HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING
BY
STEPHANE DUJARRIC
ASSOCIATE
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Thursday,
May 5, 2005
UNITED NATIONS
LIAISING WITH NEW YORK CITY AUTHORITIES
ON EXPLOSION OUTSIDE U.K. CONSULATE
The United Nations is liaising closely with the New York
City authorities following the explosion outside the British Consulate in
Manhattan early this morning. [The Police
Department informed the United Nations that a UN staff member had been taken
into custody for questioning. We have since been informed that the staff
member has been released.]
Although there is no known specific concern, as a
precautionary measure, we will be increasing security around the UN building
and annexes.
All canine teams have been called out to duty and will be
deployed to patrol UN buildings until further notice.
Also, there is an increased security presence at entry
points to the UN Headquarters and annex buildings.
Asked whether the United Nations had received any
threats, the Spokesman said he was not aware of any specific threat, but an
attack on any target in New York was a cause for concern, and prompted the
United Nations to take precautionary measures.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY CONFIRMS TWO SENIOR
APPOINTMENTS
The
General Assembly today
confirmed
Kemal Dervis of Turkey as the next Administrator of the
UN Development Program (UNDP), for a four-year term; and
Inga-Britt Ahlenius of Sweden as the Under-Secretary-General for
Internal Oversight Services.
Asked when Dervis will take over at UNDP, the Spokesman
said he believed that he would take office on 15 August. That, in turn, would allow Mark Malloch Brown to focus on
his job as Chef de Cabinet, he added.
ANNAN SADDENED BY KILLING OF TWO
TEENAGERS IN WEST BANK;
WELCOMES
U.N. VERIFICATION TEAM ASSURED OF NO
REPEAT OF SHOOTING INCIDENT
Asked about the work of the UN verification team in
Lebanon, the Spokesman said that the team was continuing its work, and had
made intensive contacts with field authorities in Lebanon to make sure that
the shooting incident on Wednesday does not recur.
He underscored that the team’s mandate is to have free
and unhindered access throughout Lebanon, to verify the withdrawal of Syrian
military forces and intelligence personnel.
He said that, in yesterday’s incident, the team had been
going to a camp run by the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine-General Command when warning shots were fired at them. They did not
enter the camp.
Asked about the work of the
UN Electoral Affairs Division in Lebanon, the Spokesman said it was there
to assist the Lebanese authorities as they prepare for Parliamentary
elections.
Asked whether Carina Perelli, the Director of that
Division, has credibility given a review of the Division, the Spokesman said
she is a top electoral expert, and the matter being looked into does not
relate to her substantive work.
SECURITY COUNCIL EXTENDS MANDATE OF U.N.
OPERATION IN COTE D’IVOIRE
AND ISSUES STATEMENTS ON GEORGIA AND LEBANON
There are no meetings or consultations of the
Security Council scheduled for today.
Yesterday afternoon, the Security Council decided to
extend the mandate of the
UN Operation in Côte d’Ivoire, and of the French forces supporting it, for
one month, until 4 June 2005.
Then following a private meeting and consultations on
Georgia, the Council
President, Ambassador Ellen Margrethe
Løj of Denmark, read out a
press statement in which Council members welcomed the recent high-level
meeting of the Group of Friends under UN Chairmanship in Geneva where both the
Georgian and Abkhaz sides expressed their willingness to intensify the search
for a settlement of the conflict by peaceful means only.
And finally, in a
presidential statement, the Council welcomed the fact that the parties
concerned in Lebanon had made significant progress towards implementing some
of the provisions contained in its
resolution 1559. The Council also expressed concern that the requirements
of the resolution had not yet been met.
CALM IN SIERRA LEONE HAS ALLOWED
PROGRESS TOWARDS PEACE
The latest
report by the
Secretary-General to the
Security Council on Sierra Leone is out today.
In it, he notes the generally calm political and security
situation in Sierra Leone, which has allowed for further progress to be made
towards consolidating peace.
He also notes that the work of the
Special Court for Sierra Leone has proceeded satisfactorily. And
with regard to the judicial process set in motion by the indictments of the
former President of Liberia, Charles Taylor, and the former Armed Forces
Revolutionary Council (AFRC) leader, Johnny Paul Koroma, and subsequent Court
decisions relating to the indictments, the Secretary-General says the law
should be allowed to take its course.
He recommends that the Security Council extend the
mandate for a final period of six months, until the end of 2005.
The Security Council is scheduled to take up the report
on 17 May.
NEW PROSECUTOR FOR SPECIAL COURT FOR
SIERRA LEONE
The
Secretary General has
appointed Desmond de Silva QC as the new prosecutor for the UN-backed
Special Court for Sierra Leone.
De Silva will replace David
Crane, who completes his three year contract in July.
De Silva is from the United
Kingdom, and he was nominated by the Government of Sierra Leone to the post of
Deputy Prosecutor in 2002.
ANNAN CONCERNED OVER KIDNAPPING OF THREE
ROMANIANS IN IRAQ
The
Secretary-General is following with concern the situation of the three
Romanian journalists and their guide taken hostage in Iraq last March.
He expresses the hope that they will be released quickly
and safely and reiterates his condemnation of all hostage-takings and killings
of innocent civilians, which no cause can ever justify.
U.N. MISSION IN AFGHANISTAN CONDEMNS
KILLING OF THREE WOMEN
The
UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan today
called on the Afghan authorities to spare no effort to swiftly bring to
justice the murderers of three women who were killed in the province of
Baghlan.
The seriousness of the crime, the Mission said, is
compounded by the fact that a note was left at the scene, implying that the
killing of the three women was linked to their work with a non-governmental
organization. There is no confirmation that this was the motive for the
killing, but the UN Mission strongly condemns any threat to women working for
NGOs.
U.N. REFUGEE AGENCY EXPECTS TO
REPATRIATE UP TO 400,000 AFGHANS
UN Goodwill Ambassador
Angelina Jolie saw off a convoy of trucks carrying Afghans home from
Pakistan on Thursday as the total number repatriating under the UN refugee
agency programme in the 2005 season passed the 50,000 mark.
The
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees expects
up to 400,000 Afghans to repatriate this year, following 2.3 million who came
back under the programme in the three previous years.
Angelina Jolie has been a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador for
nearly four years, and she has undertaken missions to meet refugees around
the world – including each of the last three Christmas seasons.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
NUMBER OF TOGOLESE REFUGEES INCREASES: Regarding the
outflow of refugees from Togo, the
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
reports that the situation appears calmer on the
borders of the West African nation, with total new arrivals in both Benin and
Ghana, now reported to be 21,675.
WAR-DISPLACED IN UGANDA BEING GIVEN SEEDS, TOOLS AND
TRAINING: The
Food and Agriculture Organization will
provide 94,000 vulnerable households in internally displaced persons (IDP)
camps in northern
Uganda with seeds, tools and agricultural training to help reduce their
dependence on food aid. The activities will focus on displaced and
drought-affected families with safe access to land, with particular attention
given to women- and child-headed households, the elderly, and families affected
by HIV/AIDS. An estimated 1.4 million Ugandans live in IDP camps.
ANNAN HAS COOPERATED WITH INDEPENDENT INQUIRY COMMITTEE:
Asked whether the
Secretary-General has cooperated with Paul Volcker’s
Independent Inquiry Committee, the Spokesman made clear that the
Secretary-General has been extremely open with the Committee, providing access
to him and to all his files. Regarding documents in the possession of Volcker’s
staff, he said that the issue of confidentiality is one being dealt with between
Volcker and members of the US Congress.
UNCTAD APPOINTMENT STILL BEING DISCUSSED BY GENERAL
ASSEMBLY: Asked about why the nominee to head the
UN Conference on Trade and Development, Supichai Panitchpakdi, was not being
considered by the General Assembly on Thursday, the Spokesman reiterated that
the appointment is still being discussed by Assembly members. He said that
Supichai’s name continues to be the one put forward by the
Secretary-General.
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