United Nations Daily Highlights, 05-03-14

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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING

BY FRED ECKHARD

SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Monday, March 14, 2005

ANNAN AND PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT DISCUSS

ISRAELI DISENGAGEMENT FROM GAZA

Secretary-General Kofi Annan met today in Ramallah with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

He told reporters afterward that he and the President had discussed Israeli disengagement from Gaza, economic reconstruction and the progress by the Palestinian Authority. He told the press, With a clear determination and good will on both sides, a lot can be done.

He was asked about the Israeli separation barrier, and said that he had discussed the UN register, which would list damage claims from the barrier, with President Abbas today.

The Secretary-General also met with Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and Foreign Minister Nasser al-Kidwa.

Earlier, he addressed the staff of the

UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, and paid farewell to its Commissioner-General, Peter Hansen. In remarks, available upstairs, he thanked Hansen for his unflagging energy, commitment and leadership.

He assured the Agencys staff that Hansen was departing only because his nine-year tenure had been long enough for anyone to have to live with the stresses and strains of such a job.

Karen Koning AbuZayd will be Acting Commissioner-General, he added.

Prior to his meeting with President Abbas, the Secretary-General laid a wreath at the tomb of former Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

This evening, he is to meet in Jerusalem with Israeli President Moshe Katsav.

Asked whether the Secretary-General had asked Abbas to support a definition of terrorism, the Spokesman later noted that the Secretary-General, speaking in Madrid last week, had called on all world leaders to unite behind the High-Level Panel's definition of terrorism.

ANNAN IS ENCOURAGED BY RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN MIDDLE EAST

The

Secretary-General arrived on Sunday afternoon in Jerusalem, and met that day with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Just before going in to the meeting, the Secretary-General

told reporters that he had been very encouraged by recent developments in the region, including the Sharm el-Shaikh agreement.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister thanked the Secretary-General for his stand against anti-Semitism and for his strong backing of the recent

General Assembly Special Session to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camps.

The Prime Minister and the Secretary-General discussed the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, including Israels disengagement and plans to close 24 settlements.

The Secretary-General reiterated his support for the Gaza disengagement and said he hoped that it would lead to full implementation of the Road Map.

UN ENVOY: SYRIAN WITHDRAWAL FROM LEBANON

TO BE CARRIED OUT IN TWO STAGES

Terje Roed-Larsen, the Secretary-Generals Special Envoy for the Implementation of

Security Council

Resolution 1559, met on Saturday with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo, Syria, and discussed the resolutions full implementation.

Roed-Larsen said afterward that President Assad has committed to withdraw all Syrian troops and intelligence from Lebanon, in fulfillment of the resolution.

That withdrawal, he said, would be carried out in two stages. First, all military forces and the intelligence apparatus would be relocated by the end of this month into the Bekaa Valley, while a significant number of Syrian forces will withdraw fully into Syria. Then, a second stage will lead to a complete and full withdrawal of all Syrian military personnel, assets and the intelligence apparatus.

Yesterday, Larsen met in Beirut with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, Prime Minister Omar Karame, Speaker Nabi Berry, Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud, opposition leader Walid Jumblat and other senior politicians. He also spoke by phone with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, to discuss his meetings.

Larsen is returning to New York, where he will present the

Secretary-General this week with further details of the timetable for a complete Syrian pullout from Lebanon.

In response to questions, the Spokesman said Larsen is expected to be in New York by Wednesday and he and the Secretary-General would most likely discuss Larsens work by the end of the week.

61st SESSION OF U.N. COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS OPENS IN GENEVA

Without the implementation of widely ratified international treaties, there is no point in reaffirming or refining the meaning of human rights,

Louise Arbour, the UNs High Commissioner for Human Rights,

said today in Geneva. They simply cease to exist, she affirmed.

Speaking at the opening of the 61st session of the

Commission on Human Rights, she added that the worlds approach to human rights diplomacy remains unsatisfactory, sporadic and selective.

The Commission must therefore take the lead in bringing about dispassionate analysis, focused calls for action, and sustained attention to human rights violations.

She also said that the international communitys response, so far, to the human rights crisis in Darfur fell very short of the worlds collective responsibility to the most vulnerable.

Asked about reports on proposals to change the way the Commission on Human Rights works, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General was expected to offer some recommendations about that in his report on the follow-up to the Millennium Declaration. That report, he said, is expected to be presented to Member States on Monday, March 21.

Eckhard said that the report would concern the United Nations agenda for 2005, and would draw from the reports of the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change and of the Millennium Project headed by Professor Jeffrey Sachs.

He noted that it would be up to governments to make major changes, but the Secretary-General would make recommendations.

SECURITY COUNCIL HEARS BRIEFINGS ON BURUNDI, DR CONGO;

EXTENDS MANDATE OF U.N. MISSION IN ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA

The

Security Council is holding consultations on the

Secretary-Generals latest

report on Burundi.

Carolyn McAskie, the Secretary-Generals

Special Representative for Burundi, briefed Council members on the report, which has been issued as a document today.

[In a Presidential Statement on Burundi, the Security Council today welcomed the approval by the Burundian people of the post-transitional Constitution, through the referendum of 28 February whose final results have just been declared.]

The second item on the consultations agenda is a briefing on sanctions concerning the

Democratic Republic of the Congo by Algerian Ambassador Abdallah Baali in his capacity as chairman of that sanctions committee.

Two back-to-back formal meetings are also scheduled. The first meeting is expected to vote on a draft resolution on

extending the mandate of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

The second meeting is to discuss the

appointment of judges to the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

DESPITE DELAYS IN ELECTORAL CALENDAR,

PROGRESS IS REPORTED IN BURUNDIS PEACE PROCESS

In his

report to the

Security Council on Burundi, the

Secretary-General notes that despite delays in the electoral calendar, there has been continued progress in the peace process. But citing remaining political tensions, he urges all political and military leaders to stay the course.

He also said he has instructed his Special Representative to explore how the United Nations and the international community could continue to support the consolidation of peace after elections.

U.N. ENVOY DISCUSSES RECONSTRUCTION ASSISTANCE

IN SOUTHERN IRAQ DURING VISIT TO BASRA

The Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Iraq,

Ashraf Qazi, over the weekend made a two-day visit to Basra, in southern

Iraq, where he

talked to the Deputy Governor on humanitarian and reconstruction assistance that the United Nations is providing southern Iraq.

Qazi said that the United Nations has remained engaged in the south through the work of its local staff and partners. He affirmed the UNs support for more effective working relationships with Iraqi political and economic entities to ensure that reconstruction and development activities receive the attention and funding that they need.

The

UN Assistance Mission for Iraq recently opened a liaison office in Basra, and, circumstances permitting, hopes to be able to increase the scope and scale of its humanitarian activities in southern Iraq.

BANDITRY INCIDENTS REPORTEDLY ON THE RISE IN DARFUR, SUDAN

The

UN Mission in Sudan continues to report on security concerns in

Darfur.

Some areas continue to be off limits to humanitarian agencies while banditry incidents have reportedly been on the rise.

The mission reported that in North Darfur last night, armed men in uniform attacked a house owned by a national staff member of the

World Food Programme. The attackers fired shots at the occupant of the house, who managed to flee the scene and did not sustain any injuries. The house was however ransacked and looted.

ARMS EMBARGO VIOLATIONS CONTINUE AT ALARMING RATE IN SOMALIA

The

Security Council

Sanctions Committee on Somalia has transmitted the report of the Monitoring Group on Somalia in a letter. The report and letter are issued as documents today.

The Group learned that arms embargo violations had continued to occur at a brisk and alarming rate. It said shipments ranged in size from an individual weapon to ocean freight containers full of arms.

It notes the indication of the existence of a sophisticated financial network directly involved in arms purchases.

As a result of the continued heavy flow of arms into Somalia, there is a seriously elevated threat of possible violence against the peaceful establishment in Somalia of the Transitional Federal Government.

MORE THAN 300 EX-SOLDIERS ENTER DEMOBILIZATION PROGRAM IN HAITI

In

Haiti yesterday, a total of 325 former members of Haitis national army

attended a ceremony marking the official start of the disarmament and demobilization programme in the country.

The ceremony saw the symbolic hand-over of some weapons, and it was attended by top officials from the transitional government, such as Prime Minister Gerard Latortue, as well as

Juan Gabriel Valdes, the Secretary-Generals Special Representative and the head of the

UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti.

Most of the former officers hailed from the northern town of Cap Haitien.

Speaking to journalists after the ceremony, Valdes said he hoped that this first step in the demobilization process would serve as an example to former military officers in other parts of the country.

U.N. COUNTER-TERRORISM EXPERTS VISIT MOROCCO

Javier Ruperez, the Executive Director of the

Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate, is leading a group of counter-terrorism experts on a five-day visit to Morocco which began today.

The visit is the first in a series of country visits and thus marks the beginning of a new phase in the work of the Directorate, and its parent body, the Counter Terrorism Directorate.

The purpose of country visits is to precisely assess on location and in practice how Member States implement the obligations of

Security Council

Resolution 1373 (2001) and evaluate the nature and level of assistance that a particular country may need in order to fulfill those obligations.

Developing and strengthening state capacity is also one of the five main pillars of the comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy launched by the Secretary-General last week in Madrid.

After Morocco, visits to Albania, Kenya and Thailand in the course of the next few months are being planned.

FORMER KOSOVO PRIME MINISTER PLEADS NOT GUILTY

Ramush Haradinaj, the former Prime Minister of Kosovo, today appeared for the first time at the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, and pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.

Haradinaj is charged with 17 counts of crimes against humanity, including murder and rape, and 20 counts of war crimes. The Tribunals charges against him were made public late last week.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

MORE THAN 1,000 HOUSES DAMAGED BY RAINS IN SOUTHERN AFGHANISTAN: On Saturday, a joint team from the

UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, the

UN Childrens Fund and the

World Food Programme went to the southern Afghan town of Kandahar, to

assess damage from heavy rains there. The team confirmed that there was no significant flooding in the province, but added that some 1,100 houses were damaged in the area by the rains. Also, departing UN Spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva shared his thoughts on how Afghanistan has changed over the past three years, including the lesson he learned: Afghans can do it.

THREE MILLION CHILDREN TARGETED IN HEALTH CAMPAIGN IN ANGOLA: An unprecedented social mobilization

campaign is being launched today in

Angola. Parents are encouraged to bring their children to re-enforced health centres and hospitals across the country. Over the next seven days, some three million new-born and children under five years of age are being targeted for immunisation, vitamin A supplementation and de-worming treatment. The initiative is supported by

UNICEF and the

World Health Organization. Child mortality in Angola is among the highest in the world as a result of measles, malaria, and other diseases.

CONSIDERABLE DISTANCE TO BE TRAVELLED IN BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE: Today in Geneva, the Digital Solidarity Fund, an African initiative to bridge the global digital divide, was launched. In a message to mark the occasion, the

Secretary-General notes that there is considerable distance to be traveled to close the gap between those who have access to the Internet and other technologies, and those who do not. The Secretary-General adds that the Fund can help harness the potential of information communication technologies to empower poor and marginalized people.

EMERGENCY TEAMS REPORT SEVERE DAMAGE IN CYCLONE-HIT COOK ISLANDS: In the Cook Islands, UN emergency assessment teams have found that two northern islands were severely battered by Cyclone Percy late last month. On one of the islands, all local food crops were completely destroyed, and there is only an eight-day supply of water available. Transportation difficulties are constraining the Governments efforts to send relief supplies.

SAMOA JOINS UN LABOUR OFFICE: The country of Samoa has

become the 178th Member State of the UN

International Labour Organization (ILO). The accession follows receipt at ILO headquarters in Geneva of a letter from Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi stating his nations formal acceptance of the obligations of the agencys constitution.

FREQUENT FLYERS CAN DONATE MILES TO GET U.N. VOLUNTEERS TO TSUNAMI-AFFECTED COUNTRIES:

UN Volunteers

says that members of Emirates Airlines frequent flyer loyalty scheme, Skywards, can now donate their Miles to fly UN Volunteers to assist relief efforts in the countries affected by the 26 December

tsunamis. In conjunction with Emirates partner airline SriLankan, Skywards members can allot their Miles via a special account on the Skywards website, www.skywards.com. Nearly 10 million Skywards Miles have already been donated by Skywards members.