United Nations Daily Highlights, 98-03-12

United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.org

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Thursday, 12 March 1998

HEADLINES

• Meeting with Secretary-General in Washington, United States Senators pledge to pay their country's dues.
• United Nations Human Rights Commissioner decides to increase human rights officers in Kosovo.
• Team of United Nations experts arrives in Baghdad to assess Iraq's capacity to boost oil production.
• UNICEF to begin support for polio vaccination campaign in Iraq.
• Palestinian trade hampered by political uncertainty, new UN study finds.
• United Nations envoy hails spirit of cooperation in Angola as UNITA is legitimized as a political party.

On a second day of his visit to Washington, the Secretary-General met with 18 members of the Senate Democratic caucus. The meeting, which was not on Mr. Annan's original schedule, was chaired by Tom Daschle of South Dakota, the Senator minority leader. "The Senators pledged their support of payment of United States arrears, congratulated the Secretary- General on his diplomatic mission to Iraq, and discussed the situation in Kosovo as well as several peacekeeping missions of the United Nations," Secretary- General's Spokesman Fred Eckhard told reporters in New York.

Mr. Annan himself described his meetings in Washington as "very warm and constructive." Speaking at a news conference at the National Press Club, the Secretary-General said "real progress" had been achieved on the two issues which he had come to discuss, namely Iraq's compliance with the demands of the Security Council and finding a way to "end the debilitating question of United States arrears."

On Iraq, Mr. Annan expressed hope that the Iraqi Government would allow the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) to continue its weapons inspections by giving it full, unfettered and unrestricted access to all sites. "No promise of peace and no policy of patience can be without limits, " he noted.

Concerning the issue of United States arrears, the Secretary-General thanked President Bill Clinton for his strong support of the United Nations. Mr. Annan said that during his meeting with the President, Mr. Clinton had reiterated that a strong and fully funded United Nations was in the national interests of the United States. "The United Nations is, as the Iraqi crisis has shown, a unique and irreplaceable instrument for achieving through diplomacy what the world demands," Mr. Annan said. "A stronger United Nations can do even more for the United States and for the rest of the world."

In response to a question on his meeting with Senator Jesse Helms, the Secretary-General said that they had had a "very friendly" discussion. "The Senator has indicated that he wants to push for the Helms-Biden bill which was agreed to last year and which would release $926 million to the United Nations with all sorts of conditions and benchmarks," Mr. Annan said.

While in Washington on Thursday, the Secretary-General also met at the Pentagon with William Cohen, the United States Secretary of Defense, and his senior aides. They touched on the situations in Iraq, Kosovo and Georgia. Before departing for New York, the Secretary-General spoke by telephone with Newt Gingrich, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and with Lee Hamilton, the ranking minority member of the House International Relations Committee.

In a statement issued on Thursday, High Commissioner Mary Robinson said that "sustained violations of a wide range of human rights have been at the heart of the conflict and continuing tension in the former Yugoslavia."

She said that currently, human rights officers based in Belgrade visited Kosovo on a regular basis. Ms. Robinson added that she had repeated her request for approval to open an office in Pristina to enable the United Nations to contribute more to the promotion and protection of human rights.

The High Commissioner said that her office was in contact with Bacre Wally Ndiaye, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, who had asked to visit Kosovo.

Ms. Robinson said that on Wednesday she met with the Charge d'Affaires of the Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and handed him a letter addressed to President Slobodan Milosevic. She asked the President to allow the Special Rapporteur's visit in time to report to the Commission on Human Rights at its coming session.

The High Commissioner said that on Thursday morning, she also sent a letter to Croatian President Franjo Tudjman regarding the treatment of the minority Serb population in that country. She expressed her "serious" concern over the continued departure of Croatian Serbs from the Danube region.

The Human Rights Commissioner welcomed a statement by the Ministers of the Contact Group expressing concern about human rights in Kosovo and proposing that she visit the region.

The eight-member team, which is expected to stay for about a week in Iraq, will inspect the country's oil installations in Basra in the south and Kirkuk in the north, according to United Nations Spokesman Erick Falt. They will also "evaluate the needs for equipment and spare parts" to help boost exports and generate sufficient funds for urgent humanitarian needs, he said. The team will also visit Iraq's metering station at the border with Turkey and Iraqi export terminals on the Gulf.

Spokesman Falt said that the experts will hold discussions with senior Iraqi officials, including the Oil Minister, Amer Mohammed Rashid.

Under the oil-for-food programme, Iraq, which is facing United Nations sanctions, is allowed to export oil in order to purchase humanitarian supplies. Last month, the United Nations approved the increase of Iraq's oil exports from $2 billion. However, Iraq pointed out that it could only export up to $4 billion worth of oil. Spokesman Falt said that the United Nations plan to increase Iraqi oil exports was based on "what we thought the humanitarian needs are" and not the country's oil production capacity.

According to United Nations Spokesman Eric Falt, the effort is part of a regional drive to eradicate the disease by the year 2000. Last year, during a similar campaign, 90 per cent of all children under five were vaccinated. The first phase of the campaign, set to start on Saturday, will last for three days and will extend throughout the country, including the three northern governorates. "It is taking place simultaneously in neighbouring countries to ensure maximum impact," Mr. Falt told reporters in Baghdad. The second phase of the vaccination campaign is scheduled for April.

Iraqi children under five represent some 15 per cent of the overall population, or 3.5 million children. UNICEF is providing vaccines, syringes and needles to Iraqi health officials, who are in charge of the actual vaccination in health centres. The children's Fund is also providing logistical means, such as equipment, transportation and cold chain storage.

In parallel to the vaccination campaign, UNICEF will carry out a nutrition survey to evaluate the impact of the food rations given to children. When they come to be vaccinated, the children will be weighed and measured by Iraqi doctors, Mr. Falt said. Results of the survey should be published later this year.

The study, "Palestinian merchandise trade in the 1990s: opportunities and challenges," finds that the Palestinian economy has enjoyed growing investor confidence and entrepreneurial activity in times of progress, as was the case in 1994 to 1995. But during periods of political stalemate or disruptions in the peace process, such as in 1996 and 1997, business activity shrinks, income falls and investment declines.

Merchandise exports, which 15 years ago generated $400 million for the Palestinian economy, had fallen to an estimated $265 million by 1996. This figure includes exports to Israel. According to UNCTAD, the interplay between restrictions on production and barriers to trade has constrained the trade sector in terms of what is produced and traded, and in which markets trade can be conducted. And, while Palestinian exporters earned over $110 million in Arab regional markets in the early 1980s, this figure fell to around $30 million by 1996.

The study will serve as the basis for a major technical assistance project, to be launched in May by UNCTAD and the United Nations Development Programme, to promote trade cooperation between the Palestinian Authority, Egypt and Jordan. Among its goals, the project will aim to improve trade efficiency.

Spokesman Fred Eckhard said that "UNITA now can fully conduct its political activities throughout the country" following a declaration issued on Wednesday by the Standing Committee of the Angolan Council of Ministers.

According to the spokesman, the leader of UNITA, Dr. Jonas Savimbi and other leaders of the party are supposed to move to the capital by 31 March in accordance with the newly agreed timetable.

The United Nations Observer Mission in Angola also confirmed on Wednesday that UNITA no longer had military forces except the 1,645 "residual forces" who should be demobilized by 15 March, Mr. Eckhard said.

United Nations Secretary-General's Special Representative Alioune Blondin Beye, who returned to Angola on Wednesday after recovering from heart surgery, thanked the Angolan parties for their continued cooperation to advance the peace process.

From the United Nations home page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.org

United Nations Daily Highlights Directory - Previous Article - Next Article