EXPERTS URGE INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ON REHABILITATING MESOPOTAMIAN MARSHLANDS

SECRETARY-GENERAL PLEDGES UN SUPPORT TO IRAQ IN ‘COMPLEX AND DIFFICULT’

TASKS AHEAD, IN MESSAGE TO SECURITY COUNCIL

Following is the text of remarks, as delivered, by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to today’s Security Council meeting on “The Situation between Iraq and Kuwait” in New York:

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL REITERATES UN COMMITMENT TO AID IRAQIS, NOTES HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE DEPENDENT ON AVAILABILITY OF RESOURCES

Following is the text of remarks, as delivered, by Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette to today’s Security Council meeting on “Response to the Humanitarian Situation in Iraq”, in New York:

HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERNED OVER POSSIBLE

LOSS OF EVIDENCE OF PAST ABUSES IN IRAQ

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 16 May (UN Information Service) -- Following is a statement issued today by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Sergio Vieira de Mello:

UN-HABITAT BEGINS SURVEY OF WAR DAMAGED HOUSING STOCK IN IRAQ

(Reissued as received.)

UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL STAFF RETURN TO BAGHDAD TODAY

(Reissued as received.)

SECRETARY-GENERAL APPEALS TO SECURITY COUNCIL TO SET ASIDE

PAST DIFFERENCES ON IRAQ AND FIND NEW UNITY

Following is the statement, as delivered, by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the Security Council meeting on 30 April, devoted to wrapping up the Council’s work for the current month:

AT LEAST ONE THIRD OF IRAQ’S SPRING CROP UNSCATHED,

FIRST FAO PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT

(Reissued as received.)

ROME, 28 April (FAO) -- At least one third of Iraq's critical spring grain crop appears to have emerged unscathed from the conflict, according to preliminary surveys conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

PRESS STATEMENT ON IRAQ/KUWAIT BY SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT

Following is today’s statement to the press on Iraq/Kuwait by Security Council President Adolfo Aguilar Zinser (Mexico):

Members of the Security Council listened to the presentation of the eleventh report of the Secretary-General according to paragraph 14 of Resolution 1284.

UNEP OUTLINES STRATEGY FOR PROTECTING PEOPLE AND ENVIRONMENT IN POST-WAR IRAQ

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 24 April (UNEP) -- A new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on environmental conditions in Iraq offers a preliminary assessment of the main environmental threats facing the country, and recommends actions for immediate relief and long-term recovery.