Press Release

REGIONAL WORKSHOP IN TURKEY ADDRESSES TERRORISM, ORGANIZED CRIME

(Reissued as received.)

VIENNA, 26 February (UN Information Service) -- As a result of a close cooperation between Turkey and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), a “Regional Workshop for Central Asia and the Caucasus on International Cooperation against Terrorism and Transnational Organized Crime” took place from 23 to 25 February 2004, in Antalya, Turkey.

UNITED NATIONS TEAM ARRIVES AT MOROCCAN QUAKE SITE

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 25 February (OCHA) -- A United Nations Disaster and Coordination Assessment (UNDAC) team has arrived in Morocco after a powerful earthquake killed more than 550 people in northern part of the country near the coastal city of Al Hoceima.  The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) dispatched the six-member team.

PUBLIC HEARING BEFORE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

ON ISRAELI WALL CONCLUDES AT THE HAGUE

(Reissued as received.)

THE HAGUE, 25 February (ICJ) -- The public hearings in the case concerning the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the OccupiedPalestinianTerritory (request for advisory opinion) concluded today.

At the hearings, held from 23 to 25 February 2004, the following oral statements were presented:

Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Tokyo on Saturday afternoon, 21 February, for an official visit to Japan.

Security Council                                           

PRESS STATEMENT ON HAITI BY SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT

Following is the press statement on Haiti delivered by Security Council President Wang Guangya (China):

The members of the Security Council condemn the continued violence and political crisis in Haiti that has led to the loss of lives, the deterioration of the humanitarian situation, and the abuse of human rights. 

SECURITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON SIERRA LEONE ISSUES REVISED LIST

The Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1132 (1997) concerning Sierra Leone, on 24 February 2004, decided to remove two names from the list of individuals affected by the measures contained in paragraph 5 of resolution 1171 (1998), which reads as follows:

“The Security Council…

BIRD FLU IN ASIA:  CONTROL CAMPAIGNS NEED TO CONTINUE, SAYS UN AGENCY

ROME, 25 February (FAO) -- Outbreaks of avian influenza are still occurring in some Asian countries, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today, stressing the need for continued control campaigns.

Fifty-eighth General Assembly                              

BRIEFING TO SECURITY COUNCIL DESCRIBES ‘TIME OF HOPE’ FOR IRAQ,

WITH MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS OVER PAST THREE MONTHS

United States, United Kingdom Say, against Backdrop of Success,

Attacks Continue by Elements Bent on Sabotaging Reconstruction Efforts