HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SPOKESMAN'S NOON
BRIEFING
BY STEPHANE DUJARRIC
SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
UN HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
ANNAN
“OUTRAGED” AT BOMBING OF CHILDREN IN IRAQ
Secretary-General
Kofi Annan is
by the deaths of a large number of children, among
other civilians, in the latest suicide bombing today in
.
He condemns in the strongest terms this senseless act of
violence. As the Secretary-General has said repeatedly, there can be no
justification for the deliberate targeting of civilians – much less children,
who are our hope for the future. Nothing will be accomplished by today’s
killing of innocents.
KILLINGS IN
KENYA ARE "DEPLORABLE"
Asked about reports that fifty
people have been killed in Kenya, the Spokesman called the killings
“dǰ”
[Later Wednesday, Jan Egeland, Under-Secretary-General
for Humanitarian Affairs, said "the direct targeting of a school is
particularly reprehensible." In response, the UN office for the Coodination of
Humanitarian Affairs in Nairobi convened an urgent meeting with partners and
government representatives on how to respond to the immediate needs of the
victims.]
UNITED NATIONS CONDEMNS SUICIDE ATTACK
IN ISRAEL, BOMBING IN LEBANON
In a
we issued yesterday afternoon, the Secretary-General strongly
condemned the suicide attack in
earlier that day that took at least two lives, and wounded many
others. He is unwavering in his conviction that nothing can justify terror.
Now and in the days ahead, it is critical that all measures be taken to ensure
that such attacks do not reoccur, and that the admirable restraint recently
observed be maintained so that the violence does not escalate.
Yesterday afternoon, following brief consultations, the
Council President, Ambassador Vassilakis of Greece, read a
which said that Security Council members unequivocally
condemned the terrorist bombing that took place earlier that day in
. Council members also expressed their condemnation of the
terrorist attack in the
city of Netanya.
SECURITY COUNCIL TO MEET ON D.R. CONGO
At 3:15 this afternoon, the
will hold consultations on the
. Council members will receive a briefing
from the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, William Swing, on the
latest developments in that country.
Swing will later meet with the press at the stakeout
position on the second floor.
SUDAN’S PEACE
PROCESS GETTING SUPPORT, SAYS U.N. ENVOY
The
Secretary-General’s Special Representative for
, Jan Pronk, has returned from a two-day visit to North Darfur, where
he met with the rebel Sudan Liberation Army leadership. Pronk says that he has
“good reason to believe that the Abuja peace process is supported at the field
𱹱.”
Pronk is planning to intensify his meetings with other
rebel groups with a visit to South Darfur. These meetings will keep the
parties informed of the preparations for the next round of Abuja discussions
which are to take place on 24 August.
Pronk will travel tomorrow to Asmara where he will meet
with Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki.
Next week, he will be in New York to brief the Security
Council on July 22.
UNICEF ASKS SUDAN TO STRIKE DEATH
PENALTY FOR CHILDREN
UNICEF has
provisions in the Interim National Constitution of Sudan, which
strengthen the rights of children and women. But it also calls for the
elimination of clauses which allow for the death penalty to be imposed on
children under 18 years of age.
The Agency also noted that the document does not prohibit
either the recruitment or the voluntary signing-up into the armed forces, of
children under 18 years.
UNICEF urges that the final Constitution be brought into
conformity with the international and regional conventions that Sudan has
ratified.
UNITED NATIONS STRESSES RULE OF LAW IN
IRAQ
Ashraf Qazi, the Secretary-General’s Special
Representative for
, yesterday co-chaired a round-table on the reform of that country’s
justice system, in which he said that strengthening the rule of law is vital
to restoring public order and respect for human rights in Iraq.
Yesterday’s session placed a special emphasis on Iraq’s
correctional facilities and the juvenile justice system.
U.N. PRAISES
DONORS FOR DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS IN HAITI
The Secretary-General’s Deputy Representative in
, Adama Guindo, has
the Transitional Government and international donors, who have
worked together on development projects in that country for the past year.
Guindo spoke at a press conference yesterday marking the
first anniversary of the establishment of the Interim Cooperative Framework
for Haiti.
Among the notable donors he recognized were Real Madrid
football players Ronaldo de Lima and Zinedine Zidane who pledged $120,000 for
programs in Cite Soleil.
BILL CLINTON TO REPORT ON TSUNAMI
RECOVERY
Former U.S. President
, the UN’s Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery, will address
the
(ECOSOC) tomorrow at around noon in the ECOSOC
Chamber.
Clinton will give an assessment
of the tsunami recovery effort and highlight specific policy questions which
need to be resolved. Following that, he will engage in a question and answer
session with delegates from the Member States.
ANNAN CALLS FOR U.N. COORDINATION OF
HUMANITARIAN WORK
A
by the Secretary-General calls for strengthening the coordination
of emergency humanitarian assistance.
Among other things, it says that the tsunami showed that
the world’s humanitarian system has considerable resources. But such assets
would be more efficiently used if they were deployed under or coordinated with
the UN.
The report also stresses the need to observe humanitarian
principles in peace-building missions.
NEW U.N. SECURITY CHIEF IS APPOINTED
Under-Secretary-General for Safety and Security David
Veness is pleased to confirm that Bruno Henn has been appointed as Chief of
the Security and Safety Service at UN Headquarters.
Henn had been the officer-in-charge of the Safety and
Security Service in New York, replacing Michael McCann, since June of last
year, and took up his appointment as Chief at the start of this month. He is a
former member of the German Police Service, with more than 23 years of
experience in law enforcement and security management.
OTHER
ANNOUNCEMENTS
ANNAN’S SHOULDER:
Asked about the Secretary-General’s shoulder injury, the Spokesman said that he
had torn a rotator cuff while skiing last winter. He said, in response to
further questions, that the Secretary-General would undergo surgery in a New
York area hospital, under a type of surgery normally done using local
anesthetic.
BENON SEVAN:
Asked about Benon Sevan’s whereabouts, the Spokesman noted that Sevan’s main
responsibility is to make himself available to Paul Volcker’s Independent
Inquiry Committee, and the United Nations has not heard from the Committee that
Sevan has not done so.
D.R. CONGO KILLINGS:
Asked about the killings in Bukavu, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the
Spokesman said the UN Mission in that country was still investigating the
matter.
CAPITAL MASTER PLAN:
Asked whether the Secretary-General plans to meet
with Donald Trump, the Spokesman said that Trump and the Secretary-General had
met over a year ago. The United Nations would wait to see what Trump has to say
on the
before the U.S. Congress.
KOREA TALKS:
Asked whether the United Nations was participating in the six-party talks on the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Spokesman noted that the United
Nations was not a party to those talks but was following them closely. In
response to another question, he said there was no change in the status of
Special Envoy Maurice Strong.
SECURITY MEASURES: In response to a question about
whether there were additional security measures in place at UN headquarters
today, the Spokesman later said no.
TREE RESEARCH: According to a new global study of
biotechnology in forestry
today by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (FAO), the rapid scientific advancement of genetically modified trees
calls for a systematic assessment of the benefits, as well as the potential
risks, associated with them. To this end, a global regulatory framework to
govern research and application of genetically modified forest trees is
essential.
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