United Nations Daily Highlights, 01-08-14

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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 Tuesday, August 14, 2001

SECRETARY-GENERAL CONDEMNS TRAIN ATTACK IN ANGOLA

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a statement, condemned the deliberate attack on a train on August 10 in Angola, in which a very high number of civilians were killed. He noted that the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) has claimed responsibility for this indefensible loss of life.

The Secretary-General continues to be very disturbed by the military and humanitarian situation in the country, and added that the latest incident underlines the urgent need for a political settlement of the conflict, to achieve durable peace and stability in Angola.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today said that Angolan refugees continue to arrive in the Bas Congo Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. By Monday, UNHCR had registered more than 6,000 refugees who fled northern Angola in the wake of a UNITA offensive. Plans are being finalized to transfer the refugees to villages further from the border. An estimated 1,500 refugees remain scattered among several border villages.

SPOKESMAN NOTES CONCERN ABOUT ISRAELI INCURSION INTO JENIN

In response to a question about the Israeli incursion into Jenin late Monday, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General, on several occasions, had urged the parties to exercise restraint, fully implement the recommendations of the Mitchell Report and return to a process aimed at reaching a comprehensive settlement based on Security Council resolutions.

He added that the Secretary-General is concerned about the incursion into Jenin, which is in Area A, under Palestinian control. Such a use of military force will only lead to an increase in tensions.

The World Food Programme (WFP) today announced the launch of an emergency operation to assist Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The program will require $11.5 million over the next six months to assist 270,000 of the most needy Palestinians.

Unemployment among Palestinians has risen to about 50 percent, and wages earned from work inside Israel have fallen by 75 percent because of tighter border controls.

SECURITY COUNCIL DISCUSSES BOUGAINVILLE

This morning the Security Council met in closed consultations to receive a briefing on the situation in Bougainville from Noel Sinclair, the Director of the UN Political Office in Bougainville.

Sinclair discussed with the Council the latest developments in the peace process between the Government of Papua New Guinea and the Bougainville parties. The Council later issued a statement to the press, welcoming continued progress in the negotiations on Bougainville, and in particular the August 7 endorsement in principle by Papua New Guinea's National Executive Council of a comprehensive political settlement.

ANNAN, COUNCIL WELCOME AGREEMENT IN FYR MACEDONIA

The Secretary-General, in a statement issued Monday afternoon, welcomed the signing of the Framework Agreement between the Government of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and political parties representing the Albanian community. He hopes that this agreement will succeed in restoring calm, after the violence which has brought so much fear and pain to the people of the Republic in recent weeks, and will prove to be the basis for a stable political settlement.

The Secretary-General is convinced that there can be no solution to this crisis other than a political one. The use of violence by any party to undermine the agreement, or to seek further political gains, would be absolutely unacceptable.

On Monday afternoon, the Security Council adopted a Presidential Statement which also welcomed the signing of the Framework Agreement and called for its full and immediate implementation.

It called on all concerned, including leaders of ethnic Albanian communities in the region, publicly to condemn violence and ethnic intolerance and to use their influence to secure peace. The Council condemned the violence by extremists and called on all parties to respect the cease-fire.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today expressed its hopes that the agreement would pave the way for more than 125,000 people displaced by the fighting since February to return to their homes. Some 2,000 people left FYROM for Kosovo over the weekend, but the number of people crossing the border into Kosovo fell sharply on Monday.

OFFICE REPORTS DECLINE IN IRAQI OIL EXPORTS

The Office of the Iraq Programme (OIP) reports that Iraqi oil exports under the UN "oil-for-food" program fell to 13.9 million barrels in the week ending on August 10, down from the previous weeks total of 17 million barrels.

To date, contracts for humanitarian supplies and oil industry spare parts and equipment valued at $27.2 billion have been approved by the Security Councils Sanctions Committee on an expedited basis. Of these, $14.7 billion worth of supplies and equipment have been delivered to Iraq, while another $12.5 billion worth of humanitarian supplies and equipment are in the production and delivery pipeline.

The value of contracts placed on hold by the Sanctions Committee is $3.5 billion.

BOSNIAN SERB SUSPECT RETURNS TO TRIBUNAL CUSTODY

On Monday at The Hague, one of three Bosnian Serbs charged with crimes committed in Bosanski Samac returned to the detention facility of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), more than a year after the Tribunal had allowed his provisional release.

Milan Simic was provisionally released by the Tribunal on May 29, 2000, on the condition that he return for his trial, which is scheduled to begin this September 10. Two other suspects in the case, Simo Zaric and Miroslav Tadic, who were also released last year, are expected similarly to return to The Hague before the trial begins.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Today on the island of Nauru, the 32nd Pacific Islands Forum is beginning, and Beng Yong Chew, Deputy Director of the Asia and Pacific Division of the Department of Political Affairs, conveyed a message of greetings to the Forum on behalf of the Secretary-General. In his message, the Secretary-General says that the deployment of UN electoral observers for Fiji's elections later this month shows the commitment of the UN to do its part to promote peace and democratic governance in the region.

UNHCR reports that more than 5,000 Afghan families have been registered in the first week of the registration exercise in the Jalozai and Nasir Bagh camps in northern Pakistan.

Mark Malloch Brown, the Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), today signed a memorandum of understanding with the Global Internet Policy Initiative to support the adoption of a legal and policy framework for an open and democratic Internet in developing countries.

Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Kenzo Oshima will open the Asian office of ReliefWeb on Thursday in Kobe, Japan. The office will be located in the Asia Disaster Reduction Centre and will enhance the availability and dissemination of reliable information for humanitarian decision-makers. There are two other ReliefWeb offices, on in New York and one in Geneva.

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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