United Nations Daily Highlights, 03-02-19

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

OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY HUA JIANG

DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

UN

HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Wednesday, February 19, 2003

ANNAN SAYS IRAQ SHOULD NOT DISTRACT WORLD FROM UN AGENDA

Secretary-General Kofi Annan spoke this morning in Rome at the 25th anniversary meeting of the Governing Council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), saying that the possibility of war against Iraq should not distract Governments from carrying out the wider agenda of the United Nations.

He added that, at a time of famine, AIDS is depriving countries of their capacity to resist, creating a need to combine food assistance with the treatment and prevention of AIDS.

In the margins of the Rome meeting, the Secretary-General was presented with an appeal against a war in Iraq by Walter Veltroni, the Mayor of Rome; that appeal was also signed by the majors of Berlin, Brussels, London, Moscow, Paris, Vienna, Belgrade, Ljubljana and Sarajevo.

He then met with Swedens Minister for Development Cooperation, Jan Karlsson, in which he discussed the link between AIDS and food production, and afterward had a similar discussion with IFAD President Lennart Bage.

On leaving the conference facility, the Secretary-General was asked by a journalist whether the Pope invited him to go to Baghdad, and said that, when he met Pope John Paul II on Tuesday, they did not talk about a visit to Baghdad. However, he told the reporters, he does plan to go to the Arab League Summit next month.

Asked whether he shared the Vaticans view that there is now more hope for peace, he said, I have maintained that war is not inevitable and that war is always a human catastrophe, and we should exhaust all other possibilities for a peaceful settlement before war is even contemplated.

The Secretary-General then attended a luncheon hosted by the IFAD President before he left for Paris, where he will address the Africa-France Summit on Thursday.

SECURITY COUNCIL DEBATES IRAQ; TO TAKE UP NORTH KOREA

The Security Council resumed its open debate on Iraq this morning just after 10:00 a.m., with more than 30 speakers on the list.

Security Council President, German Ambassador Gunter Pleuger, said early this afternoon that the debate would be wrapped up during the morning session.

Consultations on a letter from the International Atomic Energy Agency on the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea are to take place this afternoon at 3 p.m., according to the Council presidency.

On other program matters, the Security Council has added consultations on Cote d'Ivoire for Friday.

In a letter to the Security Council, the Secretary-General appointed four members of the Panel of Experts to conduct a follow-up assessment mission to Liberia and neighboring countries. On January 28, the Security Council re-established for a further three months the Panel of Experts investigating compliance with the sanctions imposed on the Liberian Government, including an arms embargo, a travel ban for officials, and a ban on the import of its rough diamonds.

UN ENVOY ON CYPRUS CONTINUES TALKS WITH LEADERS

In Nicosia, the Secretary-Generals Special Advisor on Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, today held lengthy consultations with Tassos Papadopoulos.

This morning he also met with Greek Cypriot leader, Glafcos Clerides, and last night with Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktash.

UN ENVOY ASKS CONGOLESE LEADER NOT TO BLOCK WORK IN ITURI

During his weekly press briefing, the head of the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Amos Namanga Ngongi, called on the leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), Thomas Lubanga, to refrain from blocking the work of the Ituri Pacification Commission.

[In a press release issued Tuesday, Ngongi noted the UPC decision to prevent certain actors in the Ituri crisis from participating in the efforts to halt hostilities: this will inevitably result in a postponement of the signing of the cease-fire agreement which was scheduled to take place in Bunia on 19 February 2003.]

Ngongi said if Lubangas attitude did not change, the UN Mission would have no other choice but to bring this matter to the Security Council.

THOUSANDS FLEEING CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

The Office of the UN High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR) reports that thousands of refugees from the Central African Republic have fled northwards to Chad to escape recent fighting between Government troops and rebel forces. Smaller numbers of refugees from areas south of the Republics capital, Bangui, have also gone south to the Republic of Congo to escape rebel activity near their homes.

UNHCR has dispatched a threeperson team to southern Chad to verify reports of the recent arrival of nearly 20,000 people who fled fighting in the northern areas of the Central African Republic.

RWANDA TRIBUNAL CONVICTS FATHER AND SON FOR GENOCIDE

In Arusha, Tanzania, today, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda unanimously ruled that a Rwandan doctor was guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity, while his father, a Seventh Day Adventist pastor, was convicted of aiding and abetting in genocide.

The three-judge trial chamber found guilty both the son, Gérard Ntakirutimana, whom it sentenced to 25 years in prison, and his father Elizaphan, who received a 10-year sentence.

UN HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF URGES NORMS TO DEAL WITH MISSING

In Geneva today, High Commissioner for Human Rights Sergio Vieira de Mello addressed an international conference of governmental and non-governmental experts on actions to deal with people who are missing because of armed conflict and internal violence, saying that the disappeared are often the most contentious issue in peace-making, the issue that makes confidence-building all the more difficult. Rightly so.

He expressed his hope that, as the Commission on Human Rights tries to elaborate a new, legally binding instrument to guarantee better protection for victims of enforced disappearance, it will seek to impose positive obligations to prevent deviation by states.

JAPAN TO GIVE $35 MILLION TO SUPPORT UNDP WORK IN AFGHANISTAN

Today in Kabul, Afghanistan, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) signed an agreement with the Government of Japan that gives a major financial boost to the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process in the country.

Under the agreement the Government of Japan will be giving $35 million to UNDP for conflict prevention and peace-building in Afghanistan.

The UN Mission in Afghanistan welcomed the contribution as a significant step forward in supporting the Afghan Administration in its efforts to bring stability and security to the country through security sector reform.

EBOLA OUTBREAK CONFIRMED IN REPUBLIC OF CONGO

The outbreak of hemorrhagic fever in the northwest of the Republic of the Congo has been confirmed as Ebola. As of Tuesday, there have been 80 reported cases, including 64 deaths.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has sent several experts in clinical case management, epidemiology and social work to the region to assist the government in controlling the outbreak. WHO is also providing training and extra equipment for barrier nursing, including masks, gloves, suits and visors. This is the second outbreak in the region in the last 15 months.

In other news from WHO, there has been one confirmed case of avian influenza or bird flu in Hong Kong. The case was confirmed in a nine-year-old boy, whose mother has recovered from similar symptoms. The boy is recovering, but two other members of the family have died. This flu was first seen in humans in 1997, when 18 people died in Hong Kong and all chickens thought to be the source of the outbreak were slaughtered.

FRENCH PRESIDENT CONVENES MEETING ON GLOBAL COMPACT

French President Jacques Chirac met with leaders of French companies in Paris today to discuss the Global Compact, the Secretary-Generals initiative to win support from businesses for nine principles of human rights, labor rights and environmental standards.

The Global Compact office reported that, at todays discussion, business leaders shared with the French President examples of good corporate practices and partnership projects. The examples included an initiative to fight malaria in Africa; access to water in urban areas; voluntary initiatives to advance environmental management; and other corporate practices in support of the Global Compact.

A broad consensus emerged among the participants that many of todays problems could only be solved if Governments, business and civil society work together.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

CAMBODIA: Asked about talks between the United Nations and the Cambodian Government on Khmer Rouge trials, the Spokeswoman noted that the Secretary-General last week had sent a letter to the Cambodian Government, suggesting two dates for such talks to be held in Phnom Penh: either toward the end of this week, or early next month. She said the United Nations is still awaiting a formal response by the Cambodian Government indicating which dates were most convenient.

IRAQ OIL: According to the weekly update from the Office of the Iraq Programme, Iraqi oil exports for the week ending February 14 totaled 11.4 million barrels for an estimated value of $315 million.

YUGOSLAVIA TRIBUNAL: The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia confirmed the arrest Tuesday in Slovenia of Fatmir Limaj, a Kosovo Albanian who was indicted by the Tribunal for war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in a Kosovo Liberation Army prison camp in 1998. Limaj will soon be transferred to the Tribunals Detention Unit, where three other Kosovo Albanians who were indicted along with him have already arrived.

ZIMBABWE: Dato Param Cumaraswamy, the UN special rapporteur dealing with the independence of judges and lawyers, today expressed his grave concern over the arrest and detention on Monday of a Zimbabwean judge who has been charged with an alleged obstruction of justice. The rapporteur said the latest arrest is but one in a series of institutional and personal attacks on the judiciary and its judges over the past two years, which have left the rule of law in Zimbabwe in tatters.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: The UN Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Task Force will hold its fourth meeting on Friday and Saturday in Geneva. It will focus on how best to link the information technology efforts by the private sector, civil society and the UN system in furthering development and the Millennium Development Goals.

FOOD SAFETY: The Food and Agriculture Organization has announced the launch of a new electronic bulletin on food safety and quality. Subscribers to The Food Safety and Quality Updates will receive each month the table of contents of the full bulletin, which is available on the website. The newsletter is available to anyone who wishes to subscribe, although it targets food safety experts.

UN BUDGET: Three more Member States have joined the list of those that have paid their 2003 regular budget contributions in full. Samoa made a payment of more than $13,000, Belgium more than $15 million and the Netherlands more than $23 million, bringing the number of fully paid-up Member States to 49. Germany also made a contribution of more than $87 million to the peacekeeping budget.

Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

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

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