United Nations Daily Highlights, 04-09-09

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

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY FRED ECKHARD

SPOKESMAN FOR THE

SECRETARY-GENERAL

OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Thursday, September 9, 2004

ANNAN HORRIFIED BY CAR BOMB BLAST

OUTSIDE AUSTRALIAN EMBASSY IN JAKARTA

In a

statement issued through the Spokesman,

Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he is horrified at the car bomb explosion today near the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, reportedly killing at least eight people and injuring more than a hundred others.

He extends his heartfelt condolences to the Government of Indonesia and the families of the victims of this apparent terrorist act.

The Secretary-General reiterates his condemnation of all terrorist acts.

SECURITY COUNCIL TO DISCUSS SUDAN AT 3 P.M. TODAY

The

Security Council has scheduled closed consultations on

Sudan at 3:00 p.m. today.|

A draft resolution on Sudan is expected to be introduced.

Asked about the declaration by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell that what is happening in Darfur constitutes genocide, the Spokesman noted that the text of what Powell said quoted Article Eight of the

Genocide Convention in its entirety. He believed it was the first time that Article Eight had been invoked. The Spokesman noted that the Secretary-General noted that the United States would be introducing today a draft resolution on Sudan in the Security Council.

The Spokesman said we would now have to see the next step. The matter was being brought to a competent UN organ, the Security Council, and we would now need to see what action the Council takes.

Asked about other competent organs, he said that the United States could also go to the International Court of Justice, if they want a legal opinion, or to the

Secretary-General. For now, he added, they have indicated that they are going to the Security Council. He said that one option for a contracting party to the Genocide Convention could be to ask for a legal opinion regarding genocide, adding that such a request could come from the Security Council.

Asked whether the national authorities in Sudan could try people for genocide, the Spokesman said that under the Convention, they could also do so.

U.N. ENVOY RETURNED TO SUDAN FOLLOWING TALKS ON DONOR CONFERENCE

The

Secretary-Generals Special Representative for

Sudan,

Jan Pronk, is back in Khartoum after his visit to Oslo earlier this week, where he had a series of meetings with the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of International Development.

Pronk discussed with the Norwegian officials the preparations for the upcoming Donor's Conference on Sudan, to be held on September 27 and 28 in Oslo.

Meanwhile, the African Union (AU) mediators revised version of the draft protocol on security issues did not meet the agreement of the parties to the peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria. The talks are currently deadlocked.

The mediators called today for a plenary meeting in order to put on record the views of the parties on the revised version of the draft protocol and on the way to move forward with the peace talks. The mediation plans to adjourn the current round of talks after listening to the parties and to report on the status of the current round of negotiations to the AU presidency.

On the humanitarian front, the first convoy of trucks carrying food aid for the

World Food Programme across the Sahara desert arrived at a refugee camp in eastern Chad on Thursday, ending a 2,800-kilometre journey from Libya's Mediterranean coast and opening up a new route to feed tens of thousands of Sudanese refugees.

ANNAN: COOPERATION NEEDED TO FIGHT TERRORISM

The

Secretary-General wrapped up his working visit to Mexico City yesterday afternoon by thanking the members of Mexicos Federal Electoral Institute for the support they provided last July in training Iraqs new electoral commissioners.

The Secretary-General was asked, at a press encounter yesterday, about the possibility that nations would take unilateral action against terrorist groups, and said that he believed in countries working together to pool their efforts and share information about terrorism. We need to come up with ways and means of fighting terrorism effectively, but we also have to make sure that these approaches do not undermine the rule of law and basic civil rights of all people, he said.

After that press encounter, the Secretary-General met with the President of the Mexican Senate and members of the Senates Foreign Affairs Commission.

Also in the afternoon, he met with the UN country team and greeted some 100 United Nations staff members working in Mexico City.

U.N. STAFF IN IRAQ OPERATING AT OUTER LIMIT OF ACCEPTABLE RISK

Out on the racks is the

Secretary-General's report to the

Security Council on the work of the

UN Assistance Mission for Iraq.

In it, the Secretary-General stresses that the people of

Iraq must be continually reassured and convinced that the process is unequivocally moving towards the goal of making them the masters of their own political future.

The assistance given to the Iraqi electoral process is a key component of the UNs current work in Iraq.

He tells Council members that the greatest challenge facing electoral process in Iraq is the insecure environment. This environment, he observes, could make it more difficult to create the necessary conditions to hold elections in January of 2005.

As for the security of UN staff, which remains the overriding guiding principle of the UN mission, the Secretary-General says the international staff currently on Baghdad is operating at the outer limit of prudent and acceptable risk.

He also notes that discussions are currently underway with a number of member states to provide both close personal protection details for the UN and a larger guard unit.

A conducive security environment is clearly linked to the performance of the UNs mission in Iraq. He concludes by saying that unless and until there is a significant improvement in the overall security situation, the UN mission will have to continue to work both inside and outside Iraq, as circumstances permit, with a restricted presence on the ground in Iraq.

Asked about efforts to recruit aid to protect UN personnel in Iraq, the Spokesman said there had been an exhaustive search to obtain security units for close protection and the safety of the UN Headquarters in Baghdad. As of now, he said, the United Nations still does not have any firm commitment from any Member State.

U.N. ENVOY CONDEMNS KILLING OF PALESTINIAN CIVILIANS

The UN Envoy for the Middle East,

Terje Roed-Larsen, has condemned the killing of Palestinian civilians and the wounding of many more that has been taking place in the Gaza Strip for the last two days.

Larsen is particularly disturbed to hear that two children are among those killed.

The UN envoy calls on the Government of Israel to abide by its obligation under international humanitarian law to avoid the use of disproportionate force in densely populated areas and to protect the civilian population.

ANNAN FLAGS NEED TO MOVE FORWARD ETHIOPIA, ERITREA PEACE PROCESS

The Secretary-General's report on Ethiopia and Eritrea was posted on the

Security Council website today.

In it, the Secretary-General says that while the situation between Eritrea and Ethiopia remains far from ideal, there have been some positive developments in areas relating to the UNs operations.

He says he remains concerned about the overall status of the peace process or, more specifically, the absence of prospects for breaking the continuing stalemate regarding the demarcation of the border between the two countries.

It is time that the more cooperative spirit demonstrated by the two parties towards the

UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea in recent weeks be applied to the broader political process, in order to move it forward, he says.

U.N. MISSION IN AFGHANISTAN CONDEMNS ATTACK ON NGO OFFICE

The UN Mission in

Afghanistan today condemned an attack that took place on Tuesday at the Faizabad office of a non-governmental organization (NGO), Focus, in which some ten NGO personnel were injured during a violent demonstration.

The Mission is reviewing the situation on the ground, but said that, based on preliminary discussions, it seems clear that the provincial authorities failed to provide security to the international organizations, and to the population in general.

The UN Mission also expressed great concern at comments made by the Afghan Planning Minister, which contained an indictment of the work of NGOs in Afghanistan. Mission spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva underscored today that justification of violence in general, and against NGOs in particular, is unacceptable, and he urged the Afghan Government to condemn clearly attacks against NGO personnel.

FUNDING NEEDED TO HELP COUNTRIES GET RID OF OBSOLETE PESTICIDES

The

UNs Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

warns that unless it receives more funding by the end of the year, it wont be able to help poor countries get rid of

obsolete pesticides.

Obsolete pesticides, which contain toxic chemicals, are left over from pest control campaigns stockpiles have accumulated because some products have been banned for health or environmental reasons, but were never removed and disposed of.

FAO says the problem is a continuing and worsening threat to people and the environment in Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.

For example: the clean-up of one tonne of obsolete pesticide waste costs around $3,500 it is estimated that the Ukraine has around 19,500 tonnes of ageing chemicals from obsolete pesticides, which would bring the total cost to more than $68 million.

STALLED PEACE TALKS BLOCKING AID FOR CHILDREN IN SRI LANKA

UNICEF, the UN Childrens Fund, says the stalled peace talks between the Government of

Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are a major impediment to assisting children affected by the countrys two-decade long war.

That is one of the findings of a UNICEF report released today, which reviews progress made in the first half of this year under the Action Plan for Children Affected by War.

The Action Plan is the only formal agreement by both sides to address the urgent needs of children affected by war.

The report also found that other barriers to assisting children there include the Tamil Tigers failure to end the recruitment of children, and the destabilizing effect of continued inter-factional violence in the East.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

PEACE CORRIDORS SET UP BY U.N. MISSION IN COTE DIVOIRE: The

UN Mission in Cote dIvoire has set up Peace Corridors which will primarily be used to facilitate contacts between people living on both sides of the line dividing areas under the control of the government and Forces Nouvelles. This project will get underway next week, which has been designated as National Reconciliation Week.

GOVERNANCE SEMINAR TO BE HELD AT U.N. HEADQUARTERS ON FRIDAY: The

UN Office of Internal Oversight Services will hold a symposium entitled: Governance, Leadership and Accountability in conference room 2 tomorrow afternoon. This symposium, which commemorate the 10th Anniversary of OIOS' establishment by the

General Assembly in 1994, is open for all UN staff, delegates and accredited correspondents.

HIRING FREEZE TO AFFECT DOCUMENT DISTRIBUTION AT GENERAL ASSEMBLY: Asked whether the Department of Public Information would provide staff to scan and copy documents that are to be distributed at this years

General Assembly, the Spokesman said that the United Nations had already asked for runners to be in place to bring distributed texts as soon as possible. He noted that the hiring freeze for support staff made it more difficult to provide staff for such tasks, and that this years Assembly also had 98 heads of state and government inscribed to speak so far, an unusually high number. But he promised that the United Nations would do its best.

PANEL DEALING WITH ISSUE OF NEW THREATS TO COLLECTIVE SECUERITY: Asked how far could the United Nations go in justifying pre-emptive strikes, the Spokesman said that the

Secretary-General has set up a

High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, which will deal, among other things, with finding a way to reconcile new threats with the provisions for collective security of the UN Charter. The Secretary-Generals basic principle is to preserve the rule of law, and for nations to work together in dealing with threats.

Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

United Nations, S-378

New York, NY 10017

Tel. 212-963-7162 -

press/media only

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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