HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Thursday, 25 May 2006
JOINT U.N.-AFRICAN UNION ASSESSMENT MISSION TO HEAD TO DARFUR
The Secretary-General’s Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi – along with Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hédi Annabi – has just completed his discussions with senior Sudanese officials, including President Bashir and Vice President Salva Kiir.
Brahimi reassured them that the UN’s aim was to help them and the people of Darfur successfully implement the Abuja Peace Accord. He also told them that an eventual UN peacekeeping operation would be conducted with the consent and cooperation of the Government of Sudan and all the parties concerned.
On that basis, Brahimi and the leaders agreed that a joint mission of the African Union (AU) and the United Nations would start wide ranging discussions in Khartoum. That mission would then proceed to Darfur to assess the addition needs of the AU Mission in Sudan, which needs to be strengthened immediately, and also assess all of the requirements for a possible transition from the AU to the UN. The team would then return for further talks in Khartoum before reporting back to the Secretary-General and the Chairman of the African Union.
Brahimi added that the assessment mission’s activities would be undertaken without prejudging future decisions that the Government of National Unity, the African Union and the UN may take on this issue.
Asked when the assessment mission would be deployed, the Spokesman noted that the dates were being worked on, as the agreement with Sudan had just been reached. He added that the mission would be comprised of senior UN and African Union officials and would include military experts.
Asked what the assessment mission will do, the Spokesman said it will review the situation on the ground for a possible eventual transition from the African Union to a UN operation in Darfur, as well as work with the African Union to see what its immediate needs are in order to strengthen its presence in Darfur.
“A peacekeeping assessment mission looks at, among other things, logistics, transport, communications, access to water – those little details which make possible the deployment of peacekeeping forces,” Dujarric said.
Asked if the assessment mission would include any humanitarian or investigative elements, the Spokesman said it was a peacekeeping assessment mission. “So it will have all the experts that are needed,” Dujarric said, “It will have the people it will need to conduct its work.”
He added that once more details of the assessment mission’s components are known, these would be shared with the press, including the name of the mission leader.
Asked for an estimation about how the assessment mission’s dispatch would affect the timeframe for the deployment of UN peacekeepers in Darfur, the Spokesman noted that often the biggest factor in the timeframe for peacekeeping deployments is getting commitments from Member States for troops and logistical support. He noted that the Department of peacekeeping Operations has already had some informal contacts with countries that could contribute.
“What will shorten the timeframe for deployment of the force would be how quickly Member States which have the capabilities will be willing to share them with us,” Dujarric said. Asked if the assessment mission’s dispatch will help in this respect, the Spokesman said it would.
Asked if the United Nations was disappointed that there had been no indication that the Sudanese Government had agreed to the possibility of the transition from an African Union force in Darfur to a UN operation, the Spokesman said that the UN was not at all disappointed and that today’s agreement is an important step in the process for an eventual transition in Darfur to a UN force.
“As Mr. Brahimi says, the decision to allow this assessment team to go through is done without pre-judging whatever decisions need to be taken by the UN, the African Union, and the Government of National Unity,” Dujarric said.
ANNAN SENDS ENVOY TO TIMOR-LESTE FOLLOWING VIOLENCE
Secretary-General Kofi Annan has just arrived in Bangkok, to begin the last leg of a trip that has taken him to Vienna, Seoul, Tokyo, Beijing and Hanoi.
Today in Hanoi, the Secretary-General issued a statement expressing his concern over developments in Timor-Leste and announcing his decision to send Ian Martin, head of the UN Human Rights Mission in Nepal, to the Timorese capital of Dili, to assess the situation first hand. Ian Martin was previously the Secretary-General's Special Representative in East Timor in 1999.
The Secretary-General spent the day today telephoning leaders in the region, including Timor-Leste’s President and Prime Minister. He was also in touch with authorities in New Zealand and Portugal, as well as the prime ministers of Australia and Malaysia, both of whom have committed to send forces to help restore stability in the island nation.
U.N. CONDEMNS ATTACK ON UNARMED POLICE OFFICERS IN TIMOR-LESTE
The UN Office in Timor-Leste (UNOTIL) has issued a statement condemning an attack on the national police headquarters that resulted in the deaths of nine persons, and the wounding of 27 more.
UNOTIL said this afternoon that after an hour-long attack at the Dili police headquarters by army elements, UN police and military advisers had negotiated a ceasefire that was agreed to on the condition that the police officers surrender their weapons and leave the headquarters unarmed.
As the unarmed police were being escorted out, army soldiers opened fire on them, killing nine, and wounding 27 others, including two UN police officers. UN personnel evacuated the wounded from the site and brought them to the Office. The critically injured were transferred to Dili National Hospital.
UNOTIL reports that UN personnel were able to rescue 62 additional Timor-Leste police officers and they are now being sheltered at the UN compound.
SECURITY COUNCIL CONCERNED BY DETERIORATING SITUATION IN TIMOR-LESTE
Late yesterday evening, the Security Council President read out a press statement on Timor-Leste, expressing the Council’s deep concern over the deteriorating situation in that country.
Regarding Timor-Leste’s request for Portugal, Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia to send troops, the Council expressed its full understanding and said it appreciated the initial favorable responses made by those countries.
The Council also adopted a Presidential Statement on Iraq, welcoming the recent inauguration of that country’s constitutionally elected government.
U.N. ENVOY CONDEMNS RENEWED FIGHTING IN SOMALIA
The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Somalia, Francois Lonseny Fall, today condemned the resumption of hostilities in Mogadishu, saying he was deeply disturbed by the cost to the civilian population, the wasting of opportunities to reconcile and reconstruct the country, and the impact of heightened insecurity on UN humanitarian responses to the country’s drought.
Ambassador Fall recently met in Baidoa with Somalia’s Prime Minister, President and Speaker of the Parliament to discuss efforts by the Transitional Federal Government to bring the warlord-ministers from Mogadishu to Baidoa.
Fall has also been working with the international community to establish a durable ceasefire in Mogadishu and to maintain secure access for humanitarian workers in Somalia.
NUMBER OF DETAINED U.N. STAFF IN ERITREA RISES
The UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea says that the number of its Eritrean national staff who have been detained by Eritrean authorities has risen to 11 again. The number had dropped to 10 recently, but another national staff member was detained on Tuesday.
The Mission also says that the military situation in the Temporary Security Zone and Adjacent Areas is tense, with routine troop movements noticed on both the Ethiopian and Eritrean sides.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
MIDDLE EAST QUARTET CALLS FOR NEGOTIATED SOLUTION: Asked about the Middle East Quartet’s view of reports that the Israeli Government is considering a unilateral withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian Territories, the Spokesman noted that the latest Quartet statement – which reflects the Secretary-General’s position – outlines the need for need for a negotiated solution and to hold off any unilateral actions which may prejudge the final outcome.
***The guest at the noon briefing was Abdoulaye Mar Dieye, the Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative and Humanitarian Coordinator for Cote d’Ivoire.
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