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.

**Tribute to Information Chief of Iraq Programme

John Mills, the Chief of Information for the Office of the Iraq Programme, died last night, losing a fight against cancer that lasted a year.

He was from that school of “Spokesmanry” that believed in telling the story straight and in as few words as possible.  He was admired for his professionalism.  Journalists gave him their highest rating -- they took him at his word.  He came into the UN system as a reporter for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, joining the Press Office at the UN Mission in the former Yugoslavia.  He then succeeded me as Spokesman for the Yugoslav peace talks in Geneva, headed by Lord Owen and Thorvald Stoltenberg.

He was Mary Robinson’s first Spokesman at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and he did several stints in my Office at the level of Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General, before and during his posting at the Iraq Programme.

I’m sure you’ll join me in expressing our bereavement to his wife, Karin Landgren of UNICEF, his daughter, Elinor, and his son, Benedict.

**Secretary-General Returns Home

The Secretary-General returned to New York yesterday afternoon, concluding a two-week trip that took him to Cameroon, China, Japan, Switzerland and Sweden.

He has stayed actively in touch with many of the players on the Middle East peace negotiations, which he has continued to do since returning to New York yesterday.  He is working at home today, where he will meet this afternoon with Clare Short, the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for International Development.  He will return to the office tomorrow.

**Statement on Situation in Colombia

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

“The Secretary-General wishes to express his profound concern over the difficulties facing peace talks between the Colombian Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).  It is the Secretary-General's view that the conflict in Colombia cannot be resolved militarily, but only through negotiation and the common quest for peace.  He would like to reiterate the appeal of the United Nations, recently conveyed to the parties by his Special Adviser on

Colombia, not to miss this opportunity to continue on the road to peace through dialogue and negotiations.

“The Secretary-General also wishes to draw attention to the grave human rights and humanitarian situation in Colombia, and expresses his concern that the closing of avenues for dialogue could exacerbate what is already a critical situation.  The Secretary-General, thus, urges all parties to the conflict to continue dialogue and negotiate in good faith.  Furthermore, the Secretary-General reiterates his call for all parties to respect the rights of the civilian population through strict adherence to human rights and international humanitarian law.”

**Statement on former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Greece

The following statement was issued today concerning the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the Government of Greece, which held a meeting under the auspices of the Secretary-General’s Representative:

“Pursuant to the Interim Accord of 13 September 1995, representatives of Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia met on 31 January and today, 1 February, under the auspices of the Secretary-General.  The Greek side was represented by the Permanent Representative of Greece to the United Nations, Ambassador Elias Gounaris.  The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was represented by Ambassador Ivan Tosevsky.  The Secretary-General was represented by his Special Representative, Matthew Nimetz.  The parties continue to exchange views in the context of article 5 of the Interim Accord.  They decided to meet again on a date to be agreed.”

**Libya/Lockerbie Update

The United Nations facilitated the return to Libya today of Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, who was found not guilty yesterday in the trial concerning the 1988 downing of Pan Am flight 103 that resulted in the deaths of 270 people.

Fhimah was transported in a Dutch plane with UN markings.  The arrangements were made for the Secretary-General by UN Legal Counsel Hans Corell, who had also arranged the transport of the two Libyan suspects in the case to The Hague in April 1999 to stand trial.  This time, there were no UN personnel aboard the plane.

**Security Council

The Security Council has no meetings scheduled for today.  The President of the Council for the month of February, Ambassador Said Ben Mustapha of Tunisia, is holding bilateral talks with other Council members on their programme of work for this month. 

Just for the record:  yesterday early afternoon, the Security Council adopted resolutions 1338 and 1339, extending the mandates of the UN Missions in East Timor and in Georgia, respectively.  The UN Mission in East Timor is extended until 31 January 2002, and the Mission in Georgia is extended for six months, until 31 July.

The Council also adopted a presidential statement on strengthening cooperation with troop-contributing countries to peacekeeping.  The Council decided to establish a Working Group of the Whole on United Nations peacekeeping operations.  According to the statement, the Council recognized that, in view of the increasing complexity of peacekeeping operations, there was a need for a transparent three-way relationship between the Council, the Secretariat and troop-contributing countries. 

As a first step, the Council tasked the Group to undertake an in-depth consideration of all the proposals made in the course of the Council’s public meeting held on 16 January on cooperation with troop-contributing countries.  The Working Group is to report back to the Council by 30 April.

**Kosovo Update

The Secretary-General's Special Representative in Kosovo, Hans Haekkerup, and the Commander of the Kosovo Force, or KFOR, General Carlo Cabigiosu, are in Mitrovica today, where they met with local leaders to discuss the tensions in that city over the past few days.  The two men just signed a declaration with Kosovo Albanian leaders in Mitrovica, which condemned the recent violence there and called for calm.

The declaration also calls for:  additional security forces to be deployed in Mitrovica, including KFOR troops, UN police and local police; the expansion of the "zone of confidence" on the north and south sides of the Ibar River; freedom of movement for all residents; the return of displaced persons to their homes; and functioning of local political structures.

The situation in Mitrovica is described as tense, with KFOR troops patrolling and keeping crowds of Albanians from crossing the bridges across the Ibar River, which separates the Albanian and Serb communities.  As in recent days, some crowds of Albanians remain gathered at the south side of the river, and some people have continued to throw stones at KFOR peacekeepers.  French KFOR troops responded again today with stun grenades and tear gas.

Yesterday, a total of 21 KFOR peacekeepers -- seven Germans and 14 French -- were injured, one of them seriously, in three separate incidents where stones and grenades were thrown at them.

**Congo President Joseph Kabila

Just to confirm President Joseph Kabila’s plans tomorrow at UN Headquarters: the new President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) will meet with the Secretary-General at noon, before attending an open meeting of the Security Council later in the afternoon.

We have been informed by the mission of the DRC that President Kabila will hold a press conference in room S-226, following his appearance at the Council.  And, that is at your request.

Today, President Kabila is in Washington, where he attended the National Prayer Breakfast this morning.  We’ve been told that this afternoon he will go

to Capitol Hill to meet with a number of members of the US Congress.  And, at

5:30 p.m. today, the mission tells us he’s scheduled to meet with Secretary of State Colin Powell.

**East Timor

FALINTIL, which is, or was, the armed wing of the East Timorese Resistance and which fought against the Indonesian occupation for 25 years, became the core of an East Timor Defence Force today.  During a moving ceremony held today in Aileu, East Timor, marked by the lowering of the FALINTIL flag and the raising of the United Nations flag, Special Representative Sergio Vieira de Mello expressed his deepest respect for the independence fighters.

He said, “armed with little beyond moral courage, and despite hunger, deprivation and innumerable setbacks, FALINTIL prevailed over a massive occupying force”.  Mr. Vieira de Mello appointed FALINTIL Commander Taur Matan Ruak as the Commander-in-Chief of the Force, with the rank of Brigadier General.

The East Timor Transitional Cabinet approved the establishment of a national defence force last September based on a study by the Centre for Defence Studies of King’s College, London. 

The new Defence Force will consist of a light infantry force of 1,500 regulars with a phased approach to reach that number over three years, and also 1,500 reservists.  FALINTIL is the core of the Force and the training of the first batch of 250 former FALINTIL members is due to start next week.  Six hundred and fifty FALINTIL members have been selected for the first battalion.  For the next battalion, recruitment will be open to all Timorese above the age of 18, including women.  More details on the new Force are available on a backgrounder prepared by the Mission, which is available in my Office.

**WHO/Depleted Uranium

The World Health Organization (WHO) is asking for $2 million to fund its activities relating to the study of the possible health effects of depleted uranium ammunition (DU) used during the Gulf War and the Balkans conflicts.

This is an initial request and will eventually form part of a subsequent

$20 million appeal, which would cover WHO's work in this area for the next four years.  That money would allow the WHO to undertake in-depth epidemiological and toxicological studies relating to the use of DU ammunition.  The full text of the press release announcing this appeal, which was launched in Geneva, is available in my Office.

In a related matter, the UN Mission in Kosovo issued a press release on the preliminary findings of a four-person team from the WHO, which had been assessing possible health consequences arising from the use of depleted uranium.  And, that was at the request of the UN Mission.  The team presented its draft report to the Mission yesterday, and a final report will be released by the WHO later in Geneva.

The press release gives some of the team's general conclusions and recommendations, which says, among other things, that DU is "only weakly radioactive" and there was "no firm medical evidence" to link individual medical cases in Kosovo to exposure to depleted uranium.  Still, it recommends that the handling and presence of DU ordnance be treated with care, as with any ammunition.

**Budget Update

South Africa today paid $4.2 million, becoming the thirty-eighth Member State to be paid in full for the regular budget dues for the year 2001.

**Press Releases

In a joint press release, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the WHO have warned that pesticides marketed in developing countries are posing a serious threat to human health and the environment.  The poor quality pesticides, which make up 30 per cent of the market in developing countries and are valued at $900 million annually, contain hazardous substances banned or severely restricted elsewhere. 

Both agencies urge governments to adopt FAO/WHO pesticide specifications and to ensure they are legally binding.

**Endangered Species Stamps

Today, the United Nations Postal Administration issued a new 12 stamp set in its Endangered Species series, which was first launched in 1993.  Four different endangered animals are represented on each of three sheets.  The United States currency stamps were designed by Grace DeVito, the Austrian stamps by Higgins Bond, both of the United States, and the Swiss stamps designed by Betina Ogden of Australia.  We have a limited number of colour proofs of the stamps and more information available in my Office.

[Holds up three colour proofs for the camera.]

**Press Conference

And, finally, a press conference tomorrow:  11:15 a.m., Charlotte Abaka of Ghana, the Chairperson of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, will be here to brief you on the work undertaken by the Committee at its twenty-fourth session, which concludes tomorrow.  And, she will be joined by Ayse Feride Acar of Turkey, one of the three Vice-Chairpersons, and Angela King, the Assistant Secretary-General and Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women.

That’s all I have for you.

**Questions and Answers

Question:  Did the Secretary-General have any plans to meet with the press, soon?

Spokesman:  Well, I’ll take that request to him.  His rate of formal press conferences over the last four years has been about one every two months; a little better than one every two months.

Question:  Why can’t the UN meet the demand of the Albanians who are opposing the KFOR practices?

Spokesman:  What the UN is trying to accomplish in Mitrovica, which is so difficult in that town because it’s got the two communities -– Serbs and Albanians in sizeable numbers, and sections of the town which contain representatives of both ethnic communities –- is to get them to live together in peace.  We know from our experience in Bosnia and Croatia and elsewhere in the Balkans that after violence has flared, as it has in this entire region -– ethnically based violence –- it’s very difficult to get people to calm down and live together peacefully. 

Mitrovica is, I think, the major security task for the Kosovo Force and for our peacekeeping Mission in Kosovo.  So, that is our objective there.

Question:  Is the Secretary-General in contact with the Libyan Mission here, the Libyan Ambassador?  Has there been any discussion about maybe trying to move forward on the issue of sanctions in the Council?  And there are also reports that the President of the Arab League is coming here next week to meet with him and push for the lifting of sanctions.

Spokesman:  Well, this is a Council matter.  I think you heard the United Kingdom Ambassador yesterday, Ambassador Greenstock, say that he and his United States counterpart plan to meet with the Libyan Ambassador next week.  I think that the US and the UK Ambassadors may also be wanting to talk to the Secretary-General about this.  He is happy to talk to anyone who comes to him on this issue, but I think he sees this as primarily a Security Council decision.

Question:  Is there any word on the possible agenda of the President of Rwanda tomorrow, concerning a meeting with the Secretary-General?

Spokesman:  The President of Rwanda is not expected here until Wednesday of next week.  So, he is meeting the President of the DRC tomorrow.  There have been tantalizing suggestions that the parties to the conflict in the DRC might be ready to renew dialogue, that the Government of the DRC might be willing to get the inter-Congolese dialogue under way once again -– the dialogue with the rebel factions within the DRC.  And, I’m sure that will be the main item on the agenda for the Secretary-General’s meeting with President Joseph Kabila tomorrow.

When President Kagame of Rwanda comes here the following Wednesday, I have a feeling that the DRC will be at the top of their agenda, as well.

Question:  Also, is the draft report of the Mission in Kosovo available?

Spokesman:  I’ll have to see.  I don’t think it’s been made public, but I’ll check for you after the briefing.  [A press release with general findings is available now.  The final report will be out in a week.]

Question:  Do you have any idea why Clare Short is here?

Spokesman:  I understand she is giving an address this afternoon at

4 o’clock in New York.  While she’s here, she has asked to see the Secretary-General.  We don’t know what would be on her agenda.  She’s also seeing the Deputy Secretary-General.  Some of the things that we’re prepared to talk to her about are follow-up to the Millennium report, follow-up to the Brahimi report, possibly humanitarian issues in Sierra Leone, DRC.  She has an interest in African issues, as you may know.  So, I think those are the kinds of things that we would expect would come up in one or both of these meetings.

Question:  Was there any feedback regarding the Secretary-General’s contact with the parties in the Middle East peace process, in the last 24 to 48 hours?

Spokesman:  No.  As you know, there’s been a lot of speculation about a possible summit.  The Secretary-General has been talking to President Mubarak of Egypt, who has been a prime mover on this issue.  The Prime Minister of Sweden, Goran Persson, has also been active in the last few weeks.  But, we have nothing to announce at this time.

Question:  Has the Secretary-General had any contact lately with the Colombian Government?

Spokesman:  Not that I’m aware.  Of course, his Special Adviser there, Jan Egeland, is his point man on the scene, and I assume he talks with Mr. Egeland from time to time.  I don’t know that he’s had any direct contact [with the Government].  I can ask for you after the briefing.  [He later confirmed no direct contact.]

Question:  Can you tell us more about the transparent three-way relationship among the Security Council to contributing countries and the Secretariat?  And, why not extend the transparency also to the General Assembly, perhaps the regional observers?  Perhaps that would inspire contributing countries.

Spokesman:  I don’t think it’s for me to comment about how the Security Council or the General Assembly should conduct its business.  The public debate in the Council on relations with troop-contributing countries, I think, would probably give you the best clue as to the kinds of things that they’re talking about.  The statement of yesterday, then, has that kernel about the Working Group that I just mentioned, and I think might also be of interest.

Question:  Are these weird Greece/Macedonia talks getting anywhere, year after year?

Spokesman:  As you could tell from my text, it’s identical to the one that I might have given at the last meeting, or the meeting three years ago.  There’s no substance at all to this text.  I don’t think that is indicative of what may be going on in the talks.  Matthew Nimitz prefers to continue in the tradition of his mentor, Cyrus Vance, keeping a very low profile and working very quietly.  I think if he has something to announce, we’ll hear it, but in the meantime it’s just continued contacts. 

Question:  Did you refer to a meeting between the Presidents of Congo and Rwanda tomorrow?

Spokesman:  No.  I don’t know what’s going to happen.  You’ve probably seen the press reports that these two Presidents might be getting together under the auspices of the US Government.  I know nothing about that.  I’ve just read the same newspapers you have.

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