United Nations Daily Highlights, 03-04-17

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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 SPOKESWOMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN

HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Thursday, April 17, 2003

There will be no noon briefing on Good Friday, an official holiday at UN headquarters.

The briefing will resume on Monday, April 21, 2003.

ANNAN CONCERNED ABOUT SECURITY VACUUM IN NORTHERN IRAQ

[Secretary-General Kofi Annan, according to a statement issued through his Spokesman Thursday afternoon, is concerned about reports of murder, looting and the forced expulsion of Arabs in northern Iraq.

Media reports as well as eyewitness accounts from Human Rights Watch indicate widespread intimidation and displacement in and around the city of Kirkuk and in other areas.

The Secretary-General is concerned that unless the security vacuum that now exists is quickly addressed, there is a very real prospect of population displacement in Iraq.

The Secretary-General appeals to all concerned to respect fundamental human rights principles, including the right to live free from intimidation and forced expulsion.]

ANNAN SAYS WORLD CANNOT AFFORD TO BE DIVIDED OVER IRAQ

The Secretary-General met with French President Jacques Chirac this morning before the opening of the European Conference in Athens. The President raised the situation in Cote dIvoire before turning to Iraq. They discussed approaches to post-conflict Iraq and the prospects for the broader region.

At a press encounter afterwards, the President affirmed Frances support for a central UN role in restoring stability to Iraq and to the region. The Secretary-General said that he hoped that in a short while, details of the UN role in Iraq could be defined and that the Security Council would work together to help the Iraqi people rebuild their country and a peaceful future.

The Secretary-General then joined some 40 European leaders for the opening of the European Conference. Referring to the war in Iraq, he said, No issue has so divided the world since the end of the Cold War. But, he added, The world cannot afford a long period of recrimination.

He proposed defining a set of principles around which all could rally in order to advance the well-being of the Iraqi people: the sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity of Iraq; the right of Iraqis to determine their own system of government and control their natural resources; the need to help Iraqis end their isolation and return to normal life; and the need for any UN role to be established by the Security Council and given the necessary resources.

In his speech, he also told the EU leaders that he shared their disappointment that Cyprus is entering the Union as a still-divided island, but he added that he did not doubt that there will eventually be a settlement, and that all that is lacking is the necessary political will.

Costas Simitis, the Prime Minister of Greece, who chaired the meeting as EU President, then read out a Presidential Statement approved by EU members, which said, in part, that the UN must play a central role, including in the process leading towards self-government for the Iraqi people, utilizing its capacity and experiences in post-conflict nation building.

In the margins of the European Conference, the Secretary-General met with the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and then with the Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi. Iraq dominated both of those discussions.

The Secretary-General attended an official luncheon hosted by Prime Minister Simitis, and then, in the evening, was to have a meeting with him and his Foreign Minister, George Papandreou.

Asked about the United Nations views on lifting sanctions on Iraq, the Spokeswoman said that would be a matter for the Security Council to decide.

ANNAN TO TRAVEL TO AUSTRIA, SWITZERLAND AND FRANCE

Although his official work in Athens concludes today, the Secretary-Generals travels in Europe will continue through the end of this month.

On Monday, the Secretary-General will leave Athens to travel to Vienna, where he will have an official visit, at the invitation of the Austrian Government, on April 22 and 23. Next Tuesday morning, he will meet with the Director-General of the UN Office in Vienna, Antonio Maria Costa, and with UN staff in Vienna, before having a meeting with Austrian President Thomas Klestil. Then on Wednesday, he will meet with Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner and Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel, and also will visit the Austrian Parliament.

Later that day, he will travel to Geneva, where, on Thursday the 24th, he will address the Commission on Human Rights before leaving for Paris.

On Friday and Saturday in France, the Secretary-General will attend the two-day spring session of the Chief Executives Board, which brings together the heads of all UN departments, agencies and programs. This session of the Board will focus on follow-up to the Millennium Summit, and the challenge of sustainable development.

The following Sunday, April 27, the Secretary-General will travel back to Switzerland, for an official visit, which will include meetings in Bern on Tuesday the 29th with Swiss President Pascal Couchepin and other senior officials. He is scheduled to return to New York on Wednesday, April 30.

UNICEF: ALL CIVIC SERVICES IN BAGHDAD HAVE STOPPED

The UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF) told reporters at the humanitarian briefing in Amman that, according to UNICEF national staff in Baghdad, all civic services have essentially ceased to exist in the capital. There is no garbage collection, and refuse is piling up all over the city, further adding to the risks of disease. Even at hospitals, there is no one to collect the refuse, with stacks of bio-waste piling up outside hospitals.

UNICEF is now looking into ways to contract trucks and drivers to begin collecting refuse in the worst hit areas. The World Health Organization (WHO) also reports that security continues to be an issue in the health sector.

Clean water continues to be a priority need. UNICEF staff in Baghdad are contracting water tankers to begin hauling clean water to hospitals. Also, tankers from Kuwait carrying 400,000 liters of water went into Basra. Other tankers went to As Zubair and Umm Qasr.

Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) today opened its first humanitarian lifeline into Baghdad since the start of the Iraq crisis, when a food aid convoy rolled out of Jordan heading for the Iraqi capital.

Some 50 trucks loaded with 1,400 metric tons of urgently needed wheat flour crossed the Jordanian-Iraqi border at Al-Karama early this morning and are expected to reach Baghdad later on Thursday or Friday, depending on road conditions. The convoys departure establishes WFPs second and, potentially, most important humanitarian corridor into Iraq in less than two weeks. Food aid is already flowing into the Northern Governorates through Turkey, but Aqaba in Jordan is expected to become a key port of entry for food being shipped to central and southern Iraq.

UNESCO HOLDS EXPERTS MEETING ON IRAQI CULTURAL HERITAGE

Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) told experts meeting in Paris today that the fate of Iraqi heritage lies in the hands of the international community. "The only way that we will be able to safeguard these treasures and give them back to humanity," he said, "is if we can count on the cohesion, coordination and determination of all concerned, at every level."

He added that he intended to ask the Secretary-General to submit the question of the illicit traffic in Iraqi artifacts to the Security Council for the adoption of a resolution imposing an embargo, over a limited period, on the acquisition of all Iraqi cultural objects and calling for the return of any items to Iraq that may have already been acquired.

At the end of the meeting, the assembled experts issued a statement in which they called for Iraqs cultural assets to be guarded by the military forces in place and also supported an immediate ban on the trade of Iraqi cultural objects.

SECURITY COUNCIL DISCUSSES CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC, REGION

The Security Council held consultations this morning on the Central African Republic and the Central African region.

The Secretary-Generals Representative Gen. Lamine Cissé, who heads the UN Peace-building Mission in the CAR (BONUCA) briefed Council members on the latest developments in that country and the work of his mission.

Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Tuliameni Kalomoh, then briefed them on the regional situation in Central Africa. Kalomoh said that the Secretary-General would like to dispatch a multi-disciplinary mission to the Central African region to assess needs and challenges and to consult with governments and sub-regional institutions on how best to tackle these issues. Details of such a mission and dates are still being worked out. [In a press statement, Council membersmso-fareast-font-family:"MS Mincho";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: welcomed the intention of the Secretary General to dispatch such a mission.]

The Security Council President, Ambassador Adolfo Aguilar Zinser of Mexico, in a separate press statement on the Central African Republic, said Council members, while recalling their earlier condemnation of the March coup détat, nonetheless welcomed the political progress in the Central African Republic, the call for a national dialogue and the appointment of a Government of National Unity, including the nomination of a respected Prime Minister. Council members consider indispensable that the authorities of the Central African Republic elaborate a plan for the national dialogue, including a timeframe, and to hold elections as soon as possible.

The Council President early Wednesday evening read out a press statement on Burundi in which members paid tribute to the upcoming political change in Burundi. They underlined the importance of President Pierre Buyoyas commitment to the May 1 handover.

ANNAN NOTES LAUNCHING OF TRANSFER PROCESS IN KOSOVO

In his latest report to the Security Council on Kosovo, the Secretary-General says that, in the first three months of this year, a significant process of transferring further responsibilities to the Kosovo Provisional Institutions of Self-Government was launched. However, he adds, Kosovo still have some way to go in establishing representative and functioning institutions.

At the same time, the Secretary-General says, the transfer must proceed, so that the Provisional Institutions become accountable to the people of Kosovo. Yet he also calls for all local leaders to work together to consolidate these institutions by focusing on substance and practical results instead of holding institutional developments hostage to political or ethnic differences.

The UN Mission in Kosovo notes an apparent increase in organized crime, and ethnic violence and crime seem to be on the rise again after a decline in December 2002.

The Security Council has scheduled an open meeting on Kosovo next Wednesday.

UN KOSOVO ENVOY DEPLORES BOMBING IN ZVECAN

The Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Kosovo, Michael Steiner, on Wednesday visited the municipality of Zvecan, where a railway bridge had been blown up on April 12, and he said that bombing was an act of terrorism and not an ordinary crime.

Speaking to reporters at the bridge site, which was severely damaged in the bombing, he said, This is what the whole world is trying to combat. Two people, suspected to have been behind the bombing, also died in the explosion.

Steiner said that UN police and the Kosovo Force peacekeepers would increase their presence in the area, and on bridges connecting Kosovo to Serbia.

UN MISSION CONFIRMS AFGHAN FACTION WITHDRAWALS IN MAIMANA

The UN Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) confirmed that all troops aligned to Jumbesh and Jamiat have withdrawn from the center of Maimana city in the province of Faryab to the outskirts of the city, according to the agreement signed by the two on Friday on April 10, following the recent outbreak of fighting in that part of the country on April 8. An agreement was also reached on the evening of April 14 to form a neutral police force, with names of nominees to be submitted to the Governor. UNAMA will provide a Police advisor and a Military Advisor to the force. Calm has returned to the city, people are getting on with business and UN and NGO offices are open for business.

Meanwhile, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers expressed serious concern over the deteriorating security situation in parts of Afghanistan, saying it was hampering efforts to support returning refugees and internally displaced people. UNHCR urged that concrete action be taken to improve the security situation in southern Afghanistan. Large areas of south-eastern Afghanistan remain off limits to aid agency staff.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

HUMAN RIGHTS VOTE ON SUDAN: The Commission on Human Rights Wednesday afternoon passed resolutions expressing concern at the human rights situation in the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, Turkmenistan and Myanmar, but rejected resolutions concerning Sudan and Zimbabwe. In the case of Sudan, a resolution on that countrys human rights record was rejected by a vote of 24 in favor, 26 against and three abstentions. As a result of that vote, the mandate of the Special Rapporteur dealing with Sudan has been terminated.

UNDP ASSISTANCE TO NIGERIA POLLS: As Nigerias nearly 61 million registered voters prepare to head to polls this weekend to elect a President, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) is managing a $10.5 million effort to help strengthen the countrys capacity to run the polls effectively. The project, a partnership between UNDP and the UN Electoral Assistance Division, includes the fielding of some 10,000 Nigerian election observers and providing transportation and other assistance to 120 election observers from the European Union.

ANNAN MESSAGE ON BLACK SEA ORGANIZATION: On Friday, in Yerevan, Armenia, the eighth meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization is taking place, and the Secretary-General, in a message, welcomed the work that the regional group performs in fighting organized crime and terrorism and in pursuing wide-ranging economic, social and democratic reforms.

UN BUDGET: The United Kingdom today became the 75th member state to pay its 2003 regular budget contribution, with a payment of more than $74 million.

THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS

Monday, April 21

The Secretary-General is scheduled to leave Greece to travel to Vienna.

In New York, the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court will resume, with the election of a prosecutor among the items on its agenda.

Tuesday, April 22

Among his meetings in Vienna, the Secretary-General is expected to see Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UN Office in Vienna, and Austrian President Thomas Klestil.

The Security Council intends to hold consultations in the morning on the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission for Iraq (UNMOVIC), with a briefing by Executive Chairman Hans Blix, and will then hold consultations in the afternoon on the oil-for-food program with the Executive Director of the Office of the Iraq Programme, Benon Sevan.

Wednesday, April 23

The Secretary-General is scheduled to meet with Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel, Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner and members of the Austrian Parliament while in Vienna. The Secretary-General is scheduled to leave Vienna for Geneva.

The Security Council is expected to hold an open meeting on Kosovo.

Thursday, April 24

The Secretary-General is scheduled to address the meeting of the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, before departing for Paris.

The Security Council has scheduled consultations on missing Kuwaiti persons and property in Iraq.

Friday, April 25

The Secretary-General, in France, is scheduled to attend the two-day spring session of the Chief Executives Board, which brings together the heads of all UN departments, agencies and programs.

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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