Secretary-General

Noon briefing of 2 February 2006


HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON BRIEFING

BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Thursday, February 2, 2006

SECURITY COUNCIL MEETS ON MODERNIZING ITS OPERATIONS

  • The Security Council held consultations today on the programme of work for the month of February.

  • Also on the agenda was the item “Modernizing Security Council Operations.”

  • Security Council President, Ambassador John Bolton of the United States, spoke to reporters at the stakeout microphone.

  • Asked about the meeting the Secretary-General was holding today with Ambassador Bolton, the Spokesman said this was the routine meeting the Secretary-General holds every month with the incoming President of the Security Council, in which the Council’s work for the month is discussed. The meetings normally take place a few days before the start of the month, but was delayed in this case because of the Secretary-General’s travels, he added.

INT'L ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY MEETS ON IRAN

  • The Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) met in Vienna today to discuss Iran. That meeting has now adjourned for today.

  • Members of the Board have before them a draft resolution on Iran, which they intend to take up further tomorrow.

  • Asked about the Secretary-General’s meeting today with Iranian Ambassador Javed Zarif, the Spokesman said the meeting had been scheduled a while ago, when the two agreed that they would meet once the Secretary-General returned from his travels.

  • Asked whether the Secretary-General has had higher-level contacts today with the Iranians, the Spokesman said he had not.

UN MISSION IN LEBANON FINDS BODY

  • The UN Interim Force in Lebanon today found the dead body of a Lebanese national in the area along the Israel-Lebanon Blue Line, after being requested yesterday by the Lebanese authorities to search for a missing person.

  • The UN peacekeepers found the body this morning and turned it over to the Lebanese gendarmerie. The UN Interim Force is currently conducting an investigation along the Blue Line, and it is in contact with all parties to prevent any further escalation or violation of the Line.

  • Geir Pedersen, the Secretary-General’s Personal Representative for Lebanon, met today with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, and afterwards, in brief comments to reporters, called for calm and restraint along the Blue Line.

ANNAN CONCERNED WITH POSSIBLE VIOLENCE IN COTE D’IVOIRE

  • The Secretary-General is deeply concerned about reported threats against the United Nations personnel in Côte d’Ivoire, and the possibility of major violence being unleashed in Abidjan and other areas of Côte d’Ivoire. UNOCI, supported by Licorne as needed, will take all necessary measures to protect United Nations personnel and property, as well as populations under imminent threats in its areas of deployment.

  • The Secretary-General wishes to remind, in the strongest possible terms, the highest civilian and military authorities of Côte d’Ivoire, including President Gbagbo and Chief of Staff General Mangou, of their personal responsibility for preventing violence, including attacks targeted against United Nations personnel and installations throughout the country, as well as ethnically motivated violence. Such acts will not be tolerated by the international community.

  • The Secretary-General calls once more on all Ivorian parties to work with their international partners to seek a peaceful solution to the Ivorian crisis.

  • Asked whether the United Nations was undertaking any preventive measures to deal with violence in Cote d’Ivoire, the Spokesman said that the United Nations was constantly reviewing the security situation and taking any precautionary measures that it could regarding the safety of its staff.

SHORTFALLS REPORTED IN SOUTHERN AFRICA FEEDING PROGRAMS

  • The Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme said today that southern Africa may be on the cusp of better harvests but the underlying causes of the region's four-year crisis still remain and must be addressed.

  • WFP director James Morris, on a five-day visit to the region, said that while recent good rainfalls could mean better agricultural production, much would depend upon the amount of seeds and fertilizer that were distributed during the planting season as well as weather patterns over the coming months.

  • WFP will assist up to 9.2 million people in six southern African countries through the annual hunger season until April. The agency said its funding shortage is $63 million for operations through to June. It needs cash donations now to procure food locally.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

UNITED NATIONS RESPONDS TO BOLIVIAN FLOODS: The UN is strengthening its effort to help the Government of Bolivia to cope with the severe flooding, which has affected some 175,000 people across the country, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported today. OCHA has extended an emergency cash grant of $30,000 to Bolivia. The UN World Food Programme has assisted 745 families in Santa Cruz and La Paz, and is working with its governmental and non-governmental partners to conduct food needs assessments. The UN Children’s Fund is providing specialized nutritional supplements for 5,000 children under six.

SUDANESE REFUGEES ARE RETURNING FROM CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: The first 50 Sudanese refugees residing in the Central African Republic were scheduled to return home today from the Mboki refugee settlement in the country’s far East, to the town of Tambura. This operation was to be conducted according to an agreement signed yesterday between the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the Governments of the Sudan and C.A.R. regarding the repatriation of about 16,000 Sudanese refugees currently residing in C.A.R. The initial phase of the operation will be conducted by air, and is expected to bring back 5,000 refugees by April 2006, with the return of the remaining refugees expected to be completed by year-end.