HIGHLIGHTS OF
THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MICHELE MONTAS
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
Monday,
January 21, 2008
BAN KI-MOON IS
TO BEGIN FIVE-NATION TRIP
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is scheduled to leave later
today for Switzerland. Tomorrow, he is scheduled to visit the
International Olympic Committee in Lausanne and the
Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva.
On Wednesday, he is scheduled to address the Conference
on Disarmament, and take part in a memorial service for the victims of the
Algiers bombing. He then heads to Davos to attend the World Economic Forum.
The Secretary-General plans to travel to four more
countries during the following week.
In his first official visit to Eastern Europe, he’ll be
in Slovenia, which currently holds the European Union presidency, starting
Friday night.
After that, he makes a one-day visit to Slovakia, and
then continues on to Kigali, Rwanda, where he will make a speech at the
Genocide Memorial.
Then, he travels to Addis Ababa, where he will address
the opening of the African Union Summit meeting on Thursday, January 31st.
SECURITY
COUNCIL SCHEDULES
CONSULTATIONS ON MIDDLE EAST TODAY
The Security
Council has scheduled closed consultations today at 3.30 pm in connection with
the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.
FUEL BLOCKADE
OF GAZA THREATENS U.N. HUMANITARIAN WORK
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in
the Near East (UNRWA) says that it may
be unable to continue its food distribution and other key operations in Gaza
if the closure at Gaza’s crossing points continues.
Karen AbuZayd, the Agency’s Commissioner-General, says
that UNRWA is about to run out of its own fuel supplies
in two more days. Although the Agency has sufficient
food stocks in Gaza, it will not be able to continue its support to 860,000
Gaza residents past Wednesday if it lacks fuel to transport food or the nylon
bags for food distribution.
AbuZayd warned, “It’s very cold
here. There’s no fuel, no water, little electricity.”
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon,
in a statement
issued late Friday, appealed urgently for an immediate end to the violence now
engulfing Gaza and affecting communities in southern Israel and reminded the
parties once more of their obligation to comply with international
humanitarian law and not to endanger civilians.
He warned that the decision by
Israel to close the crossing points between Gaza and Israel, used for the
delivery of humanitarian assistance, cuts off the population from much-needed
fuel supplies used to pump water and generate electricity to homes and
hospitals. The Secretary-General called on Israel to refrain from actions that
will harm the well-being of the general civilian population in Gaza.
The Secretary-General also
expressed his
deep concern that the hostilities taking place on the ground will undermine
the hopes for peace generated by the political process begun at Annapolis.
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL TO HOLD SPECIAL
SESSION ON WEDNESDAY
In Geneva, the
Human Rights Council
will hold a Special Session this Wednesday, at the request of the Group of Arab
States and the Group of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, to consider
and take action on “human rights violations emanating from Israeli military
incursions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”, including in Gaza and the
West Bank town of Nablus.
SECURITY
COUNCIL DISCUSSES IRAQ
The Security Council
this morning received
a briefing
on the enlarged role of the UN Mission in
Iraq by the head of that mission, Special Representative Staffan de
Mistura.
De Mistura told the Council that the past weeks have
witnessed some tentative and overdue, but certainly welcome, steps towards
national reconciliation and inclusive political dialogue.
And he talked about the United Nations’ increased efforts
to deal with the issues of disputed internal boundaries, returnees, cholera,
economic reconstruction and regional dialogue.
The Security Council also heard from U.S. Ambassador
Zalmay Khalilzad, who briefed them on the work of the Multinational Force for
Iraq.
BAN KI-MOON HAS RECEIVED ALGERIA’S
LETTER
ON PLANNED INDEPENDENT INQUIRY INTO ALGIERS BOMBING
Asked about meetings over the
weekend between Chef de Cabinet Vijay Nambiar and the Algerian Permanent
Representative and Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, the
Spokeswoman acknowledged those meetings, and added that the United Nations has
also received a letter from the Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs.
She said that the UN
Secretariat has been in touch with the Algerian authorities and are aware of
their concerns, and it is making strenuous efforts to overcome any
misunderstanding and to obtain the cooperation of the Algerian authorities
with the Independent Review Panel that the Secretary-General intends to
establish.
Montas said that the panel is
not a criminal investigation, but is intended as an independent review panel
that will look at the specific lessons learned from the most recent events.
She said that the panel will address strategic issues vital to the delivery
and enhancement of staff security for the United Nations, in its operations
around the world.
What is important, she added,
is that concerted efforts be made to fight international terrorism and prevent
such acts from occurring. After the panel reports back with its
recommendations, she said the Secretariat would work with the General Assembly
to ensure better safety and security for UN staff and premises all around the
world.
The safety of UN personnel remains an utmost
priority of the Organization, the Spokeswoman asserted.
DARFUR ENVOYS CONCLUDE VISIT TO SUDAN
The UN and AU Special Envoys for Darfur, Jan Eliasson and
Salim Ahmed Salim, have wrapped up a weeklong visit to Sudan in an effort to
infuse new momentum into the peace process.
At a press conference held in Khartoum over the weekend,
Jan Eliasson said the envoys now have the full commitment of two of the five
Movements to the peace process, and to attend the pre-negotiations meeting as
soon as it can be arranged.
PEACEKEEPING OFFICIALS MEET SUDANESE
OFFICIALS, VISIT DARFUR
Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations
Jean-Marie Guehenno is scheduled to arrive in Sudan today for a four-day visit
during which he will meet with Sudanese Government officials.
Ahead of Mr. Guehenno’s visit, Assistant
Secretary-General Jane Holl Lute arrived in Khartoum on Friday and flew to
Darfur the following day. She visited all three states in Darfur before
returning to Khartoum today, where she met with the Undersecretary at the
Sudan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Mutrif Siddiq.
While in Darfur, she visited camps housing displaced
people, met with local Government officials and the civilian and military
leadership of the African Union/United Nation Mission in Darfur (UNAMID),
including AU/UN Joint Special Representative Rodolphe Adada.
Meanwhile, in Khartoum, in what UNAMID described as an
important confidence-building meeting held at the Staff College in Khartoum
over the weekend, the UNAMID Force Commander General Martin Luther Agwai and
the Mission’s Police Commissioner, Major General Mike Fryer, gave detailed
briefings and clarifications about UNAMID to the Sudanese Armed Forces, Police
and State Security Service.
The UNAMID Police Commissioner emphasized the need to
intensify community policing, fight against gender-based violence and improve
co-operation between UNAMID Police, Government Police and the Movements’
Police in Darfur.
Asked about the appointment of
janjaweed leader Musa Hilal to a senior Sudanese Government post, the
Spokeswoman noted that Hilal is on
a
Security Council sanctions list, subjecting him to a travel ban and other
sanctions.
THOUSANDS ARE DISPLACED IN KENYA AS
CRISIS PERSISTS
The political
crisis is entering its third week with no let-up in violence and a heavy
police presence reported in Nairobi and towns, the UN Country Team has
observed.
According to UNICEF, there
are approximately
1,000 displaced persons arriving in Nakuru on a daily basis from
violence-affected areas in North Rift Valley Province.
Kenyan authorities now estimate at 116,000 the number of
people displaced in the North Rift region and WFP, in cooperation with Kenyan
authorities, is readying a distribution plan to provide up to one month of
food rations to the displaced.
Also in Nakuru, UNICEF says 18 of 134 schools remain
closed, as some 240 teachers have failed to report to work.
People in Nairobi’s Kibera slum continue to need food
assistance and UN humanitarian workers have planned another round of food
distribution for some 2,000 households later this week.
AGENCIES APPEAL FOR EDUCATION ASSISTANCE
TO DISPLACED SOMALI CHILDREN
UN Humanitarian workers in Somalia report that tensions
remain high in the disputed Sool region. This comes after violent clashes on
January 13th between troops from the self-declared autonomous Puntland and
Somaliland provinces.
While there is no confirmation of internal displacement
of civilians due to the latest fighting, the UN Refugee Agency has registered
some 1,240 people from Sool in Yemen since the start of this year. UNHCR also
reports some 20,000 newly displaced persons from Mogadishu in recent weeks due
to ongoing violence in the capital.
The World Food Programme, meanwhile, has resumed food
distribution for some 200,000 internally displaced persons at camps along the
Afgooye-Mogadishu road.
With some 7,400 children attending classes in some 30
makeshift schools, UN humanitarian agencies are concerned that the constant
movement of families on the run from the violence has left some 4,000 people
remaining on waiting lists. The agencies have appealed for additional
emergency educational structures in the Afgooye area.
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT PROSECUTOR
TO VISIT CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC),
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, will travel to the Central African Republic on January
24th to meet with victims, representatives of civil society and the local
population.
He will participate in a public dialogue, and will also
meet senior government officials. He will visit the ICC local field office,
which opened in October 2007.
The Prosecutor’s visit comes in the context of the
investigation he opened into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in
that country.
LEBANON PEACEKEEPING FORCE CONDUCTS
NAVAL EXERCISE
Over the past three days, the
UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)
has conducted a maritime exercise off the coast of southern Lebanon in
cooperation with the Lebanese Navy. The three-day operation involves
amphibious landing of military personnel and equipment by the sea route.
The exercise involves naval
units from France and Italy, as well as from UNIFIL’s Maritime Task Force and
the Lebanese Armed Forces.
UNIFIL Force Commander
Major-General Claudio Graziano said “The aim of this exercise is to improve
cooperation and establish coordination mechanisms between the different naval
and land forces involved.”
KIVU CONFERENCE EXPECTED TO CLOSE
TUESDAY
Expected to end
today, the Conference on Peace, Security and Development in the Kivu provinces
of the Democratic Republic of the Congo will now see its last day of formal
consultations tomorrow or Wednesday.
That’s according to the UN Mission in the DRC, which adds
that delegates are expected to adopt a final report that will record the
consensus positions on the issues discussed these past two weeks at the event
Goma.
Also taking place in Goma this weekend was the 5th
meeting of the Task Force of the Joint Monitoring Group. At that meeting, the
Congolese delegation said that their Government’s effort to sensitize Rwandan
combatants exiled in the DRC, including the ex-FAR/Interahamwe, on the need
for them to return home. Rwanda, for its part, declared its intention to draw
up and submit to the DRC a list of some 6000 suspected genocidaires
they believe to be among its citizens exiled in the DRC.
The UN Mission, meanwhile, is urging members of the Ituri
Patriotic Resistance Front to surrender to the Congolese Army, whose troops
are now dislodging the insurgents from hideouts in the towns Kamatsy and
Tchei.
ON OFFICIAL VISIT TO EGYPT, DEPUTY
SECRETARY-GENERAL
ATTENDS CULTURAL DIALOGUE WORKSHOPS
Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose
Migiro has traveled to
Alexandria, Egypt, to participate in the closing session of the Third
Conference and Cultural Workshops on "Dialogue among Peoples and Cultures in
the Euro-Mediterranean and Gulf Areas."
Over the weekend, she was in Cairo where she delivered a
keynote
address at the opening session of a high-level symposium on trends in
development cooperation.
The Deputy Secretary-General said that the Symposium was
a welcome opportunity to underscore the pre-eminent place of development
cooperation on the agenda of the international community. She stressed the
commitment of the Secretary-General and herself to strengthening the
development work of the United Nations through implementing the outcome of the
2005 World Summit.
PEACEBUILDING COMMISSION TAKES UP
GUINEA-BISSAU
Today, the Peacebuilding Commission is holding its first
formal Country-Specific Meeting on Guinea-Bissau.
Members met today to discuss, among other things, the
upcoming travel of the Meeting's Chair (the Permanent Representative of
Brazil, Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti) to Guinea-Bissau to assess the situation
there and report back to the Commission with recommendations for specific
peacebuilding assistance.
Last month, the Commission added Guinea-Bissau as the
third country on its agenda, joining Sierra Leone and Burundi.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
U.S. CONGRESSMAN PLAYED NO ROLE IN BAN
KI-MOON’S MEETINGS WITH SUDANESE LEADERSHIP: Asked
about the role of Congressman Mark Siljander in facilitating meetings between
the Secretary-General and the Sudanese Government, the Spokeswoman said that
although the Congressman had offered informal services, he was not at any
meetings between the Secretary-General and the Sudanese Government and did not
arrange any of these meetings. The
Secretary-General had five meetings with President Bashir: two
in Riyadh, two in Khartoum and one in Addis Ababa. Montas said that all those
meetings were arranged through diplomatic channels.
MYANMAR’S INVITATION TO U.N. SPECIAL ADVISOR STANDS:
Asked whether there had been any change in
the Government of Myanmar’s stated intention not to allow Special Adviser
Ibrahim Gambari into the country earlier than late March, the Spokeswoman said
there has been no change.
**The guest at the
noon briefing was the Secretary-General's Special Representative Staffan de
Mistura for Iraq following his briefing to the Security Council.
Office of the Spokesperson for the
Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
Tel. 212-963-7162
Fax. 212-963-7055
