United Nations Daily Highlights, 03-07-09

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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

Wednesday, July 9, 2003

ANNAN APPOINTS JACQUES KLEIN AS UN SPECIAL ENVOY FOR LIBERIA

Secretary-General Kofi Annan has written to the Security Council, saying that in light of the rapidly unfolding political situation in Liberia, he has decided to appoint Jacques Klein as his Special Representative for Liberia to lead and coordinate the activities of the United Nations in that country.

In anticipation of the early deployment of a multinational force and consequent improvement in security, he said he has instructed an expeditious return of all UN agencies providing humanitarian assistance to the people of Liberia.

He also mentions the dispatch of Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, his Special Representative for West Africa, to Accra, Ghana to provide full UN support to the ongoing dialogue among the Liberian parties.

The Secretary-General also told the Council that he requested his Representative for Liberia, Abou Moussa, and Resident Coordinator Marc de Bernis to return to Monrovia to prepare for the return of UN and associated personnel.

Asked where Klein currently is, the Deputy Spokeswoman said Klein is expected in New York next week for briefings prior to his departure for Liberia.

Asked if the appointment of an American to the post meant that the Secretary-General had received a commitment of involvement from Washington, the Deputy Spokeswoman said that Klein had extensive experience, on behalf of the United Nations, in a number of very complex missions and that the Secretary-General felt he was the best person for the job.

ANNAN DISCUSSES LIBERIA WITH HEADS OF STATES AT AFRICAN UNION SUMMIT

Late yesterday night in Maputo, Mozambique, the Secretary-General attended a high-level meeting among leaders gathering there for the African Union Summit for a discussion about the situation in Liberia. Then, this morning, he met with leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) again to discuss Liberia.

Also present at that meeting were Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, John Kufuor of Ghana and Ahmed Tejan Kabbah of Sierra Leone, as well as the Foreign Ministers of Ghana and Cote dIvoire and the former Nigerian Head of State, Gen. Abdelsalami Abubakar, who is the ECOWAS envoy for Liberia.

They discussed transitional arrangements for the peaceful transfer of power in Liberia and the role of a possible multi-national peacekeeping force there. They also reviewed the status of the ECOWAS joint verification team that is trying to get into Liberia from Sierra Leone to verify the ceasefire.

At midday he went to the Presidential Palace to meet for almost an hour with Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano, who is about to assume the Presidency of the African Union. They discussed the current African Union summit meeting, and a series of African issues from Liberia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

At a press encounter afterwards, the Secretary-General made an appeal to Africans everywhere to unite behind the fight against HIV/AIDS and to end the stigma and discrimination that is attached to that disease.

In response to a question on Liberia and the possibility of the United States sending troops there, the Secretary-General said that the immediate challenge had been taken up by ECOWAS with the full support of the African Union. He said that the United States hasnt indicated exactly what it is going to do and the nature of its contribution, adding, I expect it to take the right decision and grant support to the effort.

Later this evening, the Secretary-General is scheduled to have a tête-à-tête meeting with South African President Thabo Mbeki.

Thursday, the Secretary-General will address the meeting of the African Unions Heads of State, and heis expected to congratulate African leaders on their determination to implement the New Partnership for Africas Development, and urge them to apply this determination to all the challenges facing the continent.

SECURITY COUNCIL URGED TO CONSIDER AUTHORIZING INT'L FORCE FOR LIBERIA

The Security Council held an open meeting during which members heard a briefing on the recent Security Council mission to West Africa by Ambassadors Jeremy Greenstock (UK) and Adolfo Aguilar Zinser (Mexico). Out as a Security Council document is the report on the mission that took members to Guinea Bissau, Nigeria, Ghana, Cote DIvoire, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

The mission concluded that although Sierra Leone was much more stable than it had been at the time of the Councils previous mission in October 2000, the situation in some other countries of the sub-region had seriously deteriorated, notably Cote DIvoire, Guinea-Bissau and Liberia.

The report contains a number of specific recommendations for those three countries, as well as for Sierra Leone and the West Africa region as a whole.

On Liberia, the mission recommended that the Security Council should urgently consider authorizing an international stabilization force on the basis of current plans of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), taking account of the ECOWAS appeal for troops and other support from outside the region. It also said countries in a position to do so should consider rapidly providing financial and logistical support to ECOWAS and its member states to facilitate deployment of a stabilization force.

TOP UN AND U.S. OFFICIALS IN BAGHDAD DISCUSS IRAQI POLITICAL PROCESS

Today in Baghdad, the Secretary-Generals Special Representative, Sergio Vieira de Mello, met with U.S. Administrator, L. Paul Bremer. The 30-minute meeting focused on the evolving political process in Iraq.

Tomorrow, de Mello is expected to travel to the city of Al-Hilla as part of his continuing efforts to meet with Iraqis outside of Baghdad.

On a related noted, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), is holding a three day meeting, beginning today in Beirut, entitled "Iraq and the Region after the War." Participants will consider, among other issues, possible action by intellectuals and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) aimed at confronting the challenges of economic, social, cultural and humanitarian reconstruction and development in Iraq.

IAEA CHIEF IN IRAN, HOPES FOR PROGRESS ON NUCLEAR ACCESS

Today in Tehran, Mohamed ElBaradei, the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is meeting with Iranian President Mohammed Khatami, having met earlier today with Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi.

The Director-General is hoping to make progress on answering questions about Irans nuclear program, and is also trying to obtain a commitment from Iran to sign an additional protocol to the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty.

He is scheduled to leave to return to Vienna tonight, but he will leave behind a senior team of experts, who will conduct technical talks with their Iranian counterparts over the next several days.

Also, the special rapporteur dealing with the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Ambeyi Ligabo, will visit Iran from July 17 to 27, at the invitation of the Government. He will meet with Iranian authorities, representatives of the UN system and members of the media and academy during his visit. We have a press release with more details.

BURUNDI: WARRING PARTIES URGED TO HALT FIGHTING

Marie-Thérèse Keita Bocoum, the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Burundi, has appealed to the fighting parties in Burundi to respect the rights of the civilian population. The appeal comes after an upsurge in the fighting and the deterioration of the security situation in Burundi, especially the new confrontations which started on 7 July in the rural province of Bujumbura and in the capital.

The scale of the violations of human rights as a result of the conflict was so grave that it was imperative and urgent for the fighting to halt, Keita Bocoum said.

She also called on the international community to continue all efforts to get the armed groups and the government to start negotiations.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS:

KOSOVO: Kosovo and the Gun, a new report commissioned by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and launched in Pristina today, says that there are between 330,000 and 460,000 firearms in civilian hands in Kosovo, with most of those guns unregistered and uncontrolled.

TRIBUNAL FOR EX-YUGOSLAVIA: The President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Judge Theodor Meron today granted an early release to the former commander of the Celebici prison camp, who had already served two-thirds of his sentence and had expressed his resolve to reintegrate into society. The prisoner, Zdravko Mucic, had been serving a nine-year prison sentence.

mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;mso-fareast-language: UNESCO: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-GB;mso-fareast-language:EN-US; The Director General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Koïchiro Matsuura, is currently on a tour of India, Indonesia and Timor Leste.

FOOD REGULATION: The Codex Alimentarius Commission, meeting in Rome, agreed today on how to assess the risks to consumers from foods derived from biotechnology, including genetically modified foods. The Commission, which regroups 169 member states, also adopted a new standard for irradiated foods that accepts higher levels of radiation on food products was also adopted. Food is irradiated to make it safe for longer periods of time.

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