United Nations Daily Highlights, 99-06-23

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Wednesday, 23 June, 1999

HEADLINES

• Citing security concerns, Secretary-General postpones autonomy vote in East Timor.
• Head of UN mission in Kosovo briefs European foreign ministers.
• Secretary-General's talks with Russian leaders in Moscow focus on Kosovo and other global issues.
• UNHCR consolidates relief distribution network for Kosovo.
• Forensic experts from around world investigating alleged massacre sites in Kosovo.
• Security Council members voice concern at plight of people amid fighting between Eritrea, Ethiopia.
• Secretary-General stresses importance of focusing on "core issues" in Cyprus talks.
• UN food agency issues urgent $40 million appeal to feed 800,000 Angolans displaced by fighting.

In his biweekly report to the Security Council on East Timor, the Secretary- General says the security conditions and the "absence of a level playing field" currently do not allow for the consultation process to go forward.

Voter registration will be delayed by three weeks, to 13 July, to allow time for the deployment of UN staff throughout the territory, the Secretary- General says, and to give the Indonesian authorities "time to address the pending security concerns."

The Secretary-General says despite the relative calm in the East Timor capital of Dili, the rest of the territory, particularly the western districts, is still subject to violence. Pro-integration militias believed to be acting with the acquiescence of elements of the Indonesian army have intimidated the local population, he says.

"Militia activities continue to have a constricting effect on political freedom, silencing pro-independence activists and their supporters and forcing them into hiding, thus jeopardizing the necessary openness of the consultation process," the Secretary-General says.

According to the Secretary-General, there are also "strong indications" that local officials have used public funds to campaign against independence, contrary to the agreements signed 5 May by the United Nations, Indonesia and Portugal setting out the terms of the autonomy vote.

Talks earlier this week with senior Indonesian officials, including President B.J. Habibie, by the Secretary-General's personal envoy for East Timor, Ambassador Jamsheed Marker, and his special representative for the popular consultation, Ian Martin, were promising. "They are encouraged by the assurances received of the Indonesian Government's intention to ensure proper security condition," the Secretary-General says.

In a related development, a UN budget committee reviewing financing for the UN Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) says it will not recommend any reduction in the $52.5 million that the Secretary-General estimates the Mission will need.

While noting the time constraints that affected the preparation of the budget for UNAMET, the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) says it believes efforts should be made to achieve savings during the implementation of the operation and requests the Secretary-General to report to this General Assembly's next session.

The UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) is leading the massive international effort to restore Kosovo with assistance from the European Union (EU) and the Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE).

Mr. Vieira De Mello, who is currently heading the UN mission, met with the foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy at the new UNMIK headquarters. The top military official in Kosovo, KFOR Commander Lieutenant General Michael Jackson, also attended the meeting. The group then met separately with KLA representatives, ethnic Albanian community leaders and Serbian Archbishop Artemije.

Meanwhile, work is underway to appoint UN-chaired joint civilian commissions that will bring together Serb and ethnic Albanians to address immediate reintegration issues. At least seven commissions will deal with such issues as education, health, public utilities, justice, the economy, finance, communications, and the media.

According to a UN spokesman, the issue of funding for UNMIK's work is a top concern. Trust funds have been set up but so far remain empty. Money is urgently needed to meet the salaries of civil servants, many of whom have not been paid for more than two months. Another priority is funding for small-scale projects including repairs to damaged water supplies, mosques and churches.

On day two of his official visit, Mr. Annan met with Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, the Speaker of the Duma, Gennadi Seleznyov, and Alexander Bessmertnykh, who heads a 120-member International Council of Former Foreign Ministers.

The Secretary-General told reporters after his meeting with Mr. Ivanov that he had taken the opportunity to thank the Foreign Minister for the "absolutely essential role" the Russian Federation played in resolving the Kosovo crisis. "Without the Russian leadership and the Russian role we probably would not have an agreement today," Mr. Annan said.

"I am also very grateful for the strong support that the United Nations has received from the Russian Federation," said Mr. Annan. "Without the United Nations, without a strengthened and active United Nations, the world would be a much messier place than it is."

The Secretary-General's meeting with Mr. Stepashin focused almost exclusively on Kosovo, while discussions with Foreign Minister Ivanov touched on Kosovo, Iraq, the Middle East, Afghanistan, India-Pakistan relations and conflicts within the Commonwealth of Independent States.

During their meeting, the Secretary-General and Mr. Seleznev also touched on the situation in Kosovo and the plight of Kosovar Serb refugees.

Under an aid network designed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP), various private aid agencies will be responsible for the delivery of relief to different villages and towns.

The networks will target internally displaced persons, returning refugees and vulnerable Serbs as well as people who have never left their homes, but have had little access to food, water and other supplies during the past three months.

Four WFP helicopter flights a day are distributing emergency supplies to areas inaccessible because of landmines. UNHCR and WHO are also assessing the health care infrastructure and drawing up plans to revitalize it.

Meanwhile, despite heavy rains and huge traffic jams, more than 23,000 refugees in Albania and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia headed home on Tuesday, UNHCR reports. Close to 220,000 people have streamed back to Kosovo in just over a week.

According to a UN spokesman, UNHCR again voiced "mixed feelings" about the rush to return. While agency staff are happy to see the refugees going home, they are very anxious about the threat of landmines and security issues confronting the refugees inside Kosovo, said the spokesman. Four people, including two British soldiers and a child have been killed by landmines.

According to a UN spokesman, Dutch forensic investigators and an FBI team from the United States were deployed on Wednesday, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are sending a team on the weekend. A British team is expected to finish its work in Velika Krusa by end of weekend, before going onto another site.

Graham Blewitt, the Tribunal's Deputy Prosecutor, told reporters in the Hague that the investigators had to be careful as the situation was still dangerous and booby traps had been found.

In response to a question, Mr. Blewitt said there was some evidence of sites being destroyed. As far as possible, the destruction of sites would be documented as it could be valuable in cases where an accused claimed victims were killed in the course of a battle, in which case, any moved or changed evidence would dispute that, he said.

In a press statement, Council President Ambassador Baboucarr-Blaise I. Jagne of Gambia said Council members were greatly concerned that both countries are continuing to buy weapons while large numbers of their populations face famine. "The members of the Council remind the Governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea that it is their primary responsibility to feed their peoples," he said.

People in camps will face serious health conditions and the food situation could become critical with the expected worsening weather conditions, Ambassador Jagne said, adding that Council members requested both countries to grant humanitarian access to areas of fighting in order to help the local population.

Earlier Wednesday, the Council heard briefings by senior UN officials on the military, political and diplomatic aspects as well as the humanitarian situation of the conflict.

In a report to the Security Council reviewing the diplomatic activity the past six months by his mission of good offices in Cyprus, the Secretary- General said both parties to the "shuttle talks" conducted by his Deputy Special Representative, Ann Hercus, are participating in a constructive manner. "A major challenge is how to translate this commitment into clear, practical provisions agreed on by both sides," he said.

The Secretary-General said matters of security, distribution of powers, property and territory have been identified as the core elements of a solution and urged both sides to compromise on those issues in order to reach a peaceful settlement.

"The absence of a settlement, comfortable as the status quo may appear to some, remains a source of instability and tension," the Secretary-General said. "The young generations on both sides deserve to be given the opportunity to live peacefully and in prosperity."

The money will go toward more than 51,000 metric tonnes of emergency food aid for the most vulnerable people during September to December -- when food shortages are expected to worsen. "Unless food and cash are pledged now and the food delivered quickly, WFP's aid pipeline will be exhausted by the end of August," said Francesco Strippoli, WFP Representative in Angola.

More than half of the people displaced from their homes are out of the reach of emergency assistance and many of them are already showing signs of malnutrition due to severe food shortages, Strippoli said. "Transportation of relief food by road is impossible because of the upsurge in fighting and the high degree of insecurity in the country," he said.

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

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