United Nations Daily Highlights, 02-11-25

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

OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY STEPHANE

DUJARRIC

ASSOCIATE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN

HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Monday, November 25, 2002

FIRST BATCH OF UN WEAPONS INSPECTORS ARRIVE IN IRAQ

Eleven inspectors from the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and six from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrived safely in Baghdad today, at about 5:00 p.m. local time. The inspectors are set to get their work underway Tuesday.

Hans Blix, the Executive Chairman of UNMOVIC, will brief the Security Council at 3:30 p.m. in closed consultations, and is expected to speak to the press following his presentation to the Council.

SECURITY COUNCIL CONSIDERS LIBERIA, DRAFT RESOLUTIONS

In addition to its meeting at 3:30 with Blix, the Security Council is considering several draft resolutions today and started its work this morning with closed consultations on Liberia, including the Secretary-Generals recent report, as well as sanctions on Liberia.

Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Tuliameni Kalomoh briefed the Council, as did Ambassador Kishore Mahbubani of Singapore, in his capacity as chairman of the Liberia sanctions committee.

This afternoon, in its 3:30 consultations, Council members are also to hold consultations on three different draft resolutions that the Council intends to vote on later today.

The draft resolutions concern the extension of the oil-for-food program for Iraq, Phase Twelve of which expires today; the one-year extension of the authorization of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, whose current mandate lasts until December 20; and a six-month extension of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, until June 15, 2003.

ANNAN MEETS WITH FRENCH PRESIDENT, OTHER OFFICIALS

After arriving in Paris on Sunday, Secretary-General Kofi Annan met today with French President Jacques Chirac and Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin. In talks that lasted over an hour, they touched on the return of weapons inspectors to Iraq, the situation in the Middle East, and African issues ranging from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Burundi to Cote dIvoire. The Secretary-General also briefed the President on his recent talks in Geneva with the Presidents of Nigeria and Cameroon on their border dispute and the situation in Colombia.

The President then hosted a luncheon in the Secretary-Generals honor, during which their talks continued, including discussions of Cyprus, Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, next years Franco-African Summit, the Global Compact and Georgia.

Following their meeting, the two men took a few questions from the press. Asked about a letter sent over the weekend by Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri, the Secretary-General said that it raised a number of legal objections, which would be up to the Security Council to decide. The Council received copies of that letter this morning.

The Secretary-General then went on to meet Michele Alliot-Maríe, the French Defence Minister, who talked with him about Frances contribution to UN peacekeeping, as well as about Iraq, Afghanistan and the Secretary-Generals visit last week to the Balkans.

This evening, the Secretary-General is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin.

Afterward, he will speak at the Centre dEtudes et de Recherches Internationales de Sciences Po, on the future of multilateralism. He is expected to say that it is too easy to proclaim the virtues of multilateralism in principle, only to go your own way whenever a decision has to be taken that directly affects your citizens security, or the interests of a well-organized domestic lobby.

SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES LAUNCHING OF CODE ON MISSILES

In a statement, the Secretary-General welcomed the launching of the International Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation.

The accumulation, technical refinement, proliferation, use or threat of use of ballistic and other types of missiles has long been a source of concern to the international community. The Code of Conduct, as a voluntary, non-legally binding instrument, is a positive step towards preventing the proliferation of ballistic missiles and towards international peace and security.

At the same time, the Secretary-General stressed the need to continue international efforts to deal with the issue of missiles in its totality. There is no universally accepted norm or instrument specifically governing the development, testing, production, acquisition, transfer, deployment or use of missiles. He looks forward to additional measures that will address this and related concerns.

UNRWA DISPUTES REPORT ON FIRE COMING FROM JENIN COMPOUND

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) issued a statement today, concerning the death last Friday of Iain Hook, senior manager of the Agencys reconstruction project in Jenin. The Agency said that its preliminary findings into the circumstances surrounding his death do not concur with the statement made by the Israeli military that firing had been coming out of the UNRWA compound in Jenin.

The statement adds, It is quite clear to UNRWA at this stage that such a report of live fire from the compound is totally incredible.

AID WORKERS ATTACKED IN AFGHANISTAN, UN SEEKS INVESTIGATION

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi, called upon the Afghan authorities to vigorously pursue an investigation on an attack against international aid workers.

In the incident, which happened last Friday, two international aid workers were brutalized and physically assaulted at gunpoint in the Kargha Lake area, some 20 kilometers northwest of Kabul. Four armed men driving a private vehicle forced the aid workers to stop their car and drove it to a secondary road. They stole money, equipment and documents.

The case is now under investigation by the Afghan Police.

SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS SITUATION IN BURUNDI IS GLOOMY

The Secretary-Generals latest report on the situation in Burundi describes the humanitarian situation as gloomy. The conflict that began in 1993 has disrupted social development and worsened the humanitarian situation. Today, the Secretary-General writes, almost one of six of Burundians live away from their homes, making them largest internally displaced population in the Great Lakes Region.

Concerning the cease-fire talks, he called on the armed groups that have stayed away from the talks to negotiate and join the peace process. A ceasefire that did not include all armed parties and political movements would be dangerous and should be avoided, the Secretary-General says.

He also calls on the donor community to provide more assistance to Burundi, following pledges made at conferences in Paris and Geneva.

DR-CONGO PARTIES REACH UNDERSTANDING ON PRINCIPLES

Moustapha Niasse, the Secretary-Generals Special Envoy dealing with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has been meeting with representatives of the government, armed rebels and the political opposition in Pretoria, South Africa.

On Saturday, they reached an understanding on the principles that would underpin the operation of a transitional government, based on inclusivity, nation building, accountability and respect the territorial integrity of the DRC.

Discussions on the modalities will continue through a number of committees.

These meetings will start this Thursday and their work should be completed on Saturday, December 14.

UNITED NATIONS TO MARK WORLD AIDS DAY ON TUESDAY

World AIDS Day is normally observed on December 1, but because of the Thanksgiving holiday, this years Headquarters observance will be held Tuesday.

The new Joint UN Programme against HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and World Health Organization (WHO) report, AIDS Epidemic Update: December 2002, with new global and regional statistics, will be launched at a press conference at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday.

A town-hall meeting on the theme Live and Let Live, highlighting the need to overcome stigma and discrimination in addressing the epidemic, will take place from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in Conference Room 4. Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette and General Assembly President Jan Kavan will deliver opening statements.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

In response to a question on the Secretary-Generals proposal on Cyprus, the Spokesman said the United Nations still had not received an official response from Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, who has had health problems, but he noted the Secretary-General had been encouraged by the positive responses received so far. He added that the Special Adviser on Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, was scheduled to meet the Turkish Foreign Minister in Berlin on Tuesday, and the Secretary-General remains in touch with Turkey and Greece.

The UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) announced that its UNMIK Administration-Mitrovica office was established this afternoon at the previous premises of the parallel administration in northern Mitrovica.

In his message to mark the International Day for the Eradication of Violence against Women, the Secretary-General says that although the world is achieving grater awareness and understanding of gender-based violence, much more remains to be done and he calls for rededication to the elimination of this scourge.

The World Food Programme warned that up to 670,000 Cambodians could face persistent food shortages in the years ahead due to global climate change. Severe drought in April followed by floods in August and September have led to food shortages, which WFP says should serve as a wake-up call about the weather patterns that have sabotaged the Cambodian rice crop for three years in a row.

WFP also appealed today for $8.4 million to help feed almost 400,000 people affected by drought, floods and political turmoil in Madagascar. The money is needed to buy 18,400 metric tons of food aid for the next six months.

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced today that an agreement for the development of a new combination drug to fight malaria has been signed between the joint venture Tropical Diseases Research Programme, Medicines for Malaria venture, a Swiss non-profit organization and Shin Poong Pharmaceuticals of the Republic of Korea. It is hoped that this new combination treatment will be well tolerated and affordable.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO) International Bioethics Committee is working on a draft international instrument on human genetic data. The draft will be presented to the Committee meeting, which begins Tuesday in Montreal and the final version will be presented for adoption at UNESCOs General Conference next year.