United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-07-14

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From: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.org

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Tuesday, 14 June, 1998

HEADLINES

• Security Council calls on parties to Afghan conflict to stop the fighting and resume negotiations.
• Security-Council votes to extend mission to Central African Republic by an additional two months.
• Delegates at UN conference on international criminal court urged to find common ground.
• UN Peace-keeping department reports firing by Israeli Defense Forces near UN positions in Lebanon.
• Thousands of hungry civilians in southern Sudan pouring into Government garrison towns, UN food agency says.
• Worsening situation for Angolan refugees in Democratic Republic of the Congo, UN refugee agency reports.
• Secretary-General, in Sao Paulo, invites business to participate in the affairs of the United Nations.

Through a statement read by Security Council President Sergey Lavrov of the Russian Federation in a formal meeting, the Council called upon the parties to engage in a political dialogue to settle the conflict.

In its statement, the Security Council deplored the continued unabated military support from outside Afghanistan to the warring factions, including the supplies of arms.

Fighting between the Taliban religious army, which controls an estimated 85 per cent of the country, and an alliance of anti-Taliban forces known as the United Front (UF) have flared up again since May, when the Islamabad peace talks came to a halt.

Speaking to reporters at a press briefing, Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi, the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, said this new flare-up of fighting "confirmed our worst fears." He noted that Secretary-General Kofi Annan had warned about a massive build-up of weapons in his last report on Afghanistan, issued on 19 June.

Mr. Brahimi told reporters he thought that all sides were being supplied with arms from outside. He added that "the legend that the Russians left enough arms in Afghanistan for the fighting to continue for 50 years is just that -- a legend."

In a related item, the Security Council reiterated its concern over the continuing violations of human rights, such as discrimination against girls and women, as well as violations of international humanitarian law in Afghanistan. It also supported the Secretary-General's steps to launch investigations into alleged mass killings of prisoners of war and civilians in Afghanistan.

In the resolution adopted on Tuesday, the Security Council called upon the Government of the Central African Republic to adopt a plan for organizing legislative elections. Among its functions, MINURCA is to provide advice and technical support for those legislative elections, tentatively scheduled for August or September 1998.

The Security Council also called on the Government of the Central African Republic to adopt, as soon as possible, a plan for the effective restructuring of its armed forces.

Speaking before the Council after the vote, the Permanent Representative of the Central African Republic said that the deployment of MINURCA had been achieved in record time. "It is indicative of what can be accomplished when there is a commitment to a peaceful process by the beneficiary of a Security Council action," Ambassador Antonio Deinde Fernandez said.

"MINURCA's presence in our country," said Ambassador Fernandez, "has made a great difference in the promotion of peace and security."

MINURCA was established on 27 March 1998 with an authorized strength of up to 1,350 military personnel. One of the main military objectives of MINURCA is to help maintain security in and around the capital city, Bangui.

Burkina Faso, Canada, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, France, Gabon, Mali, Senegal and Togo are the countries contributing peace-keepers to this operation.

"I plead with those delegations that still insist on very firm positions based on national considerations to make every possible effort to work with other delegations to find a common ground," Mr. Corell told delegates at the UN conference in Rome.

Mr. Corell's exhortation echoed the sentiments expressed by Secretary- General Kofi Annan in a letter he has sent to 16 governments.

"As you are aware, there is widespread support for the creation of a court that is strong and independent enough to carry out its task," Mr. Annan says in the letter. "At the same time," the Secretary-General continues, "there are a few delegations, including that of your country, that do not yet seem prepared to join the others on one or more important issues. The purpose of this letter is to seek your support at the present juncture of the negotiations."

A further encouragement to deliver on the promise of an effective and just international criminal court comes from a prominent sign displayed at the entrance to the Rome Conference. The sign reads: "Welcome. We expect concrete results."

The main controversies in the draft statute centre on the role of the Security Council and how much control it should have over the court. But other issues are also unresolved, including the court's financing and language on the issue of sexual violence.

Italy's Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini told delegates on Tuesday that the world should move away from guarantees provided by the State, and focus instead on guarantees provided against the State. "The institution of the Court will prevent national sovereignty being used as a convenient shield behind which violence and outrage are committed," Mr. Dini said.

With the clock ticking on deliberations in Rome, Mr. Dini also appealed to delegates to achieve the goal of creating an international criminal court."We dare not let this opportunity slip through our grasp," Mr. Dini said. "It will be the last chance we ever have! The world would never forgive us."

The incident occurred at around 5:30 pm on Monday, when two mortar- rounds impacted near a position of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). One Irish soldier -- as well as a Lebanese civilian who was passing by -- were injured, according to Fred Eckhard, the Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

"In July 1996, UNIFIL obtained a commitment from the IDF to respect a safety-zone around UNIFIL positions," Mr. Eckhard said.

UNIFIL was established in 1978 to confirm the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon, to restore international peace and security and to assist the Government of Lebanon in ensuring the return of its effective authority in the area.

In the last two weeks alone the city of Wau, which is the largest Government-held town in southern Sudan, has seen an influx of 2,500 people per day, according to a press release issued by the food agency on Tuesday.

"Some of the women and children are horrendously malnourished," said Ismat Fahmi, WFP's Deputy Representative in Khartoum.

Last week, WFP's Executive Director, Catherine Bertini, called on the international community to end the fighting in southern Sudan. "The fighting in Sudan is perpetuating untold anguish among the millions of people we are trying to save, " Ms. Bertini said in her appeal.

WFP is facing a shortfall of food from donor countries valued at $78.6 million for its assistance to 2.6 million people throughout Sudan.

There are now an estimated 22,000 refugees in the Kisenge area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to a briefing note published on Tuesday by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). An estimated 7,000 people crossed the border from Angola this week to flee renewed fighting between government forces and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA).

Poor harvests and bureaucratic obstacles in delivering food threaten to heighten tension between local residents and the refugees, according to UNHCR.

"You can make your views heard in UN debates, at world conferences and in the drafting of international conventions," the Secretary-General said in address delivered in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on the last day of his official visit to that country. Sao Paulo is a powerful centre of private enterprise in Latin America, with the equivalent of the 20th biggest economy in the world.

"The Organization is no longer prisoner of conflicting ideologies," Mr. Annan said. "We fully recognize that business is the main creator of wealth, jobs and prosperity, without which development cannot occur nor peace be sustained."

In outlining other practical ways for business to interact with the United Nations, the Secretary-General suggested cooperation on specific projects. "Some businesses see great value in advocacy," the Secretary- General said. "Insurance companies, for example, are concerned about the cost of disasters caused by climate change."

Other examples mentioned by Mr. Annan included banks helping with micro- finance projects and projects focusing on technological know- how.

On Tuesday evening the Secretary-General travels to Montevideo, Uruguay, to begin his official visit to that country.

From the United Nations home page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.org

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