United Nations Daily Highlights, 99-05-06

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Thursday, 6 May, 1999

HEADLINES

• Secretary-General welcomes G-8 agreement on general principles for political solution to Kosovo crisis.
• Security Council hails Secretary-General's efforts in settling East Timor debate.
• UNHCR receives assurances from former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to keep border open for refugees.
• In Balkans visit, UN human rights chief calls Kosovo crisis "humanitarian disaster".
• Security Council emphasizes need for resumption of talks to reach political agreement in Georgia.
• Outbreak of little-known virus responsible for 52 deaths in Democratic Republic of the Congo -- WHO.

"He is pleased in particular at the decision to prepare elements of a United Nations Security Council resolution, to draw up a road map on further concrete steps towards a political solution to the crisis and to involve other members of the Council in this effort," UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said.

The Secretary-General believes this is an important step in the direction he advocated earlier this week in the Council and appealed to the members to find the unity necessary to achieve the required political solution, Mr. Eckhard said.

In reiterating his willingness to extend full cooperation in the effort to rebuild a consensus on this question, the Secretary-General expects to announce shortly the appointment of his Special Envoys to the region, according to Mr. Eckhard.

In welcoming the signing yesterday at UN Headquarters of the agreement paving the way for popular consultations on a proposed constitutional framework for East Timor's autonomy, the Council members paid tribute to the Secretary-General and his personal envoy, Ambassador Jamsheed Marker, for the "efforts made over many years to secure the conclusion of those agreements," Council President Ambassador Denis Dangue Rewaka of Gabon said.

Besides the Basic Agreement, there are also two supplemental agreements covering the modalities and the security arrangements of the consultation, scheduled for this summer.

The Council also supported the decision of the Secretary-General to dispatch UN staff to East Timor as soon as possible to assist in the implementation of the agreements, Ambassador Rewaka said. The Council is expected to adopt a draft resolution on the situation tomorrow.

In a report to the Security Council today, the Secretary-General highlighted the United Nations role in East Timor, noting that the UN will face logistical and other problems in carrying out the consultation in such a short time-frame.

He furthermore pointed out the main elements that needed to be in place in order to ensure the necessary security conditions for the start of the operational phases of the consultation process. These elements include: bringing armed civilian groups under strict control and the prompt arrest and prosecution of those who incite or threaten to use violence, a ban on rallies by armed groups while ensuring freedom of association and expression of all political forces and tendencies, the redeployment of Indonesian military forces and the immediate institution of a process of laying down of arms by all armed groups to be completed well in advance of the holding of the ballot.

UNHCR sought clarification from the Macedonian authorities after its staff witnessed approximately 1,000 refugees attempting to enter the country forcibly returned to the Yugoslav side of the border late Wednesday.

At a meeting in Skopje late Thursday, the Interior Minister of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia assured UNHCR that the border would remain open. UNHCR welcomed the verbal assurances from the government and expressed the hope that this policy would be honored on the ground.

During her two-day visit to Durres and Tirana, the Albanian capital, the High Commissioner heard a number of accounts of the massive human rights violations that had driven Kosovar Albanians from their homes.

"This is a wake up call to the international community," Mrs. Robinson said, before travelling to Sarajevo in the continuation of her trip to the Balkans to assess first-hand the human rights situation there. "The signs of this tragedy were there for all to see for a long time."

Mrs. Robinson said the Special Mission her Office had established in Tirana was cooperating with international partners in collecting, verifying and cross-checking testimonies from refugees. She stressed the importance of coordinating these efforts in order to establish an accurate and professional system for monitoring the human rights abuses in Kosovo in order to assist in the prosecution of those responsible for atrocities and to continue to lay the groundwork for prevention of future abuses.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, meanwhile, confirmed that Mrs. Robinson would meet with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic when she travels to Belgrade next Tuesday and Wednesday.

In a statement to the press following a briefing by UN Assistant Secretary- General for Peacekeeping Hedi Annabi, Ambassador Rewaka said Council members had expressed their views on the information contained in the report of Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the situation in Abkhazia.

The draft presidential statement was submitted by the representative of France on behalf of the Group of Friends of the Secretary-General on Georgia, Ambassador Rewaka said.

Since the beginning of the year there have been 76 cases identified, with 52 fatalities, according to WHO.

WHO, in cooperation with Medicins sans frontieres, has been attempting to determine the current size of the outbreak and the source of the virus.

The health agency earlier discounted reports attributing the outbreak to Ebola, which has similar symptoms such as the sudden onset of fever, malaise, muscle pain, headache and conjunctivitis.

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

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