HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MARIE OKABE
DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Monday, July 10, 2006
ANNAN WELCOMES
APPOINTMENT OF NEW PRIME MINISTER IN TIMOR-LESTE
Secretary-General Kofi Annan
welcomes the
establishment of a new Government in Timor-Leste. He congratulates Jose
Ramos-Horta on his appointment as Prime Minister, and looks forward to the
formation of the full Government, which he trusts will serve the needs of all
Timorese.
The Secretary-General calls on all parties in Timor-Leste
to move forward in a spirit of dialogue, unity and reconciliation, as the
country prepares for its first presidential and parliamentary elections since
independence.
He also looks forward to receiving the report of his
Special Envoy, Ian Martin, on how the United Nations can best assist the
Timorese people, as they build a democratic and peaceful future for their
country; and he thanks Martin for successfully completing his important and
sensitive mission.
Before leaving Dili, the
Secretary-General’s Special Envoy, Ian Martin, held a press conference. He
said that the main areas in which Timor-Leste is looking to the United
Nations to help with in the future include policing both in the short-term and
in the long-term development of the national police force; help with carrying
out the Presidential and Parliamentary elections next year, and supporting the
administration of justice – the latter which now has even greater challenges
because of recent events and promoting respect for human rights.
ANNAN DISAPPOINTED WITH LACK OF
AGREEMENT AT SMALL ARMS CONFERENCE
The
Secretary-General is
disappointed that
the UN Conference to Review
the Implementation of the Programme of Action on the Illicit Trade in Small
Arms and Light Weapons has ended without agreeing on an outcome document.
He notes, however, that many States sent high-level
representatives to the conference, and that many civil society groups
contributed energetically to its discussions.
To that extent, the Conference did succeed in recalling
the issue of small arms and light weapons to the attention of the
international community, which clearly remains committed to the Programme of
Action as the main framework for measures to curtail the illegal trade in
these weapons.
Delegates from all parts of the world reaffirmed that the
most urgent task is to take firm steps to control illicit arms brokers. This
issue will be studied in depth by a UN intergovernmental expert group, which
will hold its first session in November.
ANNAN, IN BERLIN, DISCUSSES AFRICA,
PEACEKEEPING IN DR CONGO
Early on Monday morning, the
Secretary-General and his wife,
Nane, traveled to Bellevue Palace, the official residence of the German
President, for a breakfast hosted by President Horst Köhler and his wife, Eva
Luise.
The Secretary-General congratulated the President for
Germany for organizing the most successful World Cup ever, and noted how the
tournament had sparked a show of support among Germans for their own country.
The President discussed a number of issues related to
development in Africa.
Later in the day the Secretary-General traveled to the
Henning von Treskow barracks, the location of the EU Operations Headquarters,
for a briefing on the
force. While at the barracks, the Secretary-General was the guest at a working
lunch hosted by the Federal Defense Minister, Franz-Josef Jung.
Prior to the lunch, the Secretary-General and the Defense
Minister discussed issues relating to peacekeeping, including the European
force being deployed to support the elections in the Democratic Republic of
the Congo. The Secretary-General thanked Germany for its leadership role in
the mission.
This evening, the Secretary-General will speak at a forum
organized jointly by the Bertelsmann Foundation and the UN Association for
Germany. In that speech, which is to be delivered right about now, he is to
draw attention to the need for the Group of Eight nations to deal with energy
security at their meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, and to warn that we
cannot achieve energy security unless we address the environmental
consequences of energy consumption.
In a separate programme, Mrs. Annan met and spoke with
volunteers and students involved in UNICEF Germany’s campaign “You and me
against AIDS”. “Children are the hidden face of AIDS,” she said. “We must
ensure that children are not forgotten in the global fight against AIDS.” In
the afternoon Mrs. Annan visited a cultural integration centre for Turkish,
Arabic and Kurdish girls. The girls, aged 10 to 20, spoke with Mrs. Annan
about their lives and how the centre had helped them, providing a comfortable
place to meet friends, work on creative projects, get help with homework and
job applications and talk through problems dealing with families, cultural and
religious issues.
On Sunday afternoon, the Secretary-General met with
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German Foreign Minister. They discussed a
wide-ranging number of issues, including the ongoing talks over Iran’s nuclear
programme,
Iraq, the
Human Rights Council, the
Middle East,
Darfur, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan and Cyprus.
Afterwards, the Secretary-General joined President Köhler
in attending the World Cup final at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium.
Asked where the
Secretary-General will travel after Germany, the Spokeswoman noted that he
will first go to Italy, and then to the Group of Eight summit in St.
Petersburg, Russia, with possible additional stops later.
U.N. HUMANITARIAN AGENCIES ALARMED AT
DEVELOPMENTS IN GAZA
The UN humanitarian agencies working in the occupied
Palestinian territory have expressed their alarm at developments on the ground
there.
In a joint
press release,
they say that an already alarming situation in
Gaza, with poverty rates at nearly 80% and unemployment at nearly 40%, is
likely to deteriorate rapidly, unless immediate and urgent action is taken.
In a
statement issued
on Saturday, the Secretary-General
appealed for urgent action to alleviate the desperate humanitarian situation
of the civilian population in Gaza. To address shortages of basic foodstuffs,
and to maintain essential health and sanitation services, the
Secretary-General called on the Government of Israel to restore and maintain
the continuous and uninterrupted supply of fuel to Gaza and to act
expeditiously to replace the destroyed equipment at the Gaza power plant.
He also reiterated his appeal to all concerned to
exercise maximum restraint and to respect their obligations under
international humanitarian law.
Asked whether the
Secretary-General has spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert about the
situation in Gaza, the Spokeswoman said that, as his statements reflect, the
Secretary-General has been in touch with the parties both publicly, as
reflected in statements, and in private in telephone conversations. He is
consistently in touch with all the leaders in the region.
Asked about a Friday statement
in which the Secretary-General had urged the
Security Council
to take a clear position on Gaza, the Spokeswoman
said the statement was simply his appeal for the Council to look into the
matter.
SECURITY COUNCIL TO RECEIVE BRIEFING ON
SOMALIA
The Security Council
postponed its consultations on Somalia and other matters, which were initially
scheduled for 10:00 this morning, to 3:00 p.m. today.
At that time, the Council will take up recent
developments in Somalia, and will hear from the Secretary-General’s Special
Representative for that country,
Francois
Lonseny Fall.
CYPRIOT LEADERS COMMIT TO PROCEED WITH
TECHNICAL TALKS
The UN Under-Secretary-General for
Political Affairs,
Ibrahim Gambari,
chaired a meeting in Nicosia on Saturday between Greek Cypriot
leader Tassos Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat.
Following that encounter, the two leaders committed to
proceed by the end of July with technical talks on issues affecting the
day-to-day life of people and concurrently those that concern substantive
issues, both of which will contribute to a comprehensive settlement.
That set of principles includes commitment to the
unification of Cyprus based on a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation and
political equality, as set out in Security Council resolutions.
The principles also make clear that the status quo is
unacceptable and that its continuation would have negative consequences for
both the Turkish and Greek Cypriots.
CAPTIVE PEACEKEEPERS IN D.R. CONGO
RELEASED OVER WEEKEND
In the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, the remaining five out of a total of
seven UN peacekeepers from Nepal, taken captive by the Front des Nationalistes
et des Intégrationistes militia in the country’s northeast more than a month
ago, were released
over the weekend.
The seven Nepalese had become separated from their unit
during a joint operation with the Congolese national army in the area of
Fataki, about 60 kilometers northeast of Bunia, the capital of the Ituri
district. Two of the seven had been released on 27 June.
The five peacekeepers were unharmed and have now rejoined
their contingent.
The Secretary-General has
welcomed their
release, and reiterated his profound condolences to the family of the
peacekeeper who was killed during the initial encounter with the militia.Along
with the UN Organization
Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he also thanked local
community leaders for their assistance in securing the peacekeepers’
liberation.
Asked for details about the
release of the Nepalese peacekeepers, the Spokeswoman noted that they were
released on Saturday, in tired but excellent condition and were now under
observation. They had been treated well throughout their captivity and had
been allowed to receive food and medicine. As for the circumstances behind
their release, she said the important point was that they were released
unharmed.
She confirmed, in response to a further question,
that Peter Karim headed the group which had taken the soldiers.
U.N. MISSION CONDEMNS MURDER OF
JOURNALIST IN D.R. CONGO
The UN
Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) has
condemned the murder
of Bapuwa Mwamba, a Congolese independent journalist, who was shot dead at his
home in Kinshasa on 8 July, reportedly by unidentified gunmen.
MONUC noted that this latest murder of a Congolese
journalist comes eight month after the killing of Franck Ngyke Kangundu of the
daily La Reference, who was shot dead along with his wife by unidentified
assailants.
The UN mission has asked the Congolese authorities to
investigate this and other attacks on the press and reiterated its call for a
safe media environment as the Congolese people prepare to cast their votes in
the historic 30 July general elections.
Asked about the fall of the
town of Tchei, the Spokeswoman said it was a volatile area in the country,
with considerable daily movement going on.
MUCH WORK TO BE DONE ON “BIRD FLU”
DESPITE PROGRESS MADE
The Senior UN System Coordinator for Avian and Human
Influenza,
David Nabarro, and
President of the Economic and
Social Council (ECOSOC), Ambassador Ali Hachani, today held a press
conference in Geneva following an ECOSOC event on
bird flu.
Nabarro said that, despite considerable success in
containing the spread of the disease and in improving preparedness, there were
many countries, particularly in Africa, where there was still a lot of work to
be done. Pointing to a lack of resources, he urged donor nations to help out,
since bird flu “knew no borders.”
In response to questions, Nabarro said that the
scientific community at large was looking to find dangerous mutations that
could lead to human to human transmission but so far this had not yet been
seen. He added that they still did not know for sure why the H5N1 virus
affects some humans and not others.
U.N. REFUGEE CHIEF CALLS FOR RIGHTS OF
REFUGEES TO BE UPHELD
The
UN High Commissioner for Refugees,
António
Guterres, today
called for governments and regional, international and non-governmental
organisations to work together, to uphold the rights of refugees and migrants
in “mixed migratory movements”.
Unveiling a 10-point action plan at the Euro-African
Ministerial Conference on Migration and Development in Rabat, Morocco,
Guterres noted that the current movement of people from Africa towards Europe,
due to its irregular nature, presents a number of challenges to European and
African states.
U.N. REFORM: MANY MORE ISSUES REMAINS TO
BE DEALT WITH
Asked about the
Secretary-General’s
response to the
actions taken
by the General Assembly on Friday afternoon, the Spokeswoman said that on
Friday, General Assembly
President Jan Eliasson put out a statement and letter outlining the issues
on which progress had been made in terms of
UN reform.
The
Secretary-General had not been asked about the topic during his current
travels, Okabe noted, but he had indicated that he was pleased by movement on
some issues by countries, although many more issues remain to be dealt with.
The Secretary-General encourages the Member States to move ahead on the
remaining issues, she said.
OTHER
ANNOUNCEMENTS
U.N. ENVOY FOR IRAQ IN IRAN FOR REGIONAL CONFERENCE:
Asked why the
Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq had been in Iran, the
Spokeswoman said he was attending a regional conference that dealt with issues
relevant to
Iraq. She later told the reporter that the meeting, the latest in a series,
brought together the Foreign Minister of Iraq and neighboring countries to
discuss regional cooperation.
NO OPINION EXPRESSED ON INDIAN
MISSILE TEST: Asked whether the
Secretary-General
had expressed an opinion on India’s missile test, the Spokeswoman said he had
not.
ANNAN HOPES FOR RESUMPTION OF
SIX-PARTY TALKS ON NORTH KOREA: Asked about
the Secretary-General’s
position on the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Spokeswoman said that he is not
commenting while the Security
Council's deliberations on that matter are
ongoing. He has repeatedly stated his hopes for the resumption of six-party
talks.
ANNAN’S VIEWS ON UGANDAN
AMNESTY FOR REBEL LEADER CONTAINED IN WEDNESDAY REPORT:
Asked about the
Secretary-General’s reaction to the recent
acceptance by Lord’s Resistance Army officials to an amnesty offered by the
President of Uganda, the Spokeswoman said that the Secretary-General’s views on
the matter were contained in a report that was expected to be issued on
Wednesday.
WORLD HERITAGE COMMITTEE OPENS: The 30th
session of the World Heritage Committee
opened on 9 July in Vilnius,
Lithuania, with an address by the Director-General of
UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, who highlighted the need to preserve tangible
heritage so as to ensure the world’s cultural diversity stay in tact for future
generations. The conference also focused on ways to accommodate business and
investment needs, how to meet heritage protection requirements, and strategies
to increase the presence of under-represented African countries on the World
Heritage Committee.
PORTABLE SATELLITE TERMINALS ARE PROVIDED FOR DISASTER
RELIEF: The International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) and Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications
Company, a company based in the United Arab Emirates, have agreed to
provide
portable satellite terminals, discounted airtime, equipment transportation and
technical expertise to countries for disaster relief. In light of recent natural
disasters, the World Telecommunication Development Conference decided in March
2006 to call upon ITU to improve early-warning communication, disaster
preparedness and mitigation especially in countries with fragile economies and
special needs.
Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162
Fax. 212-963-7055
