HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE NOON BRIEFING

BY FRED ECKHARD
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Tuesday, May 11, 2004

ANNAN CALLS ON ISRAELIS, PALESTINIANS TO STOP VIOLENCE

• Secretary-General Kofi
  Annan is deeply disturbed by
  the alarming violence in Gaza
  City which started today. Among the dead are several Palestinians,
  including civilians and children, and at least six Israeli soldiers.
• The Secretary-General is particularly concerned by the heavy fighting
  in densely populated neighborhoods, which is exposing more Palestinian
  civilians to death and injury.
• He urges both sides to desist from further violence and instead to heed
  the calls of the Quartet and
  the international community to resume negotiations to end the conflict.  

BRAHIMI DISCUSSES IRAQI CARETAKER GOVERNMENT WITH AL-HAKIM

• Lakhdar
  Brahimi , the Secretary-General's Special Adviser, met Abdel Aziz
  al-Hakim, the head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution
  in Iraq, in Baghdad this
  morning, as well as his principal aide, Adel Abdel Mahdi.
• They discussed Brahimi's report to the Security Council and his proposals for
  the formation of a new government, and Ayatollah Hakim expressed his appreciation
  for Brahimi's efforts. He said he had passed the report on to Ayatollah
  Ali al-Sistani, who was pleased with it and found it to be balanced and
  positive.
• They spoke about various aspects of the transition, including the importance
  of the new government having the time to work out its relationship with
  the occupying power, the armed forces on the ground and the United Nations.
  They also discussed ideas for the convening of a national conference.
• Brahimi later met with a group of 15 newspaper editors representing the
  main Iraqi dailies. He then had a town hall meeting with over fifty Iraqi
  men and women, representing a wide spectrum of society, from business leaders
  and academics to religious leaders.
• Asked about whether Iraq is showing signs of political progress, the
  Spokesman said that the Secretary-General would
  want Brahimi to report back to him at the end of his visit to Iraq before
  he makes a judgment. The initial signs, he added, are that Brahimi's meetings
  are going well, with Iraqis coming to grips with the challenges facing
  them as they prepare to form a transitional government.
• Asked whether Brahimi wanted that government to be comprised of technocrats,
  the Spokesman clarified that Brahimi believed that the people who run the
  government in the transitional period should not also run for office in
  the January elections. He added that Brahimi hopes the transitional government's
  members will be competent and of great integrity.
• However, the Spokesman said, Brahimi has said he has not put forward
  any names, which should come from Iraqis. Instead, he has put forward a
  formula, which is gaining support among Iraqis.
• Asked when Brahimi would leave Iraq, the Spokesman said his departure
  would not be announced in advance, but Brahimi is expected to have an extended
  stay, and will not be leaving in the next few days.

UNICEF DISTURBED BY REPORTS CLAIMING CHILDREN ABUSED IN IRAQI JAILS

• UNICEF , the UN Children's Fund,
  is profoundly disturbed by
  news reports alleging that children might have been among those abused
  in detention centers and prisons in Iraq .
• Although the news reports had not been independently substantiated, they
  are alarming nonetheless, UNICEF says. Any mistreatment, sexual abuse,
  exploitation or torture of children in detention is a violation of international
  law.
• UNICEF reiterates that the detention or imprisonment of a child must
  be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate
  period of time.  For their safety and protection, children should
  never be incarcerated with adults.  

MARCH VIOLENCE WAS MOST SERIOUS SETBACK TO U.N.'S WORK IN KOSOVO

• The wave of violence that Kosovo experienced in mid-March was the most
  serious setback to the UN Interim
  Administration Mission in Kosovo's (UNMIK) work in that country in
  five years, and shook the Mission to its foundations, the head of the Mission,
  Harri Holkeri, told the Security Council.
• Briefing the Council in an open meeting today, Holkeri said the Mission
  is doing all it can to bring to justice all those who provoked or engaged
  in the violence, with some two hundred and seventy arrests made so far.
• The violence has also forced the Mission to take a hard look at itself,
  and Holkeri said it is working to review how it operates in response to
  crises.
• He added that some 4,100 people were displaced in just two days, and
  that the current security environment in Kosovo is not conducive to the
  return of members of minority communities to their homes. 

AFGHAN ELECTORAL WORKERS INJURED IN EXPLOSION

• The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan reports
  that a vehicle carrying four Afghan electoral workers was hit by an explosive
  device as they were driving towards Assadabad, in the province of Kunar.
  This is the second such incident in recent days.
• The four Afghans all suffered injuries, with the most serious received
  by the driver and a civic education officer, who both sustained head injuries
  and lower back trauma. Those two people were admitted to the Jalalabad
  Hospital, where they have been treated and are reported to be out of danger.
• The Electoral Secretariat vehicle was completely wrecked.

TOP U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICIAL TO BRIEF SECURITY COUNCIL ON COTE D'IVOIRE

• In Geneva, the Office of the High Commissioner
  for Human Rights said the report of the independent commission of
  inquiry on Côte d'Ivoire would be issued on Friday, 14 May.
• On that day, the acting High Commissioner for Human Rights, Bertrand
  Ramcharan, would brief the Security Council on the human rights situation
  in Côte d'Ivoire.
• Council members are expected to receive the report prior to those consultations.

U.N. REFUGEE AGENCY FLAGS CHALLENGES OF DARFUR AID OPERATION

• The UN High Commissioner
  for Refugees (UNHCR) said that although the UNHCR team in Chad was
  continuing to move tens of thousands of Sudanese refugees from the dangerous
  border area with Sudan's Darfur region to safer camps further inland,
  it was extremely concerned about the ongoing challenges that the agency
  and its partners were facing in what was one of the most difficult humanitarian
  operations anywhere.
• Those included a vast insecure and remote area of operations, stretching
  along some 600 kilometres of borderland, severe logistical challenges,
  water shortages, a looming shortage of fuel and firewood, and slow funding.

UNICEF WARNS THAT UKRAINE FACES HIV/AIDS EPIDEMIC

• UNICEF Executive Director Carol
  Bellamy warned today
  that Ukraine is
  on the threshold of a full-scale HIV/AIDS epidemic,
  with an estimated quarter of a million people living with HIV/AIDS.
• In addition, a large proportion of Ukraine's population faces a range
  of iodine deficiency disorders, UNICEF says.

WHO: UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO CHANGE HISTORY OF HIV/AIDS

• The international community has a unique opportunity to change the course
  of history in relation to HIV/AIDS .
  That's one of the key findings of the World
  Health Report 2004 – which is being released today
  by the World Health Organization .
• The report notes that we're at a critical point with HIV/AIDS: while
  there's more money, more political will and more attention being paid to
  this disease than ever before; more people than ever are dying of AIDS
  and becoming infected with HIV.
• Almost 6 million people in developing countries will die in the near
  future if they don't receive treatment – but less than half a million of
  them were receiving it last year.
• The World Health Report calls for a comprehensive strategy that links
  prevention, treatment, care and long-term support.

BAMBOO SPECIES MAY BE IN DANGER OF EXTINCTION

• The UN Environment Programme warns that
  urgent action is needed to protect one of the world's most ancient life
  forms and the species that depend on it. A new
  study estimates that as many as half of the world's 1,200 woody bamboo
  species may be in danger of extinction as a result of massive forest destruction.
• Consequently, many extraordinary and vulnerable species such as lemurs,
  giant pandas and mountain gorillas that depend almost entirely on bamboo
  for food and shelter face an even-greater struggle for survival.
• Millions of people use wild bamboo for construction, handicrafts and
  food. And international trade in bamboo products, mostly from cultivated
  sources, is worth more than $2 billion annually.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
ANNAN SEEKS MORE TIME TO NAME COUNTER-TERRORISM HEAD : In response
to a question, the Spokesman noted that the Secretary-General sent the Security
Council a letter on Monday night, asking the Council for a few more days
to name the head of the secretariat of the Counter-Terrorism Committee.

ANNAN TO MAKE HIGH-LEVEL CONTACTS WITH LIBYA OVER BULGARIAN MEDICS: The Secretary-General was asked by
Associated Press this morning about the question of Bulgarian nurses who have
been sentenced to death in Libya, and he said that he intends to be in touch
at a high level on this issue with the Libyan authorities, to see what can
be done to help the nurses.

CRIME CONFERENCE BEGINS IN VIENNA: The 13th session of the
UN Commission of Crime and Prevention and Criminal Justice starts in
Vienna today. The focus of the conference will be the rule of law and development.
Today's events included a meeting between Croatian Minister of Justice Vesna Škare-Ožbolt
and Antonio Maria Costa ,
Executive Director of the United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), during which they discussed possible
co-operation between Croatia and UNODC in efforts against organized crime,
with a focus on trafficking in drugs and human beings.

Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General
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