United Nations Daily Highlights, 02-12-02

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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, December 2, 2002

ANNAN EXTREMELY CONCERNED AT ISRAELI DEMOLITION OF UN FOOD WAREHOUSE

The World Food Programme (WFP) urged the Israeli Government to observe humanitarian principles, following the loss of 537 metric tons of food aid after Israeli forces targeted a WFP warehouse in the town of Jaballia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on Saturday night.

The warehouse collapsed, and its contents were destroyed, after Israeli soldiers had entered the building and, after searching it, were seen placing dynamite in various parts of it. The total value of the lost food is estimated at $271,000 dollars, and WFP has asked Israel to compensate it for the loss and to conduct a thorough investigation of the incident.

A statement issued today said that Secretary-General Kofi Annan was extremely concerned at the demolition by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) of the WFP warehouse. He supported the request by WFP that the Government of Israel thoroughly investigate this incident.

The Secretary-General once again called on the Israeli authorities to live up to their commitments and obligations to facilitate emergency humanitarian assistance in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Jean-Luc Siblot, WFPs country director, said that it was worrisome that WFP was not permitted to remove the food, which was to be distributed to more than 40,000 destitute people in the Gaza Strip.

ANNAN TO MARK PAN AMERICAN HEALTH ORGANIZATION CENTENNIAL

The Secretary-General is in Washington, D.C., today, where this afternoon, he is to have a private discussion with fellows at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

Tonight, the Secretary-General will address the 100th anniversary of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and he will highlight that organizations accomplishments over the past century, which have helped increase life expectancy in the Americas from 50 years, a century ago, to 72 years today.

But he is also to highlight the enormous backlog of health-related despair in the Americas, including the AIDS epidemic and violence, particularly against women and children.

UN TEAM INSPECTS MISSILE DEVELOPMENT SITE IN IRAQ

UN weapons inspections are continuing in Iraq today, following a busy weekend in which the inspectors from the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) paid surprise visits to several Iraqi sites.

An UNMOVIC team today visited the Waziriyah site of the al Karama General Company, on the northern outskirts of Baghdad, one of Iraq's principal missile development sites. It was able to carry out planned inspection tasks, and found that pieces of equipment and monitoring cameras put in place by the United Nations, which had been at the site in 1998, were no longer there. It was claimed that some equipment had been destroyed by the bombing of the site, and some had been transferred elsewhere.

The IAEA inspection team went to three small industrial sites, two of which had never been visited before, which proved to be dedicated to the production of alcohol.

Among the sites visited over the weekend were the Balad Chemical Defence Battalion, a previous sensitive site located some 90 kilometers north of Baghdad, and several facilities 40 kilometers south of Baghdad that were known for dual use capabilities. The inspection teams arrived unannounced and were able to perform all their inspection activities without any difficulties.

UN-CHAIRED COMMISSION ON CAMEROON-NIGERIA HOLDS FIRST MEETING

In line with a communiqué issued following the Secretary General's meeting in Geneva last month with Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and Paul Biya of Cameroon, the so-called mixed commission dealing with the Cameroon-Nigeria border issue is meeting for the first time.

The commission chaired by the Secretary-Generals Special Representative for West Africa Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah held an informal session in Yaoundé, Cameroon, on Sunday.

Today in Yaoundé, delegations from both countries are meeting in a formal session expected to include discussions on the program and calendar of work.

The commission has been set up to consider ways of following up on the October 10 ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

AFGHANISTAN: FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF BONN AGREEMENT MARKED

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi was in Petersberg, Germany for the 2002 talks on the first anniversary of the Bonn Agreement on Afghanistan.

Thirty-two countries, including Afghanistan and the host, Germany, were represented at the talks, during which a communiqué was issued that noted that, while security concerns remain in parts of Afghanistan, there has nevertheless been considerable improvement in security and stability in much of the country. The communiqué strongly endorsed the decision taken by the Transitional Administration to create an Afghan National Army and achieve the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of ex-combatants into civilian life.

Brahimi delivered a statement on behalf of the Secretary-General in which he noted that peace in Afghanistan requires not only that the Afghans choose cooperation over diehard habits of confrontation, but that the international community do the same. The intention of Afghanistan and its neighboring countries to sign a declaration of good neighborly relations is an especially welcome signal of this spirit of cooperation, he said.

COLOMBIA ASSUMES PRESIDENCY OF SECURITY COUNCIL

Colombia has replaced China as the president of the Security Council for the month of December.

There are no consultations or meetings of the Security Council as a whole scheduled for today.

The Council President, Ambassador Alfonso Valdivieso of Colombia, is holding bilateral consultations on the Council's program of work for December. Ambassador Valdivieso is expected to speak to the press about the program of work after the Council approves it on Tuesday.

There is a meeting at 3:00 p.m. today of the ad hoc working group on conflict prevention and resolution in Africa.

UN ADVISOR ON CYPRUS AWAITING SUBSTANTIVE COMMENTS

Asked about whether the Secretary-General would hold talks between the Cypriot parties, and when he would receive substantive comments from them about his recent proposal, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General had not fixed a date for calling the two sides together.

The Secretary-Generals Special Adviser, Alvaro de Soto, is in Ankara, Turkey, today, where he met with the Turkish Foreign Minister. The Special Adviser expects to receive substantive comments from both sides to the Secretary-Generals proposal, perhaps as early as Tuesday.

Asked whether Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash wanted changes in the proposal, the Spokesman said the whole point is to obtain views from both sides, so that the proposal can be revised as necessary. The idea is to get the two sides to agree to a single text.

In response to another question, he noted that time is running out, but the United Nations is making every effort to bring the matter to a head by the Copenhagen Summit, on December 12.

TIMOR LESTE COURT SENTENCES JUVENILE FOR 1999 VIOLENCE

The Special Panel of Dili District Court for Serious Crimes today sentenced a juvenile to 12 months imprisonment following his conviction for the manslaughter of three people during the 1999 violence. His name was suppressed by the court, as he was only 14 years old at the time the crimes were committed.

During the trial, the court was told that the juvenile had been abducted and brutalized by the Skunar militia before the crimes were committed. The UN Missions Human Rights Unit and Timor-Leste Social Services are planning a reconciliation meeting between the juvenile and the families of the victims as part of the reintegration process following his release.

ANGOLA: NEARLY 2 MILLION PEOPLE IN NEED OF EMERGENCY FOOD AID

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today that the food situation of the large number of displaced people in Angola is cause for serious concern.

Following the ceasefire between the Government and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), massive numbers of people are returning to their homes and the number of people in need of emergency food aid has increased from 1.42 million to 1.9 million.

FAO has launched an appeal for $12.7 million to assist the must vulnerable people to return to their agricultural activities to increase the amount of food grown locally.

NUMBER OF HUNGRY PEOPLE ON THE RISE IN MALAWI AND BURUNDI

The World Food Programme (WFP) has started moving large amounts of food by rail from Nacala port in Mozambique to Malawi to speed up food aid to millions of hungry people. WFP expects the number of hungry people to jump from 2.3 million to 3.3 million this month and will move an extra 10,000 tons of food a month by rail, bringing the monthly total of food aid delivered to 33,000 tons.

Meanwhile, in Burundi today, WFP launched an emergency appeal for food aid ahead of a food shortage expected this month due to a two-month delay in rains. WFP urgently needs 40,000 metric tons of food to help feed more than 1 million Burundians until the main harvest in April 2003.

WHO CHIEF ANNOUNCES EMERGENCY OUTBREAK RESPONSE FUND

In Washington, D.C. today, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Gro Harlem Brundtland, and former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn, Co-Chairman of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, announced the formation of a rapid outbreak response fund. The fund will strengthen the global response to infectious disease outbreaks, from either natural sources or biological weapons.

Rapid detection, identification and response are essential to saving lives and controlling infectious diseases from any source, and the fund will make it possible to mobilize international teams, materials and vaccines immediately. The fund has been established with $500,000 from the Nuclear Threat Initiative, and additional funds will be requested from traditional humanitarian donors.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Secretary-General marked the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery with a message today in which he says that slavery was, in a very real sense, the first international human rights issue to come to the fore. Human beings, he says, are not property, and today, we should redouble our efforts so that no one shall be held in slavery or servitude.

Over the weekend, Martin Barber, the chief of the UN Mine Action Service, attended a ceremony marking the fifth anniversary of the opening for signature of the Ottawa Convention, which bans anti-personnel landmines, and he delivered a statement on the Secretary-Generals behalf, welcoming the fact that, under the Convention, which now has 130 States Parties, millions of mines have been destroyed.

Deputy Secretary-General, Louise Fréchette is in Finland today, where she will attend the Helsinki Conference 2002, with the theme Searching for Global Partnerships. On Tuesday, she will address a working session on Values and Aims of Global Governance: Perspectives for a Common Approach. While in Finland, she will also meet with President Tarja Halonen and other senior officials.

Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General United Nations, S-378 New York, NY 10017 Tel. 212-963-7162 - press/media only Fax. 212-963-7055

All other inquiries to be addressed to (212) 963-4475 or by e-mail to: inquiries@un.org

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