HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING
BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Thursday,
December 1, 2005
MORE NEEDS TO
BE DONE TO MEET HIV/AIDS TARGETS
Today is
World AIDS Day, and Secretary-General Kofi Annan has issued a
message, saying that although our response so far has succeeded in some of
the particulars, it has yet to match the epidemic in scale.
He adds that reaching the
Millennium Development Goal
of halting and reversing the spread of AIDS by 2015 requires us to do “far,
far more” – especially since meeting that Goal is a prerequisite for reaching
most of the others.
Stephen Lewis, the Special
Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, also issued a statement, saying that, although
funds to fight AIDS are desperately needed, the only thing African countries
can count on for certain is betrayal from wealthy countries.
A
message was also issued by Peter Piot, Executive Director of the Joint UN
Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
ANNAN
DISAPPOINTED BY LACK OF AGREEMENT ON TERRORISM TREATY
The Secretary-General was
disappointed to learn that it has not been possible to reach agreement in
the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly on a draft comprehensive
convention on international terrorism.
He intends to consult the chairman of the Committee, and
other representatives of member states, to see if there are ways for him to
assist their efforts to reach agreement on and conclude the convention during
the sixtieth session of the General Assembly, as agreed by heads of state and
government in the
2005 World Summit Outcome.
Meanwhile, he urges all member states that have not yet
done so to become parties to, and implement, the existing 13 conventions on
different types of terrorism, and hopes that the General Assembly will
expedite its work on adopting and implementing a strategy to promote
comprehensive, coordinated and consistent responses to counter terrorism,
developed from the elements that he identified in his Madrid speech last
March.
He stands ready to amplify and further refine those
elements if so requested by the Assembly. And in the meantime he is confident
that the Security Council is ready to take any further measures that are
necessary to deal with the threat of international terrorism, which continues
to cause death and suffering to innocent people in many different parts of the
world.
Asked what the Secretary-General would do to push forward
the discussions on the terrorism convention, the Spokesman said that his first
step would be to consult with the Chair of the Sixth Committee and the Member
States, to discuss how best to proceed.
U.N. HUMANITARIAN CHIEF HEADS TO
ZIMBABWE THIS SATURDAY
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and
Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland will visit
Zimbabwe from 3 to 7 December as agreed between the Secretary-General and
President Robert Mugabe during the World Summit at UN headquarters.
Egeland plans to meet with the President and other
government officials, UN Country Team members, and NGO partners, as well as
civil society representatives.
He plans to undertake field visits.
Egeland will also meet with the Government of South
Africa in Pretoria to discuss closer collaboration in humanitarian assistance,
including the proposed global Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).
Meanwhile, the World Food
Programme today
welcomed the conclusion of an agreement with the Government of Zimbabwe on
the delivery and distribution of food aid to millions of people in the
country.
Asked whether Egeland would meet with the Zimbabwean
opposition, the Spokesman said that Egeland hoped to meet with as wide a
spectrum of Zimbabwean society as possible. Egeland, he noted, would be
meeting with civil society groups.
Asked about criticisms of UN work in Zimbabwe by Human
Rights Watch, the Spokesman said the United Nations had seen that report. He
said that the United Nations has been working hard from the outset to respond
to the serious situation in Zimbabwe, as was shown in Special Envoy Anna
Tibaijuka’s
report, which demonstrated the scale of the problem and alerted the
international community to the unfolding tragedy. He added that the
Secretary-General has repeatedly expressed his concern about the situation in
the country, while the UN system has mounted humanitarian operations to assist
the population affected by the clearance operations.
U.N. MISSION NEGOTIATING PULLBACK OF TROOPS ON
ERITREA-ETHIOPIA BORDER
The Force Commander of the UN
Mission in Ethiopia Eritrea (UNMEE),
Major-General Rajender Singh, at a press briefing to reporters from both
countries, confirmed that troop movements had been noticed on both sides of
the border and noted that restrictions on UN patrols continue, with many being
prevented from going off main roads to carrying out their monitoring
functions.
Singh also said he was in the
process of negotiating with the leadership of Ethiopian Armed Forces a
withdrawal of their troops to the December 16, 2004 levels as called for by
Security Council
resolution 1640 and he was hopeful for a positive response from them.
He also intended to meet with
the Eritrean Defence Forces leadership on compliance with the recent Security
Council resolution.
UNITED KINGDOM TAKES OVER SECURITY
COUNCIL PRESIDENCY
The United Kingdom today assumes the
rotating
Presidency of the Security Council, and is holding bilateral discussions
on the Council’s program of work for December. The Council is expected to
discuss its program of work in consultations tomorrow.
Yesterday afternoon, the Security Council wrapped up its
work for November with two Presidential Statements.
The Security Council
welcomed the successful opening of the Rafah Crossing in Gaza, as an
important step forward.
In its second Presidential Statement, the Council
expressed its deep concern at persistent disagreements among the parties
in Cote d’Ivoire over the appointment of a Prime Minister, and reaffirmed its
readiness, in close consultation with the African Union mediation, to impose
individual measures provided for in resolutions
1572 and
1633.
IRAQ: INT'L OBSERVERS WILL MAKE 15
DECEMBER ELECTIONS MORE CREDIBLE
Ashraf Qazi, the Secretary-General’s Special
Representative for
Iraq, today
met with Iraqi Vice President Ghazi El-Yawar, and discussed with him the
elections scheduled for 15 December.
Both agreed that a robust presence of international
observers to monitor the elections would help to enhance the credibility of
the process.
They also explored areas of cooperation to ensure the
success of the reconciliation conference planned for late February or early
March of next year.
Asked whether there is any mechanism to investigate
allegations of prisoner abuse in Iraq, the Spokesman said that Qazi has raised
reported abuses by police and security forces with Iraqi officials, on a
number of occasions. Also, the UN Mission in Iraq continues to monitor the
situation through its human rights component.
ANNAN TO SEND ENVOY TO ATTEND
FRANCE-AFRICA SUMMIT IN MALI
On behalf of the Secretary-General,
Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari will attend the
23rd Summit of Heads of State and Government of Africa and France, to be held
in Bamako, Mali on 3-4 December. Gambari will deliver the Secretary-General’s
message to the Conference.
The Conference will focus on Africa's youth -- harnessing
its vitality, its creativity and its aspirations. The theme is especially
pertinent, as people under 25 years of age constitute the majority of Africa’s
population and face enormous obstacles ranging from war, inadequate
educational and job opportunities to the threats associated with the spread of
HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases.
CYPRUS: POLITICAL PROGRESS “NEGLIGIBLE
AT BEST”
The Secretary-General’s latest
report on Cyprus is now available on the Security Council’s web site. In
it, he says that the situation on the island has remained stable, with calm
prevailing along the ceasefire lines.
In addition, the opening of additional crossing points
and small increases in trade between the two sides have enhanced opportunities
for people-to-people contact.
At the same time, however, progress towards a political
solution has been negligible at best. And he therefore recommends that the
Security Council extend the mandate of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP)
for a further period of six months, until 15 June 2006.
He also says the time is not ripe for appointing a
full-time person dedicated to his good offices, adding that, while calls have
come from all concerned for the resumption of negotiations, the conditions
need to be clarified.
UNITED NATIONS NEEDS FULL BUDGET,
STARTING 1 JANUARY
Asked whether the Secretary-General was holding
discussions with groups of nations concerning the UN budget issue, the
Spokesman said that the Secretary-General met this morning for a working
breakfast with 27 permanent representatives, hosted by the Mission of the
Republic of Korea. This, he said, was an informal group that discussed the
pace of UN reform and the budget issue.
On the budget, the Secretary-General made his views
clear. The organization needs a full budget, starting January 1, with the
understanding that the Member States may need to review the budget a few
months into the year once the reform proposals are fully in.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
SPOKESMAN DENIES RESIGNATION OF INVESTIGATOR OF HARIRI
ASSASSINATION: Asked about reports from Beirut that Detlev Mehlis had
officially resigned from his position as Chairman of the International
Independent
Investigation Commission dealing with the 14 February bombing in Lebanon,
the Spokesman said there had been no official announcement of his resignation.
As for Mehlis’s stated intention to depart from the Commission, the Spokesman
said that was not news; Mehlis had indicated from the beginning that he was
available for six months. Obviously, should the life of the Commission be
extended, Dujarric added, the United Nations would be very interested in having
Mehlis remain associated with its work somehow. He added that the
Secretary-General and Mehlis are in contact on the matter.
FORMER KOSOVO REBELS RELEASED FROM DETENTION: Two
former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army, Fatmir Limaj and Isak Musliu, were
today
released from the Detention Unit of the International Criminal Tribunal for
the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
This follows the Tribunal’s
judgment yesterday, which found both men not guilty of all charges against
them. The Tribunal found a third former Liberation Army member, Haradin Bala,
guilty and sentenced him to 13 years in prison.
DAMAGE ASSESSED IN STORM-BATTERED HONDURAS:
Regarding Honduras, the UN country team there has
dispatched five inter-agency teams to conduct damage assessments, in the
wake of tropical storm Gamma. For its part, the World Food Programme (WFP) has
distributed nearly 200,000 family rations, and is planning to provide an
additional 1750 tons of food for the next three months.
PART-TIME ADVISOR’S LAST MYANMAR TRIP NOT U.N.-RELATED:
In response to a question from yesterday, the Spokesman said that the last trip
to Myanmar by Joseph Verner Reed had been more than two and a half years ago and
not related to the United Nations. Verner Reed had not traveled on his UN
“laissez-passer,” and the trip was on behalf of the Bronx Zoo and the American
Museum of Natural History.
COUNTRIES INVESTIGATING OIL-FOR-FOOD ALLEGATIONS WILL
HAVE ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS: Asked whether there has been any progress in
discussions between the UN Office of Legal Affairs and Paul Volcker’s
Independent Inquiry Committee on the handling of documents, the Spokesman
said the discussions are continuing. Asked whether they include how documents
will be maintained, the Spokesman said that documents will be properly indexed,
and the goal of the discussions is to ensure that the national authorities who
want to follow the Committee’s work with their own investigations will have the
access to documents that they need.
COUNTER-TERRORISM CHIEF REQUESTS MEETING WITH ANNAN:
Asked about the Secretary-General’s meeting today with Javier Ruperez, the
Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate, the Spokesman
said the meeting came at Ruperez’s request.
PROGRESS SEEN IN TACKLING PROBLEM OF ILLEGAL LOGGING:
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
said today a new report indicates that governments are becoming
increasingly innovative -- and effective -- in tackling the problem of illegal
logging. The report documents successful efforts to combat illegal logging
undertaken in Bolivia, Cambodia, Cameroon, Ecuador, Honduras, Indonesia, Italy,
Malaysia, Mozambique, Nicaragua and Peru.
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