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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING

BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS, 
NEW YORK

Friday,
January 20, 2006
 


SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES FIRST IRAQI ELECTION RESULTS

  • Secretary-General
    Kofi Annan

    welcomes
    the announcement by the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq
    (IECI) of the preliminary results of the 15 December election. 
     

  • The
    Secretary-General pays tribute to the courage and determination of the Iraqi
    people for participating in large numbers in this national election. 
     

  • Once the final results are announced, the
    Secretary-General calls upon all Iraqi political parties to come together in a
    spirit of national reconciliation to form an inclusive and fully
    representative government that will serve all the Iraqi people. 
     

  • The Secretary-General is pleased that the United Nations
    has been able to support the IECI in conducting the two national elections and
    constitutional referendum of the past year under challenging circumstances. 
    The United Nations remains fully committed to implementing its mandate under
    Security
    Council resolution 1546
    (2004) in support of the Iraqi people in their
    efforts to build a peaceful, prosperous, democratic and united Iraq.

 SECRETARY-GENERAL TO TRAVEL TO EUROPE 

  • The Secretary-General will be traveling to Europe this
    weekend.
     

  • He begins his trip in Switzerland, where he plans to
    visit the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne and
    FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) in Zurich before
    attending the World Economic Forum in Davos.
     

  • In Davos, the Secretary-General is scheduled to make
    remarks at the opening media lunch on the subject of “The Impact of Sports in
    the World.” He will also give a speech at a plenary session titled “A New
    Mindset for the United Nations.”
     

  • The Secretary-General will make a short trip to The
    Hague, where he is scheduled to attend the UNDP Global Management Meeting.
     

  • He then travels to London, where he plans to meet with
    the principals of the Middle East Quartet.
     

  • The Secretary-General is also scheduled to co-chair with
    Afghan President Hamid Karzai and British Prime Minister Tony Blair the London
    Conference on Afghanistan, which he says "is an excellent opportunity to send
    a signal to the Afghan people that the outside world continues to share their
    goals as they build a democracy that respects the rights of all."
     

  • Also in London, he will deliver a speech at a meeting in
    Central Hall, Westminster, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the first
    meetings of the General Assembly and Security Council.
     

  • Asked why the Secretary-General was attending a Quartet
    meeting on the Middle East now, and whether the Palestinian peace process was
    stalled, the Spokesman said that the meeting is taking place during a crucial
    part of the process, with elections to be held by both the Palestinians and
    the Israelis during the coming weeks.
     

  • He added that the United Nations hopes that, once the
    elections are past, they will give an impetus to the peace process.

 CALM RETURNS TO COTE D’IVOIRE

  • The UN

    Operation in Cote d’Ivoire
    (UNOCI) reports the country has returned to a
    state of relative calm.
     

  • The mission says anti-UN demonstrators have withdrawn and
    roadblocks have been dismantled.
     

  • However the state broadcaster continues to send out
    messages attacking UNOCI and French forces.
     

  • On the humanitarian front, the UN

    Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
    reports for that
    except for Guiglo, most agency work had continued during the past four days.
    In Guiglo UN personnel are under Ivorian protection today.
     

  • UN agencies currently feed more than one million people
    in Cote d’Ivoire.

 SECURITY COUNCIL IS BRIEFED ON CENTRAL
AFRICAN REPUBLIC

  • The

    Security Council
    held consultations this morning on the Central African
    Republic and other matters.
     

  • The Council was briefed by General Lamine Cissé, the
    Secretary-General’s Representative and Head of the

    UN Peacebuilding Office
    in the Central African Republic.
     

  • Meanwhile, the Office for the
    Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), says the potential for a renewed
    humanitarian crisis in the Central African Republic (CAR) exists. Currently,
    the northern region of CAR remains off-limits to the UN staff. And it is in
    the north that an ongoing conflict has provoked new population displacements. 
     

  • In Bodjomo and neighbouring
    villages near the Chadian border, several thousand people have fled recent
    clashes between Government troops and local insurgents, with half reportedly
    seeking refuge in Chad and the rest internally displaced in the country’s
    northern forests.

 ANNAN SAYS SECURITY IN LEBANON IS
‘FRAGILE’

  • The Secretary-General, in a

    report
    to the Security Council, says that the political and security
    environment in Lebanon continues to be fragile, with a Hizbollah attack across
    the Blue Line in November being the greatest cause of recent concern.
     

  • He also warns that the rocket firing incidents by
    unidentified armed elements, which took place in August and December, carried
    significant potential for military escalation. He says he is encouraged by
    Lebanon’s commitment to hold perpetrators of such attacks responsible so as to
    avoid their recurrence.
     

  • Also, the report adds, persistent Israeli air incursions
    remain a matter of deep concern.
     

  • The Secretary-General recommends a six-month extension of
    the UN

    Interim Force in Lebanon.
    The Security Council is scheduled to discuss
    Lebanon next Wednesday.

 NEW HEAD OF U.N. PROBE OF LEBANON BOMB
ARRIVES IN BEIRUT

  • Serge Brammertz, the new Commissioner of the

    United Nations International Independent Investigation Commission
    (UNIIIC)
    arrived in Beirut yesterday, to assume charge of the Commission. 
     

  • Brammertz spoke briefly to reporters on his arrival,
    saying that he felt deeply honoured that the Secretary-General had selected
    him for this assignment.  He added that his priority will remain to assist the
    Lebanese authorities in their investigation.
     

  • Asked about a letter from the Syrian Government
    complaining about comments made by Brammertz’s predecessor, Detlev Mehlis, the
    Spokesman said that the letter has not been received yet.

 REFUGEE AGENCY WELCOMES EGYPT’S RELEASE
OF SUDANESE 

  • The

    UN High Commissioner for Refugees
    (UNHCR)

    welcomes
    the decision of Egyptian authorities to release all the Sudanese
    women and children who were still being held in detention since police broke
    up a demonstration on 30 December.
     

  • They were among 2,000 Sudanese who for three months had
    held a sit-in close to UNHCR's office in Cairo.
     

  • In addition, 87 Sudanese men, most of them from the
    troubled Darfur region, were also freed. UNHCR had requested their release
    because it does not support the return of anyone to the war-torn region of
    Sudan.
     

  • UNHCR says it will continue to assess the status of the
    183 Sudanese men remaining in detention through a proper in-depth legal
    assessment to ensure whether these people are of concern.



PROGRESS REPORTED ON ESTABLISHING HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

  • This morning, the informal consultations of the plenary on the Human
    Rights Council met to hear a statement from  General Assembly President
    Jan Eliasson and remarks by the two Co-Chairs, the Ambassadors of Panama and
    South Africa.
     
  • They reported on the past week of intensive bilateral consultations and
    their suggestions for the way forward. The President said that significant
    progress had been made, and it was widely felt among delegations that the
    fruit is now ripe. National positions are well known, and it is time to find
    formulas for consensus.
     
  • The President stressed that, even based on what is already agreed, the
    proposed Council represents a significant improvement from the existing
    Commission, in establishing a universal periodic review, in mandating more
    frequent meetings that will allow more serious and genuine discussion, and in
    emphasizing that a spirit of cooperation and dialogue must be the basis for
    the Council’s work.

   OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

SOMALIS ARE DYING TRYING TO REACH YEMEN:
The UN refugee agency also

says
that once again, people are dying trying to reach Yemen aboard
smugglers' boats crossing the Gulf of Aden from Somalia. The latest deaths
underscore the urgency of UNHCR's earlier appeal for action to stem the flow of
desperate people who fall prey to smugglers in their flight from Somalia and
Ethiopia.

CLINTON ADVOCATES TSUNAMI AWARENESS EDUCATION: The
UN’s Special Envoy for

Tsunami Recovery
, former US President Bill Clinton, has issued a statement
to mark the anniversary of the Hyogo Framework, a key international strategy for
natural disaster reduction. He says that disaster risk awareness education
should be incorporated into school curricula, communities should be informed
about potential hazards, and new construction must adhere to safer
building-standards.

SITUATION IN HAITI DELICATE AS ELECTION APPROACHES:
Asked about the unrest in Haiti, including the harassment of UN forces, the
Spokesman said that there clearly has been a campaign launched against the UN
Mission and its head, Juan Gabriel Valdes. He said that the situation in Haiti
is delicate as it approaches elections, and that the United Nations wants an
environment in which elections can be conducted in a fair and calm way.

 THE WEEK AHEAD
AT THE UNITED NATIONS

Monday, January 23

The
Secretary-General will start a visit to Europe today. His first stop will be
Switzerland, where he plans to visit the International Olympic Committee in
Lausanne, the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) in
Zurich, and the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The Security Council’s Cote d’Ivoire Sanctions
Committee will hold a formal meeting in the afternoon today.

In the Security Council this
morning, there will be a public meeting on the UN Office in Timor-Leste
(UNOTIL).

The Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO)
will begin a weeklong meeting at WHO Headquarters in Geneva.  It will be
considering avian influenza and the earthquake in Pakistan, among other topics.

The Third Global Conference on
Oceans, Coasts, and Islands, which is being held at UNESCO headquarters in
Paris, starts today and runs until 28 January.

Tuesday, January 24

The Security Council will this morning hold its annual open
briefing on the work of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
High Commissioner António Guterres will brief.

In observance of Holocaust
remembrance week, a Yad Vashem exhibition, called “No child’s play,” will
officially open in the Northeast Gallery at 12:00 pm
.
Then,
from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. in the Dag
Hammarskjöld Library auditorium, the film "Fateless" will be screened.

The 2006 session of the UN Conference on Disarmament opens
in Geneva today.

At 11:15 in S-226, Jose Antonio Ocampo,
Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, will launch the “World
Economic Situation and Prospects 2006.”

Wednesday, January 25

In the Security Council this
morning, there will be a private meeting of the countries that contribute troops
to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). It will be followed by
consultations on UNIFIL.

Thursday, January 26

The Deputy Secretary-General will open a conference at the
Université du Québec à Montréal on UN reform and the relevance of the UN.

In the Security Council this morning, there will be a private
meeting of the countries that contribute troops to the UN Observer Mission in
Georgia (UNOMIG). It will be followed by consultations on UNOMIG.

The Department of Public Information’s Non-Governmental
Organizations Section will hold a briefing in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library
Auditorium from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. on the International Day of
Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. Dan Gillerman,
Permanent Representative of Israel to the UN, and Judea Pearl of the Daniel
Pearl Foundation will speak.

Also in connection with Holocaust remembrance, a candlelight
vigil will be held in the visitors’ lobby from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Under-Secretary-General Shashi Tharoor will introduce six Holocaust survivors,
who will each light a candle representing the six million Jews who died and read
excerpts from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Friday, January 27

In the Security Council this morning, there will be an open
debate on peace, security and development in the Great Lakes.

Today is the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of
the Victims of the Holocaust.

At 10:30 a.m. in the General Assembly hall, there will be a
Holocaust
memorial
ceremony and lecture.  Speakers will include
Under-Secretary-General Shashi Tharoor, Holocaust survivor Gerda Klein, and
Professor Yehuda Bauer of the Task Force for International Cooperation on
Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research. 

 

        Office
of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 100178
Tel. 212-963-7162 - press/media only
Fax. 212-963-7055

All other inquiries to be addressed to (212) 963-4475 or by e-mail to: inquiries@un.org


 



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