United Nations Daily Highlights, 01-04-09

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

FROM THE NOON BRIEFING

BY FRED ECKHARD

SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Monday, April 9, 2001

ANNAN UNDERSCORES NEED FOR PARTIES IN MIDDLE EAST TO TALK

Secretary-General Kofi Annan returned to UN Headquarters today after concluding a two-week trip, and answered questions from reporters on Afghanistan, the Middle East, the US-China dispute, the Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia  in The Hague.

On the Middle East, he said, "I know there are those who believe that as long as the violence is going on, one should not talk. I personally disagree with that." He added, "I think that is one more reason to talk, and it underscores the urgency of bringing the parties together."

Asked if he thought it was time for him to get involved in the US-China dispute, he said that the two Governments seem to be talking directly, and then added, "But if my good offices are needed, I'm always available. "

He was then asked, "How do two big powers say they are sorry?" He responded, "I think they will find a way."

The Secretary-General will brief the Security Council on his recent visit to Jordan, Switzerland and Kenya over lunch Tuesday.

SECURITY COUNCIL BRIEFED ON UN MISSION'S PROGRESS IN KOSOVO

After closed consultations on its program of work this morning, the Security Council went into a public meeting to hear a briefing from Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean Marie Guehenno on Kosovo.

Guehenno, who had visited Kosovo last week, told the Council that the UN Mission in Kosovo has continued to move forward with its key priorities, despite the adverse effects of conflicts in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and in southern Serbia.

He said that progress on the legal framework should allow the holding of Kosovo-wide elections this year and that serious measures to tackle law and other are beginning to bear fruit. He added that increased cooperation and dialogue with the authorities in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia "will pave the way for progress in the key areas of security and return that have so far blocked Kosovo Serb participation in integrated structures."

He noted that the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Kosovo, Hans Haekkerup, met Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica for the second time last Thursday, and that they agreed to identify areas where Kosovo Serb returns can be realistically accomplished.

Kostunica also assured Haekkerup that outstanding cases of Kosovo Albanians detained in Serbia proper would soon be resolved; last month, amnesty provisions passed in Belgrade allowed for the release of about 218 of the 662 Kosovo Albanians detained in Serbian prisons.

The Council debate included, as a new procedure this month, an interactive debate in which non-Council members can have members of the Council bring up their questions during the course of the briefing.

The meeting began with a moment of silence to mark the seventh anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda.

On Tuesday, the Council expects to hear a briefing on the situation along the borders of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, by Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahima Fall, who just returned from heading a mission to West Africa.

KFOR HELICOPTER CRASHES IN SOUTHERN KOSOVO

A British Kosovo Force (KFOR) helicopter went down five kilometers west of Kacinik in southern Kosovo near the border with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) this afternoon. The exact nature of the helicopter's mission was not known.

Seven people were on board, all of them KFOR personnel. KFOR says that there are likely to have been casualties, but no details have been confirmed yet.

The UN Mine Action Coordination Center of Kosovo reports that two national staff of the non-governmental organization Halo Trust were involved in an incident Friday involving a cluster bomb unit. One of the two workers was killed in the incident in Grebnik in the west. The other was seriously injured and remains in a hospital today. Halo Trust says that the problem of contamination resulting from NATO cluster bomb strikes remains a major problem.

UN MISSION CONDEMNS FRIDAY VIOLENCE IN HERZEGOVINA

The UN Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina ( UNMIBH) reports today that the situation in the country is calm and quiet, and that all UN personnel are back at work throughout Herzegovina, where several areas were the sites of violent demonstrations by Bosnian Croats last Friday.

In those demonstrations, which followed the decision by High Representative Wolfgang Petritsch to appoint a provisional administrator for the Herzegovacka Bank, one UN police officer was among the international personnel who were beaten by demonstrators; he was slightly injured. Another UN officer was among some international personnel who were briefly detained, and then let go later Friday, by Bosnian Croats in the town of Grude.

The United Nations is continuing an investigation into the performance of local police during Friday's violence.

In a statement issued today, the Secretary-General's Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jacques Klein, condemned the orchestrated violence. He said, "Instead of supporting the thugs attacking the international officials sent to stabilize the bank and protect the people's money, the police should have done their job and upheld the law."

He added that Bosnian Croats "are being manipulated by a leadership that is afraid of losing power and credibility, and seeks to play the nationalist card to mask its own interests."

NEW SPEAKER ELECTED FOR NATIONAL COUNCIL IN EAST TIMOR

The UN Transitional Administration in East Timor ( UNTAET) reports that Manuel Carrascalão, the business representative in East Timor's National Council, was elected Speaker of that body today -- replacing Xanana Gusmão, who announced his resignation from that post on March 28.

Carrascalão won the post after he and the other candidate for Speaker of the Council, José Ramos Horta of the National Council of Timorese Resistance, tied each other in a secret ballot among Council members. Each candidate received 13 votes in that secret ballot, with one ballot paper left blank. Following that ballot, Ramos Horta withdrew his name from consideration.

Carrascalão told the Council, following the vote, that he would accept the responsibility and, as Speaker, would act in accordance with the will of the majority. The vote had only been held after an effort to delay it until mid-May failed, with a vote of 11 in favor, 13 against and two abstentions.

FRECHETTE ASSURED OF COOPERATION BY SIERRA LEONE REBELS

The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) assured Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette of its desire to cooperate with the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) during a brief meeting on Friday in Lunsar, a formerly RUF-held town where UN troops are now deployed.

The RUF also dismantled three checkpoints between Lunsar and Rogberi, just hours after the Deputy Secretary-General urged it to do so, to demonstrate its commitment to the peace process.

Also last weekend, a march for peace was held by women throughout Sierra Leone, including in at least one RUF-held town.

WORKSHOP ON AFFORDABLE DRUGS BEGINS IN NORWAY

A four-day workshop on affordable drugs for developing countries, organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Trade Organization began today in Hosbjor, Norway.

Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General of WHO, Peter Piot, Executive Director of the Joint UN Programme against HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and Adrian Otten, Director of the Intellectual Property Division of WTO addressed the opening session this morning. The workshop will analyse factors related to the financing and differential pricing of essential drugs.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Asked about dates for the next round of UN-Iraq talks in New York, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General and the Government of Iraq are still discussing dates in May. The Secretary-General earlier had proposed some dates in early May, while the Iraqis had sought dates later in the month.

In response to a question on a one-year extension of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson's term, the Spokesman noted that her present terms last until September. The Secretary-General would now have to nominate her for one additional year, and the General Assembly would have to approve it.

The Office of the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan reported today that food stocks are dwindling in that country's northeastern region. UN assessment teams found that food stocks are nearing exhaustion, and may be completely exhausted in a month, at the latest.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today released a report, "Food Supply Situation and Crop Prospects in Sub-Saharan Africa," which states that there are 28 million people facing severe food shortages in Africa. Eastern Africa is particularly hard hit, with 18 million people affected in that region, and food assistance continues to be necessary in Eastern Africa and the Great Lakes region.

Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), said today that a more complete picture of the roles and interactions of greenhouse gases, aerosols and ozone are urgently needed. Toepfer was briefed in Kathmandu on the Indian Ocean Experiment and was told that the brown haze, which forms over much of Asia in the dry season, is reducing the amount of sunlight reaching the surface by as much as 10 percent. The haze could cause health problems and affect crop yield and rainfall patterns.

Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General United Nations, S-378 New York, NY 10017 Tel. 212-963-7162 Fax. 212-963-7055

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