HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING
BY STEPHANE
DUJARRIC
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Wednesday, 12 October 2005
SECRETARY-GENERAL CONGRATULATES LIBERIANS ON ELECTIONS
Secretary-General
Kofi Annan is delighted that the Liberian presidential and legislative
elections took place as scheduled on Tuesday, in a calm, safe and secure
environment and that no serious incidents were reported. Turnout amongst the
1.35 million registered voters was very high. The elections were monitored by
some 3,533 national and 421 international observers representing several
organizations.
The main challenge
was reaching some 255 inaccessible polling precincts. The air assets of the
UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) had to be used to move polling workers to
these areas. Although polling places officially closed at 6:00 pm, those
voters who were still standing in line at 6:00 pm were allowed to vote. UNMIL
provided major logistical and security support to the elections and were
present throughout the country.
The counting of the
ballots has begun and the National Elections Commission is expected to
announce the results as they are submitted from the polling places. It is
expected that the full final results will be announced by 26 October.
The Secretary-General warmly
congratulates the people of Liberia for the peaceful and orderly manner in
which they turned out to vote in this historic election. The United Nations
will continue to work with the Liberian people to consolidate the peace and
promote democratic development, good governance and the rule of law.
SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS SUMMIT A ‘MILESTONE’
Secretary-General Kofi Annan began his day in Lisbon with
a meeting with his Special Envoy for elections in Cote d’Ivoire,
Antonio Monteiro.
He then received an honorary law degree at the
Universidade Nova de Lisboa. The Secretary-General then
spoke to the students and faculty about human rights and the rule of law,
areas where last month’s World Summit brought concrete gains that were “truly
significant,” he said.
Most important, he said, the Summit achieved an historic
breakthrough on the issue that has come to be known as the “responsibility to
protect”. He asserted, “Clearly, for all who recognize that the rule of law is
the best safeguard against the rule of war, this Summit was not a failure.
Rather, it was a milestone in the serious march of humankind towards a world
based on right making might.”
The Secretary-General then had a meeting with Prime
Minister Jose Socrates and a working luncheon with Foreign Minister Diogo
Freitas do Amaral. At a press encounter with the Foreign Minister afterward,
the Secretary-General was asked about his biggest challenge during his
mandate, and said that, undoubtedly, it was Iraq and the whole issue of
disarmament that led to war.
In the afternoon, the Secretary-General traveled to the
Batalha monastery, accompanied by the President, where they are to participate
in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Monument of the Unknown Soldier.
In the evening, he has meetings scheduled with opposition
leader Luis Marques Mendes of the Social Democratic Party and with former
President Mario Soares.
U.N. CONTINUES
AID FOR VICTIMS OF SOUTH ASIA QUAKE
The
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that the
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs,
Jan Egeland, will leave Sri Lanka for Pakistan on Thursday, to get a
firsthand look at the devastation.
Meanwhile, UN agencies are
still on the ground in Pakistan, working to meet the needs of earthquake
survivors. The
World Food Programme (WFP) flew in high-energy biscuits from Europe, and
that aid
has arrived in a town southwest of the quake’s epicenter; aid workers are
working to distribute it as soon as possible. A second convoy is due to leave
later today for Muzaffarabad, the hardest-hit city.
WFP also reports that the first
two of ten helicopters, which will aid the relief operation, are scheduled to
arrive in Pakistan today, enabling rescue and aid workers to reach the most
remote areas, which have been cut off by landslides.
Meanwhile, the
World Health Organization (WHO) has deployed 11 surgical teams and one
public health team to the affected areas. WHO is also working with OCHA to
send cold climate tents, blankets and generators.
According to a UN assessment
team in Muzaffarabad, approximately 70% of the city is destroyed, and the
remainder is uninhabitable. People are sleeping outside in very cold weather
and the danger of epidemic diseases increases day by day.
U.N. MARKS
DISASTER REDUCTION DAY
Today is the International Day for Disaster Reduction. In
a
message to mark the occasion, the Secretary-General says we can’t stop
natural calamities, but we can and must better equip individuals and
communities to withstand them.
Those most vulnerable to nature’s wrath are usually the
poorest, he adds, which means that when we reduce poverty, we also reduce
vulnerability.
U.N. LEBANON
BOMB INVESTIGATOR RETURNS TO BEIRUT
The Spokesman was asked numerous times about the death,
reportedly by suicide, of Syrian Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan, and whether
it was connected to the investigation headed by
Detlev Mehlis, but he declined to speculate or comment on Kanaan’s death.
Asked about whether the Mehlis team had questioned Kanaan,
the Spokesman said that Mehlis often does not make public his meetings or
investigative work, but the results of that work will be clear when his report
comes out.
Asked whether Mehlis had traveled to Cyprus, Dujarric
said that Mehlis is currently finishing up his report, but was traveling to
Beirut before putting the final touches on that report. He later said that
Mehlis was currently in Beirut, in response to a question on his whereabouts.
U.N. ENVOY TO
IRAQ STRESSES IMPORTANCE OF REFERENDUM
Ashraf
Qazi, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for
Iraq, met yesterday with Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jafari, to
discuss the latest political and constitutional developments.
Qazi expressed the importance of ensuring an atmosphere
for the referendum in which the people of Iraq could exercise their choice
free from fear and intimidation. He also discussed the status of Arab
nationals, particularly of Palestinian refugees in Iraq, and some of the
difficulties they face.
U.N.
HELICOPTERS IN ERITREA STILL GROUNDED
The UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE)
reports that the restrictions placed by Eritrea on UN helicopter operations
remains unchanged today, leaving our helicopters grounded on the Eritrean side
of the Temporary Security Zone for the eighth straight day.
Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, the head of the UN Mission, met today with Col.
Zecarias Ogabagader, the Eritrean official who is the main point of contact
for UNMEE. Legwaila, however, did not receive any clarification of why the
flight ban was imposed or any indication that it will be lifted soon.
The UN Mission’s Force Commander, Gen. Rajinder Singh,
made it clear that, if the current situation continues, he does not rule out
the possibility of closing even more outlying posts. Singh was already
considering closing two outlying posts, Bada and Fawlina, since troops there
would need helicopter support in the event of an emergency.
DEPUTY-SECRETARY-GENERAL CONTINUES VISIT TO AUSTRALIA
Deputy-Secretary-General
Louise Fréchette continued her visit to Australia today, holding a
series of meetings in Canberra with senior Government officials including the
Secretary of the Department of Defence, the Chief Medical Officer in the
Department of Health and the Director-General of the Australian agency for
International Development.
She also discussed UN-related issues with senior
international advisors to the Prime Minister.
In the afternoon, she addressed a meeting of the Joint
Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, and answered
questions from several Members of Parliament.
She will hold additional meetings with officials in
Canberra tomorrow, before flying to Sydney in the afternoon.
U.N. SOMALIA
ENVOY TO CONSULT IN MOSCOW, STOCKHOLM
The Secretary-General’s Special
Representative for Somalia,
Francois Lonseny Fall, will travel to Moscow and Stockholm this week, as
part of his continuing efforts to find a peaceful solution to differences
within the Somali Transitional Federal Institutions.
Ambassador Fall’s visit to
Moscow on Thursday is at the invitation of the Russian Foreign Minister,
Sergei Lavrov, for an exchange of views on how best to facilitate the
restoration of peace and security in Somalia.
He will then travel to
Stockholm, where he will discuss the latest developments with Annika Soder,
the Swedish State Secretary for International Cooperation and Development and
other representatives of the Swedish government.
WFP SAYS 1.5
MILLION PEOPLE AT RISK IN UGANDA
The World Food Programme (WFP) today
warned that its operation to feed nearly 1.5 million internally displaced
people in northern Uganda will run out of donations in December.
WFP says it urgently needs $58 million to buy food
locally for almost the entire population of northern Uganda, which has been
living for years in overcrowded and unsanitary camps after fleeing the Lord’s
Resistance Army.
OTHER
ANNOUNCEMENTS
YOUTH PROGRAM OPENS IN BANGALORE: The
UN Environment Programme (UNEP) today began its
2nd International Youth Conference in Bangalore. Delegates from
more than 100 countries are working on ways to implement the Millennium
Development Goals
UNESCO CHIEF RE-ELECTED:
Koïchiro Matsuura (Japan) was re-elected today as Director-General of the
UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) by the
Organization’s General Conference. He was first elected in 1999 to a six-year
term. This time he will serve for four years, following a reform instituted by
the 29th session of the
General Conference.
* The guest at the noon briefing was Maria Jose Alcala,
the main author of the UN Population Fund’s
State of the World Population 2005 report. She discussed the report.
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