United Nations Daily Highlights, 01-11-20

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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

SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Tuesday, November 20, 2001

AFGHANISTAN: NORTHERN ALLIANCE ACCEPTS UN OFFER FOR TALKS IN GERMANY

The Secretary-Generals Personal Representative to Afghanistan Francesc Vendrell today in Kabul said that the Northern Alliance has accepted the offer by the Secretary-General to attend a meeting in Germany that the United Nations hopes to open on Monday.

Later in New York, Lakhdar Brahimi, the Secretary-General's Special Representative, briefed the Security Council in closed-door consultations about the proposed meeting aimed at mapping out the transition to a broad-based, multi-ethnic government of Afghanistan. Following the Council briefing, Brahimi told reporters that he hopes to convene the meeting of Afghan factions next Monday in or somewhere near Berlin. He said he hoped the factions would start gathering in Germany over the weekend.

Referring to his five-point approach he outlined last week to the Council, and the fast developing situation on the ground, Brahimi said he hoped to try to get a small transitional authority into Kabul as soon as possible and added that security arrangements are also expected to be discussed.

When pressed about the representation at the conference, Brahimi referred to the four political processes, which were referred to earlier by the Secretary-General: The Northern Alliance, the Rome process involving the former King, the Peshawar convention and the Cyprus process.

The Security Council, in the form of a press statement delivered by the Council's President, Ambassador Patricia Durant of Jamaica, urged all Afghan parties to attend the conference.

In response to a query on the representation of women at the Berlin talks, the Spokesman said that Brahimi had asked the various groups attending the meeting to include women in their delegations but that the exact composition of the delegation was the responsibility of each group.

Asked if by choosing to establish a transitional authority before creating a provisional council, Brahimi had flipped the process from what he had announced last week, the spokesman said that in Berlin, Brahimi would try to organize the smaller body first, the transitional administration, which could be set up in Kabul immediately. The Spokesman went on to say that Brahimi would then expect the transitional administration to organize the larger, more representative body, the provisional council. Brahimi feels, the Spokesman said, that this would be a more practical, though not easier, way to address the problem.

ANNAN APPEALS TO AFGHAN PARTIES TO RESPECT RULES OF WAR

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a statement issued through his Spokesman today, said he was acutely concerned about the safety and well-being of innocent civilians in Afghanistan, and of combatants who either have surrendered or wish to do so in accordance with the laws of war.

He was particularly appalled by the murder yesterday of four journalists on the road between Jalalabad and Kabul, and condemns this act in the strongest possible terms.

mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;mso-fareast-language: The Secretary-General strongly appeals to all parties to respect the Geneva Conventions and comply with international humanitarian and human rights law.

In response to a question, Brahimi elaborated on the situation in Kunduz, saying that the United Nations had been approached by the Taliban last night about mediating the surrender in that city. He said the Secretary-General was in touch with the International Committee for the Red Cross, the Coalition forces and had instructed Vendrell to ask the Northern Alliance to respect their obligations under international law.

Asked for further information on the possibility of a UN role in the surrender of Taliban forces in Kunduz, the Spokesman reiterated what he had already said and added that the UN's role was to facilitate the involvement of the ICRC which has primary responsibility of the surrender or exchange of prisoners in time of war.

UN STRENGTHENS HUMANITARIAN EFFORT IN AFGHANISTAN

On the humanitarian front, the regional coordinator Mike Sackett and the heads of six UN Agencies that are part of the Crisis Management Group met this morning with Abdullah Abdullah of the Northern Alliance for about one hour.

While efforts are underway to strengthen international humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan, the United Nations and its system partners are faced with acute shortage of office equipment as many of their offices have been looted and vandalized.

Now that control over many cities has switched hands, the same offices in some cases have been looted and vandalized a second time.

The security situation in western Afghanistan continues to be somewhat unstable but is normalizing. All UN offices have been provided with armed guards in addition to the regular UN guards in Herat.

With much of Afghanistan facing famine-like conditions, efforts are underway to strengthen the countrys agriculture sector.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said it is back in full force today on the Peshawar-Kabul route.

In Kabul, WFP said18 female staff, who were prohibited from working by the Taliban, are now back in the office and have resumed normal programme activities - after years of having to work under extremely difficult conditions.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said its office in Iran was gearing up for a possible large-scale organized return of some of the 2.3 million Afghan refugees currently in the country. Security allowing, organized large scale returns were likely to begin in early spring.

AFGHAN REBUILDING EFFORTS COULD TOP $6.5 BILLION

In Washington, D.C., this morning, the UN Development Programme's Administrator Mark Malloch Brown and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Kenzo Oshima addressed a conference on the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

Malloch Brown told the conference that UN rebuilding efforts in Afghanistan could cost at least as much as its program in Mozambique in the mid-1990s, which cost some $6.5 billion over five years.

In the first two years, he noted of the Mozambique effort, UN relief costs were about a billion dollars, rising from that amount over the third through fifth years.

He added that the need remains to fund relief efforts in Afghanistan, saying, "After decades of war, poverty and ignorance Afghan men, women and children need and deserve peace as well as social, political and economic well-being. Let us not fail them."

FOUR JOURNALIST KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN

The Spokesman expressed the UN's grief over the deaths of the four journalists killed in Afghanistan yesterday.

In one way or another all of them had links with the United Nations either by covering events where the United Nations was also present or through direct personal involvement.

Maria Grazia Cutuli, of Italian daily Corriere della Serra, took leave from journalistic assignments between December 1996 and July 1997and worked as a UN Volunteer in Rwanda; she was a human rights monitor. During her journalistic career she covered just about every major conflict of the last 10 years.

Azizullah Haidari, a Reuters photographer, was born in Afghanistan. He went to Pakistan in the 1980s as a refugee. His Reuters colleagues said that this reporting trip to Kabul this week would have taken him back to the city of his birth for the first time since 1983.

Julio Fuentes, from Spanish daily El Mundo, has covered all major conflicts since the early 1980s; from Central America, to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the Persian Gulf war, to the Balkans, to Afghanistan now.

Harry Burton, an Australian cameraman, joined Reuters relatively recently. Through his camera he has shown the world the East Timorese drama. He was in East Timor from August 1999 till February 2000.

"Our prayers and thoughts are with their families as well as with the families of the three other journalists also killed in Afghanistan a few days ago," the Spokesman said. The other three are: Pierre Billaud of RTL Radio, Volker Handloik, a freelance reporter working for Stern magazine, and Johanne Sutton of Radio France International.

As of today, the United Nations will be able to assist journalists traveling in and out of Afghanistan since local authorities accepted the principle that UN aircraft could be used to transport UN staff but also NGO partners, diplomatic representatives and journalists to and from Afghanistan.

Asked if the United Nations could also provide security for journalists on the ground in Afghanistan, the Spokesman's said that the United Nations was not in a position to do so since the organization is not responsible for security in Afghanistan -- that is the responsibility of the Afghans themselves.

SECURITY COUNCIL HOLDS PUBLIC MEETING ON CHILDREN IN ARMED CONFLICT

Following the closed consultations in the morning, the Security Council held an open meeting on Children and Armed Conflict, after which the Council will to adopt a resolution.

In his opening remarks said that the Councils resolution will tell each of us what we have to do to protect children in armed conflict. The Secretary-General also said that he would work to keep the childrens needs uppermost in our minds.

The Executive Director of the United Nations Children Fund, Carol Bellamy, and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Olara Ottunu, are expected to take the floor. A

child soldier from Sierra Leone is also participating in the meeting.

UN MISSION CONFIRMS KOSOVO ELECTION RESULTS

Monday evening in Kosovo, the Secretary-Generals Special Representative, Hans Haekkerup, announced at a press conference the partial results of Saturdays legislative assembly elections, which showed that, with 46 percent of all votes cast, Ibrahim Rugovas Democratic League of Kosovo was in the lead.

His party was followed in second place by Hashim Thacis Democratic Party of Kosovo, with a little over 25 percent; the Kosovo Serb Return Coalition was third with nearly 11 percent; and Ramush Haradinajs Alliance for the Future of Kosovo was fourth with more than 7 percent.

With 120 seats in the Assembly and a minimum of 61 needed to form a government, a coalition may be needed, with none of the parties expected to get more than 50 seats.

Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hédi Annabi briefed the Security Council on the election results yesterday, and the Council President, Amb. Patricia Durrant, afterward issued a statement to the press welcoming the elections and reminding all concerned to respect fully the provisions of Resolution 1244.

ANNAN WELCOMES POWELL MIDDLE EAST SPEECH

The Secretary-General, in a statement issued Monday, welcomes [Monday's] speech by United States Secretary of State Colin Powell as an important elaboration of President Bushs constructive remarks to the United Nations General Assembly last week, outlining a vision of a State of Israel and a State of Palestine living side by side within secure borders.

The Secretary-General warmly endorses Powells emphasis on the need for both parties to observe a ceasefire, in accordance with the tenet understanding, and to move rapidly on implementing the Mitchell recommendations.

These recommendations relate both to a 100 percent Palestinian effort to end violence and to the need for Israel to halt all settlement activity and end the occupation.

The Secretary-General shares the United States view that any framework for a lasting solution must be based on Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973) and the principle of land for peace.

He also welcomes the United States willingness to contribute to a monitoring and verification mechanism.

The Secretary-General reiterates his readiness to work closely with Israel and the Palestinians, with the United States and other members of the Quartet (the European Union and the Russian Federation), as well as with Egypt and Jordan and other interested Member States, to ensure that peace and stability are attained in the region.

To this end, he welcomes the imminent dispatch of Assistant Secretary of State Bill Burns to the region, and the appointment of General Zinni as Secretary Powells Senior Adviser on security.

UN ADVISOR ON CYPRUS TO ATTEND TALKS BETWEEN CLERIDES AND DENTKTASH

The Secretary-General is pleased that the Greek Cypriot leader, H.E. Glafcos Clerides, and the Turkish Cypriot leader, H.E. Rauf Denktash, have now agreed to meet in Cyprus on December 4, 2001.

Alvaro de Soto, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Cyprus, will be present at the meeting.

The Secretary-General hopes this meeting will move the process forward, said his statement which was issued Monday.

UN TECHNOLOGY TASK FORCE LAUNCHED TODAY

The Secretary-General launched the UN Task Force on Information and Communication Technologies today, saying that the era of such technologies has dawned, but not yet for all.

In his statement this morning, he said he would look to the task force "to help build digital bridges to the billions of people who are now trapped in extreme poverty, untouched by the digital revolution and beyond the reach of the global economy."

REFUGEE AGENCY COMPLETES RELOCATION OF EX-CAR SOLDIERS IN CONGO

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has completed its operation to separate former Central African Republic (CAR) soldiers from the general refugee population in the north of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in the province of Zongo.

The soldiers, many accompanied by families had crossed over the river which separates the CAR from the DRC, following an aborted coup in Bangui last year.

UNHCR successfully moved over 1,000 soldiers to a specially prepared site where they will undergo individual screening to obtain refugee status. As many as 1.300 of their families may also be moved to this site.

IRAQ OIL EXPORT ERRATIC

The latest figures provided by the Office of the Iraq Programme, Iraqi oil exports under the oil for food programme, continue to be erratic.

In the week ending November 16, the level of exports surged to 18.6 million barrels, a value of $290 million, up from the previous weeks total of 10.9 million barrels.

GREEK AND FYROM REPRESENTATIVES AGREE TO MEET AGAIN

According to a statement issued today, representatives of Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia met on November 20, 2001, under the auspices of the Secretary-General. pursuant to the Interim Accord of September 13, 1995.

The Greek side was represented by the Permanent Representative of Greece to the United Nations, Ambassador Elias Gounaris. The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was represented by Ambassador Ivan Tosevsky.

The Secretary-General was represented by his Special Representative, Matthew Nimitz.

The parties continued to exchange views in the context of article 5 of the Interim Accord. They decided to meet again on a date to be agreed

ICAO HEAD RE-ELECTED FOR 10th CONSECUTIVE TERM

In Montreal, Assad Koitate was elected Monday by acclamation to a 10th consecutive term as President of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization. Koitate, who first took his position in 1975, will continue at his post through 2004.

In his speech accepting his new term, he drew attention to the security challenge posed by the September 11 terrorist attacks, and emphasized, "We must protect air transport, a driver of economic development, in order to restore public confidence and ensure an early return to normalcy." He added, "Air transport fundamentally remains the safest mode of mass transport ever."

UN NEEDS OUTSIDE ACTORS TO HELP IMPROVE LIVES

In Moscow, Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette addressed a round table Monday organized jointly by the Foreign Ministry of Russia and the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, telling them that the United Nations of the 21st century would need to work with outside actors, in efforts like the Global Compact, to improve the lives of ordinary people.

She told the business leaders that support for the Global Compact which enshrines nine principles of labor, environmental and human rights is a necessary first step for them to rake, to be followed by concrete actions in support of those principles.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov added that expanded interaction between the United Nations and the private sector would respond to Russias interests.

At a statement issued afterward, the participants at the round table expressed support for the Global Compact and welcomed Russias establishment of a Learning Forum web site to disseminate information about the Compact.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

The World Health Organizations (WHO) Director General, Gro Harlem Brundtland, said that the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea needs substantial investment in its health sector.

At the conclusion of a three-day visit to that country, she said that there was a well-established public health system, but that outside the main cities there was a lack of basic amenities such as running water, electricity and basic drugs. WHO also announced the first shipment of tuberculosis medicines, supplied through the Global TB Facility, to the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, which will provide treatment for 33,000 people.

This morning, St. Kitts and Nevis became the 138th country to sign the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) will this afternoon launch a global alliance for children in association with the world governing body of soccer, FIFA. Joining Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF, will be Film star Roger Moore, a Goodwill Ambassador, and Brazilian soccer star, Pele.

UNICEF also announced today that broadcasters in Kenya and Colombia have won International Emmy awards for their promotion of childrens rights. The two won the Emmys for their contribution to the "Say yes for Children" campaign and the 2000 Childrens Day of Broadcasting.