HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING
BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
UN
HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Thursday,
December 22, 2005
SECURITY COUNCIL HOLDS FINAL PLANNED MEETING
FOR 2005
The
Security Council has no more meetings planned until 2006.
Yesterday it adopted three resolutions, which
extended the mandates of the
UN Operation in Burundi, the
UN Disengagement Force in the Golan Heights, and the panel monitoring
human rights and other violations in
Darfur. It also adopted a fourth resolution, demanding that foreign
fighters in the Democratic Republic of the Congo disarm.
The Council also issued
four presidential statements that:
demanded an end to atrocities by all parties in Darfur;
reviewed counter-terrorism mechanisms;
commended the Congolese people on their recent referendum; and
agreed with the Secretary-General’s view that the Middle East will remain
“very tense” until an all-encompassing settlement for the region’s problems
can be reached.
The Council also held
consultations on Eritrea and Ethiopia,
with a briefing by Assistant Secretary-General for
Peacekeeping Operations Hedi Annabi, as well as on threats to
international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.
The UN Mission in Ethiopia
and Eritrea (UNMEE)
says that the military situation in the Temporary Security Zone and Adjacent
Areas remains tense and potentially volatile.
However, Ethiopian troops
have started pulling back in keeping with the Security Council’s
Resolution 1640, and the pullback is being monitored by peacekeeper
patrols.
Nonetheless, the Eritrean
Government’s ban on UNMEE helicopters is still in place, and restrictions
continue on the movement of peacekeepers inside certain sectors of the
Temporary Security Zone.
UNMEE says it is still
trying to monitor the zone and adjacent areas within these limitations; in the
past week, the Mission conducted 779 ground patrols.
The
UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo reports that UN
peacekeepers along with Congolese soldiers have been taking part in a joint
operation against local armed groups in the north-eastern
province of Ituri.
Approximately 300 Nepalese
peacekeepers and an Indian-piloted gunship have been providing support for
more than 1,000 soldiers from the national army of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In a firefight this past Monday in
which two Nepalese platoons participated and an Indian gunship provided
support, seven militia members were reportedly killed as well as one Congolese
soldier.
The operation is aimed at rooting
out armed groups in the Nioka areas, which are 75 kilometers northeast from
Bunia, the capital of Ituri.
U.N. AGENCIES HELP SUDANESE REFUGEES RETURN
FROM CHAD
The
UN Mission in Sudan says that several UN agencies are sending personnel to
North Darfur
where some 8,000 refugees are returning to
Sudan from Chad, following attacks by Chadian opposition groups.
Also in
Sudan, the UN Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator
for Southern Sudan,
David Gressly, told a year-end news conference that 2005 was a critical year
for the south.
He said the people of southern
Sudan had expectations that, after 20 years of war, they would start to see
the dividends of peace, but the government lacked some of the basic tools to
deliver services, and was basically starting from scratch.
He said however that the UN now has
greater access to the neediest areas. He said the UN was looking forward to
cooperating with non-governmental organizations in the area, in the new year.
The
Secretary-General has written to
Paul Volcker, as chair of the
Independent Inquiry Committee (IIC) into the
Oil for Food Programme, to inform him that he has agreed to Volcker’s
request to extend the life-span of the IIC until the end of March 2006.
This extension is
exclusively for the purpose of assisting national authorities who wish to
follow up on the findings included in the Commission’s reports.
Having fully completed
its investigation, the IIC will not retain any investigatory capacity or
authority.
Starting 1 January, the
follow-up entity will be called the Office of the IIC, headed up by an
Executive-Director, Reid Morden. The three commissioners will remain, on an
advisory capacity only.
The Permanent
Representative of Iraq had also asked the Secretary-General for this
arrangement to be put in place. The Secretary-General has informed the
Presidency of the Security Council.
Asked about budgetary
implications associated with the extension of the Volcker committee, the
Spokesman said that the extension would cost $1.25 million and that that sum
would be drawn from the “2.2 account”, which covers administrative costs
related to the oil-for-food programme.
ONE YEAR
ON, U.N. AGENCIES CONTINUE WORK IN
TSUNAMI-HIT AREAS
As the one-year anniversary of last
year’s devastating
tsunami approaches, UN agencies are still continuing their work on the
ground. The UN Population Fund, for example, is still
working to restore reproductive health facilities in Indonesia, Sri Lanka,
Thailand and the Maldives.
Meanwhile, the UN Children’s Fund
(UNICEF)
reports that, one year after the
tsunami dramatically changed their lives, children in India, Sri Lanka and
Thailand feel hopeful about the future, while children in Indonesia are
recovering at a slower pace. This is according to a survey of tsunami-affected
children released today by the agency.
For its part, the
Food and Agriculture Organization
warned today that many areas on the west coast of Aceh, Indonesia, were
still in a critical condition.
To mark the anniversary, the UN’s Special Envoy
for Tsunami Recovery, former US President
Bill Clinton, released a progress report today.
SPOKESMAN CLARIFIES MISQUOTE OF LEBANON BOMB
PROBE CHIEF
Asked what he meant when he had said earlier
that Detlev Mehlis, head of the
investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister
Rafik Hariri, had been misquoted in the press, the Spokesman clarified that he
had no reason to doubt the veracity of the original interview, as it was
transcribed on the English-language web site of Asharq Al-Awsat.
Instead, what he had been referring to were
some of the rewrites done on the interview, out of Beirut, by other news
outlets, which had misquoted Mehlis and misinterpreted what he had said. In
particular, the Spokesman had taken issue with a false quote referring to an
individual who had supposedly requested the report to be rewritten.
OTHER
ANNOUNCEMENTS
U.N. TO CLEAN UP
EVACUATED SETTLEMENTS IN GAZA:
The UN Development Programme (UNDP)
reports that it has signed an agreement with the Government of Israel in
which the UNDP will be in charge of cleaning and rehabilitating the area of the
recently evacuated settlements in the Gaza Strip. The project, funded with a $25
million grant from the Israeli Government, is aimed at boosting the economy of
the Gaza Strip.
IRAQ BOARD TO MEET NEXT
WEEK: The International Advisory and
Monitoring Board (IAMB)
for the Iraq Development Fund will be holding one of its periodic meetings next
week. This will be held at UN headquarters on 28 and 29 December. The members of
the board are expected to hold a press briefing at UN Headquarters on 29
December. The Board, which operates under a Security Council resolution, is made
up of representatives of the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund,
the World Bank and the Arab Fund for Social and Economic Development.
NO ELABORATION ON ANNAN’S
YEAR-END COMMENTS: Asked to clarify a
comment by the Secretary-General -- made in yesterday’s end-of-year
press conference and regarding a car allegedly bought in the
Secretary-General’s name --the Spokesman said that he would not engage in any
“Monday morning quarterbacking” about yesterday’s hour-long press conference,
and that he had nothing to add to what the Secretary-General had already said on
that issue.
U.N. IS ‘REFORMABLE’: Asked to respond to an article in Harper’s Magazine, which allegedly
said that the UN was not “reformable” and that it could only be saved by former
United States President Bill Clinton, the Spokesman said he had not yet read the
article. He did add, however, that he did believe that the UN was “reformable.”
BUDGET NEGOTIATIONS ‘DOWN
TO THE WIRE’: Requested to provide an
update on the negotiations surrounding the UN budget, the Spokesman said that
the discussions were extensive, exhaustive and “down to the wire.” He added that
he hoped that the Member States would agree on an outcome.
NEW DEPUTY CHEF DE
CABINET STARTS IN FEBRUARY: Asked if
the Secretary-General’s new Deputy Chef de Cabinet,
Alicia Bárcena Ibarra, had been recommended by former UN official Maurice
Strong, the Spokesman said he was not aware of any such recommendation. He added
that Ms. Bárcena had been a very strong candidate, having worked for the
Economic Commission for Latin America and the
Caribbean. She would be starting
her work in February and the UN looked forward to having her on board.
*** The guest at the noon
briefing was Under-Secretary-General for Management Christopher Burnham, who
briefed on the UN’s new whistle-blower protection policy.
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