United Nations Daily Highlights, 00-08-10

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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

ANNAN PROPOSES TO DEPLOY 4,200 UN PERSONNEL IN HORN OF AFRICA

• Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a report to the Security Council today, detailed a concept of operations for the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE). The Council plans to discuss it in an open briefing next Monday.

• The Secretary-General says that, given the difficult terrain and weather conditions as well as the length of the temporary security zone to be monitored, the UN Mission would require a total military strength of up to 4,200 personnel, including 220 military observers, three infantry battalions and support units.

• He adds that the parties should exercise restraint and avoid provocative moves in complying with the Algiers Agreement. He notes that the parties have proposed under the Agreement that the UN peacekeeping operation would terminate with the successful conclusion of the delimitation and demarcation of the border between the two countries.

• The report follows a UN reconnaissance mission, led by Maj. Gen. Timothy Ford of Australia, which visited the region from July 4-18. That mission explored what kind of UN presence would be needed to monitor observance of the Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities signed by the Ethiopia and Eritrea in Algiers on June 18.

• The UN Mission is to monitor the redeployment of Ethiopian forces to the positions they had held on May 6, 1998, and to monitor the position of Eritrean forces, which are to remain a distance of 25 km away from the redeployed Ethiopian forces. It also is to monitor the temporary security zone and coordinate and provide technical assistance for mine clearance.

• The Secretary-General concludes, "The people of Eritrea and Ethiopia have suffered terrible losses during two long years of war." Now, he says, he would like to assure both nations that the UN Mission and the entire UN family would make every effort to assist them to create conditions for peace and prosperity.

• The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today noted, in an update on its work in the Horn of Africa, that, by Wednesday, more than 21,000 Eritrean refugees had returned home from three camps in eastern Sudan.

• The movement has been particularly heavy from the Shagarab camp, about 70 km. away from the border, where more than 12,000 of some 17,000 refugees who had registered have already returned with UNHCR assistance. The agency has been using more than 200 trucks to assist the daily return trips.

SECURITY COUNCIL DISCUSSES SIERRA LEONE TRIALS

• The Security Council this morning held closed consultations on Sierra Leone. Member states considered a draft resolution on the trial of Sierra Leonean nationals accused of egregious crimes, and the Council will vote on it Friday.

• Council members also discussed a draft resolution on children and armed conflict, which follows the open Security Council meeting that took place on that topic two weeks ago. They plan to vote on that resolution Friday. The Council also intends to hold consultations on Friday, to hear a briefing on the security of humanitarian personnel in Sudan.

UN NEPALESE TROOPS EXCHANGE FIRE WITH MILITIA IN EAST TIMOR

• In East Timor today, at 5:45 p.m. local time, a UN peacekeeping patrol from the Nepalese contingent encountered a group of militia 14 km. northeast of Suai, in the western part of the country.

• There was an exchange of fire, in which four Nepalese soldiers from the patrol and one Timorese civilian bystander were wounded. Two Nepalese soldiers and the Timorese civilian are being treated at the UN Military Hospital in Suai, while the two other soldiers, who have sustained more serious injuries, have been evacuated to the UN Military Hospital in Dili.

• Preliminary investigation of the death on Wednesday of an Australian peacekeeping soldier has indicated that the soldier, Corporal Stuart MacMillan Jones, was travelling in an armored vehicle on rough terrain, when one of the weapons inside the vehicle discharged, wounding him severely on the chest. There will be an inquiry into the incident.

DRC REPRESENTATIVE INFORMED OF RWANDAN WITHDRAWAL PLANS

• The Secretary-General's Special Representative in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kamal Morjane, returned Wednesday to Kinshasa from a visit to the Rwandan capital, Kigali, where he met with a number of senior Government officials.

• The Rwandan authorities told him that they are prepared to withdraw their forces from the front line. A delegation from the Rally for Congolese Democracy, a rebel group supported by Rwanda, that was also in Kigali confirmed to Morjane that they are also ready to withdraw from current positions.

• Morjane welcomed the initiative and expressed the hope that the other parties will adhere to it. He reiterated the importance of cooperation of all parties for the implementation of the Lusaka agreement. The United Nations is still seeking further details on the withdrawal plans.

• The Secretary-General's report to the Security Council on the situation in the DRC is expected to be issued around August 24.

UN OFFICES MOURN MINE WORKERS KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN

• Today, the Office of the UN Coordinator for Afghanistan and its mine action program observed a day of respect and mourning for the seven Afghan aid workers, belonging to the non-governmental organization OMAR, who were killed on the way to the western province of Herat on August 5.

• In a ceremony held in Islamabad, Pakistan, more than 200 people offered prayers and sympathies for the seven victims, who had been working in a UN mine clearance program. All UN mine clearance activity in Afghanistan was suspended today so that the 5,000 Afghans working under its umbrella could mourn the dead.

• Erick de Mul, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan, opened the ceremony in Islamabad by saying, "It is tragic that they lost their own lives while saving the lives of others. There can be no higher calling than this." He cited the Holy Quran, saying, "The person who saves one life, it is as if he saves the whole world."

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

• In a press release today, the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo noted that Special Representative Bernard Kouchner Thursday appointed an additional 139 judges and prosecutors and 309 lay judges in Kosovo. The new appointments bring the number of judges and prosecutors in Kosovo to 405. The new appointments will not take effect until the end of this year, when a budget can be authorized for them.

• According to the monthly summary of peacekeeping personnel, as of July 31, there were just over 37,000 military and civilian police personnel contributed by 89 Member States deployed in 14 UN peacekeeping operations worldwide.

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