HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON
BRIEFING
BY
MARIE OKABE
ASSOCIATE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS,
NEW YORK
Wednesday, April
6, 2005
ANNAN
CONGRATULATES IRAQI LEADERS ON ELECTION TO POSTS
Secretary-General Kofi Annan
congratulates Jalal Talabani, as well as Sheikh Ghazi Al-Yawar and Adil
Abdul Mahdi, on their election today by the Transitional National Assembly of
Iraq as President and Vice-Presidents of
Iraq.
The Secretary-General welcomes the commitment of Iraq’s
new leadership to working towards national unity through peaceful democratic
means. He hopes that the formation of Iraq’s Transitional Government will be
completed quickly.
In accordance with its mandate pursuant to
Security Council
resolution 1546, the United Nations stands ready to support the
reconstruction of Iraq, including by providing any needed assistance to its
constitution-making process.
To that end, the Secretary-General and his Special
Representative, Ashraf Qazi, look forward to working with Iraq’s newly-elected
leaders and other representatives, with a view to further promoting dialogue
and national reconciliation.
ANNAN WELCOMES DECISION TO END
HOSTILITIES IN COTE D’IVOIRE
The
Secretary-General
welcomes the successful outcome of the meeting of the Ivorian parties held
in Pretoria, South Africa, from 3 to 6 April, convened by President
Thabo Mbeki of South Africa on behalf of the African Union.
The Secretary-General welcomes the decision taken to end
all hostilities and start the disarmament process as well as the immediate
dismantling of militias and looks forward to progress in the many areas
covered in Pretoria pursuant to the Linas-Marcoussis and Accra Agreements. He
urges the parties to implement their respective commitments promptly and in
good faith.
While the United Nations is studying the best ways to
assist in the implementation of the Pretoria agreement, which provides a
roadmap for the restoration of peace and stability in Côte d'Ivoire, the
Secretary-General reminds the parties that they must bear the primary
responsibility in this regard.
ANNAN CONDEMNS ATTACK ON BUS SERVICE
COMPLEX IN JAMMU AND KASHMIR
The
Secretary-General strongly
condemns the attack that took place on a complex housing passengers for
tomorrow’s inaugural bus service between Muzzafarabad and Srinagar across the
Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.
The introduction of this land-mark bus service is a
tangible achievement of the composite dialogue between India and Pakistan.
Its beneficiaries will be the people of Kashmir, who have been divided for
decades and traumatized by violence.
The Secretary-General commends the spirit of compromise
demonstrated by both India and Pakistan in the course of negotiating this
important confidence building measure.
He hopes the bus service will begin as planned, and that
it can help pave the way for additional confidence-building arrangements
followed by substantive agreements on all outstanding issues, including the
issue of Jammu and Kashmir.
ANNAN SADDENED
BY DEATH OF MONACO’S PRINCE RAINIER
The
Secretary-General was
saddened to learn of the death of Prince Rainier III of Monaco, one of the
world’s longest-serving monarchs and Heads of State.
He expresses his deepest condolences to Prince Albert,
Princess Caroline, Princess Stephanie and their families, as well as to all
the people of Monaco.
Throughout his 55-year reign, and all the changes the
country underwent during that time, Prince Rainier remained dearly loved by
his people, and deeply respected by his peers as well as the world community.
The Secretary-General wishes Prince Albert every courage
and fortitude as he succeeds his father at the helm of the principality.
U.N. ENVOY ENCOURAGED BY MEETINGS IN
LEBANON
Terje Roed-Larsen, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for
Resolution 1559 concluded his visit to Beirut today. In speaking to the
press, he noted that all his meetings in Beirut had been conducted in a spirit
of dialogue and cooperation.
Larsen said he had been encouraged by what he had heard
and was now going to brief the Secretary-General in-depth about his mission,
in preparation for his report to the Security Council.
Larsen also said that the
Secretary-General believes strongly that the implementation of resolution
1559 should proceed in such a way that would best ensure and safeguard the
unity and stability of Lebanon, of Syria, and of the wider region.
SECURITY COUNCIL TO DISCUSS RESOLUTION
ON HARIRI INVESTIGATION
The
Security Council has scheduled consultations today at 4:00 p.m. on the
Middle East to discuss a draft resolution on an
investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister
Rafik Hariri.
That draft was introduced earlier this week.
RESPONSE TO
TSUNAMI HAS BEEN BIGGEST EVER IN U.N. HISTORY
Today marks the halfway point
for the 6-month tsunami flash appeal, which was launched by the
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs exactly three months
ago.
Briefing journalists in Geneva
today on the appeal’s mid-term review, Emergency Relief Coordinator,
Jan Egeland, noted that such generosity had never been recorded in the
history of the UN, with 92 governments having pledged a total of some $5.8
billion for the relief effort.
He added that close to two
million people in tsunami-hit areas had received emergency medical help, with
an equal number having received food aid.
At the same time, however,
Egeland identified some shortcomings. Specifically, the recovery and
reconstruction of livelihoods was not progressing as fast as people wanted.
Also, shelter was proving to be a particularly challenging issue, since
records on land tenure and property rights had, in many cases, been swept away
by the tsunami.
The flash appeal has now been
extended to cover all of 2005, and the required sum has been increased from
$977 million to nearly $1.1 billion.
GENERAL
ASSEMBLY IS DISCUSSING ANNAN REFORM PROPOSALS THIS WEEK
The
General Assembly is holding informal consultations of the plenary this
week, Wednesday through Friday on the reform proposals presented by the
Secretary General’s in his report "In
Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security and Human Rights for All."
These plenary meetings are open to the press.
This morning the General Assembly began its work by
paying tribute to Pope John Paul II and observing a minute of silence in his
memory. The Assembly will resume its session this afternoon at 3:00 p.m. with
tributes to Prince Rainier III of Monaco.
Later this month, beginning on 19 April, the General
Assembly will hold closed informal consultations on the reform proposals.
The consultations will be organized around four clusters,
each focusing on one of the four major elements of the reform package: Freedom
from Want, Freedom from Fear, Freedom to Live in Dignity, and Strengthening
the United Nations.
SECRETARY-GENERAL HOLDING INTERNAL
MEETINGS IN GENEVA
The
Secretary-General is in Geneva today, where he is holding internal
meetings with staff.
Tomorrow in Geneva, he will speak at the
Commission on Human Rights.
U.N. ENVOY: TIME FOR BOTH SIDES IN
DARFUR TO COMMIT TO PEACE
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sudan,
Jan Pronk, is today wrapping up a trip to
South and West Darfur.
His message to rebel and community leaders was clear, the
UN mission in Sudan reports, that it is time for both sides to commit to a
peace settlement.
The mission also reports some positive developments in
terms of planning for the provision of some basic services for internally
displaced persons in and around the Khartoum area. Sudanese authorities agreed
to build primary schools in all Khartoum camps for the displaced in a move the
mission described as a positive start in recognizing the needs and rights of
the populations living in camps and squatter areas in Khartoum.
SECURITY COUNCIL TO VISIT HAITI NEXT
WEEK
A
letter from the
Security Council to the
Secretary-General, outlining the terms of reference for a Security Council
mission that will travel next week to Haiti, was issued today.
The mission will be led by Ambassador Ronaldo Sardenberg
of Brazil, and will travel to Haiti from April 13 to 16. The mission is being
organized in conjunction with the ad hoc advisory group of the
Economic and Social Council.
Among other things, the mission will express its full
support for the
UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti, evaluate the Mission’s level of
coordination in each aspect of its mandate, evaluate the country’s needs and
requirements and review the progress achieved so far.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
UNICEF LAUNCHES GLOBAL WEBSITE IN ARABIC: The
UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today
launched in Dubai its global website in Arabic. The site is expected to
provide Arab navigators of all ages with quick reference material, online news
and up to date information on global issues related to UNICEF’s mandate. It can
be visited at:
www.unicef.org/arabic. Also
launched in Dubai was the Arabic version of the agency’s
Humanitarian Action Report 2005, which presents an overview of crisis
countries where children continue to face severe deprivations of their rights.
UNDP REPORT’S DISCLAIMER IS
CUSTOMARY FOREWORD: In response to a
question concerning the foreword by Mark Malloch Brown to this year’s
Arab Human Development Report put out by the
UN Development Programme (UNDP), the Spokeswoman said it is the standard
introduction to all the Human Development reports over the past 15 years ,
including the two previous Arab Human development reports, which makes clear
that these reports are the work of independent intellectuals and do not
represent the official views of UNDP or the United Nations.
**GUESTS AT THE NOON BRIEFING: Mark Malloch Brown, the
UN Chief of Staff, introduced two of four
Secretary-General’s envoys for the September Summit – Foreign Minister
Dermot Ahern of Ireland, and former Foreign Minister Ali Alatas of Indonesia.
Robert Orr, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Strategic
Planning was also present.
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