United Nations Daily Highlights, 03-9-17

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

OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY FRED ECKHARD

SPOKESMAN

FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Wednesday, September 17th, 2003

SECURITY COUNCIL BRIEFED ON UN MISSION IN SIERRA LEONE

The Security Council today is holding consultations on Sierra Leone and other matters.

Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hedi Annabi introduced the latest report by the Secretary-General on the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), which was issued yesterday.[The Secretary-General recommended that the Security Council extend the mandate of the UN Mission for a further period of six months, until March 31, 2004.]

Also today, Security Council President, Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry of the United Kingdom, is hosting the monthly working luncheon with the Secretary-General.

SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION ON PALESTINIAN LEADER'S DEPORTATION VETOED

Tuesday afternoon, the Security Council failed to adopt a resolution on the Middle East which demanded that Israel desist from any threat to the safety of the elected President of the Palestinian Authority.

The draft resolution had also demanded a complete cessation of all acts of violence, including all acts of terrorism, provocation, incitement and destruction.

One permanent member, the United States, voted against, 11 members voted in favour and three abstained (Bulgaria, Germany, United Kingdom) on the resolution, which was sponsored by Sudan, Syria, Pakistan and South Africa.

UN ENVOY WELCOMES NIGERIAN EFFORTS TO LIMIT

EX-LIBERIAN PRESIDENT CHARLES TAYLORS ACTIVITIES

The Secretary-Generals Special Representative for Liberia, Jacques Klein, in an interview with UN Radio this morning said he was delighted to see an announcement by the Nigerian government that it was clamping down on former Liberian President Charles Taylors while in exile.

Klein has expressed his concerns over reports that Taylor was exerting influence over government members that were still in Monrovia. Klein said it is important that the Nigerian government has made a very strong statement.

On the humanitarian front, the World Food Programme (WFP) has sent a consignment of food to tens of thousands of people in the Liberian city of Buchanan for the first time since heavy fighting between government forces and rebel factions erupted in and around the capital, Monrovia.

A convoy of food trucks arrived last night, following the deployment just outside the city of troops from the West African peacekeeping force (ECOMIL.) Distribution is due to start today. WFP estimates that it will need some 9,000 tonnes of food a month to feed 500,000 people in Liberia.

SUDANESE PARTIES AGREE TO ALLOW HUMANITARIAN ACCESS

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs announced that the government of Sudan and the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army(SLM/A) signed an agreement today that would allow free and unimpeded humanitarian access to the Darfur region, which covers some 20 percent of that countrys territory.

The announcement comes after Tom Eric Vraalsen, the Secretary-Generals Special Envoy for Humanitarian Affairs in the Sudan completed his mission to the Darfur region.

The humanitarian situation in Darfur has deteriorated over the past six months due in part to fighting and banditry that has resulted in the displacement of large numbers of civilians.

UN humanitarian agencies hope to regain access to all of the 500,000 people who had been receiving aid receiving aid before the access constraints began in March.

EX-MILITARY COMMANDER HELD BY SIERRA LEONE SPECIAL COURT

The Special Court for Sierra Leone said that an alleged former junta commander, Santigie Kanu, known as Brigadier 55, was transferred today into its custody.

The Special Court has issued a 17-count indictment against Kanu, and the charges against him include crimes against humanity, violations of the Geneva Conventions, and other serious violations of international humanitarian law.

Kanu is being held at the Courts detention facility in Freetown, and will make his initial appearance before a Special Court judge early next week. He had been in the custody of Sierra Leones national courts since March on treason charges.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

COMBATING NUCLEAR TERRORISM: The International Atomic Energy Agencys Nuclear Security Fund has reached nearly $23 million in pledges for voluntary contributions from 21 countries, with the money to be used to strengthen countries nuclear security arrangements against terrorism and other malicious acts. On the safety and security front, we can take satisfaction in the degree of progress, IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei told the IAEA General Conference in Vienna on Monday. But we must remain vigilant, and clearly much work is still urgently needed.

U.N. TRIBUNAL DOUBLES PRISON SENTENCE: Today in The Hague, the appeals chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia decided that the initial sentence of seven and a half years of imprisonment given to Milorad Krnojelac, whom it deemed to be a co-perpetrator of crimes against non-Serbs at the Foca detention camp, was too little. The appeals chamber expanded his culpability and raised the sentence imposed on him to 15 years imprisonment.

U.N. BUDGET: Sudan today paid $81,000 to the UN regular budget, becoming the 103rd Member State to pay its dues in full this year.

EX-DEPUTY SPOKESMAN RETURNS TO NEW YORK

AS NEWS AND MEDIA DIVISION DIRECTOR

The former Deputy Spokesman for Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Ahmad Fawzi, has returned to New York from London, where he has been Information Centre Director since 1997.

He also served as the Spokesman for Lakhdar Brahimi in Afghanistan, including during the Bonn talks in November 2001 and most recently as Spokesman for Sergio Vieira de Mello in Baghdad in June and July of this year. He also was Sergios Spokesman in East Timor at the time of the first elections there in August 2000.

Here in New York he is the Director of DPIs News and Media Division, overseeing the UN Website, press releases, UNTV and UN Radio, among other things.