United Nations Daily Highlights, 03-02-14

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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

UN

HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Friday, February 14, 2003

SECURITY COUNCIL HEARS FROM UN WEAPONS INSPECTORS

Hans Blix, Executive Chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), and Mohamed ElBaradei, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), briefed an open meeting of the Security Council on Iraq.

Members of the Council also addressed the meeting attended by 10 foreign ministers and the Secretary-General. Iraq also spoke.

Following the open meeting, and after a short break, Council members only are scheduled to hold a closed meeting in the formal chamber.

Today's meeting is chaired by German Foreign Minister Joschka Fisher in his capacity as Security Council President.

BLIX: DISARMAMENT COULD BE SHORT WITH IMMEDIATE, ACTIVE AND UNCONDITIONAL COOPERATION

While starting off with an update on the field work of the UNMOVIC inspectors in the field, Blix said that his team had obtained a good knowledge of the industrial and scientific landscape of Iraq, as well as of its missile capability but, as before, we do not know every cave and corner.

In addition to visits, some 300 chemical and biological samples have been collected and the destruction mustard gas has begun.

He noted that while cooperation on procedure had been good, cooperation on substance was indispensable. Cooperation, Blix said requires more than the opening of doors. He added that in the current situation, one would expect Iraq to be eager to comply.

Blix told members of the Security Council, that a group of missile experts he had convened concluded unanimously that, based on the data provided by Iraq, the two declared variants of the Al Samoud 2 missile were capable of exceeding 150 kilometers in range, which is proscribed by resolution .

He informed the Council that UNMOVIC would start using U2 surveillance planes next week and that arrangements were being made to also use Mirage aircraft for surveillance flights.

In conclusion, Blix said that if Iraq had provided the necessary cooperation in 1991, the phase of disarmament could have been short and a decade of sanctions could have been avoided. Today, he said, three months after the adoption of resolution 1441 (2002), the period of disarmament through inspection could still be short, if immediate, active and unconditional cooperation with UNMOVIC and the IAEA were to be forthcoming.

ELBARADEI: INSPECTIONS MOVE FROM RECONNAISSANCE TO INVESTIGATIVE PHASE

Baradei, in his briefing, said the focus of his agencys work in Iraq has now moved from the reconnaissance phase into the investigative phase."

While updating the members of the Council on the general work of the nuclear inspectors, which includes some 177 visits to 125 sites since work began at the end of last year, ElBaradei focused on a number of specific issues such as uranium acquisition and laser related document.

The IAEA, ElBaradei said, had recently received some additional information relating to uranium acquisition, which will be further pursued, hopefully with the assistance of the African country reported to have been involved.

In conclusion, the chief weapons inspector said that to date, the IAEA has found no evidence of ongoing prohibited nuclear or nuclear related activities in Iraq.

However, he added, a number of issues are still under investigation and we are not yet in a position to reach a conclusion about them, although we are moving forward with regard to some of them.

UN WEAPONS INSPECTORS CONTINUE THEIR WORK IN IRAQ

UNMOVIC sought a private interview with a senior Iraqi scientist last evening. The scientist showed up for the appointment alone but declined to be interviewed under the UNMOVIC format. The interview therefore did not proceed.

An UNMOVIC chemical team continued the process of destroying mustard from the artillery shells and containers.

Meanwhile inspection teams from UNMOVIC visited four sites in and around Baghdad and conducted an aerial inspection of the Chemical Corps School, located approximately 50 kilometers west southwest of Baghdad.

ANNAN WELCOMES ANNOUNCEMENT OF NEW PALESTINIAN PRIME MINISTER

In a statement made through his Spokesman, the Secretary-General welcomed the announcement by Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat that he intends to appoint a Prime Minister and also that he fully embraces the Road Map of the Quartet, which comprises the United Nations, European Union, Russian Federation and United States.

The Spokesman said the Secretary-General believed that these are two very important steps towards restarting the Middle East peace process and that he looked forward to working with a credible and fully empowered Palestinian Prime Minister.

The Secretary-General also believes that it is essential for the Palestinian Legislative Council to meet as soon as possible, so that Mr. Arafat can bring his nomination forward and he urges both parties to do everything necessary for that to happen.

The Secretary-General noted the importance of this move in advance of meetings in London next week between the parties and key members of the international community to discuss donor assistance and Palestinian reform. The Quartet Envoys will also convene during this set of meetings.

ANNAN WARNS CONFLICT BETWEEN ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIANS CAN GET WORSE

In a message to be delivered this afternoon, the Secretary-General warns about the conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis: Let us not to fall into the trap of imagining that it can not get any worse. It easily can.

In the statement to the opening of the 2003 Session on the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, which will be delivered by Iqbal Riza, Chef de Cabinet, the Secretary-General outlines again the steps needed to be taken to realize the vision of a two state solution.

He underscores the importance of international help and pledges that UN agencies, including UNRWA, will continue their efforts. He notes that UNRWA today is facing an especially severe financial crisis and calls on donors to contribute generously in this time of acute hardship.

UN HOSTS MEETING OF CYPRUS LEADERS

The Secretary-Generals Special Advisor for Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, returned to the island earlier today in time to host a meeting, on UN premises, of the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktash, and the Greek Cypriot leader, Glafcos Clerides.

Upon arrival at the airport, de Soto told journalists that the timing of the Secretary-Generals forthcoming trip to the region was no coincidence. The deadline for the need to complete an agreement by the end of the month is a very real one, and it is not a deadline that has been imposed by the Secretary-General, de Soto said.

The Secretary-General, de Soto added, believes that a settlement by then is a real possibility and he wants to make every effort that is at his disposal and within his reach to help the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots bring about this goal.

FATE OF 1.2 MILLION AFRICAN REFUGEES UNCERTAIN DUE TO LACK OF FUNDS

The World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today warned that the fate of more than 1.2 million refugees in Africa was uncertain due to a lack of funding.

WFP urgently needs 112,000 metric tons of food worth an estimated $84 million over the next six months to avert severe hunger among refugees.

The warning comes amid growing concerns that a potential conflict in Iraq may distract the attention of donor nations from the pressing needs of millions of refugees on the African continent.

Major interruptions in the food pipeline for one or more of the basic food commodities are feared in Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Algeria and Sudan Africa's main refugee-hosting nations.

I AM STILL AN OPTIMIST ANNAN TELLS NOBEL PEACE PRIZE FESTIVALS

The Secretary-General has issued messages to the 8th annual Nobel Peace Prize festival, which took place Thursday at Augsberg College in Minnesota, and the 15th Nobel Peace Prize Forum, which is taking place Friday and Saturday at Concordia College in Maine, in which he says that work for peace is far too important to be left only to politicians, diplomats and bureaucrats.

He highlights the challenges the world faces, from the problems in Iraq, North Korea, the Middle East and Cote dIvoire to the AIDS epidemic and global climate change. And yet, he says, I am still an optimist, adding, Nations working together can make a difference.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

LIBERIAN REFUGEES: UNHCR reports that the continuing political uncertainty in Côte d'Ivoire has prompted an increasing number of the estimated 30,000 to 40,000 Liberian refugees still caught in the fighting to seek immediate repatriation or evacuation to neighboring countries. UNHCR says it has been pressing countries in West Africa to accommodate Liberian refugees who cannot return to Liberia, but so far, there have been no positive responses.

WORKING GROUP ON ARBITRARY DETENTION: The UN working group on arbitrary detention, led by Louis Joinet, will visit Iran, starting Saturday, at the invitation of the Government. During its field mission, which lasts until February 27, the group will visit detention centers in Isfahan, Shiraz, Teheran and Yazd. It will meet with Iranian officials, as well as with members of human rights groups and civil society.

DIGITAL DIVIDE: The preparatory committee for the World Summit on the Information Society will begin consideration next Monday of a draft declaration on ways to bridge the digital divide. The Summit, which is to be held in Geneva next December, is to examine how information and communication technology has transformed the world, but has also created a world of haves and have nots when its comes to information.

TOBACCO CONTROL CONVENTION: The sixth and final round of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body for the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which will take place in Geneva next week. The body will consider the newly revised text of the Framework Convention, which was issued a few weeks ago. The text includes international rules on tobacco taxation, smoking prevention and treatment, illicit trade, advertising and promotion and product regulation.

UN BUDGET: Lesotho today became the 46th Member State to pay its 2003 regular budget contribution in full with a payment of more than $13,000.

THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS Monday, February 17

Monday is a U.S. holiday, and the UN Headquarters in New York will be closed.

The Secretary-General is scheduled to be in Brussels, Belgium, where he has been invited by the President of the European Union, Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis, to join a meeting of the EU Heads of State and Government to examine the latest developments in Iraq and the Middle East.

In Vienna, a two-week session of the Outer Space Scientific and Technical Subcommittee will begin.

Tuesday, February 18

The Secretary-General plans to go to Rome, where he will have lunch with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and, in the evening, he is scheduled to have an audience with Pope John Paul II.

The Security Council has scheduled an open debate on Iraq.

Wednesday, February 19

In Rome, the Secretary-General is scheduled to address the 25th anniversary of the Governing Council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), before leaving later that day for Paris.

Thursday, February 20

The Secretary-General is scheduled to meet with French President Jacques Chirac on Thursday before he addresses the Africa-France Summit in Paris.

The Security Council has scheduled an open debate on counter-terrorism, to follow up on last months ministerial meeting of the Council.

Friday, February 21

The Secretary-General plans to continue his participation in the Africa-France summit before leaving France over the weekend for Turkey.

Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

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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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