HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
U.N. HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
LEBANESE
ARMY HELICOPTER LANDS IN SOUTH LEBANESE CITY
FOR FIRST TIME IN DECADES
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)
reports that a Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) helicopter landed in Naqoura
yesterday, for the first time since the establishment of UNIFIL. The
helicopter had carried the Lebanese delegation for a meeting with the UNIFIL
Force Commander.
UNIFIL reports that, since 14 August,
when the cessation of hostilities went into effect, UNIFIL has cleared
thousands of meters of roads, distributed more than 1.7 million litres of
water, and provided medical and dental treatment to over 3,000 civilians in
South Lebanon. UNIFIL de-mining teams, most of them from the Chinese
Battalion, have collected and destroyed approximately 3,500 unexploded
ordnances.
Asked whether the United
Nations would share a report on the death of four military observers in
Lebanon, the Spokesman noted that the report put out by the UN Board of
Inquiry, under the standard policy of such Boards, would not be released. The
report would be shared with the countries concerned. Dujarric added that the
United Nations intends to make some of the report’s conclusions available,
likely before the end of this week.
Asked about efforts to release
the Israeli and Lebanese prisoners, the Spokesman recalled that the
Secretary-General had appointed a facilitator, who continues to work “under
the radar screen”.
DARFUR,
SUDAN: LACK OF GOVERNMENT CONSENT SHOULD
NOT PREVENT U.N.’S DEPLOYMENT PREPARATIONS
Asked whether UN
troops cannot deploy in Sudan until the Sudanese Government accepts such
deployment, the Spokesman said that it is clear from Security Council
resolution 1706 that Sudanese consent is needed for the United Nations to
deploy, and that consent has not yet been received.
However, he said,
that ought not stop the United Nations from preparing for an eventual
deployment, so that it can move quickly once consent is given.
Asked about specific UN
follow-up, Dujarric said that communications with potential troop contributing
countries will continue in the weeks ahead, and will try to turn the pledges
received so far into firm commitments.
SECURITY
COUNCIL IS BRIEFED ON DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
The Secretary-General’s Special
Representative for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, William Lacey Swing,
briefed the Security Council in consultations this morning on the
Secretary-General’s latest
report on
the UN Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC).
That report recommends that MONUC’s
mandate be extended for four-and-a-half months to allow for consultations with
the government on MONUC’s future role.
Prior to the consultations, the Security Council held a
meeting with the troop contributors to MONUC.
COUNTRIES
INTRODUCE NEW MEASURES TO FIGHT TERRORISM
Available today is the latest
report of
the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, and that report is
prefaced with a letter to the President of the Security Council from the
Chairman of the Security Council Committee on Al-Qaida and the Taliban and
associated individuals and entities.
In the report, the Sanctions
Monitoring Team says that several States have introduced new measures to
counter terrorism and that implementation of the relevant Security Council
resolution
1267 has proceeded steadily.
TIMOR-LESTE:
MEMBERS OF NATIONAL POLICE RETURN TO DUTY
The UN Integrated Mission in
Timor-Leste (UNMIT)
says that a first group of the country’s national police force is returning to
duty this week in Dili under a mentoring scheme being run by the United
Nations Police.
Timor Leste’s police were relieved of
duties following the violence of April and May this year, in which military
and police factions were involved.
UNMIT says the return to duty of these
25 police officers is a crucial step in restoring Timorese public authority
and ensuring law and order to the streets of Dili and the whole country.
The 25 police officers are taking part
in an ongoing screening process that began in early September with a call to
registration by the Ministry of Interior.
Approximately 900 Dili-based national
police force members have registered for screening – a prerequisite to
returning to work.
U.N. AGENCY CHIEFS BRIEF UNITED STATES CONGRESS
World Food Programme (WFP) head James
Morris and UNICEF chief Ann Veneman
briefed the U.S.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday in Washington, D.C.,
on the Ending Child Hunger and Undernutrition Initiative.
The two UN agency heads are working to
engage partners throughout the aid world – humanitarian organizations,
foundations and businesses, as well as governments – to eliminate the extreme
hunger that still threatens the lives of an estimated 400 million children in
the developing world today.
HUMAN
RIGHTS COUNCIL TAKES UP COUNTRY-SPECIFIC REPORTS
Today the Human Rights Council in
Geneva discussed several country reports presented by special rapporteurs –
namely, on the human rights situations in the Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Sudan and
Belarus.
It also held an interactive discussion
on human rights and extreme poverty.
Before concluding its meeting today,
the Council considered the report of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and
Protection of Human Rights.
CLAIMS
OF HOLOCAUST DENIERS MUST BE REJECTED, ANNAN SAYS
The Secretary-General today sent a
message Kiev,
Ukraine – to the Ceremony and International Forum Commemorating the 65th
Anniversary of the Tragedy of Babyn Yar.
Saying that communities under assault
must not be left alone to defend themselves, the Secretary-General added that
we must reject the false claims of those who say the Holocaust never happened
or has been exaggerated.
In that context, he flagged the UN’s
launch of the
Alliance of Civilizations, as an important addition to the UN’s
wide-ranging, long-standing work to promote and protect human rights.
OTHER
ANNOUNCEMENTS
ANNAN ADDRESSES
INFORMATION & COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY MEETING:
This afternoon, the Secretary-General is addressing the High-Level Meeting of
the Steering Committee of the Global
Alliance on
Information and Communications Technologies. The Alliance is one of his
initiatives.
RAINS CUT NUMBER OF KENYANS
IN NEED OF FOOD AID: The World Food Programme (WFP)
reports that
rains have reduced the number of drought-hit Kenyans in need of food aid from
3.5 million to 3 million.But despite that good news, WFP still needs $44 million
to continue feeding those still in need for another six months.
Among the Kenyans who still require assistance are nomadic
herders in the North and Northeast, who lost all their livestock – their only
assets – in the drought.
EX-BOSNIAN SERB LEADER IS
SENTENCED TO 27 YEARS:
Regarding the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, judges
today sentenced
a former member of the Bosnian Serb leadership, Momcilo Krajisnik, to 27 years,
convicting him of persecutions, extermination, murder, deportation and forced
transfer of non-Serb civilians during the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
MISS UNIVERSE SPEAKS OF A.I.D.S.
AWARENESS: Miss Universe 2006, Zuleyka Rivera of
Puerto Rico, was the United Nations this afternoon to
launch the AIDS Awareness Tour, an initiative supported by UNAIDS, the
Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and the Give them a Hand Foundation.
INITIATIVE WIDENS ACCESS TO
AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH: Over 100 of the world’s
poorest countries will now be able to
access
leading food and agriculture journals with the launch of the second phase of the
Global Online Research in Agriculture (AGORA) initiative, the Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced today. AGORA is a successful
public-private partnership between FAO, 37 of the world’s leading universities,
research institutes, government ministries and NGOs.
*** The guest at noon today was Craig
Barrett, Chairman of the Global Alliance on Information and Communications
Technologies.
Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162
Fax. 212-963-7055
