesday, the Fourth Committee will take up the issues of the effects of atomic radiation. The Chairman of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the effects of atomic radiation, Dr. Lars-Erik Holm of Sweden will present the report to the Fourth Committee. That is also something you might find of interest. That is all I have.
Spokesman for Secretary-General: Thank you. Questions for Sue? If not, thank you very much.
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