United Nations Daily Highlights, 02-12-18

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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

Wednesday, December 18, 2002

UN TEAMS CONDUCT FURTHER INSPECTIONS IN IRAQ

A UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) team carried out an inspection today of a plant involved in the production of steel structures, forging casts, and moulds and fixtures for different industrial uses.

Two other UNMOVIC teams visited separate locations involved in missile activity.

Meanwhile, an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team continued to inspect facilities in the Mosul region, and another IAEA team inspected three sites in the Baghdad area.

Asked about a Security Council briefing on Thursday by UNMOVIC Executive Chairman Hans Blix, the Spokesman said the briefing would begin at 10:00 a.m., in closed consultations.

SECURITY COUNCIL TO CAP BUSY DAY WITH DISCUSSION OF CYPRUS

The

Security Council began its work today with a series of briefings in an open meeting by the chairs of the Council sanctions committees on Iraq and Kuwait, Angola, Afghanistan, and Liberia, as well as working groups on Africa and peacekeeping operations.

The Council then held two formal meetings to adopt Presidential Statements: one encouraging cooperation with the International Tribunals and the other welcoming the cease-fire agreement in Burundi.

In the first statement, the Council stressed the importance of full cooperation by all States with the work of the two International Tribunals dealing with the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. It noted that all countries, including Yugoslavia and Rwanda, are obliged under Security Council resolutions to cooperate fully with the Tribunals.

On Burundi, the Council requested the Secretary-General to study ways of responding positively and urgently to requests for any expertise and advice which the Secretariat could provide to facilitate the definition of the mandate and the deployment of the African mission, provided for in the December 2 cease-fire agreement.

The Council then held consultations, starting with a briefing by the High-Level Coordinator for Iraq, Yuli Vorontsov on the Secretary-Generals latest report on the issue of the return by Iraq of Kuwaiti property as well as missing Kuwaitis and third country nationals.

The second item on the agenda was a discussion of the Secretary-Generals report on Guinea Bissau. The Secretary-General's Representative for Guinea-Bissau, David Stephen, presented the report.

Then at 3:00 p.m., the Secretary-Generals Special Advisor on Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, is scheduled to brief Council members in consultations. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is expected to attend those consultations.

SECURITY COUNCIL ENCOURAGES COMMITTEE DIALOGUE ON COUNTER-TERRORISM

On Tuesday afternoon, the Security Council encouraged its Counter-Terrorism Committee to build a dialogue with international, regional and subregional organizations active in the areas addressed by the Councils anti-terrorism Resolution 1373.

In a statement read by the Councils President, Ambassador Alfonso Valdivieso of Colombia, the Council requested Committee to invite all relevant organizations to contribute information on their activities in the area of counter-terrorism and to send a representative to a special meeting of the Counter-Terrorism Committee with such organizations, to be held on March 7, 2003.

UN HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF OFFERS HELP ON CRIMINAL COURT

This morning in The Hague, High Commissioner for Human Rights Sergio Vieira de Mello participated in an annual conference, sponsored by the International Criminal Law Network, on the establishment of the International Criminal Court.

He said at that conference that his office is ready to provide concrete help to States so that their legislation would enable judges to carry out national prosecutions under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. He also noted that, among its achievements, the ICC includes enforced disappearances in its list of crimes, an advance from earlier tribunals, and he added that the Statute represents an advance with regard to the inclusion of gender concerns in the construction of international criminal law.

While in The Hague, Vieira de Mello also met with the prosecutor of the International Tribunals, Carla Del Ponte.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Food and Agriculture Organization announced today that a barge carrying fishing gear is heading along the Sobat River to southern Sudan. The barge is carrying nets, ropes and hooks, as well as seeds and tools, for 27 villages where the malnutrition rate is about 20 percent. The cease-fire agreement between the Government and the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Movement/Army has allowed access to previously inaccessible communities.

The FAO's Food Outlook for December shows a drop in the global production of cereal but a rise in the production of pulses.

Pakistan made a payment of more than $677,000 to become the 117th Member State to have paid its regular budget dues for 2002 in full.

The UN Works program announced today it will co-produce a 10-part family television series for broadcast on the Showtime network, called Whats going on? Each half-hour episode will examine a critical global issue such as HIV/AIDS, conflict and child labor by profiling the life of an individual child, and each will be hosted by a UN Goodwill Ambassador. The series begins on Sunday, January 19 with an episode on the HIV/AIDS crisis in the Caribbean hosted by UNDP Goodwill Ambassador Danny Glover.

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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