HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING
BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Thursday, November 3, 2005
[There will be no noon briefing on
Friday, November 4, 2005,
which is an official holiday at UN headquarters to mark the observance of
Eid Al-Fitr]
ANNAN URGES
ERITREA AND ETHIOPIA NOT TO ENDANGER CEASEFIRE
The Security Council has scheduled consultations at 3:00
p.m. on Eritrea and Ethiopia.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan will be attending those
consultations and is preparing to brief Council members first and the press
afterwards.
Meanwhile, the following
statement was issued yesterday afternoon.
The Secretary-General is extremely concerned about
reports received from the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE)
concerning movements of military personnel on both sides of the Temporary
Security Zone as well as irregular activities inside the Zone. Reported troop
movements involve small and large military and paramilitary formations, and
movement of armour as well as aerial defence assets. The Secretary-General
strongly urges the parties to exercise maximum restraint and to put an
immediate halt to any actions that may be misinterpreted by the other side or
jeopardize the security arrangements which they agreed to in the Agreement on
the Cessation of Hostilities of 18 June 2000.
The Secretary-General further urges the Security Council
and individual Member States to take decisive steps to defuse the escalating
tension between Eritrea and Ethiopia, and stands ready to assist in this
regard.
SECURITY
COUNCIL ENVOY TO VISIT U.N. MISSION IN ETHIOPIA & ERITREA
Japanese Ambassador Kenzo Oshima will visit Ethiopia and
Eritrea next week.
According to the terms of reference, the Security Council
has authorized Ambassador Oshima, Chairman of the Working Group on
Peacekeeping Operations of the Security Council, to visit the UN Mission in
Ethiopia and Eritrea.
The dates of the visit are Sunday, 6 November through
Wednesday, 9 November.
ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: U.N. MAY HAVE TO MAKE “HARD DECISIONS”
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative to Eritrea
and Ethiopia, Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, and Force Commander Major-General
Rajender Singh spoke to reporters at a press
conference in Asmara earlier today.
Singh said that on the Ethiopian side, there has been a larger concentration
of troops, which have moved about 20-30 kilometers closer to the border than
they were before. Tanks, which had been located deeper inside Ethiopian
territory, have advanced another 10 kilometers closer than they were
previously. Tanks have also been seen in areas where they were not previously
located.
On
the Eritrean side, he said, there is a daily increase of restrictions on
freedom of movement, as well as incursions into the Temporary Security Zone by
armed personnel identifying themselves as militia but not wanting to show ID
cards as required.
Legwaila noted that the
Secretary-General has called for the Security Council to take action. He
stressed if the peacekeepers are not allowed to do their job, then the United
Nations will have to make some hard decisions, which would have to determine
whether consent for the Mission to operate in the Mission area is being
withdrawn by one of the Parties. "The Council must decide: is it useful to
keep pouring $200 million into maintaining a mission which is not allowed to
do its work?" he said.
WORLD MUST ACT
NOW TO DEAL WITH BIRD FLU, ANNAN SAYS
The Secretary-General this morning
addressed the Time Global Health Summit, a three-day event in New York, to
discuss key health issues, and he warned that the international community must
act now to deal with the potential threat of avian influenza. If bird flu can
result in human-to-human transmission, he said, we would have only a matter of
weeks to lock down the spread before it spins out of control.
He pointed to seven priorities to handle bird flu, saying
that merely stockpiling antiviral medicines does not constitute a strategy.
Those priorities are: to invest more to monitor and halt
the spread of bird flu; to help people understand the challenge of living in
close proximity with animals; to prepare for the impact of a human pandemic
and identify what is needed to keep countries running; to ensure access to
antiviral medicines for all who will need them; to foster transparency and
cooperation on science and research; to communicate vital facts about the
virus; and to mobilize political leadership at the highest level.
When the flu does come, he said, it will be “a test we
must be sure to pass.”
Meanwhile, the UN Senior System Coordinator for Avian and
Human Influenza, David Nabarro, is outlining a worldwide strategy to confront
bird flu.
In a special meeting on bird flu that took place today in
the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) chamber, Nabarro detailed separate
strategies to control the disease in birds, prevent or delay its spread to
humans, and prepare for any possible pandemic in humans.
U.N. TO HELP
DISBAND LEBANESE MILITIAS, DEMARCATE SYRIA-LEBANON BORDER
Terje Roed-Larsen, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy
for the implementation of Security Council
resolution 1559, briefed the Council in consultations Wednesday afternoon
about progress in meeting that resolution’s key goals.
Now, Roed-Larsen told reporters after the consultations
ended, the United Nations will try to help resolve outstanding issues between
Syria and
Lebanon, including the disbanding of militias and the demarcation of a
border between the two countries.
The UN has encouraged the Government of Lebanon to enter
into a dialogue with Hezbollah, which it has informally done, and “we are
encouraging this dialogue to continue,” he said.
Further, Roed-Larsen added, “we are encouraging the
Government of Lebanon to set up a mechanism with the different Palestinian
groups in order to resolve the issue of disbanding them and disarming them.”
D.R. CONGO:
U.N. PEACEKEEPERS HELP FREE KIDNAPPED ELECTION OFFICIALS
UN peacekeepers serving in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC)
have helped free four election officials who had been taken hostage in the
country’s eastern province of North Kivu almost two weeks ago.
The peacekeepers were supporting national DRC soldiers in
operations against the Mayi-Mayi militia in the Vurondo area, near the town of
Butembo, which is 200 kilometres north of the capital of Goma.
In the course of clearing out two major militia camps,
the soldiers engaged militias in firefights in which 32 Mayi-Mayi were killed.
The remaining militia members fled, and the four electoral officials were
found during mopping-up operations. The four were unharmed and the DRC’s
national army will maintain a presence in the cleared areas.
Also, the Security Council Sanctions Committee
established pursuant to
resolution 1533 (2004) has released a list
of individuals and entities subject to the measures imposed by
paragraphs 13 and 15 of
resolution 1596 (2005).
WORLD’S LARGEST HELICOPTER SENT TO
PAKISTAN FOR QUAKE RELIEF WORK
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
and NATO have agreed to
extend and expand their two-week-old airlift of emergency relief supplies
to quake-stricken Pakistan, in a major effort to get life-saving tents,
blankets and stoves to survivors before winter strikes.
In total, UNHCR is delivering more than half a million
blankets to Pakistan, and over 20,000 tents. Meanwhile, five of the agency’s
emergency teams are on the ground working with partners to get all relief
items transported and distributed to the neediest survivors. So far, more than
8,500 tents have been distributed.
For its part, the World Food Programme (WFP) has
deployed an MI-26, the world’s largest helicopter, to Pakistan for quake
relief work. The MI-26 can carry 20 tons, or
ten times as much as the MI-8, the standard UN helicopter used during
emergency operations.
WFP currently has 17 transport helicopters deployed, and
expects to have 22 helicopters fully operational by 10 November.
YOUNG TSUNAMI
HEROINE MEETS U.N. ENVOY BILL CLINTON
Tilly Smith, a young English survivor of last year’s
tsunami, is in New York and met today with the UN’s Special Envoy for
Tsunami Recovery, former US President Bill Clinton; Eric Schwartz, the Deputy
Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery; and Sálvano Briceño, the head of the UN’s
International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR).
Tilly attracted attention during the disaster when, as an
eleven-year-old schoolgirl on holiday in Thailand, she recognized the signs of
the receding sea and warned her parents of the impending tsunami, which led to
hotel guests being rapidly cleared from the beach.
President Clinton has said that Tilly’s story shows the
importance of teaching young people about natural hazards.
OTHER
ANNOUNCEMENTS
ALL SET FOR LIBERIA’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS: The
Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Liberia, Alan Doss, says security
and access arrangements are in good shape for next Tuesday’s run-off
presidential elections. Doss made the remarks after a tour of eastern towns with
local election officials. He also said the UN Mission in
Liberia (UNMIL) is taking measures to avoid any cross border recruitment of
fighters for conflicts in neighboring
Cote d’Ivoire. The Liberia mission has already welcomed an NGO report on the
problem of child soldiers.
PIRATES HAMPERING FOOD DELIVERIES TO SOMALIA: The
World Food Programme (WFP)
warned today that a recent spate of ship hijackings off the coast of Somalia
is restricting the delivery of urgently needed food aid to that country. Those
restrictions are threatening more than half a million Somalis in the
drought-stricken and war-torn south. WFP is also concerned
about the lack of access for UN relief flights to several airstrips in the
south.
NEW REPORT URGES GOVERNMENTS TO SHARE TECHNOLOGY: A
new report from the UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO),
presented earlier today, urges governments to expand quality education and share
technology, in an effort to move towards what it calls a “smarter” form of
sustainable development. The report gives very specific ideas on sharing
knowledge.
*** The guest at today’s noon briefing was
Adolf Ogi, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on
Sport for Development and Peace. He discussed the achievements of the
International Year of Sport and Physical Education 2005.
THE WEEK AHEAD AT THE UNITED NATIONS
Monday, November 7
The guest at the noon briefing will be
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland. He will talk about
the one-month anniversary of the South Asia earthquake.
The three-day International Forum to Build Inclusive
Financial Sectors, the closing event of the International Year of Microcredit
2005, begins today in Conference Room 2.
There will be formal meetings in the Security Council and
the General Assembly this morning on the International Court of Justice
elections.
The Security Council mission to the Great Lakes region
visits Mbuji-Mayi and Kamina in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
At 5:00 p.m., Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping
Operations Jean-Marie Guéhenno will open a new photo exhibit on landmine victims
in the Visitors Lobby.
Tuesday, November 8
There will be Security Council consultations this morning
on the Central African Republic.
The Security Council mission visits Burundi.
Wednesday, November 9
There will be Security Council consultations this morning
on Somalia.
The Security Council mission visits Uganda and Rwanda.
The International Forum to Build Inclusive Financial
Sectors closes with a gala awards dinner at 6:30 p.m. in the Delegates Dining
Room, hosted by actor Tim Robbins and singer Marc Anthony.
Thursday, November 10
At 10:30, the Permanent Mission of Guatemala will be
sponsoring a press conference by Deepak Chopra, who will be launching “The
Alliance for a New Humanity”, a campaign to unite organizations and people
worldwide to address major global concerns.
The Security Council President will present the Security
Council report to the General Assembly.
The Security Council mission visits Tanzania.
The UN University will hold a workshop on food security and
gender from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. in Conference Room E.
Friday, November 11
There will be Security Council consultations this morning
on Liberia.
The Security Council mission to the Great Lakes region
returns to New York today.
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