ACTIVITIES OF SECRETARY-GENERAL IN PAKISTAN, 9 - 12 MARCH
Secretary-General Kofi Annan departed New York on Friday morning, 9 March, to begin a four-nation tour of Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and India.
After a rest stop in London, Mr. Annan and his party arrived in Islamabad late on Saturday evening. He told the press at the airport that he felt Pakistan could play a role in advancing regional security and that he looked forward to his discussions with the Government on democracy, human rights and the rule of law, and the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. He described as "lamentable" the Taliban decision to destroy pre-Islamic statues in Afghanistan. On the subject of Kashmir, which he said he expected the Government to raise, he urged Pakistan and India to return to dialogue over this difference in the spirit of the 1999 Lahore Declaration.
On Sunday morning, the Secretary-General conferred with the local representatives of United Nations agencies for a quick review of the situation in the region -- refugee issues, food aid, population trends, the threat of HIV/AIDS, and the status of women and children.
He then had his first official meeting with the President of Pakistan, Mohammad Rafiq Tarar. They discussed the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and the plight of Afghan refugees in Pakistan. The Secretary-General appealed to the President to assist the United Nations in helping the recent arrivals who are most in need. They touched on the Taliban decision to destroy pre-Islamic statues in Afghanistan and its impact on world opinion. And the President emphasized the issue of Kashmir.
The Secretary-General then met with Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar. On Afghanistan, the Secretary-General proposed that the United Nations provide assistance within Afghanistan itself, so that Afghan refugee camps might not serve as a magnet to attract more refugees. They reviewed the nuclear weapons issue in the region, Pakistan's support for the Palestinians in connection with the situation in the occupied territories, and the sanctions regime against Iraq.
In conclusion, the Secretary-General offered to work with Pakistan on its rapidly growing population and on coming to grips with the worldwide HIV/AIDS threat. The two delegations continued their discussion over a lunch hosted by the Foreign Minister. On leaving the foreign ministry, the Secretary-General was met by a group of Kashmiri women who presented him with a written request to look into human rights violations in Kashmir.
Returning to his hotel, the Secretary-General had a series of meetings with his staff dealing with Afghanistan. He reviewed the political situation with his Special Representative for Afghanistan, Francesc Vendrell, and the United Nations Coordinator for Afghanistan, Erick de Mul, then gave his assessment of the humanitarian situation in that country.
In the late afternoon, he sat down with the Taliban 'Foreign Minister', Wakil Ahmed Mutawakil, with whom he raised the issue of the Taliban decree to destroy all pre-Islamic statues in Afghanistan. Mr. Mutawakil, responding to questions from the Secretary-General, confirmed the wholesale destruction of artifacts in Afghanistan deemed offensive to Islam. The Secretary-General pressed the Taliban official hard on this issue, warning that the action would only make it more difficult for the Taliban to win international recognition.
Their discussions then shifted to the grave humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and United Nations efforts to deal with it.
The Secretary-General then met with United Nations staff working in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
In the evening, he met with Pakistan's Chief Executive, Pervez Musharraf. In talks that lasted over an hour, the two discussed the situation in Kashmir, the political and humanitarian aspects of the Afghanistan issue, Pakistan’s transition to democracy, the Middle East, Iraq and nuclear proliferation.
They then met briefly with the press. In response to a question about the Taliban's destruction of artworks, the Secretary-General said "true faith elicits respect and you feel you have to respect what is sacred to others". The problem, he added, is usually not the faith, but the faithful.
The Chief Executive then hosted a dinner in honour of the Secretary-General at which the Secretary-General delivered a short address in the form of a toast. He praised them on peacekeeping, encouraged them on education and, referring to Pakistan’s democratization process, he said "I wish you well in your initiative to start with political devolution as a way to ensure that a renewed democracy will derive legitimacy and lasting support from the grass roots" (see Press Release SG/SM/7736).
On Sunday, while the Secretary-General was at his meetings, Nane Annan visited a rural health centre at Tarlai, near Islamabad, where she met with children being vaccinated from polio and administered polio drops to some
10 children. She also visited the National Institute for Health in Islamabad.
On Monday, the Secretary-General travelled by helicopter from Islamabad to the Peshawar area, where he visited the Shamshatoo camp, temporary home to some 70,000 Afghan refugees.
He and Mrs. Annan walked through the camp, observing everyday life there, talking with the inhabitants and listening to their entreaties for help. They saw schoolage girls learning the Koran, stopped in at a food distribution centre, sat separately with men and then women in a social welfare area, and visited a clinic
of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The Secretary-General administered an oral polio vaccine to a child at an immunization centre.
He then met with the camp's elders, gathered under a great tent, where he was formally greeted by one of them. He spoke informally to them, thanking them for working so cooperatively with the United Nations aid workers in the camp. He concluded, "We will not forget you."
A journalist asked the Secretary-General about the cancellation by the Pakistani Government of his planned visit to Jalozai camp, where conditions were much worse than at Shamshatoo. He replied: "What is important is the discussion I had with the Government yesterday, where they will work with us to help the refugees in this country, which would also mean that we have to create conditions that will make their lives bearable until such time as they are able to return."
"And at the same time", he went on, "as I indicated, we are going to help the displaced people within Afghanistan and expand our activities within that country so that they do not have an inducement to want to leave their country or cross the border to come here."
Leaving Shamshatoo by helicopter, the Secretary-General travelled closer to the Afghan border, stopping at Landikotal at the entry to the Khyber Pass. There, he encountered a 20-truck convoy of the World Food Programme (WFP) about to set out through the Khyber pass to deliver 300 tonnes of wheat flour donated by the United States to a bakery project in Kabul, Afghanistan.
He then went to the Michini Post of the Pakistani Khyber Rifles unit, which overlooks the pass. He was briefed there, before taking lunch at the Officers' Mess, which was hosted by the Provincial Governor of the area, Iftikhar Hussain Shah.
In the afternoon, he and his party flew from Islamabad to Kathmandu, Nepal, where he would begin an official visit on Tuesday, 13 March.