HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING
BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
ASSOCIATE
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Tuesday, March 1, 2005
ANNAN: SENSE OF EXPECTATION ON MIDDLE
EAST IS PALPABLE
Earlier today,
Secretary-General Kofi Annan this morning addressed the London Conference
in Support of the
Palestinian Authority, convened by British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
He
told the Conference that the sense of expectation is palpable, and that
“there is a feeling that, after long years of suffering, bitterness and
despair, better days may lie ahead.”
He told Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas
that he has acted courageously to restrain violence and has clearly
articulated a vision of the future for Palestinians that is based on dignity
and justice.
The Secretary-General focused on three areas of
Palestinian reform: good governance, security and economic development. We
have copies of his speech upstairs.
In the margins of the meeting, the Secretary-General met
with Arab League Secretary-General Amre Moussa, French Foreign Minister Michel
Barnier and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. In all three meetings,
the participants discussed developments in
Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.
The Secretary-General also discussed the situation in
Sudan with Amre Moussa, and Cote d’Ivoire and this September’s General
Assembly summit with the French Foreign Minister.
After the meeting with Rice, the Secretary-General, in a
brief press encounter,
said that he and the Secretary of State had discussed UN reform, Iraq, Iran,
Syria and Lebanon, North Korea, Cote d’Ivoire, Sudan and Nepal.
He
told the press that he thought the Palestinians have handled the
transition “extremely well and competently,” and added his hope that today’s
meeting would add to the momentum that has been gathering.
After a luncheon hosted by Prime Minister Blair, the
Secretary-General attended the meeting of the Quartet.
Later, the Secretary-General met with Blair to discuss UN
reform, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, as well as the Prime Minister’s Africa
initiative.
This evening, the Secretary-General is scheduled to meet
with Abbas.
MIDDLE EAST
QUARTET MEMBERS REAFFIRM COMMITMENT
TO HELP ISRAELIS AND PALESTINIANS ACHIEVE PEACE
The Quartet members -- the European Union, the Russian
Federation, the United Nations and the United States -- reaffirmed their
commitment to help
Israelis and Palestinians make progress toward a two-state solution.
They noted the fragile state of the current momentum and
encouraged both parties to continue direct dialogue and negotiations.
The members of the group agreed on the need to ensure
that a new Palestinian state is truly viable, including with contiguous
territory in the West Bank.
They also called for the full implementation of the
commitments made by Israelis and Palestinians at the recent Sharm el Sheikh
summit.
Quartet members added that the withdrawal from Gaza and
parts of the West Bank should be undertaken in a manner consistent with the
Road Map.
At UN headquarters last night, the Security Council
President for February, Joël W. Adechi, Permanent Representative of Benin,
read a
press statement on the
Middle East. In it, Council members condemned in the strongest possible
terms Friday’s terrorist attack in Tel Aviv and called on all parties to
exercise maximum restraint and to continue on the path of direct dialogue and
negotiation in order to implement the Road Map and to realize the vision of
two States living side by side in peace and security.
ANNAN
CONGRATULATES BURUNDI ON SUCCESSFUL REFERENDUM
The Secretary-General
congratulated warmly the Transitional Government of Burundi and the
Burundian people for the successful conduct of the referendum on the
post-transitional constitution, which took place yesterday.
In welcoming this important event in the national history
of Burundi, the Secretary-General also calls on all Burundian parties to build
on this positive momentum and ensure the early conduct of the national
elections that would conclude the transitional process in Burundi.
Separately, the
UN Operation in Burundi reports that voters turned out in large numbers to
vote for a new constitution yesterday, with people lining up to cast their
vote as early as 6:00 a.m. just as the polling stations were opening. Crowds
continued to pour into the polling stations in an orderly and calm manner as
the day went on.
Carolyn McAskie, the Secretary General’s Special
Representative in Burundi, said “We are happy with the Burundian people for
what they have accomplished today, they can be proud of this electoral day.”
ARRESTS MADE IN CONNECTION TO ATTACK ON
U.N. PEACEKEEPERS IN DR CONGO
The
UN Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo says it
has been informed by the government of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo that three people have been arrested in
Kinshasa in relation to last week’s
attack in which nine UN peacekeepers were killed in the country’s east.
The Mission’s chief,
William Swing, made the announcement at a memorial service for the fallen
‘blue helmets’ in Kinshasa today.
According to the Congolese
authorities, the individuals arrested are Floribert Njabu, president of the
Nationalist Integrationist Front, also known by its French acronym FNI, and
Goda Supka, also from the FNI; and Germain Katanga from the Patriotic
Resistance Forces in Ituri, who was also recently made a general in the DRC's
national army.
In addition, UN peacekeepers in
Ituri today carried out a “cordon and search” operation in an FNI-controlled
area. Two peacekeepers were wounded when contact was made with a local armed
group, and they will be evacuated to South Africa.
Separately, Etienne Lona, the
current chief of staff of FNI has surrendered himself to UN peacekeepers in
Ituri.
Humanitarian organizations have
suspended help for 40,000
internally displaced people (IDPs) in the Kakwa and Tché areas of the
Ituri district in the eastern
Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to the
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) .
The suspension follows the
Friday's
attack on a UN peacekeeper patrol. It also comes in wake of the suspension
of humanitarian assistance to Gina, north of Bunia, last week, after militia
threatened aid workers giving out food to 14,000 IDPs in the area.
The latest suspension means
that there are now more than 54,000 recently displaced people without vital
aid in Ituri.
OCHA says the humanitarian
community will continue to review the security situation on a daily basis to
determine whether aid activities can resume in the area.
Asked whether the
Secretary-General's Special Representative for the DRC William Swing will
resign, the Spokesman said that, as of now, he has not resigned. He noted that
Swing is expected in New York this week, probably by Thursday at the earliest,
and will discuss the sexual exploitation allegations, as well as recent
far-reaching changes in the mission, in which some battalion commanders have
been rotated out. In that context, the Spokesman added, there will be a
discussion of Swing’s own plans for the future.
DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL STRESSES ‘ZERO
TOLERANCE’ POLICY
DURING VISIT TO U.N. MISSION IN LIBERIA
The
Deputy Secretary-General, Louise
Fréchette, continued her visit to the
UN Mission in Liberia.
The Deputy Secretary-General, on
mission in Liberia to emphasize the
Secretary-General’s zero tolerance policy for sexual
exploitation and abuse by UN peacekeepers, met in Monrovia with the UN Senior
Management Team and the UN Country Team for Liberia. She held a working level
meeting with Mission personnel working on these issues; and a town hall
meeting with the entire mission civilian and military staff.
Accompanied by Special Representative
Jacques Paul Klein, the Deputy Secretary-General visited the town of
Greenville in the morning, reviewing Ethiopian peacekeepers and paying a
courtesy call on Gyude Bryant, the Chairman of the National Transitional
Government of Liberia.
The Deputy Secretary-General and
Chairman Bryant discussed preparations for the 11 October Liberian national
elections, the severe shortfall in donor funding for the reintegration of
ex-combatants, progress on restructuring and retraining of the Liberian armed
forces, and the need to ensure transparency and accountability in government
and political institutions.
Klein noted that any allegations of
sexual exploitation or abuses would be taken very seriously at the highest
level of the Mission.
BRAZIL ASSUMES PRESIDENCY OF SECURITY
COUNCIL FOR MARCH
Brazil has assumed the
Security Council
Presidency for the month of March.
Today, the Council President, Ambassador Ronaldo Mota
Sardenberg, is holding bilateral meetings on the month’s program. He will
brief on the program following tomorrow’s consultations.
UNITED NATIONS
PREPARED TO SUPPORT AFRICAN UNION IN PLANNING FOR SOMALIA
The challenges facing Somalia are enormous, although the
current power-sharing arrangement is the country’s most inclusive peace
process ever, the
Secretary-General says.
In a
report to the
Security Council, the
Secretary-General notes that Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf has sought
the help of African Union peacekeepers to help the Transitional Federal
Government relocate to Somalia.
The Secretary-General says that the United Nations is
prepared to support the African Union in the planning of a protection force.
At the same time, he says, there are a number of areas
where an expanded UN role will be required in Somalia in the immediate future.
These include assisting in the continuous dialogue among Somali parties for
reconciliation, assisting in the effort to address the “Somaliland” issue,
coordinating support for the peace process among Somali’s neighbors, and
chairing the Coordination and Monitoring Committee that deals with the peace
process.
The Secretary-General says he intends to appoint a
Special Representative, at the Assistant Secretary-General level, to lead the
expanded UN role.
U.N. OFFICIALS IN COTE D’IVOIRE
DISCUSS SECURITY CONCERNS WITH PRESIDENT
The Acting Special Representative of the
Secretary-General for Côte d’Ivoire,
Alan Doss, the Force Commander, General Abdoulaye Fall, and other UN
officials held a meeting with President Laurent Gbagbo today and discussed the
security situation, particularly in the West, a day following an early morning
attack on a western village.
The
UN Operation in Cote d’Ivoire (UNOCI) observed that what happened in the
west early yesterday has proved that militias are armed and can be
belligerents.
UNOCI reported that tension is mounting also in the east
of the country.
UN Force Commander General Fall hopes to meet with his
Ivoirian and French forces’ counterparts today.
Meanwhile, UNOCI expressed concern about the present
tensions on the humanitarian situation in Cote d’Ivoire. A deterioration of
the security situation would only further exacerbate assistance needs in the
country.
NUMBER OF
ASYLUM SEEKERS IN INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES FALLS IN 2004
The
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has
released the annual statistics on asylum seekers arriving in
industrialised countries.
In 2004, the number of asylum
seekers fell sharply for the third year in a row, reaching its lowest level in
16 years across all the industrialised countries for which comparable
historical statistics are available.
The top receiving country in
2004 was France, with an estimated 61,600 asylum seekers. The United States,
which was top receiving country last year, came second with 52,400. The UK
fell to third with 40,200, and Germany -- the top asylum country in 13 of the
past 20 years -- was in fourth place with 35,600.
The largest group of asylum
seekers in 2004 was from the Russian Federation. The majority of these are
Chechens. The next largest groups of asylum seekers were from Serbia and
Montenegro, many of whom are from Kosovo.
Perhaps most striking, says
UNHCR are the number of Afghans – the number has fallen by 83% in the past
three years.
TWELFTH CAMP
FOR DARFUR REFUGEES UNDER CONSTRUCTION IN CHAD
The
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and its partners are
starting work this week on a new refugee camp in eastern Chad to
accommodate Sudanese refugees who have fled Darfur. The camp will be the 12th
established in eastern Chad.
In all, more than 200,000
Sudanese refugees live in camps in eastern Chad.
The two-year-old conflict in
Darfur has also uprooted another 1.8 million people within Darfur itself.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
TOP UN COUNTER-TERRORISM EXPERT STRESSES IMPORTANCE OF COOPERATION:
For the first time, officials of the UN’s
Counter-Terrorism
Committee and its Executive Directorate are attending a meeting of heads of
special services, state security and law-enforcement agencies which are foreign
partners of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation. The two-day
meeting which opened today in Novosibirsk, Russia is attended by 75 delegations
from 50 countries. Executive Director Javier Ruperez in his statement to the
meeting stressed the importance of cooperation and joint action by intelligence
agencies in preventing terrorist acts. The meeting -- the fourth of its kind --
focuses on the strengthening of cooperation and information sharing among
participating agencies.
WORK OF UN TEAM LOOKING INTO HARIRI ASSASSINATION CONTINUES: Asked
about the work done in Lebanon by the team led by Peter Fitzgerald on the
assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the Spokesman said
the team will depart when its work is completed, and its work is expected to
continue for a couple of weeks. He said that Fitzgerald has been meeting with
the relevant Lebanese authorities.
SOME MEASURES TAKEN TO FIGHT TORTURE IN GEORGIA:
Torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement officials
still exist in Georgia, but the authorities have taken some measures to fight
the problem. That’s what Manfred Nowak, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on torture,
said today, following a weeklong visit to Georgia. He also noted deplorable
conditions in the Ministry of Justice’s pre-trial detention facilities.
He also noted deplorable detention conditions, primarily for people detained in
the Ministry of Justice’s pre-trial detention facilities.
WORLD TOURISM ORGANIZATION URGES BALANCED COVERAGE OF
TSUNAMI RELIEF: The
World Tourism Organization (WTO) is
urging the media to look hard at its coverage of humanitarian relief to
destinations afflicted by the tsunami, in order not to cause misunderstanding
among potential travellers and slow the recovery of tourism. WTO
Secretary-General Francesco Frangialli said that the best way to help the Indian
Ocean destinations, in particular Sri Lanka, Maldives, Thailand and Indonesia,
is to encourage tourists to return.
ANNIVERSARY FOR ONLINE VOLUNTEERING: The
UN Volunteers programme’s Online Volunteering (OV) service
marks its fifth anniversary today. The
service connects non-profit and nongovernmental organizations working in the
South with people willing to volunteer their skills over the Internet. Since its
launch in March 2000, some 30,000 people have joined the OV service, with more
than half taking on an assignment.
U.N. REFUGEE AGENCY CONDEMNS MURDERS IN COLOMBIA:
The
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees has strongly
condemned the brutal murder of eight people, including three children, from
the peace community of San José de Apartadó in northwestern Colombia, and has
urged authorities to ensure the protection of community leaders and members of
internally displaced persons' associations throughout Colombia. The murders are
the latest in a string of attacks that the community says have left 154 of their
members dead since 1997.
*** The guest at today’s Noon
Briefing was Amb. Melvyn Levitsky, the U.S. member of the International
Narcotics Control Board (INCB). He spoke about the INCB’s annual report.
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