United Nations Daily Highlights, 01-07-25

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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON

BRIEFING

BY FRED ECKHARD

SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Wednesday, July 25, 2001

(Press "Ctrl

SECURITY COUNCIL MEETS ON LEBANON AND GEORGIA

The Security Council met in closed consultations today to review recently issued reports by the Secretary-General on two peacekeeping operations the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (

PRIVATE HREF="http://www.un.org/Depts/DPKO/Missions/unifil/unifil_body.htm" MACROBUTTON HtmlResAnchor UNIFIL

UNIFIL) and the UN Observer mission in Georgia ( UNOMIG

PRIVATE HREF="http://www.un.org/Depts/DPKO/Missions/unomig/unomig_body.htm" MACROBUTTON HtmlResAnchor UNOMIG ). The Secretary-General requested six-month extensions for both missions.

Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guéhenno first introduced the report on UNIFIL and took questions on that item. He then introduced the Georgia report.

[Under other matters, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Kieran Prendergast, briefed Council members on the Burundi peace process.]

NEW REPORT SAYS LAST SIX MONTHS IN EAST TIMOR MOST PRODUCTIVE

The Secretary-General's latest report on the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (

PRIVATE HREF="http://www.un.org/peace/etimor/etimor.htm" MACROBUTTON HtmlResAnchor UNTAET

UNTAET) was issued today. It called the past six months a most productive period, during which the East Timorese people made broad advances on the path to independence and self-government. He added that, while a number of serious incidents have occurred, the overall security situation in East Timor has been stable.

The Secretary-General also noted the preparations for the August 30 elections to the Constituent Assembly, in which 1,138 party and independent candidates were registered by the June 23 deadline.

The report also detailed the shape of the international presence that is to remain in East Timor after it attains independence, and calls for a maintenance of both a military and civilian presence in the post-independence period.

The Secretary-General said that, as long as militia groups are not disbanded by the Government of Indonesia, there will be a need for a United Nations force to continue, in close coordination with the Government of East Timor, to maintain a secure environment. He recommended that a strong combat force should be deployed at its current level in East Timor's border regions and in the Oecussi enclave. However, the level of peacekeepers could be reduced in eastern and central East Timor if the situation remains stable there.

The civilian component of the successor mission would include the essential elements of a sizable operation headed by a Special Representative of the Secretary-General, including a small political office. Meanwhile, in the early days after independence, it will be necessary to maintain within the mission a small team of professionals in various fields, to continue the work of "Timorisation" and skills transfer.

The Security Council intends to consider the report next Monday, when it will hold an open briefing on East Timor, at which the Secretary-General's Special Representative, Sergio Vieira de Mello, is expected to speak.

CROATIAN GENERAL SURRENDERS TO TRIBUNAL

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia ( ICTY) today confirmed that Croatian General Rahim Ademi voluntarily handed himself into the custody of the Tribunal.

After his arrival in the Netherlands, the non-disclosure order on his indictment was lifted. Ademi is charged with crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war. He is expected to make his first appearance before the Tribunal tomorrow afternoon.

Ademi served in the Ministry of the Interior of Croatia from 1991 and as Acting Commander of the Gospic military district in September 1993. He is accused of the persecution and killing of Serb civilians and surrendered soldiers and the destruction of civilian buildings and property.

Prosecutor Carla del Ponte has filed a request to unseal a second indictment served to the Croatian Authorities along with the Ademi indictment and warrant. The request to unseal has to be approved by a Judge of the Tribunal.

KOSOVO BORDER CLOSED; UN SIGNS AGREEMENT ON DNA MATCHING

The border between Kosovo and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) remained closed as of the briefing.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees ( UNHCR) reported refugee flows in both directions with more than 200 people returning to Skopje from Kosovo and more than 130 leaving FYROM for Kosovo. Both figures are from Tuesday. UNHCR is urging all parties to avoid further confrontation in a conflict that has already displaced tens of thousands of people.

In Kosovo, the Secretary-Generals Special Representative Hans Haekkerup today said that he had signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Committee for the Missing Persons that would permit matching the DNA of members of families of the missing with the remains of the people who are still unidentified.

When asked if there would be any UN involvement in FYROM, the Spokesman said the European Union (EU) and the NATO alliance were the organizations taking the lead there. The EU had taken the lead on trying to bring the parties to political agreement, he said. The United Nations is very concerned about the impact the instability in FYROM had in neighboring Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Spokesman added. So we are watching it very closely, he said. but I would not expect the United Nations to be given a role in FYROM as a result of the latest instability there.

ANNAN SAYS MONITORING OF BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS NEEDED

Today in Geneva, Jayantha Dhanapala, Under-Secretary-General for

PRIVATE HREF="http://www.un.org/Depts/dda/dda.htm" MACROBUTTON HtmlResAnchor Disarmament Affairs , delivered a message on behalf of the Secretary-General to the meeting underway there of States that are party to the

PRIVATE HREF="http://www.un.org/Depts/dda/WMD/page6.html" MACROBUTTON HtmlResAnchor Biological Weapons Convention .

In his message, the Secretary-General said that, after 25 years without a system of formal verification, it is now widely believed that the Biological Weapons Convention should be strengthened through an international instrument that would establish measures to monitor implementation and verify compliance.

He says that progress in reinforcing the Convention would help to lessen the risk that "the pursuit of profits for some will destroy the hopes of peace for all."

The ad hoc group that is meeting in Geneva has been working since 1994 on negotiations to develop a protocol that could allow for monitoring the implementation of the Convention. Now, the Secretary-General said, the material currently on the table provides a foundation for a consensus that reflects everyone's interests and concerns. The United Nations is ready to provide all necessary assistance to the negotiations, he added.

In response to a question on whether the Secretary-General had any comment on the announcement by the United States at the Geneva meeting, the Spokesman said when Dhanapala delivered the statement, the position of the United States was already known and the Secretary-Generals statement was delivered as drafted. The Secretary-General hopes the United States can close ranks with the rest of the international community, he said, not only on this treaty, but on a number of the others where the United States is practically standing alone in opposition to agreements that were broadly reached by just about everyone else. He added that the process was probably going to be slow but that the hope is that eventually consensus on very important issues such as global warming or small arms can be reached.

UN DENIES REPORT THAT UN DRUG AGENCY CHIEF TOLD TO STEP DOWN

The Spokesman for the Secretary-General said he needed to correct the record following a report in Financial Times of London.

The article said, "Pino Arlacchi, head of the United Nations programme to combat the international drugs trade, has been told to step down", and, Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General, told Mr. Arlacchi that he must leave the organization when his contract finishes at the end of February." The Spokesman said both these statements were false and that the Secretary-General has had no such conversation with Mr. Arlacchi.

The Secretary-General is in the process of reviewing the Internal Oversight reports on Mr. Arlacchi's operation and has made no decision to date.

In response to a question on whether the Secretary-General had any strong feelings on the matter, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General had not spoken to Arlacchi, or anyone outside of the United Nations, on the matter. The Secretary-General has asked Mr. Joseph Connor, his chief manager, to evaluate the critique of Arlacchis management style that was made by the Office of Internal Oversight Services. That evaluation is still being conducted and until it is done a decision will not be made. He went on to add that he did not want to indicate whether the Secretary-General was leaning one way or the other and that it was not the Secretary-Generals style to communicate to his senior managers through the media.

The Spokesman also said that the Secretary-General faces decisions not only on Arlacchi, he added, but on all his other senior managers who also have contracts that expire at the end of February and he would be undertaking a review of all these matters through the fall and then make any management decisions he feels are required for his second term starting by the end of the year.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced today that thousands of documents on chemical safety would now be available free of charge on the Internet. The

PRIVATE HREF="http://www.inchem.org/" MACROBUTTON HtmlResAnchor service is being offered by the International Programme on Chemical Safety (

PRIVATE HREF="http://www.who.int/pcs/index.htm" MACROBUTTON HtmlResAnchor IPCS

IPCS), a joint activity of WHO, the International Labour Organization (

PRIVATE HREF="http://www.ilo.org/" MACROBUTTON HtmlResAnchor ILO

ILO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (

PRIVATE HREF="http://www.undp.org/" MACROBUTTON HtmlResAnchor UNDP

UNEP) and will assist countries in the environmentally sound management of chemicals.

Bosnia and Herzegovina today became the 99th Member State to pay its 2001

PRIVATE HREF="http://www.un.org/News/ossg/hon2001.htm" MACROBUTTON HtmlResAnchor regular budget contribution in full with a payment of more than $41,000.

In response to a question on Cyprus, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General would meet later today with his Special Advisor on Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto. He added that neither a date nor a venue had been set for the meeting with Rauf Denktash.

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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