United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-12-07

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Monday, 7 December, 1998

HEADLINES

• Secretary-General says comprehensive review could lead to lifting of sanctions against Iraq, but compliance is essential.
• Chief United Nations weapons inspector says his team is set to start visiting sites in Iraq.
• General Assembly urges speedy action to solve "millennium bug" problem of computers.
• General Assembly approves committee report accepting credentials of Cambodia.
• Secretary-General voices concern about slow progress towards political solution in Kosovo.
• United Nations appeals for $66 million for emergency humanitarian assistance in Angola.
• Secretary-General welcomes withdrawal of United Nations personnel from UNITA strongholds in Angola.
• Secretary-General discusses Lockerbie affair with Libyan leader Muammar Al-Qadhafi.
• Afghan parties accept in principle Secretary-General's proposal to deploy civilian monitors to Afghanistan.
• United Nations concerned about reports of increased violence against displaced persons in Burundi.
• $55 million from Ted Turner's "historic" gift to UN approved for funding environmental, population and health projects.
• Gambia becomes 62nd signatory to Rome Statute of International Criminal Court.
• UNICEF hails work of public groups to improve infant health.

The Security Council agreement to a comprehensive review offers Iraq a way to regain its place among the community of nations, Mr. Annan said. "But let me repeat what I have said all along: the way to achieve this is for Iraq to comply fully with the relevant resolutions of the Security Council."

The Secretary-General also recalled that Security Council resolution 687 (1991) -- known as the "ceasefire resolution" because it contained the terms for the end of the Persian Gulf war -- also looked forward to the realization of the goal of establishing a zone in the Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction. "The achievement of this goal would be a blessing not only for the peoples of the Middle East but for humanity as a whole," he observed.

On the Middle East peace process, the Secretary-General said he knew that members of the Gulf Cooperation Council were concerned about the delay in the full implementation of the Wye accord signed by Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. He expressed the earnest hope that the agreement would be fully implemented, paving the way for negotiations on all tracks to resume.

"Regrettably, incidents of violence by elements opposed to the peace process have continued to cost lives and mar progress," said the Secretary- General. "I appeal again to the parties not to be swayed by such incidents but instead, to redouble their efforts in pursuit of a lasting solution to the conflict."

While in Abu Dhabi, the Secretary-General met with his Special Envoy for Iraq, Prakash Shah. He also held a number of bilateral meetings. Mr. Annan met with the Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Azeddin Laraki; the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Esmat Abdel-Meguid; and the Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Shaikh Jamil Ibrahim Alhedjallan.

Secretary-General Annan also held two meetings with the President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, including a one-hour tete-a-tete, in which they discussed the Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as Libya.

"All those he met endorsed his efforts to bring to closure the impasse in the Lockerbie case so that the two suspects could be brought to trial in the Netherlands," according to UN Spokesman Fred Eckhard.

Briefing the press at UN Headquarters in New York, Ambassador Richard Butler, the Chairman of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM), said that those visits would start "in the next few hours." Ambassador Butler emphasized that there would be a series of visits, adding that he hoped the work would be completed at the end of this week or early next week.

Ambassador Butler said that once the inspection visits have been completed, he expected to be in a position to write a report to the Secretary-General on whether or not Iraq had kept its promise of full cooperation with United Nations weapons inspectors. The Secretary- General would, in turn, report to the Security Council which would then decide if it would be necessary to mount a comprehensive review of Iraq's compliance with its obligations.

Ambassador Butler said that UNSCOM had restored its work in other areas of inspections which include access to documents, monitoring, interviews and visits to declared sites.

The head of UNSCOM recalled that on 24 November, in consultations with the Security Council, he was asked how long it would take to verify that Iraq was keeping the promise made on 14 November to give UNSCOM and the International Atomic Energy Agency full cooperation. His estimate then was that it would take two to three weeks. One week had passed since the beginning of that period, Ambassador Butler said.

Adopting without a vote a resolution sponsored by Pakistan, the Assembly called upon Governments, public and private organizations and civil society to share information about their experiences and urge all Member States to emphasize the importance of contingency planning and to develop plans to address the potential large-scale failures.

The Assembly also requested the Secretary-General to take steps to ensure that all parts of the United Nations system take measures that their computers and equipment are year 2000 compliant well before the target date by drawing up a plan of action for the United Nations system.

In his report to the General Assembly, the Secretary-General says that the UN Secretariat has put significant effort into ensuring that all its mission-critical systems continue to operate correctly. Regarding the status of year 2000 preparedness of other United Nations organizations, the report says that some of the programmes, funds and specialized agencies are in an early stage of assessment and planning, while others are already compliant or in the process of conversion or replacement of their systems.

The Committee's recommendation was made at its special meeting on 4 December, when it considered a letter received by the Secretary-General from His Royal Highness King Norodom Sihanouk presenting the credentials of the representatives of Cambodia to the session.

Also this morning, the Assembly acted on the report of its General Committee which deals with the session's agenda. Among other matters in this report, the Assembly decided to consider a new agenda item, "Armed aggression against the Democratic Republic of the Congo", directly in plenary meeting.

The Assembly's busy agenda on Monday included items on the strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance of the United Nations, cooperation between the UN and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Organization of African Unity (OAU), as well as implementation of the United Nations new agenda for the development of Africa in the 1990s and causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace on the continent.

In a report to the Security Council, the Secretary-General notes that the extent to which the internally displaced and refugees are willing to return to their homes still varied by area. About 175,000 people remain displaced in Kosovo and Albania hosts another 24,000 refugees, according to the Secretary-General. He says that uncertainty and continuing danger appear to be the main deterrent to returns.

The Secretary-General says that in many cases, the internally displaced persons have returned to find their houses totally destroyed prompting them to remain in towns where they can at least be assured of continuing relief aid.

The Secretary-General says that a ceasefire called last month generally held, although there have been arbitrary detentions, killings and kidnappings blamed on both Serbian security forces and the Kosovo Albanian paramilitary units. For the first time in the conflict, self- appointed groups of both sides of the ethnic divide have taken part in these actions, threatening to unravel the fragile peace, according to the report.

The Secretary-General says that early deployment of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Kosovo Verification Mission will be a critical factor in building confidence for the return of those who fled their homes. He also expresses hope that by the time another report is due, the Verification Mission will have taken over the reporting responsibility to the Security Council on the situation in Kosovo, other than on humanitarian and human rights questions.

The relief aid is for assisting the most destitute victims of the continuing crisis in Angola in 1999. Sustained conflict, renewed laying of anti-personnel mines, widespread banditry and insecurity had all created a dramatic impact on the already devastated condition in Angola.

The mortality rate for children under five years of age is almost 30 per cent, the maternal mortality rate is 1,280 per 100,000 live births, and only 31 per cent of Angolans have access to clean water, according to the United Nations.

In a statement issued by his spokesman on Sunday, the Secretary- General said that he was relieved to learn that, after a long ordeal, the peacekeepers were successfully withdrawn from Andulo and Bailundo. The withdrawal followed a clearance given by UNITA on Saturday for the landing of United Nations aircraft to pick up the peacekeepers. They are currently in safety at the MONUA regional headquarters in Huambo.

The Secretary-General said that he was encouraged that reason had prevailed in the very difficult situation involving MONUA personnel in the two teamsites and that the principles guiding peacekeeping operations had been upheld. He once again commended the courage and perseverance and untiring efforts of Special Representative Issa Diallo, Force Commander Seth Kofi Obeng, and all the staff of MONUA as well as United Nations personnel at the Headquarters in New York, who had been patiently working for the earliest redeployment of these observers.

The Secretary-General reiterated the appeal to the Angolan parties to exercise the utmost restraint so as not to endanger the lives of MONUA and other international personnel operating in Angola, as well as innocent civilians. He expressed the hope that the release of United Nations personnel would encourage all concerned to proceed with full implementation of the Lusaka Protocol.

The Secretary-General touched down at Tripoli at about 11 am local time, where he was met by Libya's Ambassador to the United Nations, Abuzed Omar Dorda. He then flew to Sirte in the Libyan leader's plane. While in Sirte, the Secretary-General met privately with the President of Burkina Faso, Blaise Compaor‚, before meeting with Libya's Foreign Minister for over one hour. The meeting with Colonel Al-Qadhafi was held in his tent in the desert.

Addressing reporters at Tripoli airport following the meetings, Mr. Annan said that Libya "believes that it ought to be possible to find answers to all other outstanding issues relating to this matter." Foreign Minister Muntasser, also at the press conference, said he was "sure the efforts of the Secretary-General will show positive results soon."

In an exchange with reporters travelling with him from Tripoli to Djerba, Tunisia, the Secretary-General noted that the Lockerbie issue had "dragged" on for 10 years. "We all tend to expect rapid results," he said, pointing out that "rapid in these situations is all relative." Still, he added that "we can get this thing done in a relatively short period."

On Sunday, the Secretary-General's Spokesman, Fred Eckhard, released a statement confirming that Mr. Annan had spoken to the United States Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright while one a plane travelling to Abu Dhabi.

According to his Spokesman, the Secretary-General shared with Secretary Albright the nature of his conversations with the Libyans. "He stated that he had fruitful and positive discussions with the Libyan leadership," said Mr. Eckhard, adding that the Secretary-General had told Ms. Albright "we are well on our way to resolving this problem."

"The Secretary-General noted that the Libyans had their own way of consulting within their own reality and that they would determine how to consult their people for a decision on the Lockerbie issue and the way to announce it," Mr. Eckhard said. "The Secretary-General expected that the issue would be taken up at next week's People's Congress in Libya."

In a new letter to the Security Council President, the Secretary- General writes that with the Council's approval, he would establish a civil affairs unit within the United Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan. The unit's 12 monitors would promote respect for minimum humanitarian standards and deter massive and systematic human rights violations.

Before seeking the parties' formal consent on the unit's establishment, the Secretary-General says he would send an assessment mission to Afghanistan as soon as security conditions permit.

According to a UN spokesman, the Security Council is expected to hold consultations on Afghanistan on Tuesday.

OCHA said on Monday that there had been a significant increase of attacks against populations, including persons in camps for the displaced persons. According to OCHA, over 550,000 internally displaced people reside in over 300 sites.

OCHA called on all parties involved to respect universal humanitarian principles and human rights and avoid a further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the country.

In September 1997, Mr. Turner announced that he would make 10 annual gifts valued at approximately $100 million each in support of United Nations causes, a gesture that was described by Secretary-General Kofi Annan as "historic" and "extraordinary". The gift was intended to represent a new and additional financial resource to supplement the regular, assessed or voluntary-funded programmes of the United Nations. Funding contributions are made through the United Nations Foundation, Inc., a private charity established by Mr. Turner in early 1998.

The latest figures on project funding from Mr. Turner's gift came in a report by the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP), a small operation that was set up by the Secretary-General to coordinate, channel and monitor contributions from the United Nations Foundation, Inc. The report, which covers an eight-month period through mid-September 1998, says that in addition to the 39 projects already approved, over 520 proposals have been received and analyzed by the UNFIP Secretariat and 55 full project proposals have been recommended for funding.

Such projects respond to the broad thematic areas identified by Mr. Turner's Foundation, including women and population, environment and children's health, as well as other priorities such as institutional strengthening. The portfolio of approved project assistance spans five geographical regions -- Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

As for funding considerations beyond the first year of activity, the United Nations Foundation Inc. expects to award approximately $80 million per year to programmes meeting its funding criteria.

The Statute, which was adopted by the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries in Rome, on 17 July 1998, established the Court as a permanent institution to try persons accused of the most serious crimes of international concern. The Court has jurisdiction with respect to the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.

The Court, which shall be complimentary to national criminal jurisdictions, will have its seat in The Hague, in the Netherlands. According to the Statute, the Court may sit elsewhere, whenever it considers it desirable.

IBFAN is an international network of over 140 public interest groups in 70 developing and industrialized nations. Its members work closely with UNICEF and other United Nations agencies to improve infant health and nutrition through the promotion of breastfeeding and the elimination of inappropriate marketing of infant food, bottles and teats.

The award, commonly known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize" was announced by the Right Livelihood Foundation and the presentation will take place at a ceremony in the Swedish Parliament in Stockholm on Wednesday, 9 December.

UNICEF's Executive Director, Carol Bellamy, said that IBFAN's untiring efforts in the promotion, protection and support of breastfeeding had been an important contribution to infant and young child health and survival. She added that the organization's constant monitoring of company compliance with the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes indicated that much remained to be done to protect parents and health professionals from commercial pressures to feed infants artificially.

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

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