United Nations Daily Highlights, 00-08-01

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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 MANOEL DE ALMEIDA E SILVA
DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

• The Secretary-General's fifth report to the Security Council on the UN Mission in Sierra Leone, which was issued today, reported that the situation in Sierra Leone remains dangerous and volatile despite some improvements.

• The UN Mission in Sierra Leone, after setbacks suffered in May, has demonstrated its capacity assertively and has reinforced its hold on strategic areas and access roads, the Secretary-General said.

• The report contained the findings and the measures taken to date in response to the recommendations made by an assessment mission led by former Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Manfred Eisele, designed to make the operation more effective.

• The Secretary-General also reported that the threat posed by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) remains a matter of grave concern, with the group showing no credible sign that it would be ready to resume the peace process. The RUF has continued attacks on the UN Mission and pro-Government forces, the report said.

• Saying that the preferred approach to achieve a durable peace should be based on a robust and credible international military presence, the Secretary-General recommended a six-month mandate extension, the present mandate of which expires this August 7.

• Annan said he remains convinced that it will be necessary to further strengthen the UN Mission and intends to submit proposals to the Council in the near future, likely within two weeks, with a detailed concept of operations.

• The Secretary-General added that enhancing the Mission's strength would ultimately depend on the willingness of member states to make the necessary well-trained and well-equipped troops available to the United Nations. Continued support of troop contributors, as well as assistance in training and equipment, are also crucial, he said.

• This morning, the Security Council Sanctions Committee dealing with Sierra Leone continued the open hearing begun Monday on the role of diamonds in that country's conflict.

• Among this morning's speakers at the "town hall"-style meeting, held at the Trusteeship Council Chamber, were representatives of human rights groups and the diamond industry.

• The hearings concluded in the early afternoon, after which Ambassador Anwarul Karim Chowdhury of Bangladesh, the chair of the Committee, spoke to reporters.

• The Security Council itself held no meetings today. Instead, the beginning of the month of August marked the change in the rotating Presidency of the Council, with Ambassador Hasmy Agam of Malaysia replacing Ambassador Patricia Durrant of Jamaica as Council President for this month.

• Hasmy held bilateral talks with other Council members on the program of work for August.

• On Wednesday, the Council will discuss the program of work in its consultations, and is also scheduled to hold consultations to hear briefings on Burundi and Guinea-Bissau.

• Secretary-General Kofi Annan began his official visit to Ghana this morning, when he and his wife, Nane Annan, attended a ceremony at the Kwame Nkrumah mausoleum. They laid a wreath at the statue of Kwame Nkrumah, a pre-eminent leader of the African struggle for independence and the first President of independent Ghana, accompanied by Francis Nkrumah, son of the late President.

• The Secretary-General said he had been fortunate to have grown up in Ghana during the independence struggle, and he recalled "the energy, the electricity, the inspiration that leaders like the late Nkrumah and others gave us." He added that his experiences made him believe that change is possible and that "one should dare to make changes."

• From there, the Secretary-General proceeded to the Castle, the Ghanaian Presidency, where he met President Jerry Rawlings. Their discussions focussed primarily on Sierra Leone.

• Later this evening, the Secretary-General is expected to attend a state banquet, where he will receive the Order of the Star of Ghana in recognition of his service to humanity.

• On Wednesday, the last day of his official visit to his native country, the Secretary-General is expected to break the ground for the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College. In the afternoon, he is to receive an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Ghana.

• UN Assistant Emergency Relief Coordinator Ross Mountain, who has just concluded a visit to Sudan, said in a statement that he emphatically rejects all allegations made by what he calls an apparent campaign in the Sudanese media against Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS), the UN humanitarian program in that country. He criticized what he called misrepresentations of his discussions with senior officials of the Government of Sudan.

• During his weekend visit to Sudan, Mountain said he met with senior Government officials who gave assurances regarding their support for UN relief agencies and non-governmental organizations and highlighted the importance of the UN assistance program.

• Contrary to news reports, Mountain said that Operation Lifeline Sudan was pleased to receive on Monday the clearance from the Government of Sudan for relief flights for the month of August from all OLS bases in Sudan and Kenya.

• The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, will arrive in East Timor this coming Saturday for a three-day working visit.

• During her stay, she is scheduled to meet with various high-level officials, including Special Representative Sergio Vieira de Mello and Xanana Gusmao, President of the National Council of Timorese Resistance.

• Next Monday, Robinson will deliver the keynote speech at a human rights workshop organized jointly by the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor and the East Timor Lawyers Association. She will also speak to the press before her departure from Dili on Monday afternoon.

• The UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) said today that 82 members of Falantil, the National Council's armed wing, began Monday a new non-military training program. The two-week program will cover topics such as environmental protection, first aid, computer and language training.

• The Office of the Iraq Programme reported that, in the week ending on July 28, Iraq exported 18 million barrels of oil with an estimated value of $387 million. This brings the value of oil exported in Phase VIII of the "oil-for-food" program to $2.133 billion, from a total volume exported of 91.9 million barrels.

• Today in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Secretary-General's Special Representative, Jacques Klein, attended the inauguration of the State Border Service unit in Izacic. The first phase of the deployment of Border Service units is to be completed this week, with units taking control of entry points in Izacic, Doljani and Zvornik. In his comments today, Klein called the State Border Service "a truly multi-ethnic institution, based on professional competence," as well as a crucial step in the fight against trafficking in women and illegal cross-border trade.

• The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees reports that more than 11,000 Eritrean refugees have returned to Eritrea since it began a voluntary repatriation operation on July 25 from camps in Sudan. UNHCR also reports that access is still very limited to some 60,000 to 65,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who are scattered along a 700-km stretch of the Congo and Ubangui rivers.

• Today the Czech Republic will sign the Protocol of the Privileges and Immunities of the International Seabed Authority, becoming the 28^th country to sign this protocol.

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