United Nations Daily Highlights, 00-02-10

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

BY JOHN MILLS

ACTING DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Thursday, February 10, 2000

UNICEF ANNOUNCES END OF HOSTAGE SITUATION IN SUDAN

Negotiations have produced a breakthrough in the hostage situation in southern Sudan.

In an announcement following the noon briefing, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported that the four people who had been detained at Old Fangak in Sudan on February 3 have been released. The four had been on a routine mission to look into reports of a burning village when they were detained.

UNICEF reported that three of the four have been flown on a UN aircraft to the base of Operation Lifeline Sudan, a consortium of UN agencies providing humanitarian assistance, at Lokichokio in northern Kenya. The flight touched down at 21:38 p.m. local time.

The three are a U.S. national who is a staff member of UNICEF and two Kenyan pilots. The fourth person, a Sudanese national, is now at Malakal -- about 150 kilometers from Old Fangak.

UNICEF reports that the men looked exhausted but "OK," and that they are receiving medical attention.

ANNAN BEGINS OFFICIAL VISIT TO THAILAND

Secretary-General Kofi Annan began his official visit to Thailand today with an hour-long meeting with Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai. Annan said he was looking forward to the first meeting ever between the United Nations and members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), which is the only regional organization that does not have formal ties with the United Nations.

The Secretary-General, in his meeting, recalled a phone conversation he had with the Prime Minister last year, "when East Timor was burning," as he put it. He thanked the Prime Minister for the speed with which Thailand had deployed 1,000 troops to East Timor.

The Prime Minister raised the issue of refugees in Thailand, mainly from Cambodia, Laos and most recently from Myanmar. The Secretary-General urged Thailand to continue to offer asylum to those fleeing oppression.

In a toast before lunch, the Secretary-General praised the "remarkable job" Thailand has done to climb out of the deep recession it faced two years ago, and suggested that Thai economic reforms could serve as a model for other nations.

In the afternoon, the Secretary-General and his wife Nane traveled two hours outside Bangkok to Klai Kangwol Palace for a private audience with King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The 72-year-old King has been on the throne for 50 years and is the world's longest-serving monarch. Throughout that time, he has been a stabilizing presence on the Thai political scene and a force for progressive change in the country.

The Spokesman said that the Secretary-General expects to meet with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen during his visit to Thailand. Annan is "looking forward to a constructive exchange with the Prime Minister," he said.

UN MISSION WINS RELEASE OF CHILDREN IN SIERRA LEONE

The United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone has successfully negotiated the release of another group of 15 children from the Occra Hills area, 65 to 70 miles northeast of Freetown. The group comprised 11 boys and 4 girls between the ages of 8 and 15, all of them in apparently good physical condition.

Eight of them said they had fought with rebels and were taken to a child soldiers' disarmament camp in Lungi. The other children abductees were taken to child care center. All of them had been behind rebel lines for more than a year.

So far, 81 children have been released this year. The UN mission was promised by the rebels that a larger group of children might be released on Friday.

Asked about Guinean soldiers who had been disarmed in Sierra Leone, the Spokesman noted that those soldiers had not yet joined the UN Mission and were not under UN control. He said that the United Nations would not accept the disarming of its soldiers and that rebel leaders must also live up to their side of the Lom&eacute; peace agreement.

SECURITY COUNCIL DISCUSSES CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

At 10:30 this morning, the Security Council went into closed consultations on the subject of the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic, the mandate of which is set to expire on Tuesday, February15. The Council today is considering a draft Presidential Statement on the Mission, and may go into a formal meeting to adopt that Statement following its consultations.

Under "other matters," the Council heard a briefing by Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations H&eacute;di Annabi on the situations in Kosovo and Lebanon.

No Council meetings are expected for Friday.

INTERNATIONAL FORCE NOTES SECURITY CONCERNS IN TIMOR ENCLAVE

The latest report on the International Force in East Timor (INTERFET), issued today as a Security Council document by the United Nations and covering the period from December 10 until the end of January, previewed the hand-over from the Force to the United Nations Transitional Authority. That hand-over, which is already underway, will be completed by the end of this month.

The report suggested that the problems posed by militia groups are generally coming under control, but it warned that security in the Oecussi enclave will be a high priority for the UN force. The report notes the cross-border nature of security problems in the enclave and says the matter will need to be resolved primarily by the Government of Indonesia. Wednesday, INTERFET has reported the arrest by Indonesian authorities of a militia leader implicated in at least some of the raids.

Overall, INTERFET concluded that the security situation in East Timor, with the exception of the border areas of Oecussi, remains benign.

UN REPRESENTATIVE TO VISIT REGROUPMENT CAMP IN BURUNDI

The Representative of the Secretary-General for Internally Displaced Persons, Francis Deng, is in Burundi, and hopes to visit a former regroupment site in Bujumbura Rurale on Friday. This follows independent confirmation that the Burundian authorities have dismantled the camp, which had held 4,800 people.

Last week, the Government of Burundi announced its intention to begin to dismantle regroupment camps, starting this week. There are at present a total of 53 camps with more than 320,000 people in the province of Bujumbura Rurale.

Deng is visiting Burundi from February 6 to 11 to follow up on his last visit, which was in 1994. He expressed his strong opposition to forced relocation in Burundi. The Secretary-General referred to the regroupment policy as "inhuman" during the Security Council debate on Burundi last month.

In response to questions, the Spokesman noted that other UN agencies, including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, have maintained their presence in Burundi.

UN TO SEND ELECTORAL TEAM TO TAJIKISTAN

The United Nations will deploy an electoral expert team to Tajikistan to monitor the forthcoming parliamentary elections, which will be held on February 27. Those elections mark the completion of the transition phase envisaged under the peace agreement between the Tajik Government and the United Tajik Opposition, signed in June 1997.

The expert team will monitor the electoral process jointly with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe observation mission, which is already deployed in the country. Its activities will be supported by the United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan.

UN SYSTEM PROVIES FOR ASIAN TYPHOON NAMES

Thanks to the work of two UN agencies, the next time that typhoons sweep across eastern Asia, they will bear Asian names like "Usagi" or "Kirogi," instead of Western names like "Ted" and "Gloria."

Previously, the names of tropical cyclones in East Asia were determined by the United States Army and Navy Joint Typhoon Warning Centre, based in Guam.

The World Meteorological Organisation, however, has in its recent regional expert meetings asked for each region to provide its own list of names for such weather patterns. A typhoon committee organized by the World Meteorological Organisation and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific has come out with a new list of names for Asian typhoons, including contributions from 14 Member States in the region.

The names include "Damrey," the Cambodian word for elephant; "Usagi," the Japanese word for rabbit; and "Kirogi," a North Korean type of wild goose. For a list of names, click here.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

In response to questions on Iraq's response to the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), the Spokesman noted that the Executive Chairman of UNMOVIC, Dr. Hans Blix, will have to take up his duties and report to the Secretary-General on the composition of the Commission. Only then, he said, would there be a mechanism for inspections. He declined to respond to the comments made by Iraq.

At 10:30 this morning, Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy signed the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, making Canada the 12th country to sign the treaty. The Convention needs to be ratified by 22 countries before it can enter into force.

The International Court of Justice issued a press release on the composition of the Court's Chambers and Committees for the rest of the year.

The International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea issued a press release providing details on their ruling on Monday to allow a Panamanian fishing vessel, which had been detained by France at R&eacute;union Island, to be released on a bond of eight million French francs ($1.2 million).

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