United Nations Daily Highlights, 03-03-10

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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, March 10, 2003

ANNAN SAYS SECURITY COUNCIL FACES MOMENTOUS CHOICE ON IRAQ

Secretary-General Kofi Annan this afternoon gave a press conference at The Hague, in which he pointed to the desire by people around the world for a peaceful resolution to the Iraq crisis. He emphasized that war must always be a last resort, and that the United Nations has a duty to search until the very end for the peaceful resolution of conflicts.

Security Council members, he said, now face a momentous choice, adding, If they fail to agree on a common position, and action is taken without the authority of the Security Council, the legitimacy and support for any such action will be seriously impaired.

He added that the success or failure of the international community would crucially affect its ability to deal with other problems in the Middle East, the Korean peninsula and Africa.

The Secretary-General noted the importance attached the world over to the Security Council and the United Nations, and said, As they approach their grave decision, I must solemnly urge all members of the Council to keep this in mind, and to be worthy of the trust in them that the worlds peoples have shown.

Asked whether an attack on Iraq without Security Council authorization would violate the UN charter, the Secretary-General said, If the U.S. and others were to go outside the Council and take military action, it would not be in conformity with the Charter.

Asked whether the Secretary-General could interpret the UN Charter, the Spokesman said it was his duty to defend the Charter, so he needed to interpret it, and had legal advisers to assist him in that effort. Eckhard added that the Secretary-General takes his orders from the Member States, including the General Assembly and Security Council. He added, in response to hypothetical questions about action being taken if a Council resolution does not pass or is withdrawn, that it would be up to the Council to decide whether previous resolutions give authorization for military action.

Asked about the timing of the Secretary-Generals comments, the Spokesman noted the rising tensions concerning Iraq, and the Secretary-Generals intention to reiterate his position on that debate.

Asked further about his silence during last weeks Council debate, he added that last Fridays Council meeting concerned a briefing by UN weapons inspectors, and the Secretary-General had not seen it as his role to enter into that particular debate. He had made his views known, but in private.

Eckhard said, in response to another question, that the Secretary-General feels that there is still room in the Security Councils deliberations for a peaceful settlement of the Iraq issue.

ANNAN MEETS CYPRIOT LEADERS IN THE HAGUE

On Monday morning, at the Peace Palace of The Hague, which serves as the seat of the International Court of Justice, the Secretary General began a round of meetings on Cyprus.

On February 28, he had asked the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktash, and the Greek Cypriot leader, Tassos Papodopoulous, to come to The Hague to tell him whether or not they are ready to enter into a binding commitment to putting the plan for a comprehensive settlement, as revised on February 26, to separate simultaneous referenda on March 30.

A statement issued by the Spokesman on Sunday said that the Secretary-Generals plan represents the best and last opportunity for Cyprus to sign the EU accession treaty reunited. The Secretary-General hopes that the leaders will agree to put the plan to referendum and allow their people to decide on their future in a united Cyprus.

At the Peace Palace, the Secretary-General first met with Tassos Papadopoulos, and then met with Rauf Denktash. Before leaving the Palace at the end of the morning session, the Secretary-General met again with the Director-General of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ugur Ziyal.

Consultations among the various parties are to continue at the Peace Palace in the afternoon.

The Secretary-General was asked today about his discussions today on Cyprus, and one reporter asked in particular about the difficulty in getting a yes-or-no answer from the Cypriot leaders on putting his plan to separate, simultaneous referenda on March 30, and the Secretary-General responded that, sometimes, to get to what you call a simple yes or no takes a lot of doing.

Late Sunday afternoon and evening, the Secretary-General held a number of meetings relating to Cyprus. He first met with his Special Advisor on Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, who briefed him on the latest developments regarding the Cyprus issue. Afterwards, de Soto joined the Secretary-General for separate, back-to-back meetings on Cyprus with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, George Papandreou, and with Ugur Ziyal.

ANNAN TO ATTEND INAUGURAL SESSION OF CRIMINAL COURT

On Sunday, after arriving in The Hague, the Secretary-General met with Prince Zeid Raad Zeid al-Hussein, the Permanent Representative of Jordan to the United Nations, who serves as the President of the Assembly of the States Parties to the Rome Statutes of the International Criminal Court.

They discussed various issues relating to the Court, which is to be inaugurated on Tuesday in The Hague. The inaugural session will take place at the Hall of Knights in The Hague, with Queen Beatrice of the Netherlands and scores of world leaders attending, in addition to the Secretary-General.

During the session, the 18 elected judges of the Court will be sworn in by Prince Zeid al-Hussein. The Secretary-General met with the 18 judges this afternoon, in a courtesy call.

The ceremony will be webcast live at www.icc-cpi.int

SECURITY COUNCIL TO DISCUSS IRAQ THIS AFTERNOON

The Security Council held consultations on Iraq on Friday evening and decided to resume the consultations this afternoon at 4:00 p.m.

In response to several procedural questions about Council votes, the Spokesman said that traditionally, members vote with a show of hands, first to indicate votes in favor, then votes against, and finally abstentions. Then the Council President would announce whether the vote has carried or not. Questions of whether or not to hold a vote, he added, are decided in closed consultations.

Asked whether a simulation of votes to determine where members stand, prior to an actual vote, could take place, the Spokesman said that members assess each others positions based on statements made in Security Council consultations.

SECURITY COUNCIL URGED TO RECONSIDER TIMOR-LESTE DOWNSIZING

The Security Council held an open meeting this morning on Timor-Leste. Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Jean-Marie Guéhenno introduced the Secretary-Generals special report on the UN Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET).

This is not a general report on progress toward implementation of the mandate, he said. It is, rather, an effort to sound a warning bell at a critical time to indicate to the Council a number of worrisome developments, he added.

Guéhenno appealed to the Council to reconsider the downsizing plans for the mission, in light of developments in the security environment, and warned that a premature downsizing of the mission could imperil the overall strategy of establishing a sustainable Timorese structure that can maintain security after UNMISET leaves.

UNMOVIC SUPERVISES DESTRUCTION OF 18 MISSILES IN THREE DAYS

The UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) supervised the destruction of 18 al-Samoud 2 missiles since Saturday, with six missiles being destroyed on each of the past three days. As of today, 52 al-Samoud 2 missiles had been destroyed, along with 19 warheads, one launcher and five engines.

Today, an UNMOVIC missile team also inspected one command and control vehicle used to launch al-Samoud 2 missiles and eliminated all the computer software used for the launch.

As for interviews, UNMOVIC conducted a private interview with an Iraqi scientist on Saturday, and another today with an individual who had taken part in the unilateral destruction of precursors for chemical weapons production. These were UNMOVICs eighth and nine private interviews since February 28. During that same period four private interviews did not take place, due to conditions imposed by the Iraqi interviewees. Also, on Sunday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) conducted a completely private interview with an Iraqi scientist.

UNMOVIC and IAEA teams also conducted several other inspections over the weekend, including the supervision by an UNMOVIC biological team of the transfer of R-400 bombs and fragments that had been excavated from the al-Aziziyah Airfield and Firing Range to a more secure area. Today, an UNMOVIC team continued supervising the excavation and transfer work of the R-400 bombs.

Asked about withdrawal of UN personnel from Iraq, the Spokesman said that there were roughly 600 UN personnel in Iraq, with the only change over the weekend being the raising of the security level for the UN Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission (UNIKOM). That change led to the removal of non-essential staff, who numbered roughly 100 out of 1,000 personnel, and the Mission continues its functions, he said.

ANNAN SAYS ETHIOPIA-ERITREA PEACE PROCESS AT CRITICAL STAGE

The Secretary-Generals report to the Security Council on Ethiopia and Eritrea reports further progress in implementing the peace agreement, but notes the process is now at a critical stage, and that the international community should not be complacent.

The Secretary-General raises several concerns, including recent demarches made to the Boundary Commission, which could have very serious consequences. He urges the Security Council to consider the Commissions observations carefully and in their totality. The Commissions eighth report, which contains these demarches, is provided as an annex to the UN report.

The Secretary-General also says that while the two parties should be commended for the fact that there have been no serious ceasefire violations since the establishment of the Temporary Security Zone, recent cross-border incidents are a source of concern. He urges the parties to do their utmost to prevent a recurrence of such incidents.

He also renews his appeal to donors to contribute to the Trust Fund for the Delimitation and Demarcation of the Border and other mechanisms to facilitate the conclusion of that process. In addition, he says that the serious drought affecting the two countries requires immediate attention and international support.

The report is scheduled to be discussed Tuesday in consultations of the Security Council. Today, at 3:30 p.m., the Council is holding a troop contributors meeting on the UN Mission.

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Eritrea, Simon Nhongo, will arrive in New York Tuesday to speak to donors about the shortfall in funding for the Inter-Agency appeal for Eritrea. The Appeal was launched last November and calls for $163 million to assist 2.3 million people. The Appeal has received just two percent of the total figure so far, and there is a good possibility that reserves will run out at the end of the month.

UN DELEGATION SENT TO BUNIA FOLLOWING VIOLENT CLASHES

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Amos Namanga Ngongi, dispatched to Bunia today a delegation from the UN Mission in that country to assess the situation on the ground, following violent clashes between Ugandan troops and those of the Union of the Congolese Patriots (UPC).

The Missions goal is first to secure an agreement for the cessation of hostilities between UPC and the Ugandan Army; and second, should conditions permit, to proceed with the identification of the Ituri participants in the preparatory technical committee meeting.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

STATE OF WORLDS FORESTS NOTES PROGRESS: The State of the Worlds Forests 2003 report was launched by the Food and Agriculture Organization. The report says there has been progress in implementing sustainable forest management but improvements are still needed.

CHEMICALS AND PESTICIDES ADDED TO TRADE CONTROL LIST: The FAO also announced today that an international committee of experts has recommended a number of substances for addition to the list of chemicals and pesticides under trade controls. The proposal, which includes five additional forms of asbestos, a severely hazardous pesticide and two lead-based gasoline additives, will be presented to the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee of the Rotterdam Convention when it meets in November.

Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

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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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