BAN KI-MOON
DISCUSSES GEORGIA WITH AMBASSADORS AS AIRLIFT OF GOODS CONTINUES

• Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met with a group of
  his senior advisers in his office on Saturday morning to discuss the UN
  approach to the situation in Georgia.

• Over the weekend, he also held a number of separate
  conversations with the President of the Security Council, Ambassadors of
  the five Permanent Members of the Security Council, as well as the
  Permanent Representative of Georgia to the UN on this issue. The last of
  those meetings took place this morning, when he met at UN Headquarters
  with the UK Ambassador to the United Nations.

• Access remains an issue on the humanitarian front
  in Georgia. The airlifting of goods is still required, and is the only
  way to get supplies to the western part of the country.  On Sunday, a
  U.N. convoy of relief supplies managed to enter the town of Gori for the
  first time in the past two weeks. The World Food Programme and the U.N.
  Refugee agency
  
  delivered high-energy biscuits, jerry cans, kitchen sets and
  blankets.  As of Sunday, some 68,000 people across Georgia have received
  assistance from the United Nations.

• Meanwhile, UN agencies and non-governmental
  organizations will later today announce a joint humanitarian appeal for
  some 158,000 people who have been affected and/or displaced.  The appeal
  will cover a six-month period, through February 2009, and be revised
  after one month.  It will include provision of assistance for persons
  returning from North Ossetia to South Ossetia.  A press release from
  OCHA is expected later this afternoon.

• Asked about senior UN officials visiting Georgia,
  the Spokesman noted that the High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio
  Guterres, was scheduled to visit Georgia and Russia, starting on
  Tuesday.

• Asked about the start of the mandate of the
  incoming Special Representative for Georgia, Johan Verbeke, Haq said
  that Verbeke is not expected to begin his assignment in Georgia until 1
  October.  The current Special Representative, Jan Arnault, remains in
  the job for the time being. In the interim, while preparing for his
  assignment to Georgia, Verbeke will be based in the Department for
  Political Affairs, helping the Department in a senior capacity on
  various issues, among them preparations for the upcoming General
  Assembly.

• Asked why Arnault had not issued a statement on
  Georgia recently, the Spokesman noted that the current situation
  involved areas outside the UN Observer Mission’s area of operations in
  Abkhazia, and the Secretary-General had accordingly issued several
  statements.

QAZI: SUDAN
PEACE AGREEMENT REMAINS ON TRACK

• Ashraf Qazi, the Secretary-General’s Special
  Representative for
  
  Sudan, briefed the
  
  Security Council in an open meeting this morning on the latest
  developments in that country, saying that the implementation of the
  Comprehensive Peace Agreement, though behind schedule, remains on track.
  Nevertheless, he warned, the foundation for a durable peace remains
  fragile.

• He said that, while the working relationship
  between North and South Sudan is relatively cordial, the lack of mutual
  trust and confidence remains a significant obstacle to the goals of
  “making unity attractive” and a peaceful implementation of the
  Comprehensive Peace
  
  Agreement. He said the prospects for the Agreement are “uncertain
  but not necessarily bleak”.

• Qazi also noted the action taken by the
  
  International Criminal Court, saying that he has conveyed to the
  Sudanese Government that the Court is an independent institution and
  that the UN Mission in Sudan will continue to implement its mandate. The
  Security Council followed its meeting with consultations, also on Sudan.

• It began its day with a briefing by the chair of
  the committee reviewing the implementation of Resolution 1540,
  concerning the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

U.N. ENVOY
BEGINS FIVE-DAY VISIT TO MYANMAR

• The Secretary-General’s Special Advisor, Ibrahim
  Gambari, arrived in Myanmar today. He first met with the Foreign
  Minister, U Nyan Win, and then held meetings with representatives from
  the diplomatic corps, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
  and the Tripartite Core Group. He was also briefed by the
  
  UN Country Team.

• Asked whether the Special Adviser would meet with
  Aung San Suu Kyi and the senior leadership in Myanmar, the Spokesman
  said that, in accordance with his mandate, Gambari expects to meet with
  all relevant parties to the national reconciliation process, including
  all those whom he has met on previous occasions.

• Gambari, he noted, has met with Aung San Suu Kyi on
  each of his visits, as well as with Myanmar’s senior leaders on several
  occasions, and he looks forward to continuing his dialogue with all
  concerned.

• Haq added, in response to further questions, that
  this visit is the continuation of the Secretary-General’s good offices
  process led by Gambari over the past two-and-a-half years and follows
  the recent visit to Myanmar by the Secretary-General himself. The
  Secretary-General has made very clear upon returning from Myanmar that
  he expects his good offices to be “deepened and broadened” through the
  continued engagement of his Special Adviser. 

GAPS IN LAW
AND ORDER PERSIST IN SOME PARTS OF LIBERIA

• The Secretary-General’s latest
  
  report on Liberia says that, as proposed by the drawdown plan in his
  previous report, the Government of Liberia and the United Nations have
  carried out a joint security assessment across the country.

• They assessed the level of security threats and
  evaluated the authorities’ ability to respond to threats and confirmed
  that in most of Liberia security threats were insignificant or
  non-existent. But in a few counties, they found it has deteriorated, a
  fact attributed to gaps in the maintenance of law and order. Other
  factors were the competition over natural resources, including
  widespread illegal exploitation of those resources, as well as the
  potential for regional instability and food insecurity.

• As to the drawdown of UN mission personnel, the
  Secretary-General recommends the start of the second part of a military
  pullout from October to September 2009. It should involve the
  repatriation of a further 1,460 military personnel. A similar drawdown
  is also envisaged for UN police and other staff.

• In conclusion, the Secretary-General recommends a
  mandate extension of one year for the Mission.

U.N.
MISSION BEGINS CONSTRUCTION OF COURTHOUSE IN MONROVIA

• This past weekend, the Secretary-General Deputy
  Special Representative for Liberia, Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, broke ground
  for the construction of a new UN-funded magisterial courthouse in
  Monrovia. Mensa-Bonsu described magisterial courts, or courts of first
  instance, as the pivot of a nation’s judicial system. She also pledged
  the UN’s support for Liberia’s efforts to establish an effective
  judicial system.

• The new courthouse is the fourth such building
  under construction through the
  
  Mission’s Quick Impact Projects programme. When completed, it will
  bring to 17 the number of courthouses built or rehabilitated by the UN
  in Liberia.

W.F.P.
CONDEMNS KILLING OF EMPLOYEE IN SOMALIA

• The Executive Director of the
  
  World Food Programme expressed shock and sadness today at the
  killing of one of the agency’s staff members in southern Somalia.

• Details surrounding the death of Somali national
  Abdulkadir Diad Mohamed, who joined WFP in June as an administration and
  finance assistant, are still being gathered. However, all indications
  are that Mr. Mohammed was abducted by unidentified armed men and killed
  after trying to escape.

• “I am shocked by this senseless and barbaric attack
  on one of our staff,” said WFP Executive Director, Josette Sheeran. “Our
  thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and colleagues.”

• WFP does not believe his death to be related to the
  recent spate of targeted attacks on aid workers in Somalia, one of the
  most dangerous places in the world.

REGIONAL
CENTRE FOR PEACE AND DISARMAMENT OPENS IN NEPAL

• The new office of the UN
  
  Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament was formally opened today
  in Kathmandu.

• In his
  
  message to mark the occasion, which was delivered by his Chef de
  Cabinet Vijay Nambiar, the Secretary-General noted that the General
  Assembly established the Centre in 1987 to provide substantive support
  for peace and disarmament activities, as agreed among countries in the
  region. A forum for regional dialogue, the Centre has promoted
  transparency and confidence-building in disarmament matters ever since.

• The Secretary-General also calls on all countries
  in the Asia and Pacific region to work closely with the Regional Centre.
  He added that he believes that the Centre will live up to the high
  expectations harboured for it.

UNICEF
WORKS TO CONTAIN CHOLERA OUTBREAK IN GUINEA-BISSAU

• UNICEF is
  
  helping the Government of Guinea-Bissau to fight a fast-moving
  cholera epidemic. The disease has broken out in the capital and several
  other parts of the country. As of last week, more than 2,000 people had
  contracted the disease, and 40 people had died. 

• UNICEF has mobilized $750,000 dollars since the
  epidemic began in mid-May. It has also provided experts who have
  specialized in emergency coordination, water and sanitation, and other
  areas. 

BAN KI-MOON
TO OBSERVE ANNIVERSARY OF ATTACK ON U.N BAGHDAD HEADQUARTERS

• On Tuesday morning, the Secretary-General will be
  at UN Headquarters to speak at a ceremony marking the fifth anniversary
  of the bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad, in which 22 people had
  been killed.

• The ceremony begins at 10:00 a.m. The
  Secretary-General and a staff representative will make brief statements,
  after which a wreath will be laid, and a minute of silence will be
  observed in honour of fallen staff. At about 10:30, the Daedalus Quartet
  will perform a piece of classical music that was composed specifically
  for the occasion by composer Steve Heitzeg.

OTHER
ANNOUNCEMENTS

UNITED NATIONS GIVEN ACCESS TO MOBILE LABORATORY FOR
EMERGENCIES: An innovative mobile laboratory developed by the
Netherlands to support international response to environmental emergencies
was officially inaugurated in The Hague today. The vehicles will be lent to
the UN for work in disaster areas,

according to the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP). The so-called
Environmental Assessment Module can be rapidly deployed for disasters
involving hazardous substances.
 

PRESIDENT MUSHARRAF’S RESIGNATION IS A DOMESTIC
MATTER: The Spokesperson declined to offer any comment regarding the
resignation of President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, noting that the
United Nations does not in general comment on domestic political issues.
 

SECRETARY-GENERAL’S GOOD OFFICES AVAILABLE ON
KASHMIR IF REQUESTED: Asked whether the Secretary-General would offer
his good offices regarding Kashmir, the Spokesman noted that the
Secretary-General is always willing to provide good offices, as long as the
parties to the conflict in question request it. That has not happened in
this case.
 

BAN KI-MOON
HAS RAISED ISRAEL’S RELEASE OF PALESTINIAN PRISONERS:
Asked about the release of Palestinian prisoners by Israel, the Spokesperson
said that the Secretary-General has repeatedly raised that issue in the
context of the overall peace process.