HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING
BY FRED ECKHARD
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Thursday, February 17, 2005
UNITED NATIONS
CONGRATULATES IRAQIS ON ELECTORAL PROCESS
Earlier today, the Independent Electoral Commission for
Iraq announced the final electoral results.
Speaking at a press conference where the announcement was
made by Iraqi officials, the UN’s chief electoral officer in Iraq, Carlos
Valenzuela, said that the Iraqi people have shown the world that they were
really up to the occasion and that made this process an immense success. We
congratulate them for it, he said.
U.N. ADVISER LAKHDAR BRAHIMI MEETS
LEBANESE LEADERS
IN WAKE OF HARIRI’S DEATH
Some members of the press had asked yesterday about
Special Advisor to the Secretary-General
Lakhdar Brahimi’s activities in Beirut. As has been indicated, he
represented the
Secretary-General at the funeral of former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri.
Today, he paid courtesy calls on President Emile Lahoud,
Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Omar Karame, and Foreign Minister Mahmoud
Hammoud.
He also had the opportunity to sit down with Druze leader
Walid Jumblatt and Sheikh Mohamed Hussein Fadlallah, a senior Shi’ite cleric.
Later tonight he will meet the Hariri family. And
tomorrow he is expected to meet other senior political figures.
Asked about comments made by
Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Wednesday that he hoped to announce his first
steps responding to the Security Council’s request on Lebanon in the course of
the week, the Spokesman said that the Council had wanted the United Nations to
investigate Hariri’s killing, and the Secretary-General was looking for
someone to lead that investigation.
The Spokesman added that the
Secretary-General “wants to move quickly, because evidence goes cold quickly.”
Although it could be difficult to shake people loose from their existing
commitments, Eckhard said, the Secretary-General was “going flat-out” to find
a senior person soon.
TOP U.N. DISARMAMENT OFFICIAL NOTES
ENCOURAGING TREND
IN FIGHT AGAINST SMALL ARMS TRAFFICKING
ANNAN DESCRIBES SUFFERING IN DARFUR
AS
“LITTLE SHORT OF HELL ON EARTH”
The
Secretary-General, in a
statement to the
Security Council Wednesday afternoon, described the suffering by the
people in
Darfur as “little short of hell on earth” and spoke forcefully of the need for
urgent action.
He urged that those responsible for the atrocities
committed be held accountable and called on the international community to
find a way to halt the killing and protect the vulnerable.
The
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, then
presented to the Security Council the findings of the International
Commission of Inquiry on Darfur.
“What is most urgently needed now are concrete measures
to bring the current violence to an end and restore security and dignity to
the people of Darfur,” she said. "The Commission, in my view, eloquently and
powerfully argues that referral to the International Criminal Court is the
best means by which to halt ongoing violations and prevent future ones.”
The Council then held consultations on the commission’s
report.
Asked about comments the
Secretary-General made, during a conference in Munich last weekend, about the
NATO role in Sudan, the Spokesman said that the Secretary-General did not want
NATO to take over from the African Union, but to support the African Union in
its role. He was discussing the African Union’s various needs in Darfur,
primarily including logistical support but also including financial support,
and asked NATO to help.
The Spokesman added that the
Security Council has given the African Union the monitoring responsibility in
Darfur, and the Secretary-General had long said that the African Union needs
help. UN peacekeeping personnel had advised the African Union on the structure
and deployment of monitors, but the African Union needs further assistance, he
said.
SECURITY
COUNCIL WELCOMES SUMMIT OF ISRAELI, PALESTINIAN LEADERS
Wednesday evening, following consultations, the
Security Council welcomed last week’s summit between the
Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, in a
presidential statement read out by Security Council President, Ambassador
Joel Adechi of Benin.
The Security Council underlined the understandings
reached by Israel and the Palestinian Authority, in particular that
Palestinians will stop all acts of violence against all Israelis and that
Israel will cease its military activities against all Palestinians.
The Council also welcomed the United Kingdom’s initiative
in convening a meeting in London on 1 March to support Palestinian efforts to
prepare the ground for a viable Palestinian state.
The diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East peace process
consisting of the United Nations, European Union, Russia and the United States
will convene in the margins of that London meeting.
GEORGIAN AND ABKHAZ SIDES OPEN TO
RESUMING PEACE PROCESS
The Under-Secretary-General for
Peacekeeping Operations,
Jean-Marie Guehenno, has just wrapped up a three-day visit to
Georgia, where he
found both the Georgian and Abkhaz sides open to resuming the peace process.
Guehenno noted that although
differences on substantive issues remain, both sides are now willing to
address them in a practical and pragmatic way.
The two sides will meet at a
high-level Group of Friends meeting, to be held in Geneva this spring.
EGYPT EXEMPTS NEW SUEZ CANAL SURCHARGE
FOR SHIPS
CARRYING U.N. PEACEKEEPING EQUIPMENT
The United Nations
welcomes Egypt’s recent decision to waive a new 25% surcharge for all
ships carrying military equipment through the Suez Canal destined for
UN peacekeeping operations.
Egypt currently deploys uniformed personnel serving in UN
peacekeeping operations in
Western Sahara,
Haiti, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Burundi,
Sierra Leone,
Kosovo,
Liberia and
Georgia.
The United Nations welcomes Egypt’s continuing support of
UN peacekeeping efforts.
U.N. MISSION IN
COTE D’IVOIRE ASSISTS IN CURRENCY EXCHANGE;
CONVEYS CONCERN OF HIV/AIDS
The
UN Operation in Cote d’Ivoire (ONUCI) provided an update today on the
demonetization operation it is assisting. The exercise involves the exchange
of old banknotes of the West African currency, CFA Franc, into new ones.
ONUCI, which has been providing
logistical support and security for bank officials traveling from Abidjan to
Force Nouvelles’ strongholds, says that more than 2,100 people have been
served in the last three days.
Meanwhile, the mission says,
UNAIDS in Cote d'Ivoire has expressed concern about the effects of the war
on rates of HIV/AIDS in the country. UNAIDS mentioned that insecurity has
disrupted efforts to open new centers, decentralize treatment and train
personnel.
INTENSE COLD PROMPTS GREATER WINTER
SUPPLY AID TO AFGHANISTAN
UN agencies have stepped up deliveries of supplies to
parts of
Afghanistan that have been hit with unusually cold temperatures and heavy
snowfalls over the past three weeks.
UNICEF, the UN Children’s Fund, has provided nearly $200,000 worth of
supplies to the provinces of Zabul, Helmand and Uruzgan in the south,
including blankets, emergency medication, wood-burning heaters, tarps and
plastic sheeting.
UNICEF has also provided medication to all nine northern
provinces to guard against outbreaks of whooping cough.
Meanwhile, the
World Food Programme has been airlifting supplies from the capital of
Zabul province to the province’s most affected districts, with the intention
of providing 515 metric tons of food for more than 28,000 people.
And the
UN Office for Project Services is working with Afghanistan’s Ministry of
Public Works to carry out a snow clearance program throughout the country.
Also on Afghanistan, the
Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees
reports that more than one million Afghan refugees are likely to return in
two years with prospects of improved security.
Ruud Lubbers, the High Commissioner for Refugees, added that it is
“absolutely crucial” that donor commitment to the Afghan returns remains high.
Lubbers also said that planning should begin soon for those refugees who wish
to remain in Pakistan and Iran.
NEW DAMAGE ASSESSMENTS REVEAL SCOPE OF
LOSSES
SUFFERED BY FISHERMEN IN TSUNAMI
The
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
says that updated damage assessments are shedding new light on the scope
of material losses suffered by fishermen in southern Asia as a result of the
tsunami.
So far, the agency has fielded 22 fisheries specialists
to the affected countries, and 11 more will soon be dispatched to join them.
The teams include master fishermen, naval architects, boat builders, marine
biologists, aquaculturists and fisheries planners.
FAO has also purchased plastic materials to repair over
300 boats, and is distributing ropes and nets.
Meanwhile, Hafiz Pasha, Director of the
UN Development Programme’s Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific,
began a two-week trip through tsunami-hit countries to examine ways and
means for moving forward with the recovery effort.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
ANNAN WISHES NEGROPONTE LUCK IN NEW ASSIGNMENT:
Asked about John Negroponte’s appointment to head U.S.
intelligence, the Spokesman said that the
Secretary-General had worked closely with
Negroponte when he had served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and
wished him luck in his new assignment.
UNESCO CONDEMNS MURDER OF BANGLADESHI JOURNALIST:
The
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
has
condemned the murder of Bangladeshi journalist Sheikh Belaluddin Ahmed, the
victim of a targeted bomb attack in the town of Khulna in south-western
Bangladesh. The condemnation comes less than a week after UNESCO voiced
increasing concern at the growing insecurity in which journalists work.
U.N. CONGRESS ON CRIME PREVENTION TO MEET IN APRIL:
The 11th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice will be held in
Bangkok from April 18 to 25. The Congress provides a forum for discussion by
policy makers, administrators, academicians and other professionals in the crime
prevention and criminal justice field. The items on the agenda are, among
others, effective measures to combat transnational organized crime,
international cooperation against terrorism, and links between terrorism and
other criminal activities.
*** The guest at today’s Noon Briefing was
Johan Scholvinck, Director of the Division for Social Policy and Development in
the Department of Economic and Social Affairs. He spoke about the outcome of the
Commission on Social Development’s special session on the 10th year review of
the World Summit on Social Development, better known as "Copenhagen + 10", which
concludes tomorrow.
Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General
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