United Nations Daily Highlights, 99-07-23

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Friday, 23 July, 1999

HEADLINES

• In meeting with head of UN mission in Kosovo, German Chancellor pledges additional police for UN operation.
• Top UN humanitarian official says UN on track in setting up its operations in Kosovo.
• Security Council to authorize deployment of military liaison personnel in Democratic Republic of Congo.
• Secretary-General expresses condolences to Moroccan people on death of King Hassan.
• UN food agency approves $106 million operation for refugees and displaced people in Africa.
• UN, Operation Lifeline Sudan agencies urge extension of humanitarian ceasefire in Sudan.
• UN mission in Angola receives confirmation of mass graves.

During the meeting with Dr. Kouchner, who as the Secretary-General's Special Representative leads the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Chancellor Schroeder reiterated his country's commitment to provide personnel for service with the UN International Police.

In accordance with a plan outlined by Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 12 July, the UN civilian police force is being now rapidly deployed in numbers that a high-ranking UN official has described as "unprecedented" for a mission of this type.

In their discussions, Dr. Kouchner and the German Chancellor focused on progress in setting up UNMIK, establishing its authority and in assessing requirements for the civil administration. They also discussed rehabilitation and reconstruction in the province.

Chancellor Schroeder is the first Western head of government to visit Kosovo since the end of NATO's bombing campaign.

Sergio Vieira de Mello, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs who until recently led the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), was speaking at a news conference in Geneva where he briefed the Economic and Social Council on the latest developments in Kosovo.

Highlighting some of the challenges the UN Mission was encountering in Kosovo, he said the UN civilian police was not a classic UN monitoring force, but one that would wield executive power. Some countries, he noted, were unwilling to deploy police forces that performed executive tasks and bore arms.

"It is a combination of factors and it is unfair to say the UN has been slow," Mr. Vieira de Mello said, commenting on reports that the Organization has not been deploying international police fast enough.

Unlike the military, the United Nations did not have standby regiments of civil police, civil administrators or lawyers who could be deployed in short order, he said, adding that policemen would be arriving at the end of the week at the rate of 100 every five days.

Briefing the Economic and Social Council earlier in the day, Mr. Vieira de Mello said despite the challenges in Kosovo he was optimistic about the prospects for peace and democracy in the province.

The Council also heard from Dennis McNamara, Deputy Special Representative for Humanitarian Affairs with UNMIK, who described the rapid return of more than 700,000 refugees as an unequivocal vote of confidence in the future of Kosovo. He said more effort was needed to deliver materials to repair some 70,000 damaged or destroyed houses, but the most important need was to stem the cycle of violence and revenge in Kosovo.

In a press statement, Council members said they had finalized their consultations on a draft resolution authorizing the deployment of the military liaison personnel who would also begin planning for a UN role in the implementation of the Ceasefire Agreement, once it is signed by all parties.

In the statement, Council members once again strongly urged the Congolese rebel movements to take the first step in the process of peace and national reconciliation by signing the agreement without further delay.

"During a reign of almost four decades, the King made his country a rock of stability and prosperity in a turbulent region of the world," Mr. Annan said in a statement.

Above all, King Hassan's legacy will be that of a leader who brought his people into the modern age while upholding respect and reverence for its ancient and glorious Islamic and Maghrebi traditions, the Secretary- General said. By serving as a bridge of peace between different nations and cultures, he made Morocco a bridge of understanding and cooperation between Europe and Africa, North and South, East and West.

Morocco will enter a new century with a new King, said the Secretary- General. "I wish Crown Prince Sidi Mohamed the courage and wisdom of his father as he leads his people to a new era of peace and stability."

The one-year operation, which starts this month, will provide emergency food aid to war-affected people in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana. According to WFP, hundreds of thousands of people in the region have been forced to flee their homes and are either refugees or internally displaced with little access to food. Most can only survive with international support.

"For the last 10 years, Liberia and Sierra Leone have been in the grip of violent civil wars and unrest which have left the region in almost non-stop turmoil," said WFP's Paul Ares, the regional manager for West African coastal countries.

With the newly-approved operation, WFP will continue feeding Liberian and Sierra Leonean refugees in Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana until they are repatriated. Internally displaced people in Sierra Leone will continue to receive WFP assistance until next June. In Liberia, the agency will help reconstruct schools and rebuild roads and bridges to make vast areas of the country accessible to humanitarian agencies.

The UN and OLS agencies called on both the Government and the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) to formally agree, on an urgent basis, to an extension of the humanitarian ceasefire which expired on 15 July.

The Sudanese Government and the SPLM/A were urged to agree to the extension in recognition of the fragile situation of affected civilians, particularly women and children, who would have to rely on humanitarian assistance in the coming months.

Spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva told a news briefing in New York that according to Angolan Government sources, some 100 bodies were found in four water-holes in the commune of Chipeta, by villagers involved in a garbage collection operation.

These sources were unable to confirm the dates of the alleged mass killings or the exact number of victims, said the spokesman. All flights to the province have been cancelled due to the deteriorating military situation there.

"It is therefore not possible at this time for our people on the ground to visit the area," Mr. de Almeida e Silva said.

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

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