United Nations Daily Highlights, 00-07-05

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

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE NOON BRIEFING
BY THE DEPUTY SPOKESMAN OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
MANOEL DE ALMEIDA E SILVA
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

• Secretary-General Kofi Annan is in Geneva today, where he arrived Tuesday following the conclusion of his visit to Germany. He opened the latest round of proximity talks on Cyprus this afternoon. He first met with Glafkos Clerides and then with Rauf Denktash to resume the proximity talks that began last December.

• The Secretary-General believes that the process of these talks must move on from here in an earnest way. He will be encouraging the parties to engage in a continuous and intensified process of discussion that will enable them to engage in a detailed examination of the main issues.

• Today, before the talks began, Alvaro de Soto, the Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Cyprus, who also participated in the talks, told reporters that, while earlier sessions of the talks had tackled the core issues, the negotiation process had not begun. He hoped the latest session would see the beginning of negotiations.

• The Secretary-General will leave Geneva on Wednesday and de Soto will continue to chair the talks after Annan's departure.

• Among other meetings in Geneva, the Secretary-General met with Kamel Morjane, his Special Representative for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, this morning, and on Tuesday afternoon with his Special Representative for the Balkans, Carl Bildt.

• On Tuesday, the Secretary-General met in Berlin with Angela Merkel, chair of the Christian Democratic Union and leader of the opposition. He then joined Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to open "URBAN 2000," a conference on the future of cities hosted by the German Government. Noting that two-thirds of the world's population will be living in urban centers within 25 years, the Secretary-General focused attention on the growing number of the urban poor.

• On Tuesday afternoon, troops from the Jordanian and Indian contingents of the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) moved into the town of Masiaka, about 50 kilometers east of Freetown, in response to reports of fighting there between Sierra Leone Government forces and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF).

• The deployment followed reports of fighting Monday night in the town involving RUF combatants. On Tuesday morning, UN Force Commander Vijay Jetley conducted an aerial reconnaissance of the Masiaka area and decided to deploy troops from the Quick Reaction Company and from Indian and Jordanian mechanized companies.

• After exchanging fire with the RUF, the UN troops moved into Masiaka by Tuesday afternoon, and the Force Commander went on UNAMSIL Radio at about 5 p.m. local time to say that Masiaka was firmly under the control of the UN Mission. No casualties were reported.

• The rest of Sierra Leone is described today as calm, but humanitarian workers in particular are worried that recent RUF activity in Masiaka and other areas could pose a threat to the large number of displaced persons in the area of Mile 91.

• There is no change in the status of the 222 Indian peacekeepers and 11 military observers surrounded by the RUF at Kailahun.

• At 4:30 this afternoon, the Security Council will resume its closed consultations on a draft resolution concerning a ban on trade in rough diamonds from Sierra Leone, with a view to a formal meeting to vote on the resolution once the consultations are concluded.

• At noon, the Security Council began its informal consultations on the program of work for this month, following bilateral consultations by the Council President for the month of July, Ambassador Patricia Durrant of Jamaica.

• On Monday afternoon, the Council held consultations to hear a briefing by the Chief of the UN Cartographic Section, Miklos Pinther, on Lebanon.

• On Thursday, the Council is expected to hear briefings on recent developments in Afghanistan and Haiti.

• The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) began its 2000 substantive session this morning with the opening of its High-Level Segment on the role of information technology in the global economy.

• Addressing the opening session, Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fr&eacute;chette stated that with strong partnerships, appropriate resources and political will, the digital divide could and would be bridged. The President of ECOSOC, Ambassador Makarim Wibisono of Indonesia, opened the session and U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers gave the keynote address. Fr&eacute;chette and Wibisono attended the opening of the "Information Technology for the World" exhibit, which is on view in the basement.

• The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in a press release Tuesday, urged the information technology industry to put its talents to work for the betterment of the world’s refugees, and the United Nations Volunteers Programme (UNV) also issued a press release on the launching of a United Nations Information Technology Service (UNITeS) web site to mobilize volunteers to help bridge the technological divide between developed and developing countries.

• The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo today announced the withdrawal of Ugandan troops from Kisangani. Ugandan and Rwandan troops had agreed to withdraw from the city following a week of pitched battles in June.

• According to the mission, four Ugandan battalions had withdrawn to the city of Banalia, about 100 kilometers north of Kisangani. The Rwandan troop withdrawal was confirmed by the UN Mission on June 21.

• Troops belonging to the Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD) still remain in Kisangani, in violation of the latest Security Council resolution calling for the demilitarization of the city, the UN Mission says.

• According to the Mission, the Ugandans said they took with them rebels from the Congolese Liberation Movement (MLC). The UN Mission could not confirm this information.

• The UN team dispatched to Ethiopia and Eritrea by the Secretary-General to develop a concept of operations for a UN peacekeeping operation has arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to begin the first leg of its trip.

• The seven-member team is expected to travel later this week to Asmara, Eritrea.

• Meanwhile, preparations for the deployment of liaison officers to the two capitals to assist in the planning are underway.

• Sidney Jones, Head of the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor’s Human Rights Unit, told reporters on the occasion of the completion of her mission in East Timor that an estimated 1,000 to 1,200 people died during last year's violence. A more accurate estimate could be given as the investigation proceeds and the forensic work continues, she added.

• The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that aid workers on Tuesday resumed relief activities at the refugee camps in West Timor’s Kupang area, which had been suspended for two weeks following assaults on UNHCR staff and refugees. During a meeting on Monday, the provincial governor announced acceptance of UNHCR’s proposals to secure workers and refugees against pro-Indonesian elements opposing repatriation to East Timor. The measures include police taking charge of security in the camps and maintaining a 24-hour presence.

• A seven-member multinational team from King’s College Centre for Defense Studies, London University, will on Saturday begin an independent study on the future of the security forces of East Timor.

• Deputy Secretary General Louise Fr&eacute;chette will greet U.S. President Bill Clinton this afternoon at 3 p.m. today and will speak at an event at UN headquarters, where Clinton will sign two Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, dealing with the use of children in armed conflicts and child prostitution. The protocol dealing with children and armed conflict has been signed by seven nations before today, and the protocol on child prostitution was signed by five nations. Both need to be ratified by 10 countries before they can enter into force.

• In her remarks, the Deputy Secretary-General is expected to thank the Unites States for signing these protocols and also to say that "it is our hope that in due time the United States will be also ratify these protocols, and of course, ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child."

• On Friday, 30 June, the Russian Federation deposited its instruments of ratification with the Secretary-General to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. To date, 59 countries have ratified the treaty.

• According to the regular weekly update on the "oil-for-food" program, Iraq last week exported 10.4 million barrels of oil for an estimated revenue of around $282 million. The revenue for Phase VIII of the program, which began on June 9, is now over $1 billion.

• In an effort to tackle growing hunger caused by one of Kenya’s worst droughts in recorded history, the World Food Programme today urgently appealed for $88 million to feed 3.3 million Kenyans until the end of the year.

• The United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention issued a report on the visit by its Executive Director, Pino Arlacchi, to Turkey, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, as well as a note on his current visit to Italy.

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