ROWA Media Update 10 July 2006

Jerash authorities to tackle summer forest fires

According to the department’s head, Mohammad Sharman, picnickers leaving barbecues unattended cause the majority of fires during  the summer months.

“People come to enjoy the nice weather in Jerash and the shade of the dense forests but they often forget to extinguish their barbecues before leaving and this results in forest fires,” Sharman told The Jordan Times on Sunday.

The official also said that some of the fires are started deliberately.

Under the new plan, the governorate will be divided into four areas with each area patrolled around-the-clock by motorcycle rangers.

The rangers will monitor the area and coordinate with the Civil Defence Department (CDD).

“We put into action a different plan every year depending on our budget. The new plan is expected to curb fires immensely because the rangers can easily monitor the entire forest areas on their motorcycles,” Sharman said.

According to the official, roughly a quarter of the governorate’s area is forestland, totalling some 92,000 dunums.

Since the start of this summer authorities have had to deal with nine forest fires as compared to 25 during the same period last year.

Six of the fires so far this summer, have been caused by picnickers, said Sharman.

The fires destroyed 26 dunums of forestland and a total of 30 trees.

“Though forest fires remain a huge problem and each year destroy land, they have been decreasing over recent summers due to the regular monitoring and direct coordination with the CDD,” said Sharman.

“I would like to stress that no matter how many plans we put into practice they will not work unless we receive help from citizens. To preserve the forests in our country, which are the lungs of our state, we need everyone to cooperate,” Sharman said.

http://www.jordantimes.com/mon/homenews/homenews4.htm

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UNITED NATIONS NEWS SERVICE

DAILY NEWS

7 July, 2006

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AS GAZA SITUATION CONTINUES TO DETERIORATE, ANNAN APPEALS ONCE AGAIN FOR RESTRAINT

escalate today, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan once again

appealed to both sides to “pull back from the brink” for the sake of all

civilians in the region.

Israel, which has already killed and wounded many civilians; for the

release of Israeli Army Corporal Gilad Shalit; and for the cessation of

rocket fire into Israel,” Mr. Annan, who is travelling in Germany, said

through a statement released by his spokesman today.
“These measures are an absolute prerequisite for defusing the tensions

which are escalating every day,” he affirmed.

the conflict – of their obligations under international humanitarian law,

“which calls on them to take constant care to spare civilian populations

and to refrain from any attack which may cause loss of civilian life and property.”

African Republic to settle their disputes through dialogue, the United

Nations Security Council today also expressed “serious concern” about the

possible impact of persisting violence in Darfur and the deteriorating

relations between Chad and Sudan.
The Council called on the Central African authorities to continue their

efforts to improve public finances and governance, and urged bilateral

partners and international institutions to increase their support for

efforts to alleviate the country’s increasing poverty and provide all

necessary humanitarian assistance.
“The members of the Security Council called on the Central African

authorities and all political parties to settle their disputes through

peaceful means and dialogue, and to work for peace and national cohesion in

full respect of human rights and rule of law,” the 15-Member body said

through a press statement read out by its President for July, Ambassador

Jean-Marc de la Sablière of France.

bringing to justice those responsible for violations of human rights. The

members of the Security Council expressed serious concern that the

persisting violence in Darfur and the deterioration of relations between

Chad and Sudan might further negatively affect the security and stability

of the Central African Republic.”

Central African Republic and “called on all States in the region to

cooperate in ensuring regional stability.”
In a report issued on Monday, Mr. Annan said stability in the Central

African Republic is threatened by new rebel movements in the northern part

of the country, the situation in neighbouring Chad and tension with Sudan.
He also noted that the humanitarian situation had deteriorated sharply over

the past few months particularly in the north-west, where civilians have

fled their villages, some crossing into Chad, as a result of insecurity

created by the armed rebel movements, attacks by robbers and reprisals by

the armed forces.
Mr. Annan stressed that the Central African authorities must take primary

responsibility for the stability of the country, but added that an approach

involving countries in the area is crucial. “I will therefore have to

continue my contacts, through my Special Representative, with leaders of

the subregion in order to help them in their efforts to achieve lasting

stability in their region with the support of the international community,” he said.

tomorrow in the presence of the top United Nations political officer to

discuss how to resolve the decades-old inter-communal conflict on the

Mediterranean island.

start some of these processes, perhaps at a technical level, but also (to)

address some of the substantive issues,” Under-Secretary-General for

Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari said in announcing that the Greek and

Turkish Cypriot leaders, H.E Tassos Papadopoulos and H.E Mehmet Ali Talat,

had accepted his invitation to the meeting.

reporters. “The Secretary-General remains committed to do the best he can

in the remaining time that is available to him as Secretary-General of the

United Nations to try to make this process move forward.”

earlier talks seeking a comprehensive settlement but these failed in April

2004 when 65 per cent of Turkish Cypriots voted in favour of the plan but

76 per cent of Greek Cypriots voted against it.

meeting is scheduled to take place at the residence of Mr. Annan’s Special

Representative in Cyprus, Michael Moller.
On his return to New York, Mr. Gambari will give Mr. Annan a set of

recommendations on how best to move forward in re-launching talks on a

comprehensive settlement.
The UN has been involved in the island since March 1964 when the UN

Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) was established with a mandate to

prevent a recurrence of fighting, contribute to the maintenance and

restoration of law and order, and contribute to a return to normal

conditions.
Currently the fourth-oldest UN peacekeeping operation in the world, it

seeks to maintain stability in the 180-kilometre-long Buffer Zone and

ensure that there is no alteration of the status quo along the two

ceasefire lines drawn in 1974 after renewed fighting.

small arms that fuel conflict and crime ended today without adopting a

common position paper – as differences between delegations on follow-up

actions remained unresolved – but it succeeded in drawing world attention

to the issue, its chairman said.
“This conference was a success in that it brought great international

attention to the issue,” Chairman Prasad Kariyawasam of Sri Lanka said,

noting the broad media coverage of the conference, which opened on June 26

to review the implementation of the 2001 Programme of Action to Prevent,

Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons,

which remains the pivotal framework for international, regional and

national activity to curtail illegal gun trafficking.
Though an agreed final declaration was not concluded, that Programme of

Action firmly remained “an enabling framework that empowered states,

international and regional organizations and other relevant organizations

and civil society” to work to end the illicit trade in small arms. “Its

validity and effectiveness remained undiminished,” he said.
As Secretary-General Kofi Annan reminded the Conference in his opening

address, every year an estimated $1 billion worth of these weapons are

traded illicitly worldwide, exacerbating conflicts that kill tens of

thousands, sparking refugee flows, undermining the rule of law and spawning

a “culture of violence and impunity.”
In the past five years since the Programme of Action was adopted, nearly

140 countries have reported on illegal gun trafficking, while a third of

all States have made efforts to collect weapons from those not legally

entitled to hold them, Mr. Annan said. Other progress included increased

cooperation among and within regions to stem the flow of illicit weapons

across national borders.

regional organizations and civil society took part in the two-week event.

Cup final, today compared the state of world football with the state of the

world at large, and the most popular sport on Earth came out on top, with

its equality, level playing field and transparency affording a shining

example.
Giving just some of the reasons why the World Cup “makes us in the UN green

with envy,” he cited the sport’s “universal language,” its multifaceted

role in bridging ethnic, social, cultural and religious divides, promoting

teamwork and fair play and empowering girls.

every race and every religion, it is one of the few phenomena as universal

as the United Nations,” he said at a ceremony at the unveiling of the

emblem of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) for

the 2010 World Cup, to be held in South Africa.
“You could even say it’s more universal. FIFA has 207 members; we have a

mere 192. The World Cup is an event in which everybody knows where their

team stands, and what it did to get there. Everybody loves talking about

what their team did right, and what it could have done differently.

family of nations. Countries openly vying for the best standing in the

table of respect for human rights, and trying to outdo one another in

reducing the number of new HIV infections. States parading their

performance for all the world to see. Governments being held accountable

for what actions led them to that result. Citizens consumed by the topic of

how their country could do better,” he added.
“With that kind of public scrutiny, good governance would not be an option;

it would be a necessity. And with that sense of public ownership, countries

would better ensure that their own resources are used in a way that

benefits their own daughters and sons.”

on a level playing field, where every country has a chance to participate

on equal terms and only two commodities matter: talent and team work.
“I wish we had more levellers like that in the global arena. Free and fair

exchanges without the interference of subsidies, barriers or tariffs. Every

country getting a real chance to field its strengths on the world stage,”

Mr. Annan declared.

peoples and countries, with more and more national teams welcoming coaches

from other countries and more and more players represent clubs away from

home between the Cups.

cross-pollination,” he said. “I wish it were equally plain for all to see

that human migration in general can create triple wins – for migrants, for

their countries of origin, and for the societies that receive them.”

the next Cup, he concluded.

Republic of the Congo (DRC) was wounded yesterday when militiamen opened

fire on his aircraft in the north-east of the vast country, where the world

body is preparing for the largest and most challenging elections it has

ever helped organize.
Seven persons were on board the helicopter, which was hit while flying 30

kilometres from Bunia, the main town in the troubled province of Ituri, on

a sensitization mission during which it dropped leaflets calling on

militiamen to disarm.

military hospital of the UN Organization Mission in the DRC (MONUC) in

Bunia for surgery. His life is not in danger, a spokesman said.
Ituri is one of most troubled regions of the country, where the 30 July

vote is aimed at cementing the transition to peace from a disastrous

six-year civil war that cost 4 million lives through fighting and attendant

hunger and disease, widely considered the most lethal conflict in the world

since World War II.
In Ituri and North and South Kivu provinces on the eastern border MONUC has

been helping the national army, know by its French acronym FARDC, in

operations against rebels and militias.
The latest incident follows intense fighting in recent days with militiamen

opposed to disarmament. Last week, these rebels succeeded in recapturing

one of their former strongholds, Tchéi, 80 kilometres south of Bunia.
Since May, the militia has intensified attacks against the positions of the

FARDC, who have difficulties keeping control of territories they have

retaken in this troubled district since 2005. Fighting among militia groups

along with inter-ethnic violence has claimed more than 60,000 lives in

Ituri since 1999.
Last year, over 15,000 combatants surrendered their arms in Ituri, but

irredentist militiamen, estimated by MONUC to number up to 2,000, maintain

a climate of terror, preventing 200,000 internally displaced persons from

returning to their villages. More than 2,600 persons have laid down their

weapons this year.
The Congolese electorate of 25.5 million voters will be called upon, for

the first time in 45 years, to cast their vote in some 50,000 polling

stations for some 33 presidential, over 9,000 national legislative and over

10,000 provincial assembly candidates. The polls will cost hundreds of

million dollars.
MONUC currently has a total of 17,480 uniformed personnel, including 15,591

troops, 786 military observers and 1,103 police stationed throughout the

country.
In Ituri and North and South Kivu provinces on the eastern border MONUC has

been helping the national army in operations against rebels and militias.

within the country earlier this year has been besieged by renewed factional

fighting and the territorial gains of Islamic militias, must be

strengthened so that the “painstaking” gains in the long-chaotic country

are not lost, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a report

released today.

strengthen its internal security and deal with such threats as terrorism,”

Mr. Annan writes in his analysis of political and humanitarian developments

since February to be formally presented to the Security Council on Monday

by François Lonsény Fall, his Special Representative for the country.
Among current priorities, Mr. Annan urges measures to ensure a sustainable

end to factional fighting in Mogadishu, the traditional capital, and

Baidoa, the seat of the Transitional Federal Institutions of a country

which has been without a functioning Government since the collapse of

President Muhammad Siad Barre’s regime 15 years ago.
Reviewing the recent flare-up of violence in both cities, he said that

Mogadishu “saw some of the worst fighting for nearly a decade” during the

reporting period, pitting militias loyal to the courts of Islamic law, or

Shariah, who have been providing basic security and social services in the

city, against the coalition of business leaders, Government Ministers, and

faction heads that oppose them, called the Alliance for the Restoration of

Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT).
The stated aim of ARPCT, which has no clear relationship to the

Transitional Federal Government, is to uproot terrorist elements reportedly

linked to some of the Shariah Courts operating in Mogadishu. Between

February and early June, the fighting between the two groups resulted in

the deaths of scores of civilians and control by the Islamic Courts over

most of the city, the report says.

plentiful spring rains, the plight of the 2.1 million people affected by

Somalia’s worst drought in a decade remains “alarming,” compounded by the

continued fighting.

says, praising the work of the UN humanitarian agencies that have continued

to deliver desperately needed supplies despite the mounting difficulties,

“the international community and especially the major multilateral and

bilateral partners must respond generously to the Revised 2006 Somalia

Consolidated Appeals Process and meet their pledges in timely fashion.”

today released a summary of its wide range of activities in support of the

Somali Transitional Federal Government in Baidoa, from the rehabilitation

of structures to be used as conference facilities to technical assistance

in governance.
* * *
UN SCALES BACK ITS APPEAL FOR INDONESIAN QUAKE RELIEF, BUT STILL FACES HUGE SHORTFALL
The United Nations has scaled back its $103-million relief appeal for the

Indonesian earthquake in May by 20 per cent but is still facing a huge

shortfall of over $60 million to aid hundreds of thousands of victims of

the disaster which killed more than 6,000 people and displaced at least

200,000 others.
Based on latest assessment and planning in the quake zone round Yogyakarta,

the country’s second most popular tourist destination after Bali, the UN

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) put total needs

for the Earthquake Response Plan (ERP) at $80,111,735, of which only

$19,869,041 have so far been received or committed.
More than 1.7 million beneficiaries have received more than 6,000 tonnes of

various food commodities from the Government of Indonesia, non-government

organizations (NGOs) and the UN. A further 115,000 beneficiaries have

received 877 tonnes of fortified biscuits and noodles.

met due to lack of funding, and aims to begin early recovery efforts while

helping the Government formulate strategies that will move the quake

response beyond the emergency phase.

100,000 tarpaulins are still urgently required, but this emergency shelter

support will not address medium-term housing needs during the time it will

take to reconstruct homes, since tents and tarpaulins-based structures have

a lifespan of at best six months.
Some form of a more durable transitional shelter/housing is still needed to

bridge the gap between emergency shelter and permanent housing, OCHA said.

water supply, benefiting 20,000 people a day, more than 300 wells have been

cleaned and over 807 emergency toilets have been constructed by the

Government of Indonesia and aid organizations, but current assistance is

only fulfilling a fraction of overall needs.
A very large number of severely injured people require institutional and

community-based rehabilitation in order to prevent permanent disability.

There is limited capacity to provide this, given that nearly 45,000 injured

people required hospitalization.

and agriculture sectors. The ERP will implement its activities till the end

of the year and does not aim to cover all affected parties. Significant aid

is expected from the Government and its development partners, particularly

in terms of housing, schools and health infrastructure.
* * *
ANNAN URGES ALL SIDES IN GEORGIA TO BUILD ON FEBRUARY’S MEETING; HONOUR COMMITMENTS
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has urged both Georgia’s

Government and Abkhaz separatists to implement understandings reached

during a high-level meeting in February and to honour previous commitments,

particularly regarding security and human rights, to resolve a conflict

that flared into open warfare 14 years ago and forced nearly 300,000

refugees to flee their homes.

calls for both sides to ensure the safety and security of staff belonging

to the UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG), including by identifying

and bringing to justice perpetrators of criminal acts, such as the shooting

down of a UN helicopter in the Kodori Valley in October 2001.
“I urge the sides to implement the understandings reached during the

February 2006 Geneva meeting of the Group of Friends, in particular

regarding a meeting of the Georgian and Abkhaz sides at the highest level

without preconditions and the early finalization of the set of documents on

the non-use of force and the return of internally displaced persons and

refugees.”

commitments in an expeditious way – in particular, for the Georgian side to

address the legitimate security concerns of the Abkhaz side, and for the

Abkhaz side to allow the opening of a human rights sub-office in Gali and

the teaching of local youth in the Georgian language, and to accept the

deployment of UNOMIG police officers in the Gali district.”

26 June, Mr. Annan said the security situation in the conflict zone had

remained “generally calm,” although he highlighted two violations of the

1994 Moscow Agreement, including one incident last month involving the use of mortars.

of Friends of the Secretary-General – Germany, France, the Russian

Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States – underlined that the

basis of their efforts was the settlement of the conflict by peaceful means

and in the framework of relevant Security Council resolutions.
The conflict in Abkhazia, strategically located on the Black Sea, began

with social unrest and the attempts by the local authorities to separate

from the Republic. It escalated into a series of armed confrontations in

the summer of 1992. A ceasefire agreement was concluded later that year but

never fully implemented. Fighting which followed forced tens of thousands

of civilians to flee.

economic issues in view of their impact on poverty and hunger, a senior

official from the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) said

today that policy coherence at all levels and across all sectors was needed

to successfully achieve development goals.
In a panel discussion focusing on the best ways to achieve economic growth,

poverty reduction and development, Hjalmar W. Hannesson, ECOSOC

Vice-President, also highlighted that because global poverty was a

multidimensional problem no single sector could provide a complete

eradication strategy.
Mr. Hannesson opened the discussion by noting that the impact on poverty

and hunger of social and economic issues was often context-specific and

could not be dealt with in a “one-size-fits-for-all” manner. “Policy

coherence at all levels and across all sectors needed to be ensured for the

successful achievement of development goals,” he said.
Nora Lustig, Director of the Poverty Group, Bureau for Development Policy

of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) told the panel that four basic

principles should guide Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)-based National

Development Principles. The MDGs are a set of eight targets for tackling

poverty, illiteracy and other global ills by 2015.
These Principles are the inclusion of specific pro-MDG policies which do

not rely solely or primarily on trickle-down economic growth; the need to

ensure broad consistency between macro and growth policies, and pro-MDG

policies; a selection of pro-MDG policies that were pro-growth in the long

run; and the setting of minimum standards for all population groups and

regions that do not rely solely on the performance of national averages.

will run through 28 July. ECOSOC, the UN’s principal body for coordinating

and advancing development policy, coordinates the work of the 14 UN

specialized agencies, 10 functional commissions and 5 regional commissions,

receives reports from 10 UN funds and programmes and issues policy

recommendations to the UN system and to Member States. The 54-member

Council meets every year, alternating between New York and Geneva.
In a related development, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has

hailed ECOSOC’s adoption on Wednesday of a Ministerial Declaration on full

and productive employment and decent work, saying it would help strengthen

efforts by the UN and the multilateral system aimed at creating jobs,

cutting poverty and providing new hope for the world’s 1.4 billion working

poor during the next decade.

full and productive employment and decent work for all into the regular

activities of all relevant UN organizations”, said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia.
* * *
UN AGRICULTURAL AGENCY ESTABLISHES CENTRAL AFRICAN OFFICE IN GABON
As part of its current decentralization drive and to better serve the needs

of agricultural communities in Central Africa, the UN Food and Agriculture

Organization (FAO) today announced the opening of a new office in

Libreville, the capital of Gabon.

will host a multidisciplinary team of international technical specialists

in different fields, including policy, animal health and production, plant

production and protection, fisheries, land and water, forestry, and

investment in agriculture and rural development, the agency said.
The Sub-regional Office for Central Africa will serve Cameroon, the Central

African Republic, Chad, the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo,

Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Sao Tome and Principe.
It will also, FAO said, support the work of the Economic and Monetary

Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) and of the Economic Community of

Central African States (ECCAS) in responding to food security and

agriculture-related needs of their members.

call for the speedy closure of the United States detention centre at

Guantánamo Bay, noting that it still holds more than 450 prisoners in

breach of international human rights law five months after they first urged

that it be shut.
“We take this opportunity to reaffirm the grave concerns and

recommendations set out in our report,” they said in a joint statement,

referring to their February findings that terrorism suspects should be

detained in accordance with criminal procedure that respects the safeguards

enshrined in relevant international law.
The five, who specialize in issues related to arbitrary detention, freedom

of religion, health rights, torture and the independence of judges and

lawyers, welcomed last week’s US Supreme Court’s decision that the

tribunals created for prisoners at Guantánamo violated the Geneva

Conventions and US military law.
They said they were also encouraged that an increasing number of highly

influential figures and institutions, such as UN Secretary-General Kofi

Annan and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour, as well as

regional organizations including the European Parliament and the European

Union Presidency, have called for the detention centre to be closed.
“We especially welcome recent indications from the highest levels of the

United States Government of their wish to close Guantanamo Bay as soon as

possible,” they added.
“In particular, we encourage the United States, in consultation with the

international community, to develop a detailed plan of action, with

timeframes, for the closure of Guantánamo Bay,” as soon as possible, they

added, calling on UN Member States, the UN Secretariat and specialized

agencies, and the International Committee of the Red Cross to “collaborate

actively, constructively and urgently” with the US.

should provide for their transfer to the US and fair and expeditious trials

in accordance with international law, they said. If not subjected to trial,

detainees should be allowed to return to their country of citizenship or

residence.
But it is “of utmost importance” that they not be returned to countries

where they are at risk of torture or other serious human rights violations,

such as disappearance, summary executions or arbitrary detention, they stressed.
“Where such a risk does exist, it cannot be overcome by seeking so-called

'diplomatic assurances'. In these cases, we call upon other States to

assist by accepting Guantánamo Bay detainees for resettlement,” they said.
Receiving states should make available counselling and rehabilitation

services, as well as other legal and social support, they added, citing

“the recent tragic reports” of the suicide of three detainees, confirming

“both the urgency of closing the detention centre and the importance of

providing long-term assistance to the detainees.”
The five, who serve in an unpaid, personal capacity, are: Chairman

Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Leila Zerrougui;

Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Leandro

Despouy; the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or

degrading treatment or punishment, Manfred Nowak; the Special Rapporteur on

freedom of religion or belief, Asma Jahangir, and the Special Rapporteur on

the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard

of physical and mental health, Paul Hunt.

boost economic development, the United Nations Commission on International

Trade Law (UNCITRAL), today agreed on key principles of an international

legislative guide for loans that are guaranteed by collateral.

guide on such “secured transactions,” which will be the culmination of

several years’ drafting by the organization, is designed to give countries

a template for how they should frame their domestic legislation, and will

address rights of holders of collateral in movable property such as

inventory, equipment and receivables.

Law on International Commercial Arbitration, concluded in 1985 and already

adopted by some 50 States, with current practices in international trade,

the organization explained.

significantly update the provisions of the Model Law and facilitate the use

of arbitration as a method of settling disputes arising in the context of

international commercial relations,” it said.

trade law, and aims to harmonize and modernize the rules of international business.

humanitarian agency for Palestinian refugees is calling on donors to fundits emergency appeal, which it has already almost doubled to over $170

million to feed 900,000 people in light of the current humanitarian crisis.
“For someone not living in the Gaza Strip, daily life today is hard to

imagine,” the UN Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) said in its latest update

on the Gaza Strip following the outbreak of renewed fighting between Israel

and Palestinian militants.

Waking in the morning, mothers cannot prepare breakfasts, nor children

shower and wash - there is so little water. Leaving home, children find the

streets and alleys en route to schools strewn with sewage. Delivery of

water and maintenance of sewage disposal is dependent upon electricity – a

sporadic commodity these days.”

earlier this year after Israel stopped the transfer of Palestinian value

added taxes (VAT) and other countries suspended contributions to the

Palestinian Authority (PA) following the Hamas election victory in January.

to principles of non-violence, recognize Israel’s right to exit, and accept

previous agreements and obligations, including the UN-backed Roadmap plan

providing for two states living side by side in peace.

past two weeks, food prices for staples have increased more than 10 per

cent,” UNRWA said. “Family breadwinners, many unemployed for months and

without savings, have no choice but to turn to international aid agencies

such as UNRWA to put food on the table.
“Seventy per cent of Gazans now rely on food assistance. UNRWA is providing

the basics – flour, rice, oil, sugar, beans and whole milk - to 900,000

individuals,” it added.
Overall, UN agencies, including UNRWA, have raised the 2006 Consolidated

Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory by 80 per cent, from the

originally budgeted $215 million to $385 million.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said today the frequent closing of the

crossing points from Israel into Gaza as well as the ongoing hostilities

put enormous strain on the population, but the passage of commercial, food

and fuel supplies last Sunday had helped to alleviate the situation

slightly.
There was a real need for a humanitarian corridor so that relief items

could have a priority for entry over commercial goods into Gaza and WFP was

asking for permanent and unhindered access for humanitarian personnel and

relief goods, spokesman Simon Pluess told a news briefing in Geneva.

targeted killings of civilians are continuing to sow tension in a region

where more than 9,000 people have been forced to flee their homes this

year, the United Nations refugee agency reported today.

lack of stable economic opportunities are compounding the situation in

Nariño department, just one area of a country where more than four decades

of civil conflict have driven 2.5 million people from their homes,

according to a UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) team just back

from the region.

extend to much of the civilian population, including displaced persons and

communities at high risk of forced displacement as well as those who have

recently returned,” UNHCR spokesman William Spindler told a news briefing

in Geneva.
“In such a difficult environment, people in several locations showed a

clear reluctance to talk,” he said.

in the world as more than 40 years of fighting between the Government,

leftist rebels and right-wing paramilitaries have hit most regions of the

Andean country.

Nariño in the past few weeks. The village of Santa Lucia, for example, is

now empty following heavy combat between irregular armed groups at the end

of May. Many people are going to the provincial capital of Pasto.

one of Colombia's poorest and least developed regions, with a population of

about half a million. Ethnic minorities make up a relatively large

percentage (8 per cent indigenous and 18 per cent Afro-Colombians) and are

very badly affected by the conflict.
This is the case all over Colombia, with a much higher incidence of forced

displacement among ethnic minorities than in the rest of the population.

indigenous communities, with some threatened with extinction the armed

groups encroached upon their land, even torturing and killing their

leaders. It stressed the close links these communities have to their

ancestral land, on which their cultural survival depends.
* * *
UNESCO CHIEF DEPLORES MURDER OF IRAQI, SRI LANKAN JOURNALISTS
Once again defending freedom of the press as a vital ingredient in

democracy, the head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and

Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today condemned the murder of journalists in

two of the world’s crisis flashpoints – Iraq and Sri Lanka.

shot down on his way to work, while Sri Lankan journalist Sampath Lakmal de

Silva, who had covered the conflict between the government and Tamil

separatists for the weekly Sathdina, was reportedly abducted at the weekend

in Colombo. His body was found the next day.
“Murders are part of the tragic daily reality of Iraq today, and

journalists have to confront this reality more than any other profession,”

UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura said in a statement on Mr.

Hassan’s murder.

they are permanently exposed to the violence that has become so

horrifyingly commonplace. We salute their courage, but we must also do the

utmost to improve their security, as the work of journalists is essential

to bring democracy back to a country that has endured decades of oppression

and violence,” he added.

journalists and other media staff have been killed in Iraq since the war began in 2003.

Silva’s abduction and murder be elucidated without delay and the

perpetrators brought to justice. “Democracy is truly in great danger when

crimes against journalists go unpunished,” he declared. “Freedom of

expression is a fundamental human right that must be protected.”
According to the Free Media Movement (FMM), six people working for the

media, including four journalists, have been killed in Sri Lanka in the

last 16 months, while not a single crime against a journalist has been

solved in the country for the last 20 years.

Mr. Matsuura has issued frequent condemnations of the murder of journalists

around the world.
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