DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

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

Good afternoon         

** Security Council

The Security Council this morning began a formal meeting to consider the report of the panel of experts that examined the enforcement of sanctions on diamonds and arms in Sierra Leone, chaired by Martin Chungong Ayafor, which was circulated to the Council last month (S/2000/1195).

Ambassador Anwarul Karim Chowdhury of Bangladesh, the Chairman of the Sierra Leone Sanctions Committee, briefed the Council on the report. He noted the need to follow up on the report's recommendations, and said it should not end up "on the proverbial shelf, gathering dust".

Those recommendations include suggestions on possible embargoes against specific countries suspected of violating the Sierra Leone sanctions on diamonds and ways of "naming and shaming" countries that export weapons into conflict areas.

The open debate is proceeding with Council members speaking first, and there are a total of 25 speakers inscribed.

Following the meeting, Liberian Foreign Minister Monie Captan will come to this room to brief you.

Tomorrow, the Council will hold another open meeting, this one on East Timor. Council members will receive a briefing by the Secretary-General's Special Representative, Sergio Vieira de Mello.

** Myanmar

We have the following statement attributable to the Spokesman on the subject of Myanmar:

“The Secretary-General welcomes the release on Wednesday of National League for Democracy Vice-Chairman U Tin Oo and 19 members of the party's youth wing, who were taken into detention four months ago.

“The Secretary-General believes that this positive step, taken shortly after his Special Envoy Razali Ismail’s visit to Yangon earlier this month, will contribute to the ongoing dialogue between the military authorities and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. He reiterates his call on the two sides to seize the momentum and to strive to achieve national reconciliation in Myanmar.”

** UNEP-IAEA

Klaus Toepfer and Mohamed El Baradei, respectively, the heads of the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),

today announced that they have agreed on ways to respond to requests for fact-finding missions to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Iraq where depleted uranium was used during military conflicts.

The two organizations will also coordinate activities with the World Health Organization (WHO), which has decided to send a team to study the health effects of exposure to depleted uranium in Iraq.

Today in Sarajevo, Pekka Haavisto, the Chair of UNEP's Depleted Uranium Assessment team, is meeting with officials of the UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH) for consultations on a possible future mission by the team to Bosnia.

Haavisto will also visit Belgrade tomorrow to meet with officials of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

** Oil for Food

The Office of the Iraq Programme (OIP) received a letter from the Iraqi Government stating that it agrees to the sending of a team of UN experts to examine ways to implement the cash component for the oil industry, as called for in the last roll-over resolution of the Oil-for-Food Programme.

The UN and Baghdad still need to agree on the length and scope of the mission.

** East Timor

Today the Special Panel for Serious Crimes at the Dili District Court in East Timor sentenced former militia member João Fernandes to 12 years imprisonment. The sentence marks the first successful prosecution for the violence that surrounded the popular referendum in East Timor in 1999.

Fernandes pleaded guilty to stabbing to death on 8 September 1999 a village chief in the Bobonaro district.

The defendant faced 20 years in jail, but as he agreed to cooperate in future crime investigations, the prosecution recommended a minimum of 10 years.

Preliminary hearings into three additional cases also took place before the Serious Crimes Panel. More details are in today’s briefing note from Dili, which you can pick up in my Office.

And tomorrow, here in New York, the Security Council will hold a public meeting, as we mentioned, featuring Sergio Vieira de Mello. In addition, Jose Ramos Horta, East Timor Transitional Cabinet Member for Foreign Affairs, will also address that session.

** ICTY

Carla del Ponte, the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, wrapped up her three-day visit to Belgrade today by giving a press conference in which she said that she leaves with the conviction that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia will cooperate with the Tribunal.

She added that the ultimate test of such cooperation would be the transfer to the Tribunal of indicted suspects who are on Yugoslav territory.

Del Ponte acknowledged disappointment in her meeting on Tuesday with Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica, but added that her meetings with Federal and Serbian authorities had been good, and that she expected that obstacles to Yugoslavia's full cooperation with the Tribunal would be removed.

She also told reporters that the Tribunal rejects any notion of collective guilt, but focuses on individuals on all sides who are suspected of serious crimes.

**Congo

This morning in Kinshasa the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kamel Morjane, met with the new Congolese leader General Joseph Kabila. It was their second meeting since the death of President Laurent-Desiré Kabila.

During the meeting, which was described as “positive in tone and content”, General Kabila said he was committed to working closely with the UN Mission in the DRC in order to achieve peace. He also expressed readiness for inter-Congolese dialogue and re-affirmed his will to restore democracy in the DRC but said that this would not be possible as long as foreign troops occupied parts of his territory.

Yesterday in Kampala the MONUC Force Commander, Major-General Mountaga Diallo, met with the head of the Uganda Army, General Odongo, to discuss the ethnic violence in Bunia province between the Hema and Lengdu peoples. During the meeting, General Odongo said that Ugandan forces would provide security for UN personnel in the area.

We have several military observers in Bunia.

** UN/EU

The Executive Boards of UN Funds and Programmes, specifically, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Population Fund (UNFPA) and the World Food Programme (WFP), are meeting in New York today and tomorrow.  

As a result of the UN reform programme, the boards of these four organizations now meet from time to time to review issues of common interest.

Board members will be looking at how the UN reform programme is working in the field. They will take up the case of Nepal and will hear presentations by Nepalese and UN officials working in that country. 

During this session the Joint Executive Board will hold for the first time discussions with a senior official of the European Commission. They have invited Poul Nielson, the Commissioner for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid, as part of the ongoing efforts to reinforce the partnership between the United Nations and the European Union, in particular in respect of the Millennium Declaration. 

In addition to the meeting with the Joint Executive Board, Nielson will also meet with the Deputy Secretary-General, and senior officials at UNDP and the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

** Press Releases

We have a few press releases for you today.

Fishing at sea may be one of the most dangerous occupations in the world, according to the State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2000 report released by the Food and Agriculture Organization today in Rome. The report quotes statistics from the International Labour Organization which estimates that there are more than 70 fatalities per day worldwide.

In another press release, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports a dramatic increase in malnutrition rates in Burundi. Burundi received only one quarter of the funds needed in 2000.

And the third is an update on Guinea, by the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, which is voicing concern that increased militia activity in southern Guinea could lead to recruitment of fighters in overcrowded refugee camps. The unstable security situation in southern Guinea poses a risk to about 300,000 refugees, as well as 250 humanitarian workers.

And finally, as Sue Markham told you on Monday, the President of the General Assembly will brief the Security Council tomorrow on his recent visit to East Timor.

We have press releases on all four of those items in my office for you.

** Background Note on Political and Peace-building Missions

The Department of Public Information has asked me to tell you that the updated background note on political and peace-building missions is now available in the Spokesman’s Office. We currently have a total of 14 political and peace-building missions. Approximately 370 international military, civilian police and civilian staff serve with these missions, supported by about 500 local civilian staff.

You can pick up the note in my office.

World Economic Forum

You probably saw a lot of coverage today on the upcoming Davos World Economic Forum meeting to take place in Davos, Switzerland, this weekend.

The Secretary-General arrived in Zurich, Switzerland, just a few hours ago after crossing the dateline. So, his Thursday is about 48 hours long. He’ll be resting up in Zurich and then going to Davos on Saturday. Joining him will be John Ruggie, the Assistant Secretary-General in his Executive Office. John will join us at the noon briefing to talk about the World Economic Forum. The Secretary-General will be addressing the Forum on Sunday.

That’s all I have for you.

Questions and Answers

Question: After the second meeting between the UN representative in the Congo and the new President, do you see any new type of relationship developing in the field of the operation.

Spokesman: There’s certainly a lot of hope, I think, on everyone’s part that the peace process can be revived. I think I mentioned earlier in the week that there’s a lot of talk about renewing dialogue. And the various surrounding countries that had been involved or dragged into this conflict also seemed to be talking to each other. We hope that everyone can eventually get together and implement the peace plan that exists and that, to date, we haven’t had much luck in implementing, including the ceasefire agreement. So, the body language is good, and we’re hoping for the best.

Question: Has the Secretary-General sent him any message to him on the occasion of his election … which is the usual..?

Spokesman: Only, I think, as I have already mentioned that in the first meeting Kamel Marjane conveyed condolences on the part of the Secretary-General concerning the death of his father.

Question: Concerning the Albanians who are in prison in Serbia, do you have any information on their numbers? How many are they.

Spokesman: I shouldn’t guess, but I think a ballpark figure was something like 1,500, of which slightly more than half, I think, have already been released.  So, I think, we’re talking about 700 or so that remain, and as I mentioned earlier this week, the Serbian Parliament is considering an amnesty law. We have expressed our hope that this law should apply to as many of these 700 as possible, and those who might not be covered should be released on other grounds. It’s been a long-standing appeal of ours to the Government to free these prisoners. We are pleased with the progress that’s taken place so far. We hope the job could be completed.

Question: I’ve noticed the sentence in East Timor. Should we expect some member of the high command of the Indonesian Army to become involved in the future? At the beginning there was a lot of talk about investigation regarding the high command of the Indonesian Army.

Spokesman: We are still expecting the Indonesian Government to conduct their own investigation and to mete out justice. This is the first -- as we mentioned -- the first trial to be successfully completed. We hope this will now be followed by other trials, and we can pick up a bit in trying those who are on East Timor territory. So, as far as the trials that can be held in East Timor, we hope they would now continue at a faster pace. And we continue to hope that Indonesia will do its duty by carrying out their investigations, and where necessary, to prosecute those responsible for the killings in East Timor in 1999.

Question: I don’t know if you’ve come to the point with the question of Cambodia. Hans Corell was supposed to reconcile the two texts -- the Cambodian text and the UN text. Can you tell us something about that?

Spokesman: The Upper House of the Cambodia Parliament adopted legislation that had already been approved by the Lower House. We have still as of yesterday -- [UN Legal Counsel] Mr. [Hans] Corell reported to the cabinet that he still did not have the official text of the second piece of legislation. He had written a letter commenting on the text of the legislation adopted by the Lower House. And so, he’s not in a position to say whether there were any changes in the two pieces of legislation. He would hope to discuss with his counterpart, Sok An, in Cambodia, any discrepancies that might remain. What happens, once this legislation is finalized, and I think, they’re still waiting now for the King to sign off on this legislation, then the UN and Cambodia will enter into an agreement to implement the legislation and to set up the Court. [Mr. Corell] continues to be hopeful that the remaining differences between the UN and Cambodia can be resolved.

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