SECRETARY-GENERAL CONGRATULATES HAITI ON BICENTENNIAL, SAYS INDEPENDENCE

WAS ‘BEGINNING OF THE END’ OF SLAVERY IN AMERICAS

The following statement was issued on 1 January by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

CHINA’S ROLE IN GLOBAL EFFORTS FOR PEACE, DEVELOPMENT ‘VITAL’, SAYS

SECRETARY-GENERAL IN NEW YEAR’S GREETING TO CHINESE PEOPLE

Following is the text of Secretary-GeneralKofi Annan’s videotaped greeting to the Chinese people on Chinese New Year (22 January 2004), which aired today,

31 December:

My dear Chinese friends,

I know that your New Year is a special time for all of you.

SECRETARY-GENERAL SADDENED BY DEATH OF JAIME DE PINIES, VETERAN SPANISH

DIPLOMAT, FORMER UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

Biographical Note

MAJOR-GENERAL HERBERT JOAQUIN FIGOLI ALMANDOS OF URUGUAY APPOINTED

FORCE COMMANDER OF CYPRUS PEACEKEEPING FORCE

Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced today the appointment of Major-General Herbert Joaquin Figoli Almandos of Uruguay as Force Commander of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) to succeed Lieutenant General Jin Ha Hwang, who relinquished his post on 25 December 2003.

SECRETARY-GENERAL SHOCKED BY BRUTAL MURDER OF APOSTOLIC NUNCIO IN BURUNDI

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

The Secretary-General was deeply shocked and saddened to learn the news of the tragic death of Monsignor Michael Courtney, the Apostolic Nuncio in Burundi, who was brutally murdered during a road ambush today in Minago, about 50 kilometres south of Bujumbura in Bururi province. 

SECRETARY-GENERAL SADDENED BY NEWS OF BENIN AIR CRASH,

WHICH KILLED 130, INCLUDING 15 UN PEACEKEEPERS

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

The Secretary-General was deeply saddened to learn the news of the tragic deaths of over 130 passengers, including 15 United Nations peacekeepers from Bangladesh, in the air crash near Cotonou, Benin, on 25 December.

SECRETARY-GENERAL DISTRESSED BY NEWS OF IRAN’S DEVASTATING

EARTHQUAKE, SAYS UN MOBILIZING ASSISTANCE

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES TRANSITIONAL AGREEMENT IN COMOROS

The following statement was issued by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 24 December:

Webcast: archived video

SECRETARY-GENERAL’S MESSAGE FOR NEW YEAR, 2004

Following is Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s message for the New Year, 2004:

Dear Peoples of the United Nations,

Your Organization, which I have the honour to serve, has just been through one of the hardest years in its history.

SECRETARY-GENERAL CONDEMNS DEADLY INCURSION INTO REFUGEE CAMP

Following is a statement issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan: