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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MICHELE
MONTAS
SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
UN
HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Tuesday,
December 16, 2008
BAN KI-MOON TO
HOLD YEAR-END PRESS CONFERENCE TOMORROW
Tomorrow at 11
a.m., the Secretary-General will hold a year-end press conference.
There will be no
noon briefing tomorrow.
UNITED NATIONS
DECLARES SUPPORT FOR ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATIONS
The Security Council adopted Tuesday afternoon a
resolution declaring its support for the negotiations initiated at
Annapolis, Maryland, last year and its commitment to the irreversibility of
bilateral Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. The resolution was adopted by 14
votes in favor and one abstention.
Speaking at that meeting before the vote,
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
said that, although we still face many hurdles, a serious process is
underway, and we must ensure that what has been started is seen all the way
through to its conclusion. As we enter 2009, he said, we must stabilize the
situation on the ground and ensure that all tracks of the peace process are
intensified.
Monday afternoon, the Secretary-General had read out
the latest
statement by the Quartet dealing with the negotiations, adding that
efforts to advance the negotiations have been tireless, and are continuing.
He said that we look forward to working closely from the outset with the
administration of President-elect Barack Obama to achieve the goal of a
two-State solution and comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace.
The Quartet reaffirmed support for the bilateral,
comprehensive, direct, uninterrupted, confidential and ongoing
Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and commended Israel and the Palestinians
for their continuous efforts to conclude a peace treaty resolving all
outstanding issues without exception.
The Quartet called on all States to demonstrate their
support for the Annapolis process and their commitment to the two-state
solution by contributing to an environment conducive to an end to the
conflict.
Meanwhile, the office of the UN Special Coordinator for
the Middle East Peace Process informs us that the movement of goods into
Gaza at the crossing points was limited today, as crossings closed earlier
than scheduled because of the firing of rockets from Gaza towards Israel. A
total of 49 truckloads, including 17 for humanitarian aid agencies, were
allowed entry into Gaza today. Limited fuel was supplied from Israel to the
Gaza power plant, meaning that some power was able to be supplied to Gaza
city, reducing power cuts,
UNSCO adds.
SECURITY COUNCIL TO DISCUSS SOMALIA
PIRACY TODAY
This afternoon at 3:00, the Security Council will hold
a formal meeting to consider a draft resolution concerning efforts to deal
with piracy and armed robbery in the waters off the coast of Somalia.
The Secretary-General expects to address Council
members at that meeting.
Meanwhile, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime today put
forward
several proposals to combat piracy in the Horn of Africa region.
Asked about the actions taken
by Kenya against the President of Somalia, the Spokeswoman noted the
Secretary-General’s concerns about signs of a split within Somalia’s
Transitional Federal Government, adding that the United Nations was
monitoring the situation.
SPECIAL ENVOY FOR NIGER IS REPORTED
MISSING
Asked about the
Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Niger, Robert Fowler, who was reported
as missing in that country, the Spokeswoman said that Fowler had undertaken
two exploratory visits to the region in his capacity as Special Envoy.
By appointing
Fowler, she said, the Secretary-General wanted to ensure that the United
Nations remained engaged in supporting efforts of the Government and people
of Niger in addressing various challenges to the country’s stability.
He has visited
Niger on a number of occasions previously to consult with Government and
other national actors on issues of conflict prevention and conflict
resolution.
Fowler arrived
on 11 December during this current trip.
Asked why
Fowler’s appointment as Special Envoy had not been announced, Montas said
that, given that the assignment was exploratory in nature, any public
announcement would have prejudiced the evolution of the Special Envoy’s
mission. She added that the Government of Niger was informed in July of this
appointment, as is customary of good offices appointments. His contract, she
added, allows for him to be paid for days when he is actually employed.
She added that
not all good offices missions are announced before any results are achieved.
Asked why he was
selected for the job, Montas noted Fowler’s record as a respected diplomat
with longtime experience at the United Nations.
Asked about his
whereabouts, the Spokeswoman said that Fowler had been traveling with a
Canadian aide and a UNDP driver, in a marked UNDP vehicle, about 45
kilometers from the capital, Niamey, when all three disappeared. There has
not been any solid information on his whereabouts, she said.
She added, in
response to further questions about whether he had been taken hostage, that
there has been no solid information on that; rather, there have been
contradictory messages on the Internet, which are currently being studied.
Those messages would need to be evaluated before any further comment is
made, Montas said.
Asked whether
Canada had been informed of Fowler’s travels, she said that the Governments
of Niger and Canada had been provided with information.
BAN KI-MOON DEPLORES “FAILURE OF
LEADERSHIP” IN ZIMBABWE
The Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Security
Council yesterday afternoon that “we continue to witness a failure of the
leadership in Zimbabwe to address the political, economic, human rights and
humanitarian crisis that is confronting the country and to do what is best
for the people of Zimbabwe.”
He also deplored the fact that "neither the (Harare)
government nor the mediator (the Southern African Development Community or
SADC) welcomes a United Nations political role.”
“This clearly limits our ability to effectively help
find immediate remedies to this crisis," he said.
The lack of progress on the political front is
accompanied by a “dramatic” deterioration in living conditions and of the
humanitarian situation, the Secretary-General noted.
He urged all parties to put the interests of the people
of Zimbabwe first and to make all the compromises necessary for a workable
political solution to emerge in the coming days.
The people of Zimbabwe cannot afford to wait any
longer, he said.
Regarding the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe, the World
Health Organization today said it hoped to inaugurate this week a
Cholera Command Control Centre to properly coordinate the different
activities regarding the cholera outbreak and to better identify where the
cases were emerging and to better respond to them.
DARFUR REFUGEES
IN IRAQ ARE RELOCATED TO ROMANIA
The African Union-United Nations operation (UNAMID)
in Darfur reports today that it is dispatching an assessment mission
following the reported tribal clashes in South Darfur.
Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR)
reports that a group of 97 Sudanese refugees, mainly from Darfur, who have
been stranded in a makeshift camp in the desert in Iraq since 2005, left
this morning for Amman, Jordan, from where they are scheduled to fly to
Romania. In Romania they will be housed in a new Emergency Transit Centre
while they wait for their resettlement applications to be processed.
The refugees suffered abuse, blackmail, eviction and
assaults by militias in Iraq. A total of 17 Sudanese were killed between
December 2004 and February 2005.
Because of this targeting by the insurgent groups, the
refugees tried to flee Iraq but were not successful. They became stranded in
a camp east of the Jordan/Iraq border. Here they were subject to severe
weather conditions and harassment by militias. UNHCR has delivered
humanitarian aid to the group, which includes women and children, while
trying to find a durable solution for them.
DR CONGO: REFUGEE AGENCY CONDEMNS
SHOOTING DEATH OF RELIEF WORKER
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) is
saddened by the shooting death yesterday in North Kivu of a Congolese
worker for the Voluntary Association for International Service. UNHCR says
armed men ambushed the vehicle carrying a number of the relief agency’s
staff and opened fire on it. The incident took place outside Rutshuru, a
town near the provincial capital of Goma. The Voluntary Association for
International Service has been helping Congolese civilians since 2002 and
has lately focused on the plight of children in camps for Internally
Displaced Persons (IDPs).
UNHCR has also voiced concern at reports from Rutshuru
that Laurent Nkunda's rebels are coercing displaced civilians to return to
their villages. The more than 10,000 displaced civilians have been staying
in a makeshift camp near a UN peacekeeping base. They have said that they
are seeking UN protection because they fear reprisals if they return to
their homes at this time.
Meanwhile, Alan Doss, the Secretary-General’s Special
Representative, has
returned from his first trip to Dungu, a town in Orientale Province,
where repeated raids by the Lord’s Resistance Army have displaced tens of
thousands of civilians. Doss said he was in Dungu in a show of solidarity
with the people of the region. He strongly condemned killings perpetrated by
the LRA, which he called “an organization that has no reason to exist and
must be brought to justice.”
TOP HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICIAL CONDEMNS
“UNPRECENDENTED” ISRAELI ACTION AGAINST U.N. EXPERT
High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay today criticized Israel’s
refusal to allow UN expert Professor Richard Falk to transit Israel in order
to carry out his officially mandated functions in the occupied Palestinian
territories.
She called the situation -- along with his
detention at, and subsequent expulsion from, the country’s main airport --
“unprecedented and deeply regrettable.”
Falk was travelling in his official
capacity as Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the
occupied Palestinian territories.
He was stopped at immigration shortly
after arriving Sunday at Ben Gurion Airport.
He remained there for more than 20 hours
before being deported to the U.S., according to OHCHR. The Office adds that
Professor Falk followed standard practice in his travels.
Pillay said she was taking the matter up directly with
the Israeli authorities, including possible breaches of UN privileges and
immunities.
Asked whether Falk had
followed standard procedure, the Spokeswoman referred to the statement by
Pillay, which indicated that he had done so. She noted that the
Secretary-General had expressed his own concerns about Falk’s treatment on
Monday.
CYPRUS UNITY TALKS FOCUS ON POWERS OF
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
The Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus
Alexander Downer today spoke to the press, following the meeting of Cyprus
leaders in the U.N. Protected Area of Nicosia.
He said that today’s meeting discussed external
relations and the powers of a federal government. Downer added that the
next agenda item is the “hierarchy of norms”, or the relationship between
the laws of the constituent states and the federal government. The next
meeting is scheduled for Monday, December 22nd.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
WORLD FOOD
PROGRAMME APPEALS FOR “HUMAN RESCUE” AMID FINANCIAL RESCUE SCHEMES: The head
of the World Food Programme today
urged countries
to allocate a small fraction of their proposed financial rescue packages to
meeting the world’s urgent hunger needs. WFP hopes to feed nearly 100 million
people in 2009, and will begin in the new year needing more than $5.2 billion
for urgent hunger needs.
IKEA STORES DONATE TO UNICEF: As part of an annual
campaign, UNICEF is benefiting from holiday sales of soft toys at IKEA. The
department store chain is donating one euro for each toy sold through 24
December. The funds will be used to finance education projects run by UNICEF
and Save the Children.
DISASTER ASSESSMENT TEAM EN ROUTE TO PAPUA
NEW GUINEA: The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is
sending today a six-member U.N. Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC)
team in support of the UN country team in Papua New Guinea. On 8 December,
rising sea levels hit the northern shoreline of Papua New Guinea, affecting
eight provinces across the pacific island. An estimated 50,000 to 60,000 people
have been affected.
BAN KI-MOON HAS
NO IMMEDIATE PLANS TO VISIT MYANMAR: Asked whether
the Secretary-General had decided to visit Myanmar, the Spokeswoman recalled
that the Secretary-General had made clear that he would have to have an
indication that a visit would be productive before he decides to go. Asked
whether his Special Adviser, Ibrahim Gambari, would visit the country, she said
that Gambari is in touch with number of people in the region but has no
immediate plans to visit Myanmar.
CONDITIONS IN HAITI REMAIN
DIRE: Asked about the UN's reaction to a
decision by US authorities to start once more to repatriate Haitian illegal
immigrants, the Spokeswoman noted that the United Nations still believes that
the situation in Haiti remains dire following the recent hurricanes
that have devastated the island.
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