United Nations Daily Highlights, 06-06-22

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

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NOON BRIEFING

BY MARIE OKABE

DEPUTY SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Thursday, June 22, 2006

ANNAN HOLDS VERY USEFUL DISCUSSION WITH IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER

Secretary-General Kofi Annan met in Geneva today with e Foreign Minister Manouchehr Motaki of Iran and, in a press conference afterward, he said that their discussion was very useful.

He said he believes that Iran is considering the offer made by the permanent members of the Security Council and Germany very seriously, and added that he hopes it will give a sufficient answer before too long. He added, in response to a question, that he expects Iran to provide an answer after the Group of Eights meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The Secretary-General was also asked about the recent situation in Timor-Leste, and said that what has happened is a great disappointment for all of us. He said that his Special Envoy, Ian Martin, will go back to Timor-Leste to hold discussions with the authorities and assess what the United Nations can do further to help the country, adding that he foresees a strengthened UN Mission there in the future.

The Secretary-General is now on his way back to New York.

ANNAN HOPES SUDAN WILL ACCEPT A UN FORCE IN DARFUR

The Secretary-General, in the Geneva press conference, addressed the situation in Darfur,

Sudan. In the medium term, he added, he believes that a UN peacekeeping force will be needed to help the parties implement the peace agreement and help provide security for the internally displaced.

He responded to recent concerns expressed by the Government of Sudan, saying that no one, and least of all the UN, is interested in imposing anything like a colonial rule on one of its Member States. The talks continue with the Sudanese Government, he said, adding, I hope ultimately we will be able to convince them to accept a UN force.

He also urged Governments to give generously at the pledging conference next month in Brussels, so that African Union troops can carry out their mandate in Darfur.

Meanwhile, on the ground in Sudan, the joint UN-African Union technical assessment mission is wrapping up its visit there.Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Marie Guéhenno who led the UN delegation on the mission held a press conference in which he was expected to talk about what the assessment mission did, as well as misunderstandings of the nature of UN peacekeeping operations.

He was also expected to stress that the United Nations did not have any agenda other than to help bring peace and stability to Sudan.

Guéhenno will be back at UN headquarters on Monday, and will be giving the Security Council an oral briefing sometime in the first half of next week.

Further to that, the

Security Council resolution which called for the deployment of the mission requested that the Secretary-General submit recommendations to the Council within one week of the missions return, on all relevant aspects of the mandate of a UN operation in Darfur. That report is in the process of being finalized.

SECURITY COUNCIL RECOMMENDS MONTENEGRO BE ADMITTED

AS 192ND MEMBER STATE OF THE UNITED NATIONS

The Security Council this morning adopted, without a vote, a resolution recommending to the General Assembly that the Republic of Montenegro be admitted to membership of the United Nations.

That decision will now be conveyed to the Secretary-General for transmittal to the General Assemblys 60th session, which is expected to take it up next Wednesday.

After that, the Security Council, chaired by the Foreign Minister of Denmark, began an open debate on strengthening international law. UN Legal Counsel Nicolas Michel and Judge Rosalyn Higgins, President of the International Court of Justice, participated in that debate.

Michel said that the Security Council has taken a number of decisions in recent years to deal with impunity for crimes, including its recent decision to transfer the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor. He said that justice and peace are to be regarded as complementary, noting that those two goals should be dovetailed, without justice being sacrificed.

ANNAN WELCOMES DANISH AND JAPANESE OFFERS

OF SUPPORT TO U.N. OFFICES IN IRAQ

A statement issued yesterday afternoon expressed the Secretary-Generals great appreciation of Denmarks recent announcement that it will provide a dedicated fixed-wing aircraft for United Nations operations in Iraq.

The Secretary-General also welcomes the recent offer by the Government of Japan to provide airlift support. He looks forward to seeing these arrangements finalized and implemented as soon as possible. These contributions will significantly improve UN mobility and support to its offices in Iraq.

Also, available today is a letter, transmitted by the Secretary-General to the Security Council, from Jean-Pierre Halbwachs, our representative on the International Advisory and Monitoring Board (IAMB) for Iraq, which provides an update of the Boards recent work.

PEACE-BUILDING COMMISSION TO MEET TOMORROW

The Secretary-General will tomorrow chair the first meeting of the Organizational Committee for the newly-created Peacebuilding Commission. It is scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m. in the Economic and Social Council Chamber.

At that meeting, the 31-member Committee is expected to adopt its agenda and provisional rules of procedure and to agree on the first post-conflict country situations that it will consider.

Available today is a letter from the President of the Security Council to the Peace Building Commission Organizational Committee saying that the Council would like to request the advice of the Commission on the situations in Burundi and Sierra Leone.

The Secretary-General will open the first session of the Commission and open the first meeting of the organizational committee.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

PROTOCOL TO ENHANCE ANTI-TORTURE TREATY COMES INTO FORCE: High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour

welcomed todays entry into force of the Convention against Tortures Optional Protocol. The Protocol strengthens the treaty by establishing an international subcommittee that can visit detention centers in States parties. It also requires States parties to set up national torture preventive mechanisms. So far, twenty countries have signed on to the Protocol.

ANGOLAN FOOTBALL STARS PROMOTE IMMUNIZATION DRIVE: UNICEF and the World Health Organization are helping the Angolan Government launch an immunization campaign to fight measles and polio. For their part, Angolan star football players Fabrice Akwa, Pedro Manuel Mantorras, Antonio Lebo Lebo and Joao Jamba are taking to the airwaves to encourage their countrymen to participate in the immunization drive. The nationwide campaign will be held between 5 and 26 July and will immunize more than 3.6 million children under five.