United Nations Daily Highlights, 01-03-12

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

BY MANOEL DE ALMEIDA E SILVA

DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Monday, March 12, 2001

ANNAN TO AFGHAN REFUGEES: WE WILL NOT FORGET YOU

Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived this evening in Katmandu, Nepal, after having concluded his visit to Pakistan by visiting the Shamshatoo refugee camp in northern Pakistan, which has served as the temporary home to some 70,000 Afghan refugees.

After walking through the camp the Secretary-General met with local elders and thanked them for cooperating with UN aid workers in the camp. He told them, "We are doing our best to get as much assistance to you as possible, both here in Pakistan and Afghanistan for those who are in need and are displaced. We will not forget you."

The Secretary-General said at a press conference that "what is important is the discussion I had with the Government yesterday, where they will work with us to help the refugees in this country, which would also mean that we have to create conditions that will make their lives bearable until such time as they are able to return". He added, "We are going to help the displaced people within Afghanistan and expand our activities within that country so that they do not have an inducement to want to leave their country or cross the border to come here."

The Secretary-General left Shamshatoo by helicopter going closer to the Afghanistan border and stopping at the entry to the Khyber Pass. There he encountered a 20-truck convoy of the World Food Programme (WFP) that was on its way to deliver 300 tons of wheat flour to a bakery project in Kabul. The WFP today also launched an appeal for a $76-million emergency operation to save millions of people in Afghanistan from starvation, which will target 3.8 million people for one year.

The Pakistani government cancelled a planned visit by the Secretary-General to the Jalozai camp.

On Sunday, the first day of his visit to Pakistan, the Secretary-General met with President Mohammad Rafiq Tarar, with whom he discussed the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and the plight of Afghan refugees in Pakistan. He also met with Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar, and the situation of Afghan refugees was again the main topic of discussion.

On leaving the Foreign Ministry, the Secretary-General was met by a group of Kashmiri women who presented him with a written request to look into human rights violations in Kashmir.

TALIBAN CONFIRMS DESTRUCTION OF ARTIFACTS IT DEEMS OFFENSIVE

The Secretary-General, in the late afternoon Sunday, met with the Taliban "Foreign Minister" Wakil Ahmed Mutawakil with whom he raised the issue of the Taliban decree to destroy all pre-Islamic statues in Afghanistan.

Mutawakil confirmed the wholesale destruction of artifacts in Afghanistan deemed offensive to Islam.

The Secretary-General pressed the Taliban official on this issue, warning that the action would only make it more difficult for the Taliban to win international recognition.

UNESCO Executive Director Koichiro Matsuura condemned the Talibans destruction of Buddhas of Bamiyan and described it as a crime against culture.

ANNAN HOLDS WIDE-RANGING TALKS WITH PAKISTANI LEADER

Sunday evening, the Secretary-General met with Pakistans Chief Executive, Gen. Pervez Musharraf. In talks that lasted over an hour, the two discussed the situation in Kashmir, the political and humanitarian aspects of the Afghanistan issue, Pakistans transition to democracy, the Middle East, Iraq and nuclear proliferation.

He delivered a short address, in the form of a toast, that evening when he was the guest of honor at a dinner hosted by Musharraf. He praised Pakistan's contribution to peacekeeping and said, "I wish you well in your initiative to start with political devolution as a way to ensure that a renewed democracy will derive legitimacy and lasting support from the grass roots."

Also on Sunday, Nane Annan, the Secretary-General's wife, visited a rural health center at Tarlai, near Islamabad, where she met with children being vaccinated from polio and administered polio drops to some 10 children. She also visited the National Institute for Health in Islamabad.

ANNAN NAMES PANEL ON AFGHANISTAN SANCTIONS

In a letter that was issued today, the Secretary-General provided the Security Council President with the names of a committee of experts on Afghanistan sanctions, which he was requested to establish in Resolution 1333.

The five-member committee of experts, which is to be chaired by Ambassador Haile Menkerios of Eritrea, was set up to see how the arms embargo and the closure of terrorist training camps demanded in the resolution can be monitored.

SECURITY COUNCIL TO DISCUSS UN MISSION IN CONGO

The Security Council has scheduled closed consultations at 4 p.m. today on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Council members expect to be briefed by Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean Marie Guéhenno on recent developments there.

The UN Mission in the DRC issued a statement today deploring recent cease-fire violations in Equateur Province, including a Sunday attack on a river ferry in the Bolomba area in which some 20 people were wounded.

The Secretary-Generals Special Representative Kamel Morjane and Force Commander Gen. Mountaga Diallo appealed for all parties to refrain from action that could jeopardize the disengagement of troops and deployment of UN forces.

Meanwhile, special human rights rapporteur for the DRC Roberto Garreton has begun his mission to the Congo.

YUGOSLAV NATIONAL SURRENDERS TO TRIBUNAL

The former mayor of the Bosnian town of Bosanski Samac today became the first Yugoslav national to turn himself over to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at The Hague.

Blagoje Simic was indicted by the Tribunal, along with five others, for war crimes committed in Bosanski Samac in 1992. He met today with Tribunal Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte shortly after arriving in The Hague.

In a statement issued today, Del Ponte said, "This is an unconditional surrender. No negotiation took place; no special conditions were granted." She added that, although Simic's surrender to the Tribunal, which was carried out with the knowledge and approval of the authorities in Serbia, is an "encouraging signal," she still expects the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to take positive action on the arrest and transfer of those indicted by the Tribunal.

UN REPRESENTATIVE IN KOSOVO TO TRAVEL TO NEW YORK

The Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Kosovo, Hans Haekkerup, will be in town starting Wednesday, and he will meet with the Security Council on Friday. The Kosovo Force (KFOR) Commander, Lieut. Gen. Carlo Cabigiosu will not come to New York, contrary to previous plans.

Meanwhile, the border between Kosovo and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia remains closed to commercial traffic.

UNRWA CHIEF URGES ARAB NATIONS FOR SUPPORT

Today in Cairo, Peter Hansen, Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), warned the foreign ministers of the League of Arab States that his agency needs urgent funding because its financial situation "has reached rock bottom."

Hansen noted that the Relief and Works Agency currently spends only about $70 for every Palestinian refugee it assists, down from about $200 per refugee in the 1970s.

He particularly drew attention to economic needs in the West Bank and Gaza, where unemployment has soared to more than 40 percent today, and for which the Agency launched a new emergency appeal for $37 million in late February. So far, he said, there has been little response to the latest appeal.

He noted that, during the recent crisis, some refugee shelters and schools have been severely damaged, while some Agency vehicles and staff were shot at in broad daylight when their UN markings were clearly visible. Nevertheless, Hansen added, the Agency has managed to provide emergency food aid to more than 200,000 needy families in Gaza and the West Bank.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

There is a meeting of troop contributors to the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea today at 3 p.m., and the Secretary-General's Special Representative, Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, will be present. On Tuesday, the Security Council will hold consultations on the Mission, on which it will receive a briefing by Legwaila, who also expects to talk to the press immediately following the Council's consultations.

The Executive Director of the UN Population Fund, Thoraya Obeid, is in London today on her first official visit there. Her visit began with a meeting with Clare Short, Secretary of State for International Development, and she will also attend a meeting on population and development at the House of Commons today.

The Commission on Sustainable Development today began its inter-sessional meeting on "information for decisions" today. As part of this week's events on sustainable development, Australia's delegation is organizing an event Tuesday on case studies concerning knowledge-gathering on environmental issues, from 1:15 to 2:45 p.m. in the Economic and Social Council Chamber.

The World Food Programme (WFP) today appealed to donors to fund a $2.7-million operation to feed nearly 700,000 internally displaced persons and refugees in Uganda over the next several months.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned today that excessive hunting is causing the population of wild animals to dwindle and is creating a crisis in the supply of "bushmeat."

The UN Volunteers program noted the efforts of 20 UN volunteers to help assess needs and coordinate relief efforts following the flooding in central Mozambique.

Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

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