United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-12-23

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Wednesday, 23 December, 1998

HEADLINES

• Security Council deplores deteriorating situation in Angola, reiterates full support for UN mission in the country.
• Key issues of peace and security and post-conflict peace- building debated in Security Council.
• Security Council members express concern at attacks and atrocities by rebel forces in Sierra Leone.
• Secretary-General says creative thinking, flexibility and compromise needed to find a way forward on Iraq.
• Secretary-General urges Israeli and Lebanese parties to stop violence.
• Operation Lifeline Sudan warns security is key to preventing famine in 1999.
• Dutch-Russian accord on chemical weapons destruction hailed as an "important step."

In a statement read out in a formal meeting by its President, Jassim Mohammed Buallay of Bahrain, the Council reiterated that the primary responsibility for the failure to achieve peace in Angola lay with the leadership of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA).

The Security Council said the peace process had been seriously undermined by the persistent violation by UNITA, under the leadership Jonas Savimbi, of its obligations under the "Acordos de Paz", the Lusaka Protocol and relevant Council resolutions.

The Council demanded that UNITA comply with its obligations immediately and without conditions and urged the Angolan Government and UNITA to cooperate fully with the Secretary-General's Special Representative, Issa Diallo.

At the same time, the Council expressed concern at the public statements blaming the United Nations for the recent aggravation of the security situation in the country. Reiterating its full support for the United Nations Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA), the Council emphasized that both the Government and UNITA had an obligation to guarantee the safety and freedom of movement of MONUA personnel.

Expressing its deep concern at the worsening humanitarian situation in Angola, the Council emphasized the responsibility of the Angolan Government and the UNITA leadership to facilitate humanitarian assistance efforts. It stressed that both parties had the responsibility to guarantee the safety and freedom of movement of humanitarian workers and to permit an independent assessment of the civilian population's needs. The Council urged full respect for international humanitarian, refugee and human rights law.

During the debate, a number of speakers underlined the importance of linking the maintenance of peace to sustainable development and good governance. They said that lasting peace required solutions which encompassed development, democracy, human rights, conflict prevention and resolution, peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance.

Some of the threats to lasting peace in countries which have emerged from conflicts were the widespread availability of small weapons and landmines which continue to pose a threat to civilians long after the conflicts had ended. Post-conflict peace-building efforts might include demobilization, disarmament and reintegration into society of former combatants, the speakers said.

Participants also emphasized the need for improved coordination and sharing of information between the United Nations and regional organizations such as the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

In a statement to the press, the President of the Council, Jassim M. Buallay of Bahrain, said Council members also expressed concern about support and participation by foreign forces in rebel activities and condemned the foreign participation in the country's internal strife.

The Council members also expressed serious concern at the large numbers of armaments flowing, in an organized manner, into rebel hands. Ambassador Buallay said that all countries were called on to abide by the provisions of the Security Council arms embargo against the rebel forces in Sierra Leone and against Liberia.

Responding to questions from the press as he entered the UN Headquarters in New York, Mr. Annan said that in discussing the future of UN weapons inspections in Iraq no one could pretend that with what had happened after the bombing, "we can do business as usual and nothing has changed." Finding a way forward, he noted, would require "flexibility, compromise, and a willingness to really think creatively."

The Secretary-General said he hoped that the holiday period would be used as a moment of reflection, to think deeply and sincerely about what needed to be done, "and that when we come back in January, we will be coming back with fresh ideas."

In a related development, the Secretary-General telephoned the Deputy Prime Minister of iraq, Tariq Aziz on Wednesday afternoon and asked about Iraq's suspension of United Nations flights. The Prime Minister assured Mr. Annan that the suspension was temporary and that the measure had been taken for the safety of United Nations aircraft.

In a statement issued by his spokesman in New York, the Secretary- General deplored the death of Lebanese civilians in an Israeli air raid, which prompted the firing of rockets into northern Israel by Lebanese armed elements, endangering Israeli civilians.

The Secretary-General said that the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was in touch with the parties concerned in an effort to prevent an escalation.

UNIFIL was set up by the Security Council in March 1978 after Israeli forces invaded southern Lebanon following a Palestinian commando raid in Israel. It was mandated to confirm the withdrawal of Israeli forces, restore international peace and security, and assist the Lebanese Government in re-establishing its authority in the area.

The OLS Annual Needs Assessment report says people living in the southern regions of Bahr el Ghazal and the Upper Nile and in the Kassala region in the north are particularly vulnerable and will need assistance. Hundreds of thousands of families who have lost their homes, livestock and crops are still living dangerously on the edge.

Philippe Borel, the UN Coordinator for Relief Operations in Sudan and head of OLS said on Tuesday that many people were surviving on a fragile base, which insecurity could easily shatter, making a humanitarian ceasefire essential to averting famine in 1999. Even a few weeks of insecurity, especially in Bahr el Ghazal, could produce the kind of crisis experienced earlier in 1998, he added.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has estimated more than 2 million people will need at least 150,000 tonnes of food until October 1999. Hundreds of thousands will need food relief, the agency says, if fighting escalates in the Bahr el Ghazal and Upper Nile regions.

In July, the warring parties declared a ceasefire, which will expire on 15 January 1999.

OPCW Director-General, Jose Bustani, attended the ceremony in the Hague where the Dutch Foreign Minister and the Russian Ambassador to the Netherlands signed the agreement on Tuesday. The agreement provides specifically for Dutch assistance in the environmentally safe destruction of chemical weapons located at Kambarka in the Udmurt Republic.

The Director-General of OPCW said that the agreement constituted an important step forward in increasing international assistance to the Russian Federation for the elimination of its stockpiles of chemical weapons. Such assistance, though not directly required under the Chemical Weapons Convention, would significantly contribute to the implementation of the Convention and the consolidation of its regime, according to the OPCW.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons was established in the Hague in April 1997 to be responsible for the Implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which was opened for signature on 13 January 1993 at a signing ceremony in Paris.

The text of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction (CWC) was adopted by the UN Conference on Disarmament in Geneva in 1992.

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

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