HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY MARIE OKABE
DEPUTY SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

U.N.
HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Tuesday, July
24, 2007

INVITATIONS ARE SENT FOR
PRE-NEGOTIATIONS ON DARFUR

• Following several rounds of extensive and inclusive consultations, the
  African Union and the United Nations Special Envoys for
  
  Darfur, Salim Ahmed Salim and Jan Eliasson, have today issued invitations
  to leading personalities of the non-signatory movements to the Darfur Peace
  Agreement to participate in a meeting in Arusha, Tanzania, from the third to
  fifth of August 2007.
   
• The meeting was endorsed at the recent meeting in Tripoli, also under the
  co-chairmanship of the AU and UN Special Envoys.
   
• The objective of the upcoming Arusha meeting is to take stock of the
  progress made in the Road-map on the political process and for the Special
  Envoys to consult with the movements on the preparations for the upcoming
  final negotiations.
   
• Discussions will focus on the key role to be played by the Sudanese
  parties concerned in ensuring a speedy, negotiated and sustainable settlement
  of the Darfur conflict, including the format and venue of and participation in
  the negotiations.

SECRETARY-GENERAL TO MEET WITH
RESEARCHER
 ON UNDERGROUND WATER IN DARFUR

• Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is meeting this afternoon with the Boston
  University professor who led the research into the reported underground water
  supplies in Darfur.
   
• Dr. Farouk El-Baz is expected to travel next month to Sudan and join the
  UN Mission there
  and Sudanese geologists to conduct a survey of Darfur.
   
• The Secretary-General also met today with U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan,
  Mr. Andrew Natsios, who later
  spoke to reporters.

SECURITY COUNCIL BRIEFED ON U.N.
MISSION IN ETHIOPIA/ERITREA

• The Security Council held
  consultations today on the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE).
  Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hédi Annabi briefed
  Council members on the Secretary-General’s latest report on that mission,
  which recommends a six-month extension of it.

CONSIDERABLE WORK HAS TO BE DONE
TO HOLD ELECTION IN NEPAL

• The Secretary-General, in his latest
  report on
  the UN Mission in Nepal, says that, although he remains optimistic about that
  country’s peace process, it is clear that the national political scene has
  become more complex and challenging in the past few months.
   
• He warns that failure to ensure a credible election within a realistic and
  well-planned period could have a much more serious impact on the unity of the
  eight parties and their ability to act and function in unison within the
  existing coalition.
   
• The Secretary-General says that the UN Mission continues to advise that if
  the Constituent Assembly election is to be held this November, considerable
  work needs to be done to meet that objective, including improvements by the
  parties to the peace process in implementing their commitments.

NEARLY $50 MILLION NEEDED FOR
DISPLACED SOMALIS

• The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has
  launched a $48
  million appeal – to help Somali refugees and internally displaced persons who
  have fled the renewed conflict there.
   
• The money will be used to provide assistance through the end of next year
  to nearly 500-thousand people, including tens of thousands of Somalis who have
  sought refuge in neighboring Kenya, Ethiopia, Yemen and Djibouti.
   
• UNHCR also
  expects to gain greater access to internally displaced persons within Somalia,
  especially in the southern and central areas of the country.

HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN
RIGHTS
 URGES FAIR TRIALS IN ETHIOPIA

• Today, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour,
  
  welcomed the pardon and release – last Friday—of 38 political leaders and
  activists in Ethiopia.
   
• Arbour said the pardons were “significant for what they represent in terms
  of the expansion of the democratic space in Ethiopia.”
   
• The High
  Commissioner also urged fair proceedings for the 67 defendants still on
  trial and who face similar charges. Some of these trials are set to resume
  tomorrow.

I.A.E.A. TO SEND EXPERTS TO
EXAMINE NUCLEAR PLANT IN JAPAN

• International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
  Director General Mohamed ElBaradei
  
  welcomed an invitation by the Japanese Government to send specialists to
  jointly examine the current condition of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power
  Plant.
   
• He said the invitation is important for identifying lessons learned that
  might have implications for the international nuclear safety regime.
   
• The IAEA intends to send a team of IAEA and international experts in the
  coming weeks. The exact timing will be decided in consultation with the
  Japanese authorities.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES RELEASE OF BULGARIAN NURSES: Asked about
the Secretary-General’s reaction to the release of Bulgarian nurses and a
Palestinian doctor from Libya, the Spokeswoman said that he welcomed the
development.

UNITED NATIONS AWAITS REPLY FROM DUTCH GOVERNMENT ON LEBANON TRIBUNAL:
Asked whether the United Nations had received a reply from the Dutch Government
to the Secretary-General’s letter concerning the tribunal dealing with Rafik
Hariri’s assassination, the Spokeswoman noted that the letter had only been sent
on Monday, and the United Nations was awaiting a reply.

BAN-KI MOON FOLLOWS HOSTAGE SITUATION IN AFGHANISTAN CLOSELY: Asked
about the Koreans who had been abducted in Afghanistan, the Spokeswoman said
that the Secretary-General remains concerned about the plight of that very large
group of detainees, as well as about German and other abductees. He is in touch
with the UN Mission in Afghanistan about that matter.

*The guest at the noon briefing was John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for
Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, who gave updates on the
humanitarian crises in southern Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
and elsewhere.

Office of the Spokesman for the
Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
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Fax. 212-963-7055

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