United Nations Daily Highlights, 07-04-03

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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 MICHELE

MONTAS

SPOKESPERSON FOR SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

U.N.

HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

SECURITY COUNCIL ADOPTS PROGRAMME OF WORK; WILL DISCUSS KOSOVO

The Security Council this morning held its first consultations for the month of April, agreeing on its programme of work for the month.

Among the things the Council discussed this morning was the format of discussions it will have this afternoon concerning the report on the final status of Kosovo, which is to be presented by the Secretary-Generals Special Envoy, Martti Ahtisaari.

Starting at 3:30, the Council will hold a private meeting to hear from Ahtisaari, among other officials. Later in the afternoon, Council members will hold consultations on Kosovo.

The Council also adopted a Presidential Statement on the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In it, the Council deplored the violence that took place last month between the Congolese security forces and the security guards of Senator Jean-Pierre Bemba..

Also on Kosovo, the UN Mission there issued a press release on how the Customs Service has been transferred today from the Mission to local customs officials.

U.N. DISASTER UNIT HEADS FOR SOLOMON ISLANDS

A team from the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination unit has been deployed to the Solomon Islands in response to yesterdays devastating tsunami, which was caused by a large underwater earthquake followed by some 27 aftershocks.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

reports that the tsunami has caused the deaths of at least 28 people, with 19 injured and some 5,400 forced to flee their homes. Many more remain unaccounted for, and search-and-rescue operations continue.

Solomon Islands authorities, who declared a state of emergency, estimate that 1,000 houses were destroyed on Choiseul Island, based on an aerial assessment conducted yesterday. More information has been hard to obtain because of communication outages and difficulties of access.

Seismological experts, meanwhile, warn of a high possibility of further large earthquakes in the days to come.

$130 MILLION IN U.N. EMERGENCY FUNDS PROVIDED IN FIRST QUARTER

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

says it has provided some $130 million worth of life-saving aid during the first quarter of this year through its year-old Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).

The money has been used to pay for everything from food, clothing and shelter to vaccines and other medicines. The largest recipient of funding was Mozambique, where nearly $11 million helped fund the response to severe flooding in the Zambezi River Valley and destruction caused by tropical cyclone Favio.

U.N. RIGHTS CHIEF EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER SITUATION IN SOMALIA

High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour is deeply

concerned about the high number of civilian deaths and injuries in the recent hostilities in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. Reportedly, these were the result of indiscriminate attacks and aerial bombardments in populated areas.

The High Commissioner also condemns the repeated cases of desecration of bodies witnessed in recent days. She urges the parties to respect international humanitarian law and reminds them of their duty to protect the human rights of civilians at all times. This includes granting civilians safe passage and allowing humanitarian agents to reach those who have been affected.

Meanwhile, UNHCR says that nearly 100,000 Somalis are now believed to have fled Mogadishu since the beginning of February, some 47,000 of them within the last two weeks alone. And the World Food Programme calls on all the warring parties to stop fighting and to allow access to humanitarian agencies so that aid can reach those in need.

CHAD: ATTACK ON VILLAGES SPARKS NEW WAVE OF REFUGEES

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says it is dealing with a new wave of displacement in the southeastern part of Chad, following a deadly attack over the weekend on two villages.

According to the eyewitnesses interviewed thus far, the attack was led by Janjaweed militia, who were fought off by local self-defense militias and national army soldiers.

AUDIT OF UN ACTIVITIES ONGOING IN DPRK

The Spokeswoman responded to recent questions about the work being done in auditing UN activities in the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK), saying that she had been informed by the Audit Operations Committee of the UN Board of Auditors that last week the Committee completed the preparatory portion of the DPRK assignment, which was being done at UN Headquarters.

A scoping report, which would determine the parameters of what is being audited, is currently being drafted for further consideration by the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ).

Asked about whether the Secretary-General would consider waiving immunity for UNDP officials, Montas said that the question was speculative, noting that UNDP officials had been cooperative.

CAMBODIA: JUDGES POSTPONES PLENARY ON INTERNAL RULES

The international judges serving on the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia today presented the President of the Supreme Court Chamber of the Chambers with a letter, which informs the Cambodian judges of their decision not to hold a judicial plenary session to adopt the internal rules of the court this month.

The international judges believe the Cambodian Bar's proposed first-year fee for lawyers of $4,900 would create a prohibitive entry cost and was not in line with accepted practice at the international level. They emphasized that the window of opportunity to hold a plenary on the courts rules is closing quickly, and they simply cannot allow for endless delays.

TIMOR-LESTE: OBSERVERS PREPARE FOR PRESIDENTIAL VOTE

Counting down to the April 9 Presidential elections in Timor-Leste, nearly 1,900 National Observers from more than 50 Timorese organizations have registered to observe the voting, which will take place at some 500 polling centers in 13 districts throughout the country.

The United Nations Representative for Electoral Support, Finn Reske-Nielsen, said observers provide a valuable role in ensuring that the elections are free, fair and transparent while meeting national and international standards.

The UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) says, in addition to national observers, 180 international observers will be accredited by the electoral authorities, representing around 20 national delegations and organizations.

UNESCO HEAD CALLS FOR RELEASE OF BBC JOURNALIST

The Director-General of UNESCO is

calling for the release of BBC journalist Alan Johnston, who was abducted in the Gaza Strip three weeks ago.

Koïchiro Matsuura also spoke out against the proliferation of hostage-taking involving members of the media in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, which he said poses a threat to freedom of expression. When a journalist is abducted, the whole of society is taken hostage, he said.

YUGOSLAV TRIBUNAL SENTENCES BOSNIAN SERB LEADER TO 30 YEARS

The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia today sentenced former Bosnian Serb political leader Radoslav Brdanin to 30 years in prison, reducing his original sentence by two years.

Brdanin, a onetime leader of the Serb-run Autonomous Region of Krajina in north-western Bosnia and Herzegovina, was initially sentenced in September 2004 to 32 years in prison for crimes including persecutions, torture, deportations and forcible transfer committed against non-Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

RECORD CEREAL CROP PREDICTED: World cereal production in 2007 is tentatively forecast to increase 4.3 percent to a record 2,082 million tones, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The bulk of the increase is expected in maize, with a bumper crop already being gathered in South America, and a sharp increase in plantings expected in the United States.

SMOKING REMAINS BANNED AT UN HEADQUARTERS: Asked whether smoking is allowed at UN Headquarters, the Spokeswoman said that, in accordance with policy put in place by the previous Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, smoking is not allowed in the building. She noted problems with enforcing that policy, saying that questions about following through on that policy should be put to Member States.

NO COMMENT ON RELEASE OF IRANIAN DIPLOMATS IN IRAQ: The Spokeswoman declined to comment to a question concerning the release of Iranian diplomats in Iraq.