The Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi visited the Ambassador of Pakistan at the Embassy immediately after the incident.

We are, however, very encouraged by the long conversation that Afghan President Hamid Karzai had with President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan over the telephone. The two countries are neigbours and brothers and we believe that all their differences can be settled through bilateral contact and when necessary with the help of their friends which includes the United Nations.

The Secretariat of the Constitutional Commission tells us, however, that because of security problems, public consultations could not be carried out in Zabul, Uruzgan and Nimroz. The Secretariat is now planning to arrange air trips (helicopters) for its teams to visit these areas.

Also last Sunday, 6 July, on a road near Zurmat District between Paktia and Khost unknown persons fired at a UN vehicle assigned to the Commission's regional office. Fortunately there were no casualties.

We have a press release of the Constitutional commission at the side of the room with more detailed updates including locations and numbers of participants.

Generally participants have been able to express their views freely in the meeting. The role of UNAMA observers has been received well by the public and the Commission and is seen as enhancing the credibility of the process.

There are, however, reports that certain groups have attempted to dominate some of the meetings. Several tribal elders have told Commissioners after meetings that they could not express their views freely. In others meetings, views and recommendations seem to be scripted. In response to such incidents, the regional offices of the Secretariat are focusing more on segmented and small meetings so that the participants feel more comfortable when expressing their views.

The delegation has collected arms (sub-machine guns, rocket propelled grenade launchers, hand pistols) from Jumbesh (12) and Jamiat (10) in Zareki village. The two local commanders for both factions have also been removed from Zeraki and are being transferred to their respective bases in Aybak and Mazar. According to reports, however, the exercise is moving slowly, with some local resistance to the process. The mission is currently in the Maqsud area and is likely to stay in the area for two more days.

The mission was a response to reports of fighting on 6 July in Dara-i-Suf between Jumbesh and Jamiat. The proposed response by the Commission includes withdrawal of weapons to official military bases and the removal of all trenches as well as bunkers.

World Population Day will be celebrated in Kabul today in a ceremony starting at 10 a.m. at the Ministry of Health. Several hundred teenage girls and boys will join Minister of Health Dr. Sohaila Seddiq, Maria Pia Dradi, Chief of Operations in Afghanistan for UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, and other dignitaries in marking the occasion.

In his message for World Population Day, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan notes the many challenges facing adolescents today. "Assisting girls to complete secondary schooling and delay marriage and childbirth can help break the cycle of poor health, illiteracy and poverty," he states.

UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Obaid, in her statement for the Day (which is available in English and Dari), invites world leaders "to listen to young people's concerns and hopes and put in place laws, policies and programmes that support their well-being and participation and protect their human rights".

The two-year project, which is part of the criminal justice reform programme in Afghanistan, has received funding of one million Euros from the Italian Government.

As well as strengthening the operational capacity of the Ministry of the Justice, the project will review national criminal law and procedure and adapt it to United Nations Standards and Norms in Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.

Another activity will be the establishment of multipurpose Centres of Justice in 10 selected pilot provinces. These Centres will have separate offices for the judges, police, prosecutors, lawyers and administrative staff and will also have space for holding court sessions. Work on setting up some of the centres will start this year.

Other elements to the project are: strengthening the operational capacity of the judiciary in Kabul and development of an information and web-based communication system for the Ministry of Justice and the Centres of Justice.

In Kabul the project will refurbish or rebuild and equip court offices and set up a pilot office of legal professionals as part of the development a legal aid programme and service.

The project was signed yesterday (Wednesday 9 July) by the Minister of Justice, Abdul Rahim Karimi and the Representative for UNODC in Afghanistan, Mohammad Amirkhizi.

The media are invited to attend the opening, which will be at 9.30am at the United Nations Operations Complex (UNOCA) on Jalalabad Road, Kabul.

Vice President Khalili, the chairman of the Demobilization and Reintegration Commission, Sadako Ogata, the Prime Minister of Japan's Special Representative for Afghanistan and Mr. Brahimi, will attend the ceremony.

There is a media advisory with the full details available on the table.

UNDP
There is a press release by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on two courses in information and communication technology (ICT), which are part of a ministerial capacity building exercise. These courses are on Linex operating systems. All the details are there on the side.

World Bank
There is a media advisory by the World Bank inviting you all to visit projects that are being financed by them. One will be at Kabul University on Sunday and the other will be a visit to the Salang Tunnel on Monday. More details are on the media advisory as well as whom to contact if you wish to be part of any of the visits.

UNHCR
There is a also media advisory from the United Nations High Commissioner for refugees on Mrs. Ogata's programme from today until Sunday when she leaves the country. Maki Shinohara promised this advisory to you when she briefed last week. It has Mrs. Ogata's progarmme for today including her meeting with President Karzai at 1:00 p.m. as well as for tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday.

This is just to remind you that Mrs. Ogata, the Prime Minister of Japan's Special Representative for Afghanistan will conclude her visit with a press Conference here in the UNAMA Press Briefing Conference room this Sunday 13 July at 10:45. This will follow the regular Sunday briefing, which begins at 10:00 a.m.

Kabul Central Laboratory Isolates Salmonella Typhi
The WHO supported Central Laboratory of Kabul (CLK) has isolated, for the first time in 20 years, Salmonella typhi in a woman admitted at the infectious disease hospital. The patient was first diagnosed with a general infection but, using the blood culture bottles prepared in CLK, the bacteria was isolated by classical methods, confirmed by agglutination method after boiling the culture for one hour.

The isolated Salmonella typhi is reported to be sensitive to Cotrimoxazole, Amikacin, Netilmycin, Gentamycin, Chloramphenicol and Ciprofloxacin.

Salmonella typhi is a bacteria responsible for the life-threatening disease Typhoid fever. Carriers usually have a sustained fever as high as 103 to 104 degrees F (39 to 40 degrees C). Other symptoms include stomach pain, headache, loss of appetite. In some cases, patients have a rash of flat, rose-colored spots. The only way to diagnose typhoid fever is to have samples of stools or blood tested for the presence of Salmonella typhi.

Typhoid fever is contracted by eating food or beverages handled by a person shedding S. typhi or when bacteria has infested drinking water or water used for washing food. Once in the body the bacteria multiply and spreads into the bloodstream. Patients treated for typhoid fever are advised not to interrupt the intake of prescribed antibiotics as while the symptoms may disappear you may still carry the bacteria. It is also advised to wash hands carefully with soap and water after using the bathroom, not to cook or serve food to other people.

Typhoid fever is still common in the developing world where it affects 12.5 to 17 million people per year. Up to date reliable data on the incidence of typhoid fever in Afghanistan was not available.

Now with WHO's support it is now possible to study resistance of bacteria to antibiotics and to determine the prevalence of the disease in Afghanistan. This is a tremendous achievement made possible by WHO's efforts to rehabilitated the Central Laboratory capacity in human resources with on-going in-service training, refurbishing of the laboratory and supply of incubators, microscopes, autoclaves and centrifuges. WHO's contribution to the Central Laboratory of Kabul is estimated at more than a hundred thousand dollars.

Questions and Answers

Question: Does the fact that the ANBP office is opening mean that disarmament will start soon or do the same issues relating to reform of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) still apply?

Spokesman: The ANBP is ready to start the DDR process. As you know there is a lot of work going on in the MOD and by the Government for reform of the Ministry. Once the President feels that all the talks, negotiations and work towards reform achieve positive results we are confident that DDR will start immediately after.

Question: The opening of the office is that Friday or Saturday?

Spokesman: It is Saturday. Of course a very important aspect of this opening is that Mrs. Ogata will be there. Japan is the lead nation for DDR. Her presence is therefore very significant with Japan also as the major project donor.