HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
U.N. HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Monday, December 18, 2006
ANNAN’S FINAL PRESS CONFERENCE TO BE
HELD TOMORROW
Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s
farewell press conference is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. tomorrow.
There will be no noon briefing
tomorrow.
The last scheduled noon
briefing for the year is scheduled for Friday, 22 December.
ANNAN
SENDS
SENIOR ENVOY TO
MEET WITH SUDANESE LEADER
The
Secretary-General
has decided to send to Khartoum,
Sudan, Ahmedou
Ould-Abdallah, a senior UN official, to deliver a message to the Sudanese
President following up on a weekend telephone conversation between the two
leaders.
Ould-Abdallah
will begin on Wednesday a diplomatic mission to clarify details of the
agreements reached last month at the
High-Level meeting
on Darfur, co-chaired by the Secretary-General and African Union (AU)
Commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konare in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and the
subsequent AU Peace and Security Council meeting in Abuja, Nigeria.
He will also
seek to clarify the proposed
joint “hybrid” operation of
the African Union and United Nations
in Darfur.
Meanwhile, at
UN Headquarters, the Secretary-General will meet this afternoon on Darfur with
all 15 members of the
current Security Council, plus the five incoming members for 2007.
Secretary-General designate Ban Ki-moon is also expected to attend that
meeting.
Asked why
the Secretary-General-designate was invited, the Spokesman said that the
Secretary-General had wanted to reach out to him and bring him up to speed on
the Darfur issue, which is one of the issues that remain as a priority at the
United Nations.
Asked
whether the envoy would attend a meeting that was to take place in Khartoum,
the Spokesman said that Ould-Abdallah’s mission is a one-time effort to obtain
as much clarity as possible about the Sudanese Government’s position on a
hybrid force, among other matters.
Ould-Abdallah, Dujarric said, is currently the Secretary-General’s Special
Representative for West Africa, but he is going as an envoy to Khartoum in his
capacity as a senior adviser of the Secretary-General. He is fully briefed on
Darfur and will be carrying a message from the Secretary-General.
Asked about
the work done by a UN team that visited Chad and the Central African Republic,
the Spokesman said that they will come out with a report on their activities.
“ALLIANCE OF
CIVILIZATIONS” SHOWS THE WAY FORWARD
The
Secretary-General, along with the Prime Ministers of Spain and Turkey, will
present the report of the High-Level Group of the
Alliance of Civilizations
to an informal plenary meeting of the General Assembly, this afternoon at UN
Headquarters.
In his
remarks, the Secretary-General is expected to say that the report, launched
last month in Istanbul, shows us a way forward. It emphasizes the problem is
not the faith but rather the conflicts, terrorism and other events of the past
several years that have exacerbated tensions amongst people. He is also
expected to say that the UN – at its best – epitomizes the work of the
Alliance.
Asked
whether the Secretary-General has been offered a position in the Alliance for
Civilizations once he leaves office, the Spokesman said that the
Secretary-General has been offered a number of posts but has not made any
decisions on accepting any of them. He will first take some months off, and
will then decide on his priorities.
He added,
in response to a question, that he was not aware of any Iranian funding for
the Alliance.
LEBANON BOMB PROBE
APPROACHING “SENSITIVE & COMPLICATED” PHASE
This
afternoon, the Security Council is hearing an open briefing from Serge
Brammertz, the head of the International Independent Investigation
Commission that has been looking into the assassination of former Lebanese
Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Following
that briefing, Council members will go into closed consultations to discuss
Brammertz’s most recent
report on
the Hariri investigation further with him.
That latest
report is available today, and in it, Brammertz says that the investigation
into the Hariri killing is approaching a sensitive and complicated phase, and
the Commission’s work can only be undertaken with confidentiality in order to
create a secure environment for its witnesses and staff. Meanwhile, the
Commission’s work on 14 other cases continues to bring to light significant
links between each case and with the Hariri case.
Asked
whether the Secretary-General met Brammertz during the latter’s recent trip to
New York, the Spokesman said that they had not met this time.
IRAQ: U.N. ENVOY CONDEMNS
RECENT ACTS OF VIOLENCE & TERROR
Ashraf Qazi,
the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq, today
condemned the recent acts of violence and terror that have further
deteriorated the fragile security condition in Baghdad and other parts of the
country.
The most
recent incidents were the car-bombs at the Tayaran square on 12 December, in
which scores of innocent people were killed or injured, and the kidnapping of
dozens of people from an Iraqi Red Crescent office in the Karrada district of
Baghdad yesterday.
Qazi appealed
to all Iraqis to join hands in combating such violence that threatens the
nation. He specifically noted the Prime Minister’s convening of a recent
reconciliation conference and said that such initiatives needed to be built
upon. In this regard, he urged the regional and international community to
assist the Prime Minister in his efforts.
ABUSE AGAINST MIGRANTS
MUST STOP
Today is
International Migrants Day. In a message to mark the occasion, the
Secretary-General says that today, more people are affected by international
migration than at any other time in history. He calls on the international
community to work together to ensure that this global trend benefits all
concerned, including the countries of origin and destination, as well as the
migrants themselves.
In a separate
message, High
Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour says that the reality for many
migrants is one of exploitation, exclusion, discrimination, abuse and violence
amounting to widespread human rights violations. This must change, she says.
SUSPICIOUS PACKAGE AT
HEADQUARTERS DEEMED TO BE HARMLESS
On Friday
afternoon, a letter that was in the process of being delivered to the fourth
floor of UN Headquarters was found to be leaking a white powder, and UN
Security was immediately informed about the suspicious package.
The New York
Police Department and Department of Environmental Protection responded to the
incident and preliminary tests discovered a harmless substance, namely flour.
This morning, New York’s Department of Health, after final test results came
in, confirmed that the substance was harmless.
In accordance
with host country protocol, during the first response, several persons had to
undergo decontaminating procedures as a precautionary measure – what is known
as “pre-contamination”. No injuries or medical conditions were reported, and
once the initial results came in, it was determined that there was no need for
any further decontamination measures.
Asked how
the letter had breached security, the Spokesman said that the UN security
service continues to examine the matter. He said that a messenger had been
delivering the mail, and found the suspicious letter in a mailbag, observing
white powder coming from an envelope.
Asked to
whom the letter had been sent, the Spokesman declined to identify the intended
recipient specifically, but noted that it was a reporter at the United
Nations. He added that, contrary to some reports, it was not sent to CNN.
ANNAN
WILL REMAIN SECRETARY-GENERAL THROUGH THE END OF 2006
Asked how long the
Secretary-General will be working, the Spokesman said that Kofi Annan
continues in his job until the start of 1 January, and will be in New York
until then.
His last planned workday,
Dujarric said, is Friday, 22 December. However, he added, the
Secretary-General will be in New York working from his home and will come into
the office if he needs to do so.
Asked about Annan’s pension, the
Spokesman said it was no more than the Secretary-General was entitled to get
after working for more than 30 years as a UN staff member and another 10 years
as Secretary-General. As a staff member the Secretary-General had contributed
to the pension fund and, like any other staff member who spent a considerable
amount of time within the organization, he is entitled to a pension. The Joint
Pension Board has guidelines regarding pensions entitled to staff who serve 30
years, and the General Assembly mandated a pension that is due to Annan for
his time as Secretary-General. Those two periods are separate, as Annan
stopped being a staff member when he became Secretary-General.
Asked about a meeting the
Secretary-General will have with staff at the staff cafeteria on Tuesday, the
Spokesman said that was deemed to be a large enough venue for an informal
get-together, at which give-and-take between the Secretary-General and staff
is expected.
OTHER
ANNOUNCEMENTS
ANNAN WELCOMES GREAT LAKES PACT:
In response to a question, the Spokesman noted that the Secretary-General views
the security and development pact that was reached in the Great Lakes as a
welcome development. The Secretary-General has been supportive of the process of
dialogue in the Great Lakes region and saw the regional pact as encouraging.
NEW U.N. POLICY HOPEFULLY TO BE
ANNOUNCED SOON: Asked
about a UN policy on the work done by departing UN officials, the Spokesman said
it was hoped that it could be announced soon.
SPOKESMAN
HIGHLIGHTS WORK DONE TOWARDS TWO-STATE SOLUTION IN MIDDLE EAST:
Asked about British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s efforts to deal with the
Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the Spokesman said that a two-state solution
is something that the Secretary-General and the Middle East Quartet have been
working to achieve.
UNITED NATIONS
LAUNCHES HAITI APPEAL:
The UN today
appealed for $98 million to help Haiti stabilize and develop itself.
Launched in Geneva, the appeal aims to reinforce the Haitian Government’s
capacity during the critical post-electoral transition period, so that it can
improve, among other things, its democratic institutions and its ability to
respond to natural disasters.
TSUNAMI
ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT RELEASED:
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has issued a
report on how funds deposited into the UN Tsunami Trust Fund were used.
Under the supervision of the UN Controller, that Fund was established to manage
contributions set aside for tsunami operations. The total amount received under
the Fund amounts to nearly $75 million. Since the start of operations, more than
$72 million of that amount has been allocated to 67 projects from 14 UN
organisations in seven countries.
U.N.
DEVELOPMENT CHIEF TO BRIEF PRESS:
Asked when UNDP Administrator Kemal Dervis would brief the press, the Spokesman
said it would be on 21 December.
Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162
Fax. 212-963-7055
