United Nations Daily Highlights, 02-05-03

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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

Friday, May 3, 2002

ANNAN TO BRIEF SECURITY COUNCIL ON UN-IRAQ TALKS

The talks between the United Nations and Iraq resumed today, beginning with a one-on-one meeting between Secretary General Kofi Annan and Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri, for about 10 minutes, before a meeting of the full delegations took place. Those talks concluded just before noon.

This was the first time in recent years that UN and Iraq technical experts were able to discuss the issues before them. That deemed both helpful and useful by the United Nations.

The Secretary General is scheduled to brief the Security Council at 4:30 p.m. consultations on Iraq. Then, he, Hans Blix, the chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and Mohammed El-Baradei, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will talk to reporters.

SECURITY COUNCIL TO MEET ON MIDDLE EAST THIS AFTERNOON

At 3:00 p.m., the Council is scheduled to begin an open debate on the Middle East, including the question of Palestine. More than 30 speakers are inscribed so far.

That debate will then be suspended at 4:30 p.m., so that the Secretary-General can brief the Council on Iraq, and then also brief the Council on the meeting he had Thursday in Washington, D.C., with the other members of the Quartet. He will be accompanied at that briefing by his Special Coordinator for the Middle East, Terje Roed Larsen.

ANNAN DISBANDS UN FACT-FINDING TEAM

The Secretary-General has disbanded the UN Fact-Finding Team into recent events in the Jenin refugee camp, established pursuant to resolution 1405 (2002). The announcement was made late Thursday.

The Secretary-General had written to the President of the Security Council, the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority communicating this decision. The Secretary-General has also written to former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, the head of the team, and the other team members, thanking them for the dedication, energy and time that they have given the United Nations.

Also on Thursday, the Secretary-General received a letter from the three principal members of the fact-finding team, in which they informed him of the planning activities the team had undertaken in Geneva. In the letter, they said, We are disappointed that our mission, which we had hoped would contribute to improving the situation in the Middle East, was not able to deploy.

The team members have left Geneva today. One member, Cornelio Sommaruga, gave a press conference in Geneva today in which he regretted being unable to carry out the work of the fact-finding team.

Asked whether there could be a low-key follow-up effort to determine what happened at Jenin, as some Security Council members had suggested, the Spokesman said to wait for the Councils final action. He noted that the Secretary-General didnt feel that a full and balanced report was possible if the team could not go to Jenin.

UNDP REPRESENTATIVE MEETS ARAFAT, PLEDGES ASSISTANCE

Tim Rothermel, Special Representative of the UN Development Programmes Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People, met this morning with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat in his Ramallah compound, becoming the first UN official to meet with him after the end of his confinement.

Rothermel reaffirmed to President Arafat UNDP's continued support to the Palestinian Authority and informed him that UNDP has spent $1.9 million over the last three weeks on emergency aid in the Palestinian territory. He also offered help in repairing the Ramallah compound and pledged support for the rebuilding of Palestinian institutions.

SECURITY COUNCIL VOTES ON SOMALIA, DISCUSSES LIBERIA

The Security Council this morning began its work by approving a resolution that request the Secretary-General to establish, within a month, a two-member team of experts that could provide the Councils sanctions committee on Somalia with an action plan to improve the enforcement of the arms embargo that has been imposed on Somalia. That plan of action, according to the resolution, would details the resources and expertise needed by a future Panel of Experts dealing with Somalia sanctions.

The Council then went into consultations on Liberia, to discuss the latest report of the Secretary-General on Liberias efforts to comply with UN sanctions resolutions.

The report notes the confidence-building measures taking place in the Mano River Union, which brings together Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, notably the meeting of the leaders of those three countries under the auspices of King Mohammed VI of Morocco in Rabat, Morocco, this year. A second summit meeting in Rabat is reportedly scheduled for this month. The report also notes continuing efforts to find a resolution to the conflict in Liberia. However, the Secretary-General says, Much remains to be done to restore sustainable peace in Liberia.

A resolution on Liberia was introduced by the United Kingdom. Also on Liberia,

a press statement was issued by Council President Kishore Mahbubani of Singapore, who also briefed the Council in his capacity as Chair of the Liberia Sanctions Committee.

SECURITY COUNCIL MISSION ARRIVES IN UGANDA

The Security Council mission to the Great Lakes region of Africa arrived in Entebbe airport at 3 p.m. local time and was expected to have a meeting with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni an hour later.

As scheduled, the Council delegation did have a joint meeting with the Political Committee of the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement yesterday and issued a press release afterwards.

[In that release, the Committee and the UN mission urged all the parties concerned to work out mechanisms for military cooperation along their common borders, so as to have the military presence of the countries concerned in a limited portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for a limited period, in order to ensure a better monitoring of the borders].

SECRETARY-GENERAL PLANS TO TRAVEL TO CYPRUS

The Spokesman issued a statement on Thursday, which noted that Alvaro de Soto, the Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Cyprus, briefed the members of the Security Council in the afternoon on talks in Cyprus between H.E. Mr Glafcos Clerides, the Greek Cypriot leader and H.E. Mr Rauf Denktash, the Turkish Cypriot leader.

He informed them of the Secretary-General's intention to travel to Cyprus and meet with the two leaders in furtherance of his mission of good offices. The Secretary-General hopes to see decisive progress in the talks between the two leaders in the coming period. He plans to call on them separately and to meet them jointly. The dates of his visit will be announced shortly.

The Security Council unanimously endorsed the report on Cyprus by De Soto. In a press statement issued afterwards, the Council expressed its regret that the negotiations between the two sides had not make more progress in the period since the Council was last briefed on April 4. The time had now come to set down on paper areas of common ground between the two sides, Council President Kishore Mahbubani said.

Members of the Council also warmly welcomed the Secretary-Generals intention to visit the island in the near future. They hope that this would enable decisive progress to be made in the face-to-face negotiations in the period before the June target date for agreement which the Council once again endorsed, Mahbubani said.

UNHCR SAYS MORE THAN 6,000 REFUGEES RETURNED TO EAST TIMOR

UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) officials in Dili today announced that more than 6,000 refugees returned to East Timor last month, the highest monthly return since March 2000. A total of 204,292 refugees have returned to East Timor from camps in West Timor since late 1999.

UNHCR officials attribute the recent upsurge in returns to factors including President-elect Xanana Gusmãos visit to Atambua, West Timor, in early April; the outcome of the April 14 presidential election; and the excitement surrounding the upcoming independence celebrations.

UNHCR is now concentrating its efforts on facilitating the voluntary return of as many of the remaining 55,000 refugees as possible ahead of Independence Day on May 20.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

The UN Mission in Kosovo has deposited half a million euros, allocated from its contingency funds, into a new account to manage the Earthquake Emergency Fund that was established this week by Special Representative Michael Steiner. The emergency program, which is to help Gnjilane recover from the recent earthquake, is to be operational by next Monday.

This morning, Chad and Micronesia signed both Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict now has 103 signatories and the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children has 98.

THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS Sunday, May 5

The Secretary-General will travel to Boston, where he will receive the Profile in Courage Award from the Kennedy Library Foundation on early Monday morning.

Monday, May 6

The Security Council has scheduled consultations on Liberia, possibly followed by a formal meeting, and also intends to meet with troop contributors for UN peacekeeping in East Timor.

At 11:15 a.m., Juan Somavia, Director-General of the International Labour Organization, will hold a press conference to launch the World Report on Child Labor.

Tuesday, May 7 The Security Council has scheduled a public meeting on children and armed conflict.

The Security Council mission to the Great Lakes region is scheduled to return to New York.

Nane Annan will join Heidi Kuhn, founder and president of Roots of Peace, a group dedicated to the eradication of land mines, to dedicate the Roots of Peace Garden at the United Nations, in a ceremony beginning at 11:00 a.m.

Wednesday, May 8 The UN General Assembly Special Session on Children will begin, with more than 60 heads of state expected to attend. The Secretary-General will address the opening of the Special Session. For daily updates of press conferences during the session, consult the Spokesmans website.

Thursday, May 9 Friday, May 10 The Security Council has scheduled a retreat in Pocantico, New York, that will continue through Saturday. The Secretary-General is also expected to attend.

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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