United Nations Daily Highlights, 07-02-21

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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 MARIE OKABE

DEPUTY

SPOKESPERSON FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

U.N. HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

BAN KI-MOON URGES IRAN TO COMPLY WITH RELEVANT

SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is in Berlin today, where he met with the other principal members of the Quartet for the

Middle East. The other principal members at the meeting will be U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, European Union High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, representing the Presidency of the European Union.

The Quartet principals are scheduled to hold a press conference at the end of that meeting.

Earlier, the Secretary-General held a press encounter after a meeting with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in which he said he was encouraged by the recent diplomatic initiatives, including the most recent Mecca deal, as well as the trilateral meeting among the United States, Palestinian Authority and Israel. He said it is important for the international community to encourage the ongoing diplomatic initiative in the Middle East.

The Secretary-General was asked about Irans nuclear programme, and he said, I would strongly urge the Iranian authorities to comply, first of all, fully with the Security Council resolution, and continue to negotiate with the international community.

The Secretary-General also met earlier today in Berlin with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, as well as with Germanys Minister for Economic Development and the President of the German Bundestag.

Tomorrow, he is expected to travel to Vienna to meet with Austrian officials there and UN staff.

BELGRADE AND PRISTINA DISCUSS KOSOVO STATUS PROPOSAL

Regarding the status of Kosovo, the first round of discussions between Belgrade and Pristina started today in Vienna on all aspects of Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaaris draft proposal. That draft proposal was presented to the parties in Belgrade and Pristina on 2 February.

The purpose of this round of discussions is to give both sides the chance to comment on the entire draft, issue by issue. The round is scheduled to last until 2 March.

Ahtisaari gave a press conference in Vienna today, in which he called todays talks a good beginning.

In other related news, the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) says has established a special task force to investigate the injuries and two deaths that resulted from the violent protests that took place in Pristina on 10 February.

The task force is multinational and includes investigators from Kosovos local police service. It is headed by an independent special prosecutor, Robert Dean from the United States. Dean has 28 years of experience as a prosecutor in the State of Maryland, where he has investigated hundreds of murders and secured many convictions. In all, twenty-four investigators have been assigned to the case.

DARFUR: U.N. SUPPORT TO AFRICAN UNION MISSION MOVING AHEAD

The UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) says that the sixth meeting of the Tripartite Mechanism, which is made up of representatives of African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS), the UN Mission, and the Government of Sudan, was held today in Khartoum.

The meeting was informed that some of the UN civilian staff provided for in the UN Light Support Package to AMIS have been recruited and are presently in Khartoum. They will be deployed shortly to support AMIS, both in Khartoum and in Al Fasher. The Tripartite Mechanism will hold its next meeting on 7 March.

The UN Mission also reports that on Monday, about 300 Maaliya militia men attacked Um Dai village in South Darfur, with unconfirmed reports indicating that 7 people were killed and 4 injured.

Also on Monday, four Sudanese Government staff members that had been abducted last October were released and taken to Nyala hospital. Two of them are reported to be in poor health condition.

Asked whether Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir had replied to the letter sent to him last month by the Secretary-General, the Spokeswoman said that the Secretary-General was still hoping for a positive response to his 24 January letter, in which he provided details of the UN heavy support package to AMIS.

She said that the Secretary-Generals Special Envoy for Darfur, Jan Eliasson, had met with President Bashir over the past weekend, and again pressed for a response to the letter. He was told that it was being finalized.

The Secretary-General in recent days spoke to Eliasson and to African Union Commission Chairperson Alpha Oumar Konaré, and it was agreed that the African Union would send a mission to UN Headquarters on ways to move forward on the peacekeeping front.

Asked why the United Nations was still seeking agreement on an issue on which Sudan had provided a go-ahead earlier, Okabe said that the go-ahead from Sudan was pending details that were to be worked out. She said that, in the next step of the process, the UN and the AU were now providing details of the heavy support package, which would require a positive response from the Sudanese Government.

Asked whether the Secretary-General was disappointed by the lack of a positive response so far, the Spokeswoman said that the Secretary-General has described the situation in Darfur as unacceptable, and he is doing what he can to bring an end to the suffering on the ground.

SECURITY COUNCIL AUTHORIZES AFRICAN UNION

TO SEND MISSION TO SOMALIA

Yesterday afternoon, the Security Council wrapped up its open meeting on security sector reform, adopting a Presidential Statement that, among other things, stressed the important UN role in providing comprehensive, coherent and coordinated international support to nationally-owned security sector reform programmes.

[Immediately after the noon briefing, Jan Kubis, Foreign Minister of Slovakia, briefed reporters on Security Sector Reform and other priority issues for Slovakia as President of the Security Council in the month of February.]

The Security Council also unanimously adopted a resolution authorizing the Member States of the African Union to establish for a period of six months a mission in Somalia. The resolution requests the Secretary-General to send a Technical Assessment Mission to the African Union headquarters and Somalia as soon as possible, to report on the political and security situation and the possibility of a UN Peacekeeping Operation following the AUs deployment.

Afterward, the Council President, Ambassador Peter Burian of Slovakia, read out a press statement condemning the terrorist bombing of the Delhi-Lahore Friendship Express and noting that Council members welcomed the commitment to the peace process expressed by the leaders of India and Pakistan after that terrorist attack.

Asked what security sector reform entails, the Spokeswoman said it had to do with improving security conditions, including in post-conflict countries, by reforming law enforcement bodies, such as the police.

HAITI: U.N. MISSION ARRESTS GANG MEMBERS

With some 700 troops deployed yesterday during the latest operation in the Cite-Soleil neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) says that 17 presumed gang members were arrested yesterday and a number of illegal weapons were seized.

The operation was planned and executed in collaboration with the Haiti National Police; it marks an intensification of recent efforts to stabilize and secure the crime-ridden parts of the Haitian capital.

U.N. MISSION REPORTS ISRAELI AIR VIOLATIONS OVER LEBANON

The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reports that the Lebanese Army fired a round of anti-aircraft weapons earlier today. During the same period, UNIFIL also reported a number of Israeli air violations over its area of operation.

UNIFIL continues to monitor the situation in its area of operation and will release more details of this and other reported incidents as they become available.

Asked whether the Secretary-General would travel to Lebanon in March, the Spokeswoman said that there was nothing to announce about his travel plans.

Asked when the next report to the Security Council on the implementation of

resolution 1701 would come out, she later said it was expected in mid-March.

D.R. CONGO: ARMY AND POLICE ARE ABUSING CIVILIANS

In its latest human rights report, published yesterday, the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) says that the Congolese Army and police forces continue to commit serious abuses of civilians rights, including a surge in reported rape cases in the northeastern Ituri province.

The Mission also singled out the various armed groups operating in the country as having contributed to the overall decline in human rights standards.

U.N. POLICE ARE WORKING TO STABILIZE TIMOR-LESTE

The Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Timor-Leste, Atul Khare, in a statement urged the Timorese people, to give support to UN and local police officers, as well as International Security Forces (ISF), who are working hard to improve and stabilize the situation there.

Khare also said UN Police will continue to take strong actions against all those engaged in violence or are otherwise acting contrary to the laws of Timor-Leste.

In response to the growing violence in recent weeks, UN Police and ISF have increased security on the streets of Dili over the past 24 hours.

HUMANITARIAN OFFICIAL IMPRESSED BY PROGRESS IN AFGHANISTAN

Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Margareta Wahlström completed a visit to Kabul and Kandahar in Afghanistan, and, in a press conference in Kabul, said that she is quite impressed by the progress that is visible, saying that she saw improvements in the country, including in the south.

But she added that to sustain progress, we also need to become much better at covering all parts of Afghanistan with assistance to reach out. Wahlström said, Our concern for the south and other areas that are difficult to access is really to ensure that this lack of access does not undermine progress and the relative stability we have in the rest of the country.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

STAFF INFORMED ABOUT PENSION FUND DEVELOPMENTS: Asked about a complaint by the UN staff council about reports of outsourcing of the UN Pension Fund, the Spokeswoman noted that UN Controller Warren Sach had sent a message to all staff clarifying the reasons for seeking outside bids.

SENIOR APPOINTMENTS WILL BE ANNOUNCED AS THEY ARE MADE: Asked whether all senior UN officials whose resignations take effect by the end of February will depart from the United Nations entirely, the Spokeswoman noted that Chef de Cabinet Vijay Nambiar had recently announced one set of appointments to senior positions, and other appointments would follow as they are made.

Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General

United Nations, S-378

New York, NY 10017

Tel. 212-963-7162

Fax. 212-963-7055

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