United Nations Daily Highlights, 02-09-30

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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

Monday, September 30, 2002

There will be no noon briefing Tuesday; A summary of a press conference by Secretary-General Kofi Annan on progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals will substitute for the noon briefing highlights.

TALKS BEGIN IN VIENNA ON ARRANGEMENTS FOR IRAQ INSPECTIONS

This morning in Vienna, Hans Blix, the Executive Chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), and Mohammed ElBaradei, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), met with an Iraqi delegation, headed by Dr. Amir Al-Sadi, to discuss practical arrangements for UN weapons inspectors.

Todays talks were a first reading of all the issues on the agenda. The talks will continue tomorrow, and are expected to conclude in the afternoon.

Blix spoke to reporters on his way into the talks this morning, and said they were designed to deal with issues like access to sites, entry into Iraq, the inspectors headquarters facility in Baghdad and the movement of inspectors.

He said he would report to the Security Council this Thursday about the talks, adding, Of course, you realize that it is the Security Council that wants to have the first news, and therefore I am a little restrained in what I say here.

font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA; Later, in response to a question from a reporter about the atmosphere of the first day of talks, Blix said: "Very businesslike atmosphere, knowledgeable, everyone there in the room knows something about this subject

Secretary-General Kofi Annan this morning spoke briefly to reporters, who asked him about his views concerning possible Security Council action on Iraq. He noted that the Council has not yet had the chance to see a U.S. proposal concerning a resolution, and said he was waiting to see what would eventually emerge from the Council. He said of the Council, I expect them to work this out and come up with an acceptable resolution.

ANNAN WELCOMES LIFTING OF ISRAELI SIEGE IN RAMALLAH

In a statement issued on Sunday afternoon, the Secretary-General welcomed the decision of the Government of Israel to lift the siege of Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafats Ramallah compound.

The Secretary-General strongly believes that both sides should fully implement Security Council Resolution 1435 immediately and return to the negotiating table. The best path away from violence and stalemate is through the roadmap set out by the Quartet in its September 17 communiqué, which aims for a complete end of violence, the early establishment of a Palestinian state with provisional borders and a just and comprehensive settlement to the conflict.

UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Terje Roed Larsen was with President Arafat on Sunday as Israel lifted the siege. Larsen emphasized to reporters that we must now use the lifting of the siege as a springboard to fulfilling the rest of Resolution 1435, including the cessation of all violence and Israel's withdrawal to pre-September 2000 lines.

ANNAN EXPRESSES CONDOLENCES OVER SENEGAL FERRY TRAGEDY

The Secretary-General, in a statement issued Saturday, voiced his deep sadness at the news that hundreds of people were feared drowned after a Senegalese passenger ferry capsized off the coast of Gambia in a violent storm.

He expressed his heartfelt condolences to the Government of Senegal and the families and friends of the victims.

SECURITY COUNCIL DISCUSSES SANCTIONS ON AL-QAEDA, TALIBAN

The Security Council held consultations this morning on the work of its 1267 Sanctions Committee, which deals with the sanctions on al-Qaeda, the Taliban and their associates. Ambassador Alfonso Valdivieso of Colombia briefed the Council on the work of that committee, which he chairs.

The latest report of the group monitoring those sanctions, chaired by Michael Chandler, was made available today.

The Council took up the Democratic Republic of the Congo in consultations Friday afternoon. A draft resolution was introduced.

Following the late afternoon session, Council President Stefan Tafrov of Bulgaria read two press statements one on the DRC welcoming the measures announced by Uganda, Angola, Zimbabwe and Rwanda for the full withdrawal of their troops and another on the Middle East in which Council members called for the full implementation of the latest resolution.

Today is the last day of the Bulgarian presidency of the Security Council. Cameroon takes over that function on Tuesday for the month of October.

TOP UN HUMANITARIAN OFFICIAL BEGINS VISIT TO SUDAN

Kenzo Oshima, Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, is beginning today a 12-day mission to Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia and Eritrea.

On the first leg of his mission, to Sudan and Kenya, Oshima will be meeting with senior officials from the Government of Sudan and the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Movement, the UN country team, and representatives from the donor and non-governmental organization communities.

He will be accompanied by the Secretary-Generals Special Envoy for Humanitarian Affairs for the Sudan, Tom Eric Vraalsen.

Issues to be discussed include humanitarian access to people in need, the safety of civilians and aid workers, and ways to assure the smooth functioning of one of the worlds largest humanitarian operations.

Upon return from his mission, Oshima is scheduled to brief the press at UN headquarters on October 14.

ANNAN TO DISCUSS PROGRESS OF MILLENNIUM DECLARATION

On Tuesday morning, at 10:30, the Secretary-General is scheduled to brief reporters to outline the steps being taken by the United Nations and its partners to help accelerate the progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, agreed to by world leaders two years ago at the special Millennium Summit of the General Assembly. He will be joined by UN Development Programme Administrator Mark Malloch Brown.

In his recent report to the General Assembly about the international communitys implementation of the Millennium Declaration during the past two years, the Secretary-General said the record was at best, mixed, and said that progress must be made on a much broader front over the next 13 years. Otherwise, he wrote, the ringing words of the Declaration will serve only as grim reminders of human needs neglected and promises unmet.

The Secretary-General will brief the Assembly on that report this Friday, and he is scheduled to tell the press Tuesday about the record so far and ways that the United Nations is trying to ensure that more progress is made on the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

Because of the Secretary-Generals press conference, the Spokesman will not have a noon briefing, but the Highlights will be posted on this Internet site.

ANNAN OPENS TASK FORCE MEETING ON DIGITAL DIVIDE

The Secretary-General this morning opened the third meeting of the UN Information and Communication Technologies Task Force, saying he was pleased that the Task Force would use this meeting to place a particular focus on the need to use such technologies to further development in Africa.

He said that information and communications technology is not a magic formula that is going to solve all the problems, but he stressed that it can be a powerful tool for economic growth and poverty eradication. What is needed, he said, is to use low-cost technologies to provide cheap, fast, and eventually free access to the Internet.

He said, Now is the time to think of partnerships and initiatives that will make a difference on the ground.

The Chairman of the Task Force, José María Figueres, told those gathered that, despite the changed economic scenario over the past year, The expectations are high.

TRIBUNAL UNSEALS INDICTMENT OF BOSNIAN SERB OVER SREBRENICA

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has unsealed its indictment against Ljubomir Borovcanin, a former Bosnian Serb Army official, who is accused of complicity to commit genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, particularly for his alleged involvement in the killings of thousands of Bosnian Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995.

Also from Bosnia, the UN Mission in that country and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe investigated allegations of human rights violations in the prison at Zenica, and have issued a press release saying that their investigation does not support allegations that any Croat prisoners detained there had been forced to convert to Islam. One inmate who was interviewed said he had converted to Islam freely, without any pressure.

TRIBUNAL: FIRST RWANDA GENOCIDE SUSPECT ARRESTED IN DR.CONGO

The former prefect of Kigali-ville, Col. Tharcisse Renzaho, was arrested Sunday in Kinshasa, becoming the first genocide suspect indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda to be arrested in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

He has been transferred to the Tribunals detention facility in Arusha, Tanzania. Tribunal Registrar Adama Dieng, who was in Kinshasa, praised DRC President Joseph Kabilas commitment to help the Tribunal identify and arrest other suspects who are still at large.

WFP MAY HAVE TO HALT FOOD DELIVERIES TO NORTH KOREA

The World Food Programme (WFP) will have to halt cereal distribution in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea because of a slump in donations, the agency said today. WFP said that three million hungry women, children and elderly people would be affected, and an additional 1.5 million would be deprived of rations, starting from the beginning of next year, unless substantial fresh pledges are made soon.

In October, WFP will be forced to stop cereal distributions to nearly half a million kindergarten children and a quarter of a million pregnant and nursing women, who presently receive 350 and 650 grams a day respectively. In November, nearly a million nursery children will no longer be given their 160-grams-a-day entitlement.

WFP said that it urgently needed more than 100,000 tons of cereals to cover its requirements for the remainder of the year and through January of next year. It urges donors to do their utmost to limit the damage.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Human Rights Committee last week considered a number of cases brought before it by individuals claiming breaches of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR). In one of the cases, Wackenheim v. France, the complainant, a dwarf employed in discotheques in France, claimed that he was unable to continue his employment as the object of dwarf tossing because the practice had been banned by the French courts. A press release noted that the Committee upheld the ban imposed by the French courts, saying that it was satisfied that the ban on dwarf tossing was not abusive but necessary to protect public order, including considerations of human dignity.

The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) of the Rotterdam Convention on prior informed consent is meeting this week in Bonn. The meeting will decide whether to add the insecticide monocrotophos to the list of pesticides and industrial chemicals subject to procedures under the Convention. These insecticides, which are used in many developing countries, particularly in Asia, are highly toxic to humans, birds and animals, and safer alternatives exist for all combinations of pests and crops now targeted.