HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY
MICHELE MONTAS
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
UN HEADQUARTERS,
NEW YORK
Thursday,
February 28, 2008
BAN KI-MOON
WELCOMES “BREAKTHROUGH” IN KENYAN CRISIS TALKS
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warmly
welcomes the
"Agreement on the Principles of Partnership of the Coalition Government”
announced in Nairobi today. The "Acting Together for Kenya" agreement marks a
breakthrough toward resolving the crisis and gives hope to the people of Kenya
for a return to democratic stability in their country.
He commends President Mwai Kibaki and Mr. Raila Odinga,
for the spirit of compromise they demonstrated in reaching this accord. He
also congratulates Kofi Annan and the Panel of Eminent African Personalities
for their pivotal contribution in the mediation.
Moving ahead, the focus must be on implementing the
agreements reached thus far and coming to further accord on the longer-term
issues which this crisis have brought to the forefront in Kenya.
Every effort should be made to involve the people of
Kenya at all levels in the process. Even as today’s agreements are celebrated,
urgent attention is also still required to lessen tensions in the communities
and to overcome the serious humanitarian situation in the country.
SECURITY COUNCIL TO DISCUSS
NON-PROLIFERATION THIS AFTERNOON
The Security Council has scheduled consultations on
non-proliferation at 4:30 this afternoon.
HEAD OF SAFETY AND SECURITY PANEL
APPOINTS NEW MEMBERS
Lakhdar Brahimi, the chair of the Independent Panel on
Safety and Security of UN Personnel and Premises, today announced five other
members of the panel that he leads. They are: Elsayed Ibrahim Elsayed Mohamed
Elhabbal of Egypt; Anil Kumar Gupta of India; Umit Pamir of Turkey; Thomas Boy
Sibande of South Africa; and Margareta Wahlstrom of Sweden.
Brahimi said that the panel would take a critical look at
the security situation for the United Nations, prompted by the 11 December
attack last year in Algiers, and that it would examine the current and
potential capability to provide safety and security for UN staff and premises
worldwide.
Asked whether there would be a
seventh member of the panel, and whether the panel would include a UN staff
representative, the Spokeswoman said those were issues for Brahimi to decide,
in consultation with the Secretary-General.
Asked about Brahimi’s
qualifications to head the panel, Montas said that Brahimi has had a
distinguished career at the United Nations and has authored a number of major
UN reports.
She later added that he had
served with distinction as head of the Independent panel established to review
United Nations peace operations. The report, released by the panel in 2000 and
known as the "Brahimi Report", assessed the shortcomings of the existing
system of peacekeeping and made specific recommendations for change, focusing
on politics, strategy and operational and organizational areas of need.
She said that the
Secretary-General thinks that Brahimi can certainly be an objective observer
and is well qualified to lead the panel.
BAN KI-MOON IS
DEEPLY CONCERNED ABOUT ESCALATING VIOLENCE IN SOUTHERN ISRAEL AND GAZA
The Secretary-General is deeply
concerned at the
loss of civilian life in Southern Israel and Gaza, and at the escalation of
violence that has taken place.
The Secretary-General condemns rocket fire against Israel
by Hamas, which intensified yesterday and killed an Israeli civilian in
Sederot. He calls on Hamas and other militant groups to cease such acts of
terrorism.
The Secretary-General also condemns the killing of four
Palestinian children, including an infant, in Gaza in IDF strikes. He calls on
Israel to exercise maximum restraint and ensure respect for international
humanitarian law so as not to endanger civilians.
These events underscore the urgent need for a calming of
violence, and must not be allowed to deter the continuation of the political
process.
And regarding the infant who was killed, the UN Relief
and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or
UNRWA, has confirmed that
the 6-month-old baby was killed in an UNRWA school compound, which is near
where yesterday’s military strike took place. The infant was the grandchild of
the school’s guard, who lives at the compound and is tasked with keeping the
school free from militants.
In addition to condemning the killing of the baby, UNRWA
deplores any violence that puts its schools and other facilities at risk.
GAZA’S FUEL RESOURCES ARE RUNNING SCARCE
The Office of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle
East Peace Process, or UNSCO, says it is closely watching the fuel situation
in Gaza. According to UNSCO, Gaza’s power plant may have to shut down one of
its two turbines tomorrow morning if the crossing that allows fuel from Israel
into Gaza remains closed.
Although some areas of central Gaza have already been
experiencing power cuts of approximately eight to twelve hours a day, a
turbine shutdown could cause cuts of as much as 20 hours a day.
UNSCO says this latest situation shows the precariousness
of the lack of fuel reserves.
In response to questions
alleging that the statement on the violence had been unbalanced, the
Spokeswoman said that the statement stands for itself.
Asked about targeted
assassinations, she said that the Secretary-General had spoken on that topic
in the past.
REGROUPING OF U.N. PEACEKEEPERS
CONTINUES IN ERITREA
Regrouping continues for UN peacekeepers in Asmara, with
noted progress in the relocation from 33 deployment sites in the Temporary
Security Zone to Asmara and Assab.
That’s according to the UN Mission in Ethiopia and
Eritrea (UNMEE), which adds that to date,
788 out of a total of 1,115 military personnel have regrouped in Asmara while
112 have gathered in Assab.
The Mission continues to encounter obstructions at the
Senafe checkpoint where Eritrean soldiers are turning back some UN convoys.
In the past 24 hours, seven UN posts inside the Temporary Security Zone were
vacated and taken over by Eritrean militia, police and army personnel.
At Camp Dunn, also in Temporary Security Zone, some 100
people entered the site after cutting the perimeter fence. UN peacekeepers and
Eritrean police were able to contain the situation. But early today, another
group of local people again attempted to force their way into the camp, but
were stopped by UN peacekeepers and local police, who detained several of
them.
U.N. REPRESENTATIVE FOR SOMALIA
ADDRESSES PARLIAMENT
Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the Special Representative of the
Secretary-General for Somalia, is about to wrap up a three-day visit to that
country.
Today Ould-Abdallah is in Baidoa, the seat of government
in the south west, and he has already held talks with the President, the Prime
Minister and the Speaker of Parliament. He briefed them on his contacts with
international partners and his efforts to garner support for the transitional
federal institutions. He later addressed the Somali parliament.
Yesterday, he was in the northeastern town of Bossasso
where he visited the new airport and seaport, and held discussions with local
authorities. Ould-Abdallah also visited the northern town of Garowe and met
there with the town leadership and representatives of civil society and the
local members of the national parliament.
SPECIAL ADVISOR ON MYANMAR COMPLETES
VISIT TO JAPAN
The Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Myanmar,
Ibrahim Gambari, completed his consultations in Tokyo today, where he met with
Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura and other senior officials.
Gambari’s discussions in Tokyo focused on Japan's support
to the Secretary-General’s good offices, including ways to help Myanmar
address socio-economic and humanitarian challenges.
The Special Adviser plans now to return to New York by
the weekend before heading to Myanmar next week. Exact dates for that visit
are being finalized.
U.N. SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR NEPAL
HAILS AGREEMENT BETWEEN GOVERNMENT AND MADHESI FRONT
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Nepal,
Ian Martin,
welcomes today’s agreement between the Seven-Party Alliance Government and
the leadership of the United Democratic Madhesi Front.
Martin told a press conference that the implementation of
the agreement - which meets key demands of the Madhesi movement and calls an
end to the 16-day shutdown of Nepal’s southern plains - will be an important
contribution to the election of an inclusive Constituent Assembly in a
conducive climate.
The eight-point deal includes a provision which will
allow for an increase in Madhesi candidates in many party lists. It also
stated that the 16-day Terai shutdown, which caused numerous deaths and
injuries as well as crippled supplies to the capital, would be ended
immediately.
HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
WELCOMES RELEASE OF HOSTAGES IN COLUMBIA
RIGHTS CHIEF
REMAINS CONCERNED DESPITE PROGRESS IN GEORGIA
High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise
Arbour has
wrapped up a three-day visit to Georgia, where she met with President Mikheil
Saakashvili, key ministers, the Ombudsman and representatives of civil
society. She also met with local leaders and members of civil society in the
Abkhazia region.
Arbour said that, while she has seen with her own eyes
the progress Georgia has made in a variety of areas, she still has a number of
concerns about the treatment of detainees, the living conditions of many of
the country’s internally displaced people and the lingering lack of public
trust in Georgia’s judicial system.
CONVICTED GENOCIDE SUSPECT TO SERVE
REMAINDER OF SENTENCE IN ITALY
Georges Omar Ruggiu, a Belgian citizen sentenced by the
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda for his role in the 1994 genocide,
was today surrendered to Italian
law enforcement officials. He will be transferred by special flight to Italy
where he is to serve the remainder of his 12-year sentence.
Ruggiu was a journalist at Radio Television Libre des
Mille Collines, whose broadcast have been proved to have encouraged the
killing mobs during the 1994 genocide.
Riggui’s transfer to Italy comes as a result of a March
2004 agreement on enforcement of sentences between that country and the UN.
U.N. SOUNDS ALARM AT RISING HOMOPHOBIA
AND ATTACKS
ON HIV-POSITIVE PEOPLE
UNAIDS and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights have issued a
statement, expressing alarm at recent reports of human rights violations
committed against people on the basis of their sexual orientation and their
actual or presumed HIV status.
Where it exists, homophobia fuels the HIV epidemic, and
must be addressed as a key part of national HIV responses, according to the
two UN bodies.
Experience has shown that effective responses to HIV are
those based on respect for human rights, tolerance, and unimpeded access to
HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.
SECRETARY-GENERAL LAUDS ACCOMPLISHMENTS
OF DECOLONIZATION EFFORT
The Secretary-General this morning
addressed the
opening of the 2008 session of the Special Committee on Decolonization,
telling them that, over the last six decades, decolonization has transformed
the membership of the United Nations.
Facilitating this process constitutes one of the proudest
chapters of the United Nations’ history, he said.
The Secretary-General added that there are 16
Non-Self-Governing Territories remaining on the agenda of the United Nations.
Until their status is satisfactorily resolved, the ideals of the General
Assembly Declaration on Decolonization will remain unfulfilled.
Indonesia was elected to chair the Special Committee.
OTHER
ANNOUNCEMENTS
BAN KI-MOON DID NOT SEND LETTER TO E.U. ON TRANSFER OF
AUTHORITY IN KOSOVO: The Spokeswoman denied
a report that claimed that the Secretary-General had sent a letter to the
European Union concerning complaints about a transfer from the UN Mission in
Kosovo to a European Union mission. There is no such letter, Montas said.
ZOE’S ARK NOT UNDER U.N. INVESTIGATION: Asked
about the investigation into the activities of the Zoe’s Ark group in Chad, the
Spokeswoman said that was not a UN investigation. UN agencies, including UNICEF,
were involved in looking after the welfare of the children affected in that
case, she said.
BAN
KI-MOON TO DISCUSS SUICIDE BOMBING WITH GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT:
Asked about a request from the Simon Wiesenthal Center for UN action against
suicide bombing, the Spokeswoman said that the Secretary-General would speak to
the President of the General Assembly on this matter, which is for the General
Assembly to consider.
REFUGEE AGENCY
SEEKS FUNDS TO HELP DISPLACED SRI LANKANS: The UN refugee agency is
appealing for $18.6
million to provide assistance to an estimated half a million internally
displaced persons in Sri Lanka during 2008. The money - part of the Sri Lanka
Common Humanitarian Action Plan - will go towards the protection of the
displaced, returnees and other populations affected by the armed conflict. It
will also be used to provide shelter, non-food relief items and camp management.
RENEWABLE ENERGY NOW A MAJOR PART OF GLOBAL
ENERGY SECTOR: Renewable energy is growing rapidly to become a major part of
the global energy sector. That’s according to a new
report by the Renewable Energy
Network for the 21st Century and the Worldwatch Institute. According to the
report, the generating capacity of renewable energy has doubled since 2004. It
now represents five percent of global power capacity and accounts for 2.4
million jobs. Wind power is largest component, but the fastest growing sector
is solar energy, which increased by more than 50 percent last year.
Office of the Spokesperson for the
Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162
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