United Nations Daily Highlights, 01-11-05

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

THE NOON BRIEFING

BY MANOEL DE ALMEIDA E SILVA

DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Monday, November 5, 2001

ANNAN DISPUTES STATEMENT BY OSAMA BIN LADEN

In response to questions asking for the UN reaction to statements aired over the weekend by Osama bin Laden, the Spokesman noted that Secretary-General Kofi Annan had read bin Ladens comments and disagreed with them. The Secretary-General, he said, hoped that Muslims and other peoples of the world would not be misled by bin Ladens statement.

The United Nations, the Spokesman said, is the expression of all its members, and does not represent any particular culture or the views of any Member States. Its membership is universal, as are the principles enshrined in the UN Charter. Its decisions and actions are those of the Member States working together to pursue common goals based on shared values of equality, tolerance, mutual respect and human dignity.

The Spokesman, in this regard, recalled that the Secretary-General told Le Figaro, in an interview published today, that it is an insult to the peoples of the Third World to suggest that democracy and human rights are purely Western products. On the contrary, those rights are truly universal and must be realized for all peoples, which he said was one of the primary purposes of the United Nations. The Secretary-General hopes that all peoples will cooperate in bringing that about.

The Spokesman declined to comment on whether bin Ladens statement was an implicit threat against the United Nations, noting that it would be bin Ladens task to explain what he meant.

UN ENVOY FOR AFGHANISTAN MEETS OFFICIALS IN IRAN

The Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi has been in Tehran since Saturday, where, over the weekend, he held meetings with Foreign Ministry officials, including Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi.

The Iranian authorities emphasized the pivotal role they expect the United Nations to play to help the Afghans solve the crisis and install a regime acceptable to all Afghans.

Brahimi also discussed with his hosts the importance of reinforcing the cooperation between all the neighbors of Afghanistan and to provide all necessary support to the Afghans without interfering in any way in their internal affairs. Both parties underlined how vital is the respect of the Afghans free will.

It was also agreed that the forthcoming debate at the UN General Assembly in New York would be a good occasion to continue the discussions with all the neighbors of Afghanistan between themselves and with the United Nations. In this connection, the meeting of the so-called 6+2 group on Afghanistan, planned in New York at the level of foreign ministers, was discussed.

Brahimi has also been holding intensive consultations with a wide range of Afghans representing various groups including non-governmental organizations and womens associations, as he did in Islamabad.

He is scheduled to have a press conference at 1 p.m. Tehran time Tuesday (4:30 a.m. New York time) following an audience with Iranian President Mohammad Khatami.

UN

RELIEF WORK IN AFGHANISTAN TO DEAL WITH ENVIRONMENT

The World Food Programme (WFP) said today that, for the first time in the history of its emergency efforts in Afghanistan, it has hired a harsh environment expert from Canada to help establish a logistics base camp near the tip of the Anjuman pass that leads to the Panjshir Valley. The aim is to keep the Anjuman Pass - the only link in the Panjsheer Valley from the north - open as long as possible.

More asylum seekers are heading towards the Iranian borders in southern Afghanistan. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says it has received unconfirmed reports from the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) and a non-governmental organization, that a group of some 3,000 Afghans are living out in the open near the Makaki camp on the Afghan side of the border in Nimroz province.

When they arrived at Makaki, they were given some food and other assistance, but were not admitted to the camp since it is already full, with between 4,500 and 6,000 people there. They are reportedly now camping out in the open.

Asked about the UN response to the situation at Makaki, the Spokesman said after the briefing that a UN delegation may conduct a monitoring mission to the concerned areas.

On the Pakistani side, UNHCR reports that assistance to new arrivals has stalled on the southern border of Afghanistan.

The UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF) announced that an assessment by its national staff members has started in the Eastern Region of Afghanistan, following reports that an estimated 40,000 internally displaced persons have recently arrived in the region from Kabul, Jalalabad City and villages of Nangarhar Province. The assessment will verify the reports and ascertain areas of concentration.

SECURITY COUNCIL DISCUSSES SANCTIONS ON LIBERIA

The Security Council this morning began a formal meeting on Liberia sanctions, on which it was briefed by Martin Chungong Ayafor, the chair of the independent panel on Liberia sanctions.

That panel, in its report issued last week, said Liberia continues to purchase arms in contravention of Security Council resolutions, and suggested possible further steps including UN sanctions on Liberian timber and on Liberias shipping registry.

The Council also heard from Ambassador Kishore Mahbubani of Singapore, who heads the Councils sanctions committee on Liberia..

ANNAN TO OPEN NUCLEAR TEST-BAN TREATY CONFERENCE SUNDAY

The Secretary-General is scheduled to open the Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) this coming Sunday, September 11, at 10 a.m., and to preside over the election of a President of that conference. Jorge Castaneda, Foreign Minister of Mexico, is expected to be elected as Conference President.

On Sunday morning, following the election of the President and other officers and adoption of the agenda, the Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization, Wolfgang Hoffmann, will also brief the delegates on the work of that Preparatory Commission.

The Conference will last for three days, and is expected to conclude with the adoption of a final report.

NEW UN REPRESENTATIVE NAMED FOR WESTERN SAHARA

The Secretary-General has decided to appoint William Lacy Swing of the United States as his Special Representative for Western Sahara. Swing will succeed William Eagleton as Special Representative of the Secretary-General and will assume his functions as of December 1, 2001.

The Secretary-General expressed his deep appreciation for Eagleton's contribution to the efforts to reach a comprehensive settlement in Western Sahara and wished him well in his future endeavours.

DONORS CONSIDER REPORT ON PALESTINIAN ECONOMY

Today in Gaza, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Terje Roed-Larsen, co-chaired, along with Norway and the World Bank, a meeting of donors and UN Agencies to consider the initial findings of a joint report by the World Bank and the Special Coordinators office on the impact of the first year of the intifadah on the Palestinian economy and to outline the priorities for the future.

The report, which will offer a comprehensive look at the situation, is expected to be issued in a few weeks.

SECRETARY-GENERAL NOTES PROGRESS ON MINE ACTION

The Secretary-General, in his latest report to the General Assembly on mine action, says that significant progress over the past year has been made in terms of strategic planning, operational support, coordination and information management for mine action.

Still, he says, new landmines continued to be laid in several countries, with Angola, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sri Lanka and the Sudan being cases of particular concern. He adds that the Mine Action Programme spent much of the last year reinforcing its efforts in Afghanistan, which he says remains one of the countries most affected by landmines and unexploded ordnance in the world.

He says in the report, While the challenges remain severe, they can be overcome, adding that dramatic reductions in the production and use of anti-personnel mines have opened up the prospect of eliminating the threat of landmines from the worlds most severely affected countries.

ANNAN PRESENTS TRIBUNAL BUDGETS FOR 2002-2003

The Secretary-General issued two reports today presenting to the General Assembly the two-year budgets for the two international tribunals, dealing respectively with the former Yugoslavia and with Rwanda.

The Secretary-General says that, over the 2002-2003 biennium, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia will require more than $248 million, reflecting a net increase of more than $25 million from the 2000-2001 biennium. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda will require some $204 million gross over the next two years, an increase of more than $24 million from the previous biennium.

DEPLETED URANIUM TEAM COMPLETES MISSION TO YUGOSLAVIA

A team of 14 experts from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which had been visiting the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to investigate sites in Serbia and Montenegro that were targeted by ordnance containing depleted uranium during the 1999 Kosovo conflict, completed its mission Sunday.

The team was able to visit a number of sites in Montenegro and Serbia. The samples collected during this mission will be analyzed in two laboratories, one in Switzerland and the other in Italy. The missions final report will be published in February 2002.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

[In briefing notes from Pristina, Kosovo, issued after the noon briefing, the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo today said it was "extremely pleased with the decision by both Serbian and Yugoslav governments to endorse Kosovo Serb participation" in the Nov. 17 elections.]

In his address to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Conference on Saturday, Director-General Jacques Diouf said, The tragedy of hunger in a world of abundance and waste continues to be a troubling reality. He added that the only lasting solution was to help the rural poor to do without food aid by increasing their ability to produce, first to feed themselves and then for market. He called the annual decline in the number of hungry people, at 6 million per year during the nineties, totally inadequate.

The UN Mission in East Timor said that a group of 200 refugees arrived in East Timor from West Timor for an exploratory visit as part of the process of reconciliation. The group arrived in the border town of Batugade where they were met by the UN Chief of Staff and by independence leader Xanana Gusmão, among others.