United Nations Daily Highlights, 01-10-09

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

OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY FRED ECKHARD

DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Tuesday, October 9, 2001

ANNAN DESCRIBES AFGHAN DE-MINING STAFF DEATHS AS A HARD BLOW

Secretary-General Kofi Annan spoke briefly to reporters after sitting in on the Security Councils consultations on Afghanistan. He noted that Council members had raised the matter of the four Afghan workers who had died during last nights bombing and offered their deepest condolences.

The Secretary-General said that for the United Nations, "it's a hard blow," and added, "We've tried to take all the necessary precautions we can." He noted that the parties undertaking the operations in Afghanistan had given assurances that all efforts will be made to avoid civilian casualties.

Asked about the letter issued to the Security Council President Monday by U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte, the Secretary-General said that one sentence, stating that the United States might have to go after other organizations and other States, had caused some "anxiety" among other Member States. He added the United States had indicated that this does not predict its intentions, but indicates that "they are at the early stages and keeping their options open. But that is one line that disturbed some of us," he added.

UN HUMANITARIAN OFFICIALS APPEAL FOR PROTECTION OF AFGHAN CIVILIANS

The Office for the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan reported that at 9 p.m. last night in Kabul, an office of the Afghan Technical Consultants (ATC) was hit and destroyed during last nights bombardment of Afghanistan, killing four Afghan staff. In addition, four ATC staff sustained minor injuries and were given first aid a local hospitals. ATC is one of the largest agencies involved in these kinds of mine action activities.

The Regional Coordinator for Afghanistan Michael Sackett in Islamabad, Pakistan, and the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Kenzo Oshima in the Security Council appealed for the protection of civilians following the killings.

Sackett appealed to the international community of the obligation to protect innocent civilians while military strikes are going on. Through his spokesperson, he said, People need to distinguish between combatants and those innocent civilians who do not bear arms. They also need to be mindful of protecting assets essential for the survival of Afghan civilians. Staff are clearly the most importance resource the aid community in Afghanistan has.

When asked about the exact occupation of the aid workers killed in the raid, the Director of the UNs Mine Action Service said they were security guards employed by ATC.

In answer to a journalists question asking for the exact location of the ATC office, the Director of the UN Mine Action Service said the ATC office was three kilometers from the center of Kabul.

The World Food Programme ( WFP) reported today that two convoys have arrived in the Northwest and Kabul and a third is expected in Herat at the end of the week. WFP said there are convoys loaded and ready to move throughout the region and as soon as the agency can secure drivers, it will resume trucking in food as soon as conditions allow.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that the border with Pakistan remains closed, and noted reports of more civilians fleeing the cities of Kandahar, Kabul and Jalalabad. However, it said there are no reports of large-scale movement towards the border.

UNICEF said a truck convoy would be sent from Iran into Herat.

SECURITY COUNCIL HOLDS CONSULTATIONS ON AFGHANISTAN

The Security Council held consultations this morning on Afghanistan. Todays session is part of the regular series of briefings by the Secretariat on the situation in that country. The President of the Security Council, Ambassador Richard Ryan of Ireland, read a statement to the reporters following the consultations.

The Secretary-General was present and Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Kenzo Oshima briefed Council members on the humanitarian relief efforts. Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Danilo Turk is also present and will be answering questions on political developments.

Council members also held discussions on the election of a member of the International Court of Justice, scheduled for this coming Friday.

Early Monday evening, at the end of consultations, Ambassador Ryan, told reporters, the United States and United Kingdom delegations had informed Council members about the action that had been initiated by their armed forces in Afghanistan. He said members of the Council were appreciative of the presentation by the two delegations, and that members of the Council were deeply concerned at the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, They also expressed appreciation for the humanitarian assistance being offered by many countries.

NEW NAMES ADDED TO AFGHAN SANCTIONS LIST

Out as a press release today is a list of names of 11 organizations, 13 individuals and three companies that the Security Council Sanctions Committee for Afghanistan added to its consolidated list of individuals and entities associated with Osama bin Laden.

In Resolution 1333, passed in December of last year, the Security Council decided that all States should without delay freeze the funds and other financial assets of bin Laden and any entities and individuals associated with him, as designated by the Committee. The Committee has twice before drawn up a list of such individuals and groups (on March 8 and August 20).

The new additions were approved by the Council Sanctions Committee, under the "no-objection" procedure, last Saturday. The list includes the al-Qaida organization, as well as the Abu Sayyaf Group of the Philippines, the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria, the Harakat ul-Mujahidin of Kashmir, the Egyptian Islamic Movement and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, among others.

SECURITY COUNCIL CONDEMNS ATTACK ON UN HELICOPTER

In a statement to the press, Monday evening, Ambassador Ryan said that members of the Security Council strongly condemned the attack against a UN helicopter in Abkhazia (Georgia) on Monday. Members of the Council stressed that a speedy investigation was needed and that perpetrators had to be brought to justice.

The Spokesman issued a correction regarding a report by the Russian News Agency ITAR-TASS out of Moscow. That report quoted UN Military Adviser Gen. Timothy Ford as saying to troop contributors who the United Nations thinks is responsible for the downing of a UN aircraft over the Kodori Valley that resulted on nine lives lost. Gen. Ford did not say in his meeting with troop contributors who he thought did it, because the United Nations would have no way of knowing who did it.

UN FORCED EVACUATE HUMANITARIAN STAFF FROM SUDAN

Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Kenzo Oshima today said he was deeply concerned at the three separate bombing raids that have taken place over the past four days in the village of Mangayat, in southern Sudan. Those raids, he said, were conducted by Sudanese Government forces and killed one civilian even as the UN was distributing food to internally displaced persons.

Oshima said, "I deplore in the strongest terms these military attacks on civilians who were gathering in one location to receive humanitarian assistance from the United Nations. It is indefensible for any government or rebel movement to carry out military attacks whose victims will most probably be civilians and relief workers."

As a consequence of the bombings, the United Nations has been forced to evacuate its humanitarian staff from the area, without completing the planned delivery of assistance.

MILOSEVIC INDICTED OF CRIMES COMMITTED IN CROATIA

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia ( ICTY) yesterday confirmed an indictment, filed two weeks ago by Prosecutor Carla del Ponte, charging former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic of crimes allegedly committed in Croatia in 1991 and 1992.

Milosevic is charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, for actions that allegedly include the murder of hundreds of Croat and non-Serb civilians and the deportation or forcible transfer of at least 170 thousand Croats and non-Serbs.

Milosevic is already in detention at the Tribunal, having previously been charged for crimes allegedly committed in Kosovo in 1999.

IRAQ DOUBLES OIL EXPORTS, WEEKLY REPORT SHOWS

The weekly update from the Office of the Iraq Programme indicates that, under the programme, Iraq doubled its oil exports in the week ending on 5 October from the previous weeks total of nine million barrels.

Averaging 2.57 million barrels per day, the exports amounted to 18 million barrels.

Since the beginning of the programme on 10 December 1996, the Security Councils 661 sanctions committee and the Office of the Iraq Programme have approved $28.7 billion worth of humanitarian supply contracts, of which over $16 billion dollars worth of supplies have been delivered to Iraq.

Another $12.7 billion worth of supplies are in the delivery and production pipeline.

The value of contracts placed on hold by the 661 Committee remained almost constant at $3.9 billion during the week.

Also on Iraq, there will be a formal meeting of the 661 Committee at 3:30pm this afternoon in Conference room 7. The committees chairman, Ambassador Ole Peter Kolby of Norway, will be available to the press at the conclusion of the meeting.

ANNAN TO TALK TO AMERICAN PUBLIC VIA TOWN HALL MEETINGS

The Secretary-General has agreed to a proposal from the Better World Campaign aimed at enabling the United Nations to communicate directly with the American public on the current international crisis and the UNs efforts on terrorism.

To do that, simultaneous meetings will be held in up to 10 cities around the country on 11 October one month after the terrorist attacks on The U.S. and the UN: International CrisisInternational Response.

Plans call for the first half hour to be national linked by satellite. It is scheduled to start at 12 noon with Walter Cronkite who will be at Headquarters, asking the Secretary-General a couple of questions. The Secretary-General will then take a question from people in each city.

The remainder of the meetings will be separate and local, with a local moderator and panel in each city. Each panel will include business and civic leaders, elected officials, youth, community leaders and clergy. A senior representative from the UN will also be in each city so that the UN would be present in flesh and blood and not only on the screen.

The cities selected are: Seattle, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Houston, Minneapolis, Chicago, Boston, Tampa, Atlanta, Denver. All travel and accommodation costs will be borne by the Better World Fund.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

The seventh Conference of the parties to the Convention on Climate Change will take place in Marrakech, Morocco, from 29 October to 9 November. This meeting will aim to translate the political principles reached at the Bonn meeting last July into a detailed operational rulebook. Representatives gathered at the Marrakech meeting will also address how to increase the flow of financial and technological support to developing countries under the Climate Change Convention.

This morning, Han Seung-Soo, the Republic of Korea's Foreign Minister, who is also the President of the General Assembly, signed on his country's behalf the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism. That convention now has 58 signatories, and four of the 22 ratifications that it needs to enter into force.