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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING
BY MICHELE MONTAS
SPOKESPERSON
FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON
UN
HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
GAZA: BAN KI-MOON APPEALS FOR
IMMEDIATE CEASE-FIRE
AFTER STRIKES ON U.N. SCHOOLS SHELTERING PALESTINIANS
[Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon,
in a statement issued in his name following the noon briefing, said: "In the
last day, three schools operated by the UN Relief and Works Agency for
Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) have been hit by nearby Israeli
military strikes. A substantial number of civilians have been killed,
particularly in the third strike, and many more have been injured. I am
awaiting full confirmation of the details of these incidents.
These, and over 20 other
schools, are serving as temporary shelters to over 15,000 Palestinians whose
homes have been destroyed or who are fleeing the violence. They are seeking
sanctuary in UNRWA schools because they have no other place to go and are
not able to flee the Gaza Strip.
In another incident, seven UN
staff were injured, three seriously, together with three patients, when a
strike on a neighbouring building caused substantial collateral damage to an
UNRWA health centre.
The locations of all UN
facilities have been communicated to the Israeli authorities and are known
to the Israeli army. After earlier strikes, the Israeli government was
warned that its operations were endangering UN compounds. I am deeply
dismayed that despite these repeated efforts, today’s tragedies have ensued.
These attacks by Israeli military forces which endanger UN facilities acting
as places of refuge are totally unacceptable and must not be repeated.
Equally unacceptable are any actions by militants which endanger the
Palestinian civilian population.
Today’s events underscore the
dangers inherent in the continuation and escalation of this conflict. I call
once again for an immediate ceasefire."]
BAN KI-MOON
DISCUSSES GAZA SITUATION WITH U.S. PRESIDENT BUSH
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is in Washington, D.C.,
where he and his wife, Ban Soon-taek, are having lunch with U.S. President
George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush.
Speaking to reporters yesterday afternoon, the
Secretary-General
said that, in his meeting with President Bush, he would stress the
importance of bringing the violent situation in
Gaza to an immediate halt, with durable and permanent systems which can
be respected fully by all the parties concerned. He said they would also
discuss how to bring humanitarian assistance to the civilian population who
are suffering from the current situation.
The Secretary-General was speaking after he met with a
delegation of Arab foreign ministers and other senior officials here at
Headquarters, saying afterward that they had a very good exchange of views
on the security situation in Gaza and southern Israel. He said that the
meeting provided an excellent and appropriate opportunity to discuss how to
bring the violence to an immediate end and restore peace and stability in
the region.
The Secretary-General added that the participants at
the meeting agreed to discuss a credible mechanism to ensure the protection
of the Palestinian people, as well as humanitarian assistance. He believed
that there had been a convergence of opinions on the major elements, which
can be the basis of the discussions at the Security Council.
Asked about details of the Secretary-General’s meeting
with President Bush, the Spokeswoman said that it was a private farewell
lunch. The meeting, she said in response to further questions, was planned
in advance.
Asked about the Secretary-General’s activities
concerning the Middle East, she said that he would also meet with
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas this afternoon, before speaking at the
Security Council meeting on the Middle East.
DOZENS KILLED IN MISSILE STRIKES ON U.N.
SCHOOLS IN GAZA
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees
in the Near East (UNRWA)
today called for an investigation into the Israeli shelling of one of its
schools in Jabaliya where Palestinians had sought shelter.
John Ging, UNRWA’s director of operations in Gaza, said
that the school in Jabaliya Camp was being used as a shelter, when three
artillery shells landed there. The latest casualty figures, he said, were
for some 30 deaths, as well as 55 injured.
In addition, Ging said, there was an earlier missile
strike on a school in Gaza City, where three men were killed. Also, this
morning, in Bureij camp, a house was targeted near a UN health centre, and
10 people in the health centre were injured in collateral damage.
Ging said that the United Nations has provided GPS
coordinates to Israel about all UN locations, including schools, and has
updated them recently. He added that militants have not violated the
sanctity of UN facilities and that it would be unacceptable for them to do
so.
Meanwhile, UN High Commissioner for Refugees António
Guterres on Monday
called for strict adherence to humanitarian principles in the continuing
conflict in Gaza, including respect for the universal rights of those
fleeing war to seek safety in other states.
SECURITY COUNCIL TO TAKE UP SITUATION IN
GAZA AND SOUTHERN ISRAEL
The
Security Council will hold a formal meeting on the
Middle East at 5:00 this afternoon. The Secretary-General will speak
about the latest developments in Gaza and southern Israel at that meeting,
which is to be chaired by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.
Earlier, the Security Council, in closed consultations,
agreed on its
programme of work for this month, and on the chairmanship of its bureaux
for 2009. It also agreed that Burkina Faso and Mexico will represent the
Security Council on the Peacebuilding Commission in 2009.
GUNMEN KILL
WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME WORKER IN SOMALIA
The Executive Director of the World Food Programme
(WFP) has
condemned today’s killing of a WFP staff member in southern Somalia.
Josette Sheeran urged all parties to the worsening conflict there to protect
humanitarian workers.
According to WFP, three masked gunmen shot and killed
44-year-old Somali national Ibrahim Hussein Duale. He was monitoring school
feeding at a village in the Gedo region at the time. Witnesses say the
gunmen approached Duale while he was seated, ordered him to stand up, and
then shot him.
Duale is the third staff member killed in Somalia since
last August. He leaves behind a wife and five children. WFP currently
feeds more than 1.5 million people in Somalia.
U.N. TEAM VISITS DR CONGO TOWNS WHERE
ATTACKS RECENTLY TOOK PLACE
A team from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),
along with other U.N. colleagues, carried out a mission over the weekend to
two towns in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Orientale Province,
which have seen bloody attacks in recent weeks by the Lord’s Resistance Army
(LRA).
More than 70 people were killed in the town of Faradje
when it was attacked nearly two weeks ago. An estimated 37,000 people were
displaced; most of them are still hiding in the bush. According to local
sources, the LRA kidnapped 225 people, including 160 children. In addition,
more than 80 women were raped.
The town of Nagero was attacked this past Saturday. At
least eight people were killed and another 3,500 displaced. The mission
said the town had been pillaged and destroyed by fire. More than 800
houses, three schools, government buildings and medical facilities were all
burned to the ground.
In addition, UNHCR says it has received sketchy reports
of another attack yesterday on the village of Napopo, in which up to eight
people were killed and houses set ablaze. An unknown number of people were
reportedly kidnapped in that attack.
Asked about reports that Laurent Nkunda had been
replaced as head of the National Congress for the Defense of the People
(CNDP), the Spokeswoman said that the United Nations is unable to confirm or
deny recent press reports on General Nkunda. She said that the CNDP has
informed the U.N. Mission in the DRC (MONUC)
that the same CNDP delegation that participated in the talks late last year
will be travelling to Nairobi, Kenya, to participate in the resumed talks
with the UN Special Envoy, Olusegun Obasanjo. It is vital that all parties
remain committed to these talks as we continue efforts to seek a peaceful
settlement, Montas said.
Asked about a letter from the Lord’s Resistance Army
(LRA) asking for a meeting with the United Nations, the Spokeswoman noted
that LRA leaders had repeatedly failed to show up to sign an agreement under
UN auspices last year.
OTHER
ANNOUNCEMENTS
MORE THAN NINE MILLION PEOPLE HAVE BEEN DISPLACED IN
CENTRAL AND EAST AFRICA: In a new
report on internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Central and East Africa,
the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that, as of
last month, there were more than nine million IDPs in that region. Nearly three
quarters of them were in the greater Horn of Africa, reflecting the combined
internal displacement from crises in Sudan and Somalia. The displacements are
triggered mainly by intra-state conflicts and natural disasters or, in many
cases, both, the report says. Scarcity of resources, limited access to land,
and inconclusive peace and reconciliation processes create multiple challenges.
Humanitarian response is often hampered by a lack of access, caused by ongoing
conflict or high insecurity, including the targeting of humanitarian workers.
U.N. MISSION IN LIBERIA
HANDS OVER RENOVATED SCHOOL: The UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL)
has handed over a newly-refurbished nine-classroom school in northern Lofa
County for use by the local community. The school, destroyed during the civil
crisis, was rehabilitated through UNMIL’s Quick Impact Projects programme. Four
new projects intended to enhance the rule of law have been approved for Lofa
County in 2009, including the refurbishment of immigration, corrections and
court facilities.
UNITED NATIONS ASSESSES NEEDS OF INDONESIA QUAKE VICTIMS: The
U.N. Development Programme (UNDP),
UNICEF and the International Labour Organization (ILO)
yesterday conducted a joint rapid assessment of areas in Indonesia’s West Papua
Province, hard-hit by a series of earthquakes two days ago. The UN agencies
also reviewed what assistance could be provided to local authorities in the
affected areas, if required. An estimated 14,000 people who fled their damaged
homes or left their houses fearing more earthquakes or aftershocks have sought
accommodation in displaced peoples’ shelters.
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