United Nations Daily Highlights, 04-01-28

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

BY MARIE OKABE

ASSOCIATE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

OF THE UNITED NATIONS

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Wednesday, January 28, 2004

[UN headquarters is closed Wednesday due to inclement weather and scheduled meetings were cancelled. The noon briefing was held as planned with guest Joseph Chamie, Director of the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

UN headquarters will reopen Thursday, January 29, 2004.]

ANNAN TO PRESIDE OVER CAMEROONNIGERIA

SUMMIT ON BORDER ISSUES

At the invitation of Secretary-General Kofi Annan and in his presence, President Paul Biya of Cameroon and President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria will meet on January 31, 2004 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, in the framework of the work of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission, which is chaired by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa, Mr. Ahmedu Ould-Abdallah.

The purpose of the meeting will be to discuss the progress achieved so far by the two countries, with the assistance of the United Nations, in the implementation of the ruling of the International Court of Justice of 10 October 2002 on the land and maritime boundary between both States, and to consider the remaining tasks within the mandate of the Mixed Commission.

The January 31, 2004 Summit is the third in a series of meetings between the Secretary-General and the two Heads of State designed to facilitate a peaceful settlement of the border issues between Cameroon and Nigeria. The first one took place on 5 September 2002 in

Paris

, and the second was held on 15 November 2002 in

Geneva.

ANNAN MEETS CHINAS PRESIDENT AND EUROPEAN UNION HEADS

The Secretary-General is in Brussels, Belgium, today, where he is holding meetings with several senior European Union officials, as well as with the Foreign Minister of Ireland, which currently holds the EU Presidency.

Earlier today, before leaving Paris for Brussels, the Secretary-General met with Chinese President Hu Jintao, telling reporters afterward that they had discussed

Iraq

,

Afghanistan, African-Chinese cooperation and the Presidents upcoming visit to Africa.

They also discussed UN reform, and President Hu expressed his strong support for the United Nations and its work, as well as the need to adapt it and make it stronger. The Secretary-General added that he had invited the President to come to the General Assembly this year, while the President had invited him to come to

China

. Youll be seeing me there, he promised.

Upon arriving in

Brussels, the Secretary-General met one-on-one with European Commission President Romano Prodi, after which he met with the EU College of Commissioners for an exchange of more than an hour.

They discussed the EUs relations with the United Nations, UN reform, the Doha round of trade negations, the fight against AIDS and a number of European issues.

Continuing over a working lunch, they discussed migration -- which will be the subject of a major speech that the Secretary-General is scheduled to give tomorrow as well as Cyprus, Iraq, the Middle-East, Iran, Afghanistan and other conflict zones.

Later today, the Secretary-General would meet with Javier Solana, the EU High Representative for Common and Security Policy. In the evening, he was to attend a dinner hosted in his honour by EU Commissioner Chris Patten.

UN ENVOY DEPLORES LOSS OF LIFE IN GAZA CITY

Earlier today, the UN Middle East Envoy, Terje Roed Larsen, issued a statement in which he deplores the loss of life in Gaza City.At least eight Palestinians were killed when Palestinian militants exchanged fire with Israeli soldiers.

Larsen urged Israeli military authorities to act in a manner that minimizes the risk to civilians and is in keeping with Israels obligations under international law.

UN IRAQ

REPRESENTATIVE THANKS JORDAN

FOR HELP AFTER 19 AUGUST BAGHDAD

BOMBING

The Secretary-Generals Acting Special Representative for Iraq, Ross Mountain is in Jordan today. This is his first trip to

Jordan

since being named to this post.

Earlier today, he met with Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan. Mountain expressed the UNs thanks and deep appreciation for all the assistance provided to the UN staff members in the aftermath of the August 19th bombing.

Mountain will also be meeting with other senior Jordanian officials as well as UN staff in

Amman.

Asked for news about the UNs security assessment team in Iraq or any evolution of the

Secretary-General's decision to send an electoral team to Iraq, the Spokeswoman said that the team had arrived in

Iraq

yesterday and was doing its work.

Asked about allegations regarding Benon Sevan, the former head of the UNs Oil for Food Programme for

Iraq, the Spokesman said that the United Nations

had seen

reports of

these unconfirmed allegations. She added that the Oil for Food Programme, which Sevan was charged with, had been satisfactorily audited numerous times, both internally and externally. The Secretary-General was fully satisfied with Sevans performance and integrity in administering what was a massive and unprecedented humanitarian programme. The United Nations had no further comment on this matter.

UN MISSION

IN AFGHANISTAN SHOCKED BY KABUL ATTACKS

The UN Mission in Afghanistan today voiced its deep shock and outrage at the two attacks that took place against members of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) today and yesterday. It condemned these acts and expressed its sentiments of solidarity and sympathy with the families and friends of the ISAF and Afghan victims.

Yesterday, according to ISAF, one Canadian soldier was killed, as well as one Afghan civilian, in an apparent suicide bombing in Kabul, which also wounded several other Canadian soldiers.

Today in Kabul, another bomb attack killed a British ISAF soldier and one Afghan child, and wounded several other civilians.

The UN Mission said it was certain the attacks would not succeed and that the overwhelming majority of Afghans would stay the course towards the restoration of a lasting peace.

BAD WEATHER DELAYS UN INVESTIGATION OF DR CONGO

MASSACRE

Bad weather conditions and inaccessible terrain in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo are delaying the UN Missions efforts to investigate the details of a massacre of civilians which is reported to have taken place near Gobu, on the shores of Lake Albert , earlier this month.

A UN team consisting of military observers, police officers, human rights officers and child protection officers has been dispatched to the area to look into the circumstances of the attack and to interview witnesses. According to the UN Mission, the airplane made six unsuccessful attempts to land near Gobu, after which it landed in Nina, some 11 kilometres away from the reported site of the massacre, from where the team will proceed on foot.

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL REVIEWS HIV/AIDS AWARENESS PROJECTS IN

INDIA

Continuing her official trip to India, Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette

today visited a project created by the National Institute of Information Technology and the UN Development Programme to train peer educators in raising awareness about HIV/AIDS in their communities. The project reaches some 30,000 students.

Later, she met with Indias Foreign Secretary to discuss a range of issues, including India-Pakistan relations, the role of the High-Level Panel on security issues, Iraq, Security Council reform, and Indias role in peacekeeping.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

NO

MEETINGS AT UN HEADQUARTERS TODAY: There are no Security Council consultations or meetings, or any other meetings, scheduled at UN Headquarters today.

The building is officially closed due to inclement weather.

LANDMARK STEP AGAINST SMUGGLING OF MIGRANTS: A landmark United Nations Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air and Sea, has entered into force today. The Protocol has been designed to strengthen the international communitys countering of trans-national organized crime groups and their sophisticated migrant smuggling networks, which exploit human misery and make sizeable criminal profits in the process.

DEFENSE ATTORNEYS STRIKE HALTS

RWANDA

CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL:

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda has adjourned all trial proceedings until tomorrow, while Tribunal officials seek to meet with defense attorneys who have declared themselves to be on strike. Tribunal officials dispute any validity to the attorneys claims that they are unable to obtain a fair trial, but say they are ready to engage in dialogue with the attorneys.