Secretary-General

Noon briefing of 2 February 2005


HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING

BY FRED ECKHARD
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Wednesday, February 2, 2004

IRAQ: U.N. ENVOY HOLDS TALKS WITH POLITICAL LEADERS ON
POST-ELECTION PHASE OF POLITICAL PROCESS

  • The Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Baghdad, Ashraf Qazi, is continuing to hold intensive talks with Iraqi leaders on the political situation in Iraq and the role the United Nations will play in the country in supporting the political process in the post election phase.

  • Qazi met with Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. They explored means through which the United Nations can help the Iraqis during the transitional process. This process is set to continue after the convening of the Transitional National Assembly with the drafting of a permanent constitution and adopting it through a national referendum ahead of holding new elections towards the end of the year.

  • The top UN official in Iraq also held similar talks with the president of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution, Abdul Aziz Al Hakim, and with the leading candidate from the United Iraqi Coalition, Iraqi nuclear scientist Hussein al-Shahristani.

  • Qazi is scheduled to hold further talks this week with leading Iraqi personalities representing various political trends in the country with a view to encouraging an inclusive political process and discussing United Nations support for it.

BILL CLINTON NAMED AS SECRETARY-GENERAL’S TSUNAMI ENVOY

  • The Spokesman confirmed yesterday afternoon that the Secretary-General has offered to former U.S. President Bill Clinton the position of his Special Envoy for Tsunami-affected Countries and he has accepted.

  • The Secretary-General is confident that President Clinton will bring energy, dynamism and focus to the task of sustaining world interest in the vital recovery and reconstruction phase following the tsunami disaster that hit South Asia. He believes that no one could possibly be better qualified for this task.

  • The terms of reference for President Clinton are still being finalized, but they will focus on reconstruction and recovery in the region, and ensuring that the international community stays engaged for the long term.

  • The Spokesman was therefore wide of his brief in responding to a question yesterday when he said that, if asked, President Clinton could extend good offices to the Indonesian and Sri Lankan Governments in their respective peace talks. His mandate will not include the peace processes that are in the hands of others.

ANNAN CONCERNED BY ATTACK ON AFRICAN UNION MONITORS

  • In a statement issued late yesterday, the Secretary-General’s expresses serious concern about the recent shooting at two African Union monitors in South Darfur on 31 January.

  • He strongly condemns this attack, which could jeopardize the fulfillment of the African Union mission in Darfur and which occurred at a time when the military observers were conducting investigations to verify allegations of aerial bombardments and other violations of the cease-fire agreement in the towns of Jayjay and Shangil Tobai.

  • The Secretary-General calls upon the Government and rebel forces in Darfur to respect the neutrality of African Union monitors, observers and police, as well as all international humanitarian workers, and he also urges them to investigate the shooting incident and take immediate action against those found responsible.

SUDAN: MORE REPORTS OF FIGHTING AND RAPE IN DARFUR

  • The Special Representative for Sudan will leave Khartoum this evening to New York where he is scheduled to take part in meetings of the Security Council on Sudan.

  • The UN mission, meanwhile, continues to send reports of insecurity on the ground.

  • Long-standing tensions over access to water in an area of North Darfur turned violent on Monday when clashes broke out between tribes. No further details are currently available, but this incident compounds concerns over a general water shortage in the region that has been worsened by the present drought conditions.

  • In South Darfur, security and military officials from Nyala travelled to a town where a gathering of internally displaced persons was reportedly attacked by militiamen a few days ago.

  • Three Norwegian Church Aid national staff members who were detained by local authorities at the beginning of January were released two days ago, the mission reports. Jan Pronk had urged local authorities to release aid workers during his visit to Darfur last week.

  • The mission also says it is receiving daily reports of rapes in one area of Darfur and reports that insecurity has caused new displacements of up to 50,000 people.

  • Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has appealed to humanitarian agencies to be on the look out for possible meningitis cases given the recent outbreak in Chad.

SECURITY COUNCIL APPROVES PROGRAMME OF WORK

  • The Security Council has approved its programme of work for the month of February.

  • Security Council President, Joel W. Adechi, Permanent Representative of Benin, briefed correspondents on the month’s programme immediately following the noon briefing.

COTE D’IVOIRE: SECURITY COUNCIL AUTHORIZES
U.N. MISSION TO MONITOR SANCTIONS

  • The Security Council yesterday unanimously approved a resolution which authorizes the UN Operation in Cote d’Ivoire and the French forces in that country to monitor the implementation of sanctions measures, imposed last year in Resolution 1572.

  • UN and French forces are also authorized to collect, as appropriate, arms and any related materiel brought into Cote d’Ivoire in violation of the sanctions measures.

  • The Security Council also requested the Secretary-General to create, within 30 days of the resolution’s adoption, a group of experts to examine the implementation of the sanctions.

  • In Cote d'Ivoire, the UN Operation in Cote d’Ivoire reports that Acting Special Representative, Alan Doss, and Force Commander, Abdoulaye Fall, were in Bouaké to discuss security related issues with officials of the Forces Nouvelles.

  • The talks will continue in order to facilitate the return of Forces Nouvelles ministers to cabinet meetings and pave the way to the disarmament process in Cote d’Ivoire, according to the mission.

U.N. ENVOY TO VISIT SYRIA AND LEBANON

  • The Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559 (2004), Terje Roed-Larsen, will visit Damascus on 5 February and Beirut on 8 February.

  • In both capitals he will hold talks with government officials and convey a message from the Secretary-General to President Bashar al-Assad of Syria and President Emile Lahoud of Lebanon.

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL TALKS ABOUT U.N.'S CHALLENGES

  • The Deputy Secretary-General, Louise Fréchette, is in Washington D.C. today, where she will be addressing the Women's Foreign Policy Group on "New Challenges for the United Nations."

  • She is expected to mention the importance of the United States in moving forward the UN’s renewal and reform process, and that America’s engagement has always been crucial for a strong and successful United Nations.

  • Following her speech, the Deputy-Secretary-General will take part in a question and answer session with participants.

INTERNATIONAL TOURISM REBOUNDS

  • The UN’s World Tourism Organization reports that, after three years of stagnant growth, international tourism rebounded in 2004.

  • According to the agency’s latest publication, the number of international tourists reached an all-time record high of 760 million -- an increase of 10% over 2003.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

UNITED NATIONS EXPECTS 38TH MILLIONTH VISITOR: The 38 millionth visitor to the United Nations is expected to take a guided tour of the building early this month. Close tallies of visitors have been kept since the first guided tour took place in 1952.

U.N. FLAG AT HALF MAST: The UN flag is flying at half-mast today in observance of the official mourning for Mr. Sami Kronfol, Permanent Representative of Lebanon to the UN, who passed away yesterday.

GUYANA FLOODS CORRECTION: Regarding the Guyana floods, the Spokesman corrected a number he read out yesterday. He had said that, according to the World Food Programme, some 375,000 people still remained in shelters. The number is actually 3,750.