United Nations Daily Highlights, 05-10-04

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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

Tuesday, October 4, 2005

KOFI ANNAN TO RECEIVE COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF KOSOVO REPORT

The Secretary-Generals Special Envoy for the Comprehensive Review of Kosovo,

Kai Eide, will be submitting his report to the Secretary-General this afternoon.

Eide has had extensive consultations in Belgrade and Pristina, as well as with key Member States, regional organizations and, of course, the

UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK); he has also spent considerable time in Kosovo, meeting with people from all walks of life.

The Secretary-General will study the report and then forward it, together with his recommendations for the next steps, to the Security Council.

The Security Council is expected to take up Kosovo in the second half of this month.

ANNAN TO VISIT SWITZERLAND, PORTUGAL, SPAIN

The Secretary-General will be traveling to Switzerland, Portugal and Spain over the next 10 days.

The first stop is Geneva, where his program begins with an address on Thursday to the Executive Committee of the

UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Also that day, the Secretary-General plans to visit the

World Health Organization (WHO) Strategic Operations Center that responds to public health emergencies.

While in Switzerland, he is scheduled to make an official visit to Bernto address a high-level symposium marking the Year of Micro-credit, and to hold a press conference.

Then, beginning next Tuesday, the Secretary-General will make an official visit to Portugal, where, in addition to meetings with the Government, he is expected to receive an honorary degree from the Universidade Nova de Lisboa.

From Portugal, he travels to Salamanca, Spain, to attend and address the Ibero-American Summit on Friday, October 14.

Asked whether the Secretary-General would be at work at UN Headquarters on Wednesday prior to his travels, the Spokesman said he would.

SECURITY COUNCIL DISCUSSES DR CONGO, SOMALIA

The

Security Council today met for its first time this month, under Romanias Presidency. In consultations, Council members are discussing the program of work for October, and they are also to discuss Somalia.

The Council has scheduled two formal meetings after their consultations, to consider Presidential Statements on the Democratic Republic of the Congo and on the weekend bombings in Bali, Indonesia.

Referring to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, the Presidential Statement called upon the Forces Democratiques pour la liberation du Rwanda (FDLR) to disarm and repatriate its combatants from the DR Congo. It also welcomed the intention of the Congolese Armed Forces to disarm the Lords Resistance Army which has entered the DR Congo.

On Bali, the Presidential Statement condemned in the strongest terms the terrorist bombing of 1 October. The statement added that the Council reaffirms the need to combat by all means, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts."

UNITED NATIONS CONVEYS CONCERNS ON

IRAQ'S REFERENDUM LAW RESOLUTION

The UN Mission in

Iraq today described the preparations that have been put in place for the October 15 referendum on the Constitution. Iraqs Independent Electoral Commission has hired more than 100,000 polling staff across the country, and has carried out a large public outreach campaign before the vote.

Carina Perelli, Director of the

UN Electoral Assistance Division, says that, if there are any technical problems during the referendum, they would be addressed individually by the competent Iraqi authorities.

Asked whether the United Nations would try to reverse recent changes made in the electoral law governing the referendum, the Spokesman said that, consistent with its mandate to advise the Iraqi authorities on relevant international standards on electoral processes, the United Nations has conveyed its views and concerns to the Transitional National Assembly (TNA) on the resolution it adopted on 2 October regarding Iraqs referendum law.

The Spokesman said that the United Nations understands that the interpretation of the referendum law is presently under close consideration by the Iraqi leadership. He said the United Nations hopes that the TNA will be able to come to a resolution on this issue. Ultimately, he said, this is a sovereign Iraqi process and it will be up to the Iraqi National Assembly to decide on an appropriate electoral framework for the referendum, which would meet international standards. However, Dujarric emphasized, it is our duty as the United Nations to point out when the process does not meet international standards.

Asked what the UNs concerns were, the Spokesman said that they focused on what constitutes a majority of voters whether that is drawn from all registered voters, or all those who actually vote. He said that there were two different interpretations in the electoral framework, and that inconsistency prompted concerns.

Asked about the Secretary-Generals involvement in this issue, the Spokesman said he did not believe the Secretary-General has had any phone conversations on this issue with anyone outside the UN system. He added the Special Representative Ashraf Qazi and his team are in contact with relevant Iraqi authorities in Baghdad.

Asked whether the United Nations has dealt with the United States on this issue, the Spokesman said he was unaware of any contacts with the Americans.

Asked about the UN team that had drafted an internal analysis of the Iraqi Constitution last month, the Spokesman said that was produced by the Office for Constitutional Support working at the UN Mission in Baghdad. He noted, in response to another question, that the head of that office, Nicholas Haysom, was currently outside Iraq. The issue of the electoral framework, he added, was one being dealt with by UN electoral experts, not specifically the Office for Constitutional Support.

HIJACKED FOOD SHIP FREED; ARRIVES IN SOMALIA

The

UN World Food Programme (WFP) today reports that the Somali ship that had been held by pirates for some three months has been released and has arrived at the Somali port of El-Maan. The agency has sent staff to the port to check on the cargo.

The WFP trusts that all 850 tons of aid will be delivered to the agency intact for distribution in Somalia.

MEMBER STATES CONTROL DUES ASSESSMENTS

Asked how assessments for dues to the UN regular budget can be changed, the Spokesman said they could only be changed through negotiations among the Member States themselves.

In response to a question about whether Japan paid its UN dues in full for this year, the Spokesman later said that it had not, and owed $607,089,989.