United Nations Daily Highlights, 05-08-10

United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON

BRIEFING

BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC

SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

U.N. ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY CONFIRMS ALL SEALS BROKEN IN IRAN

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed today that Iran has broken all the seals at its Uranium Conversion Facility in Isfahan.

That action took place after the Agency informed the Iranians that its inspection system was in place at the Isfahan facility.

The IAEA says that the setting up of an inspection system at the Isfahan facility does not imply an endorsement of the resumption of uranium enrichment and conversion there. IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei yesterday had

called on all parties to continue negotiations, and on Iran not to take unilateral actions.

Asked about the Secretary-Generals contacts with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General continues to follow the situation in Iran closely. He is in touch with ElBaradei and the concerned parties, and believes that the best path is the dialogue between the three European Union states and Iran.

SECURITY COUNCIL DISCUSS U.N.S FUTURE IN SIERRA LEONE,

HOLD MONTHLY LUNCHEON WITH KOFI ANNAN

The

Security Council today held consultations on Sierra Leone. Council members received a briefing from the Secretary-Generals Deputy Special Representative for Sierra Leone, Victor da Silva Angelo, on the work of the

UN Mission in that country.

The Secretary-General, in a recent

report, outlined to the Council his plans to maintain an office in Sierra Leone once the UN peacekeeping mission wraps up its work at the end of this year.

Also today, the members of the Security Council will hold their monthly luncheon with the Secretary-General.

U.N. ENVOY WELCOMES EXTENSION OF VOTER REGISTRATION IN HAITI

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Haiti has welcomed the governments decision to extend the voter registration period by six weeks, until September 15th.

The envoy, Juan Gabriel Valdes,

said the move would widen voter participation in the November and December polls.

Valdes spoke during a visit to a registration centre opened by UN peacekeepers in an area previously controlled by gangs.

Valdes also met with women candidates in the October and November elections and greeted a kidnap victim freed by the Blue Helmets yesterday. The kidnap victim was the second freed in 24 hours in operations designed to disarm gangs.

U. N. ENVOY IN BURUNDI SPEAKS TO NEW POLITICAL CLASS

In

Burundi this week, the Monitoring Commission of the Arusha Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation held its final session, after five years in existence.

Speaking at the end of the session, Carolyn McAskie, the Secretary-Generals Special Representative, urged the Burundian political stakeholders to put in place a government which would bring together Burundians to safeguard national unity.

UNESCO CONDEMNS KILLING OF IRAQI T.V. PRODUCER

The UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, today

condemned the killing of an Iraqi TV producer who was murdered in his home in Baghdad July 23.

UNESCO Director General Koïchiro Matsuura said he was outraged at the murder of Adnan Al Bayati, who worked for, among other media, the Italian network, RAI.

Matsuura said the criminals who killed al Bayati are working against the legitimate right of their own society to determine its future with open eyes.

LANDLOCKED COUNTRIES MEETING IN PARAGUAY ENDS

Trade ministers from 31 landlocked and developing nations today wind up a two-day meeting in Asuncion, Paraguay.

Under-Secretary-General Anwarul K. Chowdhury

told the group their work was a critical contribution to the latest World Trade Organization round of negotiations.

He urged them to aim for a unified position - to avoid being sidelined from the main thoroughfares of international trade.

TSUNAMI DAMAGE IN YEMEN IS GREATER THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT

The December Tsunami caused much greater losses in Yemeni fishing villages than previously thought, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization

said today.

A fact-finding mission made up of experts from the FAO and the Yemeni government came up with new and more serious estimates, with damages totalling around $2.2 million and 2 000 families affected, the agency said.

Because of the new estimates, the FAO is urging donors to support a new fisheries rehabilitation project it is proposing for the country.

UNITED NATIONS ASSISTS BULGARIAN FLOOD VICTIMS

The United Nations is

providing emergency assistance to Bulgaria, following heavy flooding there.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the UN Development Programme are authorizing emergency cash grants, and the UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF) has handed out blankets, kitchen utensils, containers, water purification tablets and rehydration salts.

INVESTIGATION INTO EX-PROCUREMENT OFFICER CASE CONTINUES

Asked whether former UN staff member Joseph Stephanides receives a UN pension, the Spokesman said that pension is not something that the United Nations can withhold from retired staff. The UN Administrative Tribunal has repeatedly ruled that staff pensions cannot be withheld, and the Secretariat has to abide by those rulings.

He added that Stephanides has appealed his dismissal, in a process that is ongoing.

Asked how the United Nations determines which court has jurisdiction to try UN staff, the Spokesman said that the normal practice is to forward information to the national authorities in the country where a staff member is serving. In Alexander Yakovlevs case, since he was working in New York, information in his case was forwarded by the Office of Internal Oversight Services to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Asked about further UN action to reform its procurement system, the Spokesman said that the OIOS investigation into Yakovlevs case continues.

Asked what steps the United Nations would take in dealing with former Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the Spokesman said that Paul Volckers Independent Inquiry Committee into the

UN Oil-for-Food Programme is reviewing the activities of current and former UN staff and the United Nations would await its information.

In general, Dujarric added, there were limits to the administrative action that the United Nations could take against people who were no longer staff members, such as Benon Sevan.

Asked whether the United Nations could influence Sevans extradition to the United States from Cyprus, the Spokesman said that, in practice, once the United Nations waives immunity, extradition is a bilateral matter to be resolved by two countries. The United Nations, he added, would want to see that anyone who is charged faces justice.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

VISA ISSUE NOT RAISED WITH UNITED NATIONS: Asked whether a dispute about a U.S. visa for Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has come to the United Nations, the Spokesman said that the United Nations has not been notified by either the United States or Iran about the issue. He noted that the United Nations would not be informed unless there was a problem over the issuance of the visa.

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

United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next Article