Noon briefing of 14 April 2004

Wednesday, April 14, 2004
U.N. SPECIAL ADVISER BRAHIMI OUTLINES TENTATIVE IDEAS FOR IRAQ

• The Secretary-General's Special Advisor, Lakhdar Brahimi, briefed journalists in Baghdad today, before he returns to New York to brief the Secretary-General and the Security Council.
  
• Brahimi said that, despite the security situation, which limited his movements, he and his team have managed to meet with a wide scope of Iraqis. Brahimi also expressed once more his deep sorrow for the loss of life and destruction that has befallen Fallujah, parts of Baghdad and other parts of Iraq .
  
• While his recommendations would not be finalized until a further trip to Iraq for more consultations, he outlined a number of preliminary observations and a few tentative ideas.
  
• The current security situation, he said, makes it all the more urgent for the political process to continue. Therefore, the election planned for January 2005 is the most important milestone for the country, he said.
  
• Brahimi said he was confident that a caretaker government could be formed during the month of May. He outlined that the government should be led by a Prime Minister and constituted by men and women known for their integrity, competence and honesty.
  
• Brahimi said he agreed with the suggestion that a large national conference be held to promote national reconciliation and consensus. Such a gathering could be held in July, with the aim of electing a consultative assembly to serve alongside the caretaker government.
  
• He said that the security situation needs to improve for elections to take place in an acceptable environment.
  
• Last, he said that many Iraqis had appealed to him regarding the thousands of Iraqis who are being detained without charge. These people, Brahimi said, should either be charged or released and their families and lawyers should be given access to them. He also noted that it was difficult to understand that thousands of sorely needed Iraqi professionals were dismissed during the de-Baathification process.
  
• Earlier today, Brahimi met with a wide range of Iraqi officials and professionals, including National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie and Governing Council member Jalal Talabani.
  
• In response to questions on Brahimi's meetings, the Spokeswoman said that he had been able to meet with a wide range of Iraqis. He has not met with Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
  
• Asked about Brahimi's presentation of ideas today, she said that he had clearly put down a marker, following his consultations over the past 11 days. He now wants to have those ideas discussed in Iraq, as well as in New York, with the Secretary-General and Security Council.
  
• Asked about the contrast between Brahimi's comments today, and the Secretary-General's cautious comments on Tuesday about a future UN role, the Spokeswoman noted that the Secretary-General had mentioned UN security concerns in Iraq after he was asked about that subject by reporters.
  
• Asked when Brahimi would be in New York, she said he would come towards the end of this month.
  
• Asked about the evolution of the relationship between the United Nations and the Coalition Provisional Authority, the Spokeswoman said that Brahimi had mentioned the transformation from the CPA, which is to expire on June 30. She noted that the United Nations is in constant touch with the United States.
  
• Asked about appeals to the Secretary-General from Iraqis about the violence, she drew attention to the recent statements the Secretary-General had made on that subject, as well as the call for humanitarian access to Fallujah and other sites made this week by the acting Special Representative for Iraq, Ross Mountain.

• The Security Council held consultations to review its program of work for April.
  
• Also, under “other matters,” the Council received a briefing from Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland on the humanitarian situation in northern Uganda.
  
• The President of the Security Council read out a press statement on Uganda once consultations adjourned, saying that Council members strongly condemned the atrocities carried out by the so-called Lord's Resistance Army and expressed their deep concern about the humanitarian crisis.
  
• Egeland also discussed recent developments in the Darfur region of Sudan in today's Council consultations.
  
• The Security Council will also hold its monthly luncheon with the Secretary-General today.

• UNICEF , the UN Children's Fund, facilitated the release on Tuesday of nearly 150 former child soldiers by the Tamil Tigers in eastern Sri Lanka .
  
• This latest demobilization is the single biggest formal release of child soldiers by the Tamil Tigers. UNICEF said it hopes that this release is the start of a new trend by the Tigers towards the large-scale demobilization of child soldiers.

• This morning, the General Assembly focused on road safety for the first time in its history.
  
• Speaking at the opening meeting, Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette noted that until now, the road safety crisis has been largely off the radar screen of public policy, which is surprising, given that 1.2 million men, women and children are killed in traffic accidents every year. She added that more than 80 percent of those deaths occur in low- and middle- income countries and that most of them are preventable.
  
• The Deputy Secretary-General called upon Member States and civil society to use safety devices, improve the design of roads and vehicles, and take firmer action against speeding and those who drive while impaired by alcohol or drugs.
  
• Road safety is no accident, she said. The less we do about it, the more lives will be shattered.

• A case of polio has been reported in Botswana – a country which had been polio-free since 1991.
  
• The World Health Organization says the virus has been closely linked to poliovirus endemic to northern Nigeria. Over the past 18 months, polio viruses linked to that of northern Nigeria have spread and caused new polio cases in another eight previously polio-free nearby countries.
  
• The WHO, along with the Government of Botswana, UNICEF and other parties, is currently preparing an emergency response.

• A three-day meeting on Small Island Developing States has begun today here at UN Headquarters.
  
• The event is a preparatory meeting ahead of the UN International Meeting to Review the Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, at the end of August this year.
  
• Today's meeting is part of the twelfth session of the Commission of Sustainable Development, which opens on Thursday. The main part of the Commission's session begins on Monday, and ends 30 April.

, the executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime has called for greater community consensus in order to curb drug abuse . He also stressed the importance of preventive and therapeutic action before drug abuse becomes a health, social and financial burden for communities. Costa made the comments in Spain, at a conference of grass-roots and volunteer organizations involved in efforts to reduce drug abuse.

PROJECT "LINK" MEETING OPENS AT UNITED NATIONS : One hundred economists from sixty countries and several international organizations today opened a three-day meeting at UN headquarters, as part of Project LINK, a research venture organized by the United Nations and the University of Toronto.

* The guest at today's briefing was Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland, who discussed the humanitarian situation in northern Uganda.

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