United Nations Daily Highlights, 99-06-02

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Wednesday, 2 June, 1999

Latest Developments

HEADLINES

• International Court of Justice rejects Belgrade's request to order immediate halt to NATO bombing.
• Secretary-General to meet Pope John Paul II at Vatican to discuss Balkans crisis.
• UN refugee agency alarmed at fighting along Albania's border with Kosovo.
• Security Council members condemn mortar attack on UN force in Lebanon.
• Sierra Leone leads Africa in number of refugees -- UNHCR.
• UN trade agency reports sharp decline in foreign direct investment in Russia.
• UN agricultural agency calls for final push to eradicate dangerous cattle plague.

In its Order, the ICJ at the same time declared itself "profoundly concerned with the use of force in Yugoslavia", which under the present circumstances "raises very serious issues of international law."

In calling on the parties to resolve the conflict peacefully, the ICJ expressed its deep concern with "the human tragedy, the loss of life, and the enormous suffering in Kosovo which form the background" of the dispute and "with the continuing loss of life and human suffering in all parts of Yugoslavia".

In April, Yugoslavia filed lawsuits against 10 NATO countries, claiming the attacks were in violation of their obligations not to use force against another State, not to intervene in its internal affairs and not to violate its sovereignty.

In the interim, Yugoslavia sought from the Court a provisional order for the States involved to "cease immediately acts of use of force" and to "refrain from any act of threat or use of force" while the Court considered Yugoslavia's petitions.

In explaining its decision, the Court said it declined to issue "provisional measures" to halt the bombing because it did not have prima facie, or "at first sight", jurisdiction over the ten cases. On two of them, against Spain and the United States, the Court ruled that it "manifestly lacks jurisdiction" and decided to dismiss the two cases and remove them from the list.

The Court said, however, its rulings did not "prejudge" the question of its ability to deal with the merits of the cases against the eight remaining countries -- Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom -- and left open the possibility of continuing deliberations on that point.

Spokesman Fred Eckhard said the Secretary-General saw his meeting with the Pope as an important opportunity to exchange views on the "moral and political issues underlying the Balkans crisis."

Mr. Eckhard said that the Secretary-General remained firmly committed to promoting a solution that allowed refugees and displaced persons to return swiftly to their homes and that enabled the inhabitants of Kosovo and the region to live in peace and security with full respect for the civil, political and human rights of all.

The invitation for the meeting came from the Pope and was a rare occurrence, said Mr. Eckhard. Such an invitation had been extended by a Pope only one other time in the last 40 years.

While in Rome, the Secretary-General will also meet with the President of Italy, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. Mr. Annan will return to New York Thursday afternoon.

Fighting in the border areas is hampering access to the area for humanitarian workers and has even caused displacements among the local Albanian population, said UNHCR.

Only 46 refugees straggled into the Morini crossing on Tuesday amid intense fighting in which NATO planes conducted strikes against Serbian forces battling the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) along the border. The new arrivals said Serb forces were using Kosovars as human shields at police and railway stations and other public buildings. They also gave accounts of continuing atrocities by Serbian troops against civilians.

Aid workers have withdrawn from the Albanian town of Krume, where a heavy KLA presence has been reported. UNHCR is sending trucks to evacuate refugees who want to leave from Krume where Serbian forces have been firing at KLA positions. Serbian artillery and mortar attacks against Pogai near the Morini border and villages in Has have prompted thousands of local Albanians to flee their homes in recent days.

In a press statement, Council President Ambassador Baboucarr-Blaise I. Jagne of Gambia said the Council took note of the information provided by Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the mortar rounds fired Monday by Israel Defence Forces (IDF)/de facto forces (DFF), which landed on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). An Irish soldier was killed and two others were wounded, one of them seriously.

Ambassador Jagne said members of the Council expressed their deep sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims.

In a statement yesterday, the Secretary-General condemned the attack and called on the Government of Israel to take measures to ensure that the IDF and their local Lebanese auxiliary respect UNIFIL's non-combatant status.

The latest issue of the UN agency's "Africa Fact Sheet" says that as of January this year there were 6.5 million people in Africa displaced from their home, with 3.3 million of them refugees. About 2.1 million of the total are internally displaced and 1.1 million are former refugees who have recently returned home. In comparison, there were 7.2 million "people of concern" the same time a year ago.

Nearly 411,00 of the refugees are from Sierra Leone. Somalia is second with just over 400,000, followed by Sudan (370,000), Eritrea (340,000) and Burundi (300,000).

Countries hosting the largest numbers of refugees are Guinea (410,000), Sudan (390,000), Tanzania (340,000) and Ethiopia (260,000), according to the UNHCR fact sheet.

In a related development, a UN team has just returned from Sierra Leone, where it assessed the military and security situation in the country. The mission also had the task of developing a contingency plan for an expanded UN Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL), should there be a peace agreement, and determining what action UNOMSIL could take in support of a ceasefire prior to a formal peace agreement. The team's report will make up a significant part of Secretary-General Kofi Annan's report to the Security Council, which is expected to meet shortly to discuss the situation in Sierra Leone.

According to UNCTAD's most recent figures, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Russia fell to $2 billion, down from $6 billion the previous year and was the lowest since 1995. FDI flows into Central and Eastern European countries, however, reached $16 billion after totalling $13 billion the year before.

The fall-off in Russia was caused in part by the breakdown of its economy and the evaporation of privatization-related inflows -- in 1997, privatization accounted for over one-third of total inflows while there were practically none last year, UNCTAD said.

Another reason for the collapse was in the nature of inward FDI, UNCTAD said. According to 1997 stock data, less than 16 percent of investment was prompted by "efficiency-seeking motives," as investors were more attracted to Russia's natural resources and large domestic market.

FAO called on donors to support rinderpest eradication programmes to prevent the disease from making a comeback in countries where it was recently eliminated. If the programmes are successful, it would be the first time an animal disease has been eradicated and would be one of the greatest achievements in veterinary science, according to FAO.

Animal health officials suspect that cattle plague persists in three isolated areas: southern Sudan, southern Somalia and parts of Pakistan. However, within the last five years, it has occurred in far eastern Russian Federation, the southern Arabian Peninsula, and the Kurdish area along the border between Turkey and Iraq.

Rinderpest kills cattle and has a devastating impact on rural incomes, livestock production and food security, said FAO. Experts estimate that it could cost as little as $3 million to eradicate rinderpest from each of the remaining pockets through focused control action, including intensive vaccination.

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

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