United Nations Daily Highlights, 00-07-19

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

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE NOON BRIEFING
BY FRED ECKHARD
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

• The registration of Kosovo's population, which will be the basis for voter registration for municipal elections planned for this fall, ended today with over one million people registered. Given that estimates for eligible voters was around 1.2 million, the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) considers this a positive development. However, the fact that virtually no Serbs registered was clearly a setback.

• More than 20 political parties have registered for the elections, expected to take place in October. Campaigning begins 45 days before the election date, which has not yet been finalized.

• Meanwhile, the situation in northern Mitrovica remained tense. Hundreds of Serbs protesting the arrest of a Serb suspect by UN police Monday night, in connection with the harassment of a Kosovo Albanian, demonstrated for a second straight day.

• Last night, two apartments housing UN police were broken into and looted by groups of Serbs, and a UN police car was attacked.

• Another demonstration was planned for this evening.

• The Security Council will hold consultations at 4:30 p.m. today to review the draft text of a presidential statement on "The Role of the Security Council in the Prevention of Armed Conflicts" -- the theme of Thusday's open meeting.

• The Secretary-General will open that meeting, which as5 of this morning had 27 countries scheduled to speak.

• Council members are expected to hear a briefing by H&eacute;di Annabi, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

• This afternoon's consultations will follow the Council's monthly luncheon with the Secretary-General, who is back at Headquarters today after a series of trips that took him to the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

• Upon arriving at Headquarters this morning, the Secretary-General took a few questions from journalists. On the Middle East Summit in Camp David, he urged "all parties to really focus on the issues as we get down to the wire in the spirit of give and take and make the kind of compromise that is necessary for them to get compromises so that we can move on".

• Humanitarian agencies are reporting that thousands of internally displaced people continue to gather in Kenema, in the southeast part of Sierra Leone.

• They appear to be coming from a place called Tongo Fields and neighboring villages, having fled fighting there over the weekend. At present, the agencies on the ground appear equipped to handle the influx.

• The Force Commander of the UN Mission in Sierra Leone, Maj. Gen. Vejay Jetley, is expected to speak to journalists at UN headquarters next Tuesday around noon.

• The United Nations today appealed for $87.3 million to address priority humanitarian needs for the more than 1.1 million war-affected Eritreans through the end of this year.

• The revised appeal brings together the relief aid requirements of 8 UN agencies providing, among other things, food, agricultural inputs, shelter, water and sanitation, health and nutrition, and education.

• A 17-person team from the Indonesian Attorney General's Office arrived in Dili today to question witnesses and collect evidence concerning the five criminal cases, considered as priority by the Indonesian authorities. The questioning of witnesses by the investigative staff of the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), in the presence of observers from the Attorney General's team, will start Thursday and last about nine days.

• Also today, a website for East Timorese independent print media was launched during the annual conference of the Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers' Association. The Timorese journalists will be trained and supported in web-site development by UNTAET's Media Development Unit and the Queensland University of Technology.

• In response to a question on the confiscation of the passport of UN journalist Raghida Dergham, the Spokesman said he welcomed the news that President Lahoud of Lebanon had decided to reverse the decision to annul Dergham's passport.

• Asked about talks between the United Nations and the Taleban regarding the employment of Afghan women, the Spokesman responded by saying that the UN Humanitarian Coordinator Erick de Mul was currently in Kabul discussing these issues and would be back in Islamabad Thursday.

• The exhibit, "Towards Reduction of Natural Disasters: The Journey of Latin America and the Caribbean" opened this morning, in connection with the humanitarian segment of the Economic and Social Council's 2000 substantive session. It shows how Latin American and Caribbean countries have increased their preparedness for disasters and their successes in disaster relief.

• Portugal today became the 101^st Member State to be paid in full for this year's regular budget with a payment of just over $4.5 million.

• Thursday, John Ruggie from the Executive Office of the Secretary-General will be the guest at the noon briefing to make an announcement on the Global Compact.

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