United Nations Daily Highlights, 02-05-02

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

OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY

MARIE OKABE

ASSOCIATE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Thursday, May 2, 2002

ANNAN SAYS HE INTENDS TO DISBAND FACT-FINDING TEAM

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a letter to the President of the Security Council, has detailed his efforts to implement Resolution 1405, which welcomed his initiative to develop accurate information regarding recent events in Jenin through a fact-finding team.

Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast late Wednesday afternoon briefed the Security Council on the letter, in which, he told reporters afterward, the Secretary-General informed the Council of his intention to disband the fact-finding team today.

Prendergast said that decision was an acceptance of the reality that its not possible to do the job properly without the full cooperation of the Government of Israel. The Secretary-General, he said, has come to his decision because he believes that the objections that the Government of Israel has to the deployment of the mission are fundamental objections, and therefore they are most unlikely to be overcome.

Asked about when the Secretary-General would formally disband the team, the Spokeswoman said that the Security Council remains actively seized of the matter, and consequently there is not yet any announcement of the Secretary-Generals formal decision. However, she said, some form of statement would be expected.

Asked to respond to concerns expressed in the Arab world about the disbanding of the team, Okabe said that the Secretary-General reached his decision only reluctantly, following the April 30 decision by Israels Security Cabinet that as long as Israels terms had not been met, it would be not be possible to begin the clarification process.

The Secretary-General feels strongly that an accurate, credible, thorough and balanced report cannot be prepared in the absence of full cooperation from both the Government of Israel as well as the Palestinian Authority, she reiterated.

Asked to comment on remarks by Israeli Ambassador Yehuda Lancry about six points of clarification Israel had sought, the Spokeswoman later said that the United Nations has not received any formal clarification of Israels terms.

SECURITY COUNCIL CONSIDERS RESPONSE ON FACT-FINDING TEAM

After receiving the Secretary-Generals letter, the Security Council went into lengthy consultations on a response on Wednesday night. Two drafts of resolutions were put on the table: one by Syria and Tunisia, and one by the United States. Neither of the resolutions came to a vote.

The consultations went on until about 2 a.m. Thursday when Security Council President Kishore Mahbubani of Singapore suggested that the meeting be adjourned and reconvened at 10:30 this morning to discussion a letter, drafted by the Presidency, from the Council to the Secretary General.

The Council remained undecided on how to respond to the Secretary-General's letter during its morning consultations, and will continue to discuss the matter this afternoon, following consultations on Cyprus.

In response to questions, the Spokeswoman declined to speculate on the contents of the final version of the letter.

SECURITY COUNCIL DISCUSSES HORN OF AFRICA, SOMALIA, CYPRUS

On the Security Councils agenda today, in addition to the resumption on the discussions on the Middle East, are the program of work for the month of May, a briefing on latest developments in Ethiopia and Eritrea by Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guéhenno and Somalia [Norway introduced a draft resolution on Somalia.]

In the afternoon, consultations were held on Cyprus with the Secretary-Generals Special Advisor, Alvaro de Soto, briefing the Council.

De Soto informed them of the Secretary-General's intention to travel to Cyprus and meet with the two leaders in furtherance of his mission of good offices. The Secretary-General hopes to see decisive progress in the talks between the two leaders in the coming period. He plans to call on them separately and to meet them jointly. The dates of his visit will be announced shortly.

ANNAN TRAVELS TO WASHINGTON, D.C. FOR QUARTET MEETING

The Secretary-General is in Washington, D.C. to attend a meeting, which begins at 3:00 p.m. in the U.S. State Department, of the Quartet dealing with Middle East issues a group that will comprise the Secretary-General, US Secretary of State Colin Powell, High Representative for European Union Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov. Also attending the meeting will be Foreign Minister Josep Pique of Spain, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union.

At about 4:30 p.m., the Quartet meeting to discuss the Middle East will be followed by a joint press conference among the principal participants.

Following the press conference, the Secretary-General will return to New York.

UNRWA WARNS OF LOOMING HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN GAZA

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) warned today that a humanitarian crisis is looming in the Gaza Strip as the Israeli authorities continue to block the entry of food, medicine and fuel and refuse to relax internal restrictions on the movements of all goods and personnel.

Despite repeated letters of protest from UNRWA to the Israeli authorities, Israel has continued to cite security reasons, and there has been scant improvement in the situation.

The Agency says its humanitarian operations are being severely hampered in Gaza, and it may not be able to provide the food packages for this month for 127 thousand of the most needy families. In addition, Gaza residents fearing a major Israeli incursion have begun to stockpile basic foodstuffs and medicines, pushing prices of those goods up further.

Also, the UN Mine Action Service has sent a mission to help clear unexploded ordnance in Jenin.

UN-IRAQ TALKS CONTINUE AT EXPERT LEVEL

The talks between the United Nations and Iraq entered the second day today. Meetings of experts on the issues related on the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) began today at 11:00 a.m.

The UN team is led by the Executive Chairman of UNMOVIC, Hans Blix. Delegates from the Iraqi side are led by Dr. Jafaar Dhia Jafaar, Presidential Adviser, and General Amir H. Al-Saadi, Adviser from the Presidential Office.

In response to questions, the Spokeswoman said that the Secretary-General was scheduled to brief the Security Council on Friday afternoon on the Iraq talks, once they have concluded.

ANNAN TO RECEIVE AWARD IN BOSTON THIS WEEKEND

The Secretary-General is traveling to Boston this Sunday to receive the Profile in Courage Award. The Award will be presented by Caroline Kennedy next Monday at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum.

The John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award was created by the Kennedy Library Foundation in 1989 and is presented annually to those in politics who had the courage to make decisions of conscience without fear of the consequences. "It is this unique kind of courage for which we honor Secretary-General Kofi Annan," said Kennedy, who is President of the Foundation.

"Following the attacks on the United States of September 11, 2001", the citation says, "Kofi Annan led the United Nations in bringing together diverse countries and political forces to combat terrorism, rebuild a nation and broker peace internationally." The Award is also for his courage as a peacemaker and in his leadership on human rights, UN reform, and the struggle against HIV/AIDS.

COUNCIL GREAT LAKES MISSION TRAVELS TO ANGOLA

Today the UN Security Council delegation is in Luanda, Angola, where they met with President Eduardo dos Santos for an hour at noon.

In the morning, they held a closed-door meeting with the inter-Congolese dialogue facilitator, former Botswanan President Katumile Masire.

In a short statement to the press, at the residence of President dos Santos, Ambassador Jean David Levitte from France and Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock from the United Kingdom said that the meeting was "very positive" on the three main aspects of the inter-Congolese dialogue that was being built: continuation of negotiations, withdrawal of foreign troops and demobilization of combatants. "What the Security Council wanted to hear from President dos Santos we did: he will use his influence in the region to try and make sure that the final part of the agreement that is being built will be achieved."

This afternoon, the Security Council delegation will have a joint meeting with the Political Committee of the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement.

On Friday, the delegation is scheduled to travel to Kampala, Uganda, where it will meet with President Yoweri Museveni.

UN HELPS BROKER SECURITY ARRANGEMENT IN AFGHANISTAN

Following reports of fighting in northern Afghanistan, the UN Mission in Afghanistan today reports that it has helped broker a security arrangement for Mazar-i-Sharif.

UN Mission staff reported that its staff from its office in that northern city met Wednesday night with Generals Abdul Rashid Dostum and Atta Mohammad. They agreed to set up a Security Commission for Mazar-i-Sharif.

Meanwhile, the World Food Programme today warned that a new hunger crisis threatens millions of Afghans unless more donations are received soon. Cash donations are needed immediately to buy food in the region that will help millions of extremely poor Afghans through the most critical and difficult months of the year before the harvest starts in July.

EAST TIMOR BORDER DEMARCATION IS COMPLETED

Representatives of East Timor and Indonesia today completed a Joint Reconnaissance Survey (JRS) aimed at demarcating the countries common land borders.

The fact that the survey took place before East Timor's independence shows the level of trust and cooperation that now exists between East Timor and Indonesia, said Nelson Santos, Director of Bilateral Affairs for East Timors Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.

The findings of the reconnaissance survey will be reported to the Technical Subcommittee on Border Demarcation and Regulation, which is part of a bilateral committee between East Timor and Indonesia.

YUGOSLAVIA TRIBUNAL RECEIVES TWO MORE SUSPECTS

Earlier today, two men former Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Sainovic and former prison warden Momcilo Gruban were transferred from Serbia to the detention unit of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at The Hague.

Sainovic, who was indicted for his role in crimes allegedly committed in Kosovo in 1999, was said to act as a liaison between former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and various Kosovo Albanian leaders at that time. He will make his initial appearance before a Tribunal judge on Friday.

Gruban is accused of supervising guards at the Omarska camp in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where it is alleged that prison conditions were brutal and inhumane for Muslim and Croat prisoners.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

A version of the Secretary-Generals third report on Liberias compliance with Security Council resolution 1343 (2001), which formed the basis for the sanctions regime on Liberia, is out today, but that document inadvertently omitted the concluding three paragraphs of the Secretary-Generals report, and it will be issued later today with those paragraphs included.

Namibia this week launched a program calling on the services of more than 1,000 national and international UN Volunteers to work with and train Namibians to become teachers, doctors and health workers, public administrators, business managers, agriculturists and other professionals in a bid to fight poverty and HIV/AIDS, as well as to promote development.

The Executive Director of the World Food Programme, James Morris, today called on Heads of State to commit to a global plan for school feeding. The plan is aimed at the worlds 300 million chronically hungry children and asks states to commit to solving malnutrition and illiteracy. The Special Session of the General Assembly on Children will address this and other topics next week, when delegates try to agree on what needs to be done to improve living conditions, create more educational opportunities and provide essential food to malnourished children.

This morning, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia became the 129th country to sign the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General United Nations, S-378 New York, NY 10017 Tel. 212-963-7162 Fax. 212-963-7055

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