HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY FRED ECKHARD
SPOKESMAN FOR THE
SECRETARY-GENERAL
OF THE UNITED NATIONS
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Friday,
October 1, 2004
ANNAN CONDEMNS TERRORIST
ATTACK ON
MOSQUE IN PAKISTAN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan
has
learned with dismay and abhorrence the reports of a terrorist attack on a
mosque in the town of Sialkot in Pakistan during Friday prayers today, which
has killed and injured a large number of worshipers.
No cause or
motive can justify attacks on places of worship and innocent civilians.
The
Secretary-General condemns this cowardly act in the strongest terms. He also
calls for calm and restraint in the wake of the dastardly act.
ANNAN CONCERNED OVER CAR
BOMBING IN BEIRUT
In another
statement, the
Secretary-General
expressed his serious
concern over the car bombing in Beirut that wounded former Minister of Economy
Marwan Hamadeh this morning.
He reiterates
his abhorrence of such violent acts.
The
Secretary-General expresses his condolences to the family of Ghazi Bou Karoum,
who was killed in the attack, and wishes for the speedy recovery of those
injured.
SECURITY COUNCIL TO
MEET ON
PROTECTION FOR U.N. STAFF IN IRAQ
AS UNITED KINGDOM ASSUMES PRESIDENCY FOR
OCTOBER
Today is the first day of the U.K.
Presidency of the
Security Council for the month of October.
As is customary, the President, Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry of the United
Kingdom, is holding bilateral meetings on the month’s programme.
Then, at 3:30 p.m.,
the Council will hold a meeting on its response to the
Secretary-General’s letter regarding close protection troops for UN staff
in
Iraq.
It will be followed by a meeting to vote on a resolution on the
UN Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, whose
mandate expires today.
Asked about
the structure of the force to protect UN personnel in Iraq, the Spokesman said
the structure would have three levels. There would be a close protection
element for the leaders of the UN Mission when they travel outside of
Headquarters; a larger group to provide security at UN premises and control
access to the Headquarters; and a final level of protection to be provided by
the multinational force throughout the country.
The first
two levels, he added, would be recruited by the United Nations and the third
by the multinational force. The exchange of letters between the
Secretary-General and the Security Council, he said, was intended to provide a
legal framework for this arrangement.
Asked about
progress in obtaining troops, the Spokesman said there was nothing to announce
yet. There were reports that one country would provide assistance, but until a
final agreement with that country, including equipment, was reached, there was
nothing to confirm.
Asked
whether the letter indicates a change in approach by the Secretary-General,
the Spokesman said it was no secret that the United Nations had approached a
large number of potential troop contributors and had been largely
unsuccessful. He hoped the current negotiations would provide the first two
elements.
Asked about the
Secretary-General's contacts during the preparation of his report on Lebanon,
the Spokesman declined comment, noting that the report had only just been
circulated unofficially to members of the Security Council.
UNICEF CHIEF CONDEMNS
SLAUGHTER OF CHILDREN IN BAGHDAD
Carol Bellamy, the Executive Director of
UNICEF, the UN Children’s Fund, yesterday
said that the killing of dozens of children in Baghdad was an
“unconscionable slaughter of innocents.”
Bellamy said
that it was obvious that no regard was shown for the presence of children at
the site of the bombing. She added, “The killing of children is a crime and a
moral outrage.”
Iraq is one of the most dangerous places in the world for children,
Bellamy said.
Asked about
precise casualty figures in the attack, the Spokesman said that the United
Nations did not have enough of a presence on the ground to provide
authoritative figures.
HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONER RECOMMENDS
INTERNATIONAL
POLICE PRESENCE IN DARFUR, SUDAN
Following
yesterday’s
Security Council consultations on
Sudan, the
High Commissioner for Human Rights,
Louise Arbour, told reporters that the Council had received a briefing on
the mission that she and Special Adviser for the Prevention for Genocide Juan
Mendez had made to Darfur.
Most
importantly, Arbour said, they had highlighted the recommendation that there
should be an international police presence in Darfur, to monitor and assist
Sudanese police in their tasks, particularly in and around camps for
internally displaced persons (IDPs).
She noted
that, in some camps, the number of police is clearly insufficient, but, even
when the police presence has substantially increased, people have no
confidence in it. Some IDPs have claimed that they recognized some police
officers as former Janjaweed elements, she said.
She added, in
response to a question, that she did not see conditions that were conducive to
safe and voluntary return. Arbour has said that the camp residents were
“trapped in prisons without walls.”
Juan Mendez
told reporters that “we have not turned a corner” in terms of preventing
genocide from happening in the future, or even the near future. Genocide could
still happen, he said, and therefore, we need to prevent it.
ANNAN:
IGAD-LED
PROCESS IS CENTRAL TO COMPREHENSIVE PEACE IN
SUDAN
The
Secretary-General’s
report on the UN Mission in Sudan established under
Resolution 1547 has been posted on the internet. It is a progress report
on the UN mission and also on the North-South peace process led by the
Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
The Secretary-General says that
the IGAD-led peace process is central to comprehensive peace in the
Sudan. No other peace process has come so far or has addressed the
fundamental roots of the conflict in southern Sudan.
While the process does not offer
a comprehensive solution to the country’s problems, the breadth of the
agreements reached so far offer a basis for answers to the wider issues of
insecurity and conflict. He says that the current crisis in Darfur is
emblematic of that problem.
The report also notes that since
that resolution, the
Security Council has
requested the Secretary-General to assist the African Union with planning and
assessment for its mission in Darfur and to incorporate contingency planning
for the Darfur region into the UN mission mandate. These additional
requirements, he says, have made it necessary for the UN operation to broaden
the scope of its activities beyond that described previously.
This report is not to be
confused with the Secretary-General’s second 30-day report on progress, or
lack thereof, by the Government of Sudan towards meeting the requirements to
restore security in Darfur.
SECURITY
EFFORTS STEPPED UP
FOR
SUDANESE REFUGEES
IN EASTERN CHAD
The
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Chadian authorities are
stepping up efforts to improve security in and around refugee camps in
eastern Chad in the wake of increasing violence against Sudanese refugees.
Three refugees have been killed in recent days.
The 180 Chadian gendarmes, 20 of whom are women, deployed under an agreement
between UNHCR and the Chadian government, have begun patrols in and around the
refugee camps.
U.N. PEACEKEEPERS ESCORT AID CONVOYS
TO HAITI STORM VICTIMS
The
UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti reports that the total number of
peacekeepers in that country is 3,089.
In Gonaives,
the Argentinean contingent is escorting two daily convoys of trucks carrying
food and water to the warehouse of the non-governmental organization CARE. It
is also providing medical assistance to some 1,900
injured Haitians per day at premises set up in the University of Haiti.
Additional
support is being provided by 141 Uruguayan troops who arrived in Gonaives on
September 26.
GRENADA:
HURRICANE IVAN
DESTROYED NINE
OUT OF EVERY 10 HOMES
In
connection with the launching today of a
UN Flash Appeal for
Grenada and
Haiti, the
UN Development Programme has issued a survey of the damage created by
Hurricane Ivan in Grenada.
The survey
shows that Ivan destroyed nine
out of 10 homes on the island, leaving more than half the country’s 110,000
citizens homeless and in desperate need of basic supplies.
It also says
that Grenada’s biggest foreign exchange earner - its tourism industry – has
been shattered just before the crucial winter holiday season.
FOUR
COUNTRIES
JOIN GROUP BACKING
CENTRAL AFRICAN
CONFERENCE
Angola, the
Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo and Sudan have been accepted
as core members to the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region. The
membership brings the total number of core countries to
11.
The request
by these states to be full fledged members is based on the position that they
are always directly affected by events within the Great Lakes region,
especially in the
Democratic Republic of Congo.
The next
meeting to prepare for the Conference will be held in Kinshasa from 19 to 23
October.
MORE THAN 300,000 LIBERIAN
REFUGEES TO RETURN HOME
The
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
announced the start today of a massive, three-year voluntary repatriation
programme to return home some 340,000 Liberian refugees scattered throughout
West Africa during 14 years of civil war.
UNHCR said this is a real milestone in the recovery of a country that not so
long ago seemed hopelessly mired in conflict, corruption and misery.
Meanwhile,
with the deadline for the disarmament of Liberia’s warring factions set to
expire in just one month, the
UN Mission in Liberia has launched the final round of its nation-wide
disarmament program.
Approximately
1,000 combatants of the armed group Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL)
in three southeastern counties re expected to turn in their weapons during
this last round.
ANNAN: AGEING OF SOCIETIES SHOULD
NOT BE A BURDEN
Populations
in developing countries will age most rapidly in the coming century – yet
those countries have only limited economic resources with which to respond to
the ageing of their societies.
That was part
of
Secretary-General’s message to mark this year’s International Day of Older
Persons, which is today.
He adds that
the challenge will be to ensure that those countries do not experience the
ageing of their societies as a burden – but derive from it added value and
opportunities for development through an actively engaged older population.
MORE NEEDS TO
BE DONE TO ACHIEVE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
The
international community has taken important steps to increase its official
development assistance, but much more needs to be done, and it needs to be
done more quickly in order to achieve the
Millennium Development Goals.
That was the
message this morning of UN Under-Secretary-General for
Economic and Social Affairs,
Jose Antonio Ocampo, when he addressed the annual meeting of the Bretton
Woods institutions, in Washington, D.C.
He also called for improvements in the way developing countries are
represented in the governance structures of the multilateral financial
institutions.
Tomorrow, he’ll address the Development Committee of the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund.
WEST AFRICAN COUNTRIES
STLL FACE SHORTAGES AMID LOCUST INVASION
The
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
says that
desert locust control operations have been expanded in West Africa, but
countries are still facing serious shortages of pesticides and aircraft to
spray them.
FAO now has $14.7
million on hand to increase pest control operations, with a further $40
million of pledged contributions – around $12 million have been promised by
donors but are awaiting confirmation. FAO is providing around $6 million from
its own resources.
Around three to four million
hectares of land are now estimated to be infested in West Africa; with
Mauritania, Mali, Niger and Senegal currently the countries most severely
affected.
*** Today’s guest
was Jan Egeland, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and
Emergency Relief Coordinator. He spoke about the UN Flash Appeals in response to
the recent natural disasters in Haiti and Grenada.
Saturday, October 2
The 13th
meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) will be held in
Bangkok, Thailand, from October 2 to 14. For more information, see
www.cites.org
The Security
Council is expected to hold consultations on the program of work for October.
After those consultations, the Council President for October, British Ambassador
Emyr Jones Parry, will brief the press at 12:30 p.m.
The
Secretary-General will have a message to mark UN Habitat Day.
The
Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sudan, Jan Pronk, is expected to
brief the Security Council on the implementation of Resolution 1556.
At 11:15 a.m.,
there will be a press briefing by a coalition of non-government organizations
concerning the world’s oceans, organized by the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition.
At 1:30 p.m.,
Irene Khan, Secretary-General of Amnesty International, will deliver a lecture
in Conference Room 5 on human rights. Under-Secretary-General for Communications
and Public Information Shashi Tharoor will be the moderator.
At 11:15 a.m.,
Indian actor and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Amitabh Bachhan will brief the
press.
Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162 -
press/media only
Fax. 212-963-7055
All other inquiries to be addressed to (212)
963-4475 or by e-mail to: inquiries@un.org
