United Nations Daily Highlights, 00-07-25

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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 FRED ECKHARD
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

• Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a statement issued through his Spokesman, said he was disappointed that despite strenuous efforts at the Camp David summit, the parties were not able to reach an overall agreement.

• Given the seriousness of the issues involved and their importance for reaching a comprehensive peace in the Middle East, the Secretary-General encourages Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Chairman Yasser Arafat to persist in their efforts to find compromise solutions with courage and vision, the statement said.

• Annan commended U.S. President Bill Clinton and U.S. Secretary Madeleine Albright for their extraordinary efforts to facilitate progress.

• The Secretary-General briefed the Security Council in closed consultations on the situation in southern Lebanon.

• In a letter to the Security Council President dated July 24, the Secretary General reported that as of July 24, 2000, all Israeli violations of the "Line of Withdrawal" had been corrected and that UN forces would begin their deployment along the line on Wednesday.

• In his briefing, Annan informed the Security Council that a new Israeli violation along the line had been reported this morning but that it had been fixed, and that he hoped that the deployment would proceed as planned.

• Earlier today, the Lebanese Government had informed the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy Terje Roed-Larson that it had found a new violation along the "Line of Withdrawal."

• The Security Council began consultations this morning with a briefing by Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations H&eacute;di Annabi on the latest developments in Sierra Leone. A draft resolution on the extension of the mandate of the UN mission in Sierra Leone was introduced.

• Following discussions on Lebanon during which the Secretary-General briefed, Council members heard a briefing on Georgia by the Secretary-General’s Special Representative Dieter Boden.

• Annabi also briefed the Security Council on the first combat-related death of a UN peacekeeper in East Timor in which a soldier from the New Zealand battalion of the UN peacekeeping force was killed yesterday following an exchange of gunfire with an armed group near the border with West Timor.

• The Council then met in a formal meeting and voted unanimously on the resolution extending the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) by three months.

• The Sanctions Committee on Sierra Leone will hold an exploratory hearing on July 31 and August 1 (next Monday and Tuesday) in the Trusteeship Council Chamber to assess the role of diamonds in the Sierra Leone conflict. They will also explore the link between trade in Sierra Leone diamonds and trade in arms and related material.

• Representatives of interested states and regional organizations, the diamond industry and other relevant experts will are invited.

• The hearing was requested by the Security Council in the Resolution 1306 on Sierra Leone.

• Interested states include all members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Angola, Belgium, India, Israel, Liberia, Sierra Leone and South Africa.

• The World Bank, the Organization of African Unity are among the invitees are as are the Diamond High Council, the International Diamond Manufacturer’s Association and the World Federation of Diamond Bourses.

• Individual experts in diamonds and arms are also invited.
• A list of participants should be made available by week’s end.

• The Secretary-General will hold a press conference Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. on the meeting he will host from 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on the so-called "Global Compact."
• The idea of a Global Compact was launched by the Secretary-General in January 1999, when he called on global corporations to voluntarily comply with core international standards on human rights, labor rights and the environment.

• A group of about 50 corporations has been joined by a number of international labor organizations and civil society groups.

• Wednesday, the companies will make concrete commitments to best practices in these core areas.

• The Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme have issued a joint report on food production in the UN-administrated Province of Kosovo. According to this report, the 1999/2000 cropping season has seen a sharp rise in agricultural production in the province. The current assessment shows that food crop production is on the rise and thus a further phase-down of food aid in the July-September period can continue as scheduled

• The Secretary-General today appointed Hannah Yilma Director of the UN Information Centre in Pretoria, South Africa. Replacing Yilma as Associate Spokesman is Stephane Dujarric, who has nine years' experience with ABC Television. Betty Perry-Carpenter, who has been with the Office about two years, is leaving the UN system. Her last day will be Friday. Elizabeth Phillip from the UN Press Service has finished her two-month stay with us as a temporary fill-in.

• Responding to question on the crash of the Concorde outside of Paris, the Spokesman said the Secretary General was aware of the incident but that he had not released a statement on the matter. The Spokesman added that according to the United Nations travel office no UN personnel was on the plane and that the only UN employee authorized to travel on the Concorde is the Secretary General.

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