United Nations Daily Highlights, 04-03-23

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

BY FRED ECKHARD

SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Tuesday, March 23, 2004

SECURITY COUNCIL TO HOLD FORMAL MEETING ON MIDDLE EAST

The Security Council held consultations on the Middle East at 12:30 today, which followed discussions that took place at the expert level today and on Monday, on a response to the killing of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in Gaza.

Following the adjournment of consultations, the President of the Security Council, Ambassador Jean Marc de la Sabliere of France, said that the Council would hold an open meeting on the Middle East this afternoon, beginning at 5:00.

SECURITY COUNCIL TO DISCUSS HAITI, IRAQ IN CONSULTATIONS

The Security Council will hold consultations on Haiti at 3:00 this afternoon, in which it will receive a briefing from Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Danilo Türk on recent developments in that country.

The Council also expects this afternoon to discuss Iraq, to consider the draft text of a Presidential Statement.

On Tuesday, the Council will hold an open meeting, followed by consultations, on Afghanistan.

UN ASSESSMENT TEAM WRAPPING UP WORK IN HAITI

In Haiti, the UN team led by Hocine Medili, which is assessing the requirements for a peacekeeping operation, is wrapping up its work on the ground. Members of the team are starting to return to New York.

The Secretary-Generals Special Advisor, Reginald Dumas, is expected to leave Haiti on Wednesday in order to attend a meeting of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in St. Kitts and Nevis.

On the humanitarian side, in Port-au-Prince, efforts are continuing to re-open health centers that ceased to function during the height of the crisis. The UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF) is distributing obstetric health kits to assure safe deliveries and it is also training midwives. Even though medical supplies are available, it is reported that fear is still keeping attendance low at health centers that have reopened.

UNICEF is reporting that 80 percent of schools in the capital and the provinces are now open and that school supplies will be distributed in Cap Haïtien and St Marc this week. In the coming days, UNICEF will be launching a to School campaign targeting more than 1.5 million students and 50,000 teachers nationwide.

Asked when Dumas would return to New York, the Spokesman said it would not be until next week, at the earliest.

SPOKESMAN: UN WONT RESPOND TO LETTER FROM AYATOLLAH

In response to questions, the Spokesman said the United Nations did not intend to respond to a letter sent by the office of Iraqi Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to Special Adviser Lakhdar Brahimi. He said he did not think that Brahimi wanted to respond to the issues raised in that letter now, and that he looks forward to engaging all the parties when he gets to Iraq.

Asked whether the Secretary-General had received a security assessment on the return of UN international staff to Iraq, the Spokesman said he assumed the assessment was completed. He cautioned that the United Nations would not announce any travel to Iraq by its staff until they had arrived safely.

In response to further questions about the UN delegation travelling to Iraq, he said that Brahimi headed the overall team, but Carina Perelli, Chief of the Electoral Assistance Division, would head a technical team, which would travel at a different time than Brahimi would.

UN AWAITS REPLY FROM GOVERNING COUNCIL ON INVESTIGATION

Asked whether the United Nations had received a reply from Iraqs Governing Council to its request for assistance in investigation corruption allegations involving the oil-for-food program, the Spokesman said that, as of now, it has not received any reply.

Eckhard added that the Office for Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) had written the Governing Council twice, on February 6 and March 11, asking for cooperation. The United Nations did not know why it had not yet received a response, he said.

He noted that the OIOS had received a letter from the Coalition Provisional Authority, signed by Administrator L. Paul Bremer, promising support to the OIOS. The OIOS was satisfied by the response.

Asked about the Secretary-Generals plans for an independent investigation into the corruption allegations, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General intends to form a panel and finalize its terms of reference this week, and send the information to the Security Council, most likely in the form of a letter.

Asked about whether he would need a response from the Council, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General doesnt feel that there needs to be a Council resolution, but there could be a statement or letter in response.

The whole point of the Secretary-Generals efforts, he said, was to convince the Council of the need for an independent investigation in the hope that he would get their support. Without Government support, this whole thing isnt going to go very far, Eckhard said.

Asked about a meeting between the Secretary-General and Ambassador de la Sabliere of France, the Spokesman said no meeting was scheduled yet, and he did not believe that such a meeting would be linked to the letter to the Council.

Asked about the growing number of UN and outside investigations into the corruption allegations, he said that the United Nations would only have one investigation, with the OIOS turning over to the panel whatever evidence it has gathered.

The Secretary-General, he said, has been working for several weeks to get a broader investigation going, and would welcome any light others can shed, but feels that he is responsible to launch this investigation of a UN program.

SECRETARY-GENERAL DISTURBED BY FIGHTING IN NEPAL

Secretary-General Kofi Annan is disturbed by the recent escalation of fighting in Nepal, where the continued instability and conflict is having an increasingly devastating impact on the lives of ordinary people, according to a statement issued late Monday. Civilian casualties and serious human rights violations are a routine occurrence, and the countrys economic and social development is being seriously hampered.

The Secretary-General does not believe there is a military solution to the conflict. He appeals to His Majestys Government of Nepal and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) to take immediate steps to end the fighting and resume the peace process with the participation of all political and civil forces in the country.

The Secretary-General continues to be available to assist the search for a solution in any manner the parties consider useful.

DEATH OF AID WORKER IN SOMALIA CONDEMNED

The international humanitarian community is condemning an attack in Somaliland at the end of last week, which left one aid worker dead and two others injured. The staff of the German Agency for Technical Assistance (GTZ) was ambushed on March 19 outside Berabera, in Somaliland.

In a statement issued today, Jan Egeland, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, said that this killing is a tragic reminder of the risks humanitarian workers face every day. Such attacks cannot be tolerated, he said.

UN ENVOY IN KOSOVO: PRIORITY IS TO RESTORE LAW AND ORDER

Harri Holkeri, the head of the UN Mission in Kosovo, on Monday evening spoke to the press in Pristina, and said that the assistance the Mission has received from NATO has enabled it to resume its full functions.

The top priority now, he said, is to restore law and order following last weeks violence, stabilize the situation and bring the perpetrators to justice. Holkeri said that some 28 people had died, while some thirty religious sites had been destroyed and nearly 300 homes burnt or damaged.

Meanwhile, the UN Refugee Agency said today that more than 3,200 minority people mostly ethnic Serbs and Romas have been evacuated by the NATO-led Kosovo Force since clashes erupted last Wednesday. Some of them have returned home as the situation has calmed down, but most are still living in KFOR bases with host families.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

UNHCR SAYS 1,000 CONGOLESE CROSSED INTO ZAMBIA: UNHCR today noted information about reports from Zambias Government that some 1,000 Congolese have crossed into Zambia since March 18, following fighting in the south-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

FAO WARNS OF LOCUST SITUATION IN NORTH WEST AFRICA: The Food and Agriculture Organization is warning that despite control operations, the desert locust situation in northwest Africa is still extremely serious. FAO is asking for donor assistance to prevent a plague from developing and extending across Morocco, Mauritania and Algeria. It warns that if control operations slow down or are interrupted during this spring, more swarms will form and spread at the beginning of the summer growing season.

FIRM IN OTTAWA STILL LISTENING TO BLACK BOX TAPE: The Spokesman, in response to a question on the black box found at the United Nations earlier this month, said that a firm in Ottawa was still listening to the tape at the request of the International Civil Aviation Organization, and that it was not unusual for this work to take weeks. He added that the NTSB in the United States said last week that the box appeared, after an initial listening, not to be linked to the 1994 air crash in Rwanda.

Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

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New York, NY 10017

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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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