United Nations Daily Highlights, 00-02-07

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

BY FRED ECKHARD

SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Monday, February 7, 2000

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KOFI ANNAN TO START ASIAN TOUR TUESDAY

At mid-day Tuesday, Secretary-General Kofi Annan will depart New York for Bangkok, Thailand, where he will have an official visit on Thursday and Friday and then attend the opening of the 10th annual meeting of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on Saturday.

On Saturday he will also address a summit meeting of the United Nations and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

On Sunday, he will begin a series of official visits, starting with Singapore. On Tuesday, February 15, he will arrive in Jakarta, Indonesia.

On Thursday, February 17, he will visit the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor, and also intends to travel to Atambua in West Timor.

He will then travel to Australia on an official visit, starting with Darwin and Sydney on February 19 and the capital, Canberra, the following day.

He will conclude the trip in Wellington, New Zealand, where he will arrive very late on February 22. He will leave New Zealand for New York on Thursday, February 24, and arrive in New York that night.

The Spokesman said that he would accompany the Secretary-General, and that in his absence, Acting Deputy Spokesman John Mills will continue to provide noon briefings, backed up by Associate Spokesman Marie Okabe.

The Spokesman said that Annan would make an address to UNCTAD, which would include the argument that international markets be opened on a fair basis to developing countries, so that they can "trade their way out of poverty rather than rely on aid and handouts."

Asked about the lack of South Asian stops on Annan's trip, Eckhard said the Secretary-General had intended to visit the region. However, the dates were not convenient for all the South Asian regions, so the Secretary-General postponed his plans for a trip to the region. He still intends to visit South Asia, the Spokesman said.

UN REPRESENTATIVE DECRIES VIOLENCE IN KOSOVO

Bernard Kouchner, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Kosovo, today denounced what he described as "the madness" that has left two Serbs and eight Albanians dead over the past few days.

Kouchner had cut short his visit to Japan to fly back to Kosovo, and went straight to Mitrovica on Sunday where he met with local Serb and Albanian leaders. He said that he was not abandoning "for one minute" the goal for a united Mitrovica and Kosovo.

Kouchner said security in Mitrovica was being reinforced with one Danish battalion in the northern part of town and one French battalion in the southern part. Two German platoons and one Military Special Unit riot platoon were also deployed in Mitrovica.

The situation in Mitrovica was reported quiet last night. A curfew is in effect from 8 p.m until 6 a.m.

The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo reported that an Albanian-owned apartment in the northern side came under grenade attack Monday afternoon, but no one was injured in the violence.

SERVICE HELD FOR MASSACRE VICTIMS IN EAST TIMOR

In East Timor, a religious service was held today in the Human Rights Centre in Dili for the victims of the Passabe massacre in the Oecussi enclave.

The week-long investigation at Passabe resulted in the exhumation of 37 bodies and another nine sets of human remains. Two other bodies were located but couldn't be recovered. Another eight bodies are believed to be buried in West Timor.

The United Nations is in the process of screening 200 former East Timorese police for assignment as part of a new Police Assistance Group. The first 50 should be deployed by the end of the month to provide advice on community and cultural matters to the UN Civilian Police during their daily duties. They will not have powers of arrest.

Portugal and Australia are helping rebuild the physical infrastructure of the court system. Portugal has sent a team to assess what would be needed to rebuild the Dili Court House and Australia's Northern Territory government has promised to send furniture for the court.

An Indonesian military aircraft landed at Dili today bringing medicine, food, clothing and education supplies provided by religious groups from Indonesia. The aircraft was made available by President Abdurrahman Wahid of Indonesia ahead of his planned visit to East Timor on February 24.

COUNCIL AUTHORIZES EXPANSION OF UN MISSION IN SIERRA LEONE

The Security Council met this morning for closed consultations on the "oil- for-food" programme for Iraq. Benon Sevan, the director of the Office of the Iraq Programme, gave a short briefing on oil spare parts and the implementation of the humanitarian programme, which had been the subject of two reports that were released in mid-January.

In his briefing, Sevan said that Iraq's oil revenue in the current phase would be around $6.6 billion. This estimate is based on the current level of contracts and current oil prices. Phase VII of the "oil-for-food" programme runs for six months from December 12.

After that briefing, the Council heard from Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations H&eacute;di Annabi on Sierre Leone.

The Council also adopted a resolution expanding the size of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone from 6,000 to 11,100 soldiers, with a number of additional responsibilities (see report).

Over the weekend, the World Bank said it would provide $130 million to speed up the pace of disarmament in Sierra Leone and help repatriate 400,000 Sierra Leone refugees currently in Guinea. The pledge came at the end of a two-day mission to Sierra Leone by officials of the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

In response to questions citing reports that UN peacekeepers in Sierra Leone were stripped of their arms, the Spokesman said the Mission was in "a delicate transitional phase," in which UN troops are replacing regional peacekeepers.

There were three incidents, he said, in which soldiers lost weapons and equipment to members of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). In two cases, he added, the incidents involved UN troops; however, the largest number of weapons taken -- some 500 rifles -- occurred in another incident, which involved a unit of regional peacekeepers.

Eckhard said he expected that the troops would be reminded that, under Chapter Seven of the UN Charter, they are allowed to use force.

ANNAN TO ADDRESS AFRICAN GROUP ON HIV/AIDS

At 2:30 p.m., the Secretary-General will address a town hall meeting about the African perspective on the HIV/AIDS, organized by the group African Amicale, a UN-based association of African staff and people concerned with African issues.

In his introductory remarks to the meeting, the Secretary-General emphasizes that "the international community is finally beginning to acknowledge the extent of the problem of AIDS in Africa. We are beginning to raise awareness and to build helpful and constructive partnerships."

He warns, however, that recent encouraging developments are not enough, adding, "Our task now is to replicate and consolidate the advances we have seen so far -- to build on them and to put together a coherent and coordinated strategy."

Other participants at the meeting are to include U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and United Nations Development Programme Administrator Mark Malloch Brown.

The Spokesman noted, in response to questions on UN responses to AIDS, that the Secretary-General has commented on the need to provide medication to Africans at affordable prices. He noted that the World Health Organisation and Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS were taking the lead in the UN response. "A number of Governments in Africa have already shown dramatic improvements in reducing the level of infections, thanks to aggressive information programs," he said.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

In response to a question on an incident in southern Sudan, the Spokesman said the United Nations is monitoring the situation, and some UN personnel are en route to the location where two pilots, one local aid worker and one UN staff member are detained.

Asked about when Hans Blix, appointed as Excutive Chairman of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) on Iraq, would take up his duties, the Spokesman said he was not expected in New York until the end of this month or early March. He will prepare for his new assignment over the next few weeks, Eckhard said, and he would also consult with the Secretary-General and Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs Jayantha Dhanapala about the composition of UNMOVIC.

Today at noon, Brazil signed on to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Brazil becomes the Statute's 94th signatory; so far, six countries have also ratified it. The Rome Statute needs to be ratified by 60 countries before the Court can enter into force.

Catherine Bertini, Executive Director of the World Food Programme, will talk to reporters outside the Security Council on Wednesday, after she briefs the Security Council in its open debate on the protection of UN and humanitarian personnel in conflict.

On Saturday, British authorities arrested Lt-Colonel Tharcisse Muvunyi, who was indicted for genocide last month by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Muvunyi, who was the Commander of a military school in Butare, Rwanda, is accused of having ordered massacres of Tutsis in 1994, and of having provided weapons to militias to kill Tutsis.

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