Meanwhile when asked by reporters whether Islamabad will also be fielding a candidate, Pakistan's UN Ambassador Munir Akarm replied, "We have also been giving serious consideration to field a candidate but no decision has yet been taken". The names of both Akram and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz are being mentioned in this regard.

The Secretary-General is nominated by the 15-member Security Council and elected by the 191-member General Assembly. Kofi Annan retires on December 31 this year at the end of second term and the Council has already initiated the process selection process.

Tharoor, 50 this year, began his U.N. career in 1978 and currently heads the UN's Department of Public Information. Born in London, and educated in India and the United States, he is the author of several books.

China, which took the presidency of the U.N. Security Council in April, insists the next U.N. chief should come from Asia. Others Asians in the running for the post of U.N. secretary-general include South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon, Thai Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai and Sri Lankan diplomat Jayantha Dhanapala.

The last Asian secretary-general was U Thant of Burma, now called Myanmar, who served from 1961 to 1971.

Tharoor won support for his bid from the government after meetings in April with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi and National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan.

Vijay Nambiar joins Kofi Annan team

UNITED NATIONS: Vijay Nambiar, a senior Indian diplomat and former envoy to the United Nations, has become a member of U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's team of top advisers.

The appointment, made effective this week, was announced earlier this month by Mr. Annan. Mr. Nambiar, whose appointment is for a period of one year, will represent him at key meetings and liaise with envoys from member nations.

His rank is that of an Under Secretary General, and he is the second Indian in the UN with that rank. Shashi Tharoor currently heads the U.N. Communication and Public Information Department since 2001.

Before assuming the current position, Mr. Nambiar was India's Deputy National Security Adviser and head of the National Security Council's Secretariat.

Annan says US should close Gitmo prison

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 17: Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday said the United States should close the prison at Guantanamo Bay for terror suspects as soon as possible, backing a key conclusion of a U.N.-appointed independent panel.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan rejected the call to shut the camp, saying the military treats all detainees humanely and "these are dangerous terrorists that we're talking about."

The panel's report, released Thursday in Geneva, said the United States must close the detention facility "without further delay" because it is effectively a torture camp where prisoners have no access to justice.
Annan told reporters he didn't necessarily agree with everything in the report, but "the basic premise, that we need to be careful to have a balance between effective action against terrorism and individual liberties and civil rights, I think is valid."

He said he supported the panel's opposition to people being held "in perpetuity" without being prosecuted in a public court. This is "something that is common under every legal system," he said. "I think sooner or later there will be a need to close the Guantanamo (camp), and I think it will be up to the government to decide, and hopefully to do it as soon as is possible," the secretary-general told reporters.

The 54-page report summarizing an investigation by five U.N. experts, accused the United States of practices that "amount to torture" and demanded detainees be allowed a fair trial or be freed. The panel, which had sought access to Guantanamo Bay since 2002, refused a U.S. offer for three experts to visit the camp in November after being told they could not interview detainees. Annan said the report by a U.N.-appointed independent panel was not a U.N. report but one by individual experts. "So we should see it in that light," he said.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the report will be presented to the U.N. Commission of Human Rights, which appointed the panel, when it convenes on March 13 in Geneva. Manfred Nowak, the U.N. investigator for torture who was one of the panel's experts, said that the detainees at Guantanamo "should be released or brought before an independent court."

US violated law at Guantanamo: UN report

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 14: A UN investigation has concluded that the United States committed acts amounting to torture at Guantanamo Bay, according to a draft report obtained today.

The torture included force-feeding detainees and subjecting them to prolonged solitary confinement.

The report from five UN human rights experts accused the United States of violating the detainees' rights to a fair trial, to freedom of religion and to health. It recommended that the US close Guantanamo Bay and revoke all special interrogation techniques authorised by the US Department of Defence.

"The apparent attempts by the US Administration to reinterpret certain interrogation techniques as not reaching the threshold of torture in the framework of the struggle against terrorism are of utmost concern," the report said. US officials rejected the report, saying it was riddled with errors and treated statements from detainees' lawyers as fact. Its most significant flaw, that officials said, was that it judged US treatment of detainees according to peacetime human rights laws.

The United States contends that it is in a state of conflict and should be judged according to the laws of war. "Once you fail to even acknowledge that as the legal basis for what we're doing, much of the legal analysis that follows just doesn't hold," a US State Department official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the United States has not formulated an official, public response to the draft. The draft report was delivered to the United States on January 16. It was first disclosed late Sunday by the Los Angeles Times.

Prophet toon row - UN for dialogue

HOUSTON: Strongly deploring the controversial depictions of Prophet Muhammad in a cartoon as well as the violence that followed, three independent UN human rights experts have asked people to refrain from any form of violence and to avoid fuelling hatred.

"We strongly deplore the depictions of the Prophet Muhammad and are distressed by the grave offence they have caused to the members of the Muslim community," UN's Special Rapporteurs Doudou Diene, Asma Jahangir and Ambeyi Ligabo said in a statement on Wednesday.

Voicing equal concern about the reactions that followed the publication of the cartoon, they strongly condemned "death threats against journalists and intimidation of the media as well as the loss of lives, threats and other forms of violence that have occurred over the past few days, often directed at people with no responsibility for, or control over, the publications."

"Peaceful expression of opinions and ideas, either orally, through the press or other media, should always be tolerated
The press must enjoy large editorial freedom to promote free flow of news and information, with and across national borders, thus providing an arena for debate and dialogue," they said.

At the same time, they emphasized that "the use of stereotypes and labeling that insult deep-rooted religious feelings do not contribute to the creation of an environment conducive to constructive and peaceful dialogue among different communities."

Annan lauds Pakistan-India peace process

DUBAI, Feb 9: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has lauded the efforts of the leadership of Pakistan and India to promote friendly relationships between their countries, Online news agency reported.

Talking to newsmen here, Annan said both governments were taking positive steps to strengthen relationships and they should be given every possible support in this regard. He also expressed satisfaction at the peace process between India and Pakistan.

In response to a question regarding Iran's nuclear programme, he expressed hope that Tehran would resume dialogue for a peaceful solution to the crisis. The UN would get a report regarding Iran's nuclear programme at the end of this month from the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, he said.

UN fears more deaths in Pakistan quake-zone chill

ISLAMABAD, Jan 5: Heavy snow and extreme cold in Pakistan's earthquake zone have increased the risk of illnesses like pneumonia and could lead to more deaths, the United Nations said on Thursday.

Up to 18 people have already died of pneumonia in the quake zone in the past six weeks, Mohamud Khalif Bile, senior representative in Pakistan of the U.N.'s World Health Organisation, told a news conference. A long-anticipated cold spell struck on Saturday and Jan Vandemoortele, who is heading the U.N. relief effort, said there were fears the number of deaths due to cold would rise.

"The threat is absolutely there, and that is why we have to be vigilant," he said. "Our teams have not been able to reach the high altitudes to assess the situation, but we know that it is likely to be grave.

"Unfortunately the temperatures are falling and they are dropping fast, and the cold spell will bring the spectre of increased pneumonia," he said.
More than two million people have been forced to camp out in tents or crude shelters patched together from ruined homes since the Oct. 8 quake, which killed more than 73,000 people in Pakistani Kashmir and North West Frontier Province.

Heavy snow and rain fell on Saturday, blanketing highland areas with snow while drenching, icy rain flooded makeshift lowland tent camps. Vital helicopter relief flights were grounded for three days before resuming on Wednesday.

Bile said the mortality rate had not risen in the past six weeks, and was also not very high given the conditions. But a child died of pneumonia in Pakistani Kashmir on Wednesday, a Pakistani army spokesman said, and there was a report of a small measles outbreak in a tent camp in its capital Muzaffarabad, a U.N. worker said.

With bad weather forecast to return by the weekend, many survivors are desperate to improve their living conditions while they have the chance.
As well as food, blankets and clothing, aid agencies and the army have been handing out corrugated iron sheets, plastic and other building materials. But there has been a shortage of the iron and many people did not get supplies before weather set in.

Pakistan's neighbour India has offered to help with the supply of iron sheeting. As well as highlighting the need for reinforcement of shelter in the mountains, the bad weather exposed the vulnerability of people in tent camps in the valleys.

About 250,000 people are living in registered camps run by the United Nations and other organisations, but numerous camps have sprung up spontaneously, many run by small private charities as well as political and religious groups. Many of these camps are poorly organised and the weather hit them hardest.

In Muzaffarabad, 16 private camps, housing about 11,000 people, have decided to register with the authorities since the bad weather started, meaning they would be get more regular aid and organisational help, the U.N. refugee agency said.

Iraqi polls credible: UN

BAGHDAD, Dec 29: A United Nations official has said that Iraq's recent elections were credible and there was no justification for a rerun of the vote that gave a strong lead to the Shiite religious bloc dominating the current government.

The United Nations official, Craig Jenness, said at a news conference organised by the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq that the UN-led international election assistance team found the elections to be credible and transparent.

"Turnout was high and the day was largely peaceful, all communities participated."

Jenness's statement and the negotiations between Iraqi factions come at a critical time, with the United States placing high hopes on forming a broad-based coalition government.

The government will help provide stability to the fledgling democracy and would allow American troops to begin returning home.

Iraqi officials said they had found some instances of fraud that were enough to cancel the results in that place, but not to hold a rerun.

There were more than 1,500 complaints made about the elections, with about 50 of them considered serious enough to possibly result in the cancellation of results in some places.

India signs UN anti-corruption treaty

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 9: India's Ambassador to the United Nations, Nirupam Sen, on Friday signed the United Nations anti-corruption treaty which, among other things, now makes hiding of illegal gains difficult.

The treaty requires signatories to return assets obtained through corruption to the country from which they were stolen. This had particularly been an important issue for developing countries where corrupt officials took illicit gains out of the country and hid them in foreign lands.

Topics covered by the 71-member treaty include bribery, illicit enrichment, misappropriation, money-laundering, protection of whistle blowers, freezing of assets and cooperation between states to uncover corruption.

Outside forces fuelling terror in Afghan: India

By Deepak Arora

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 30: India has blamed outside forces for fuelling and supporting terrorism in Afghanistan. Raising the killing of an employee of Border Roads Organisation's (BRO), MR Kutty, by Taliban militia in Afghanistan at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Mr Nirupam Sen, India's UN Ambassador, said that "there were clear signs that terror elements continue to receive support and safe haven across the border from the southern and south-eastern provinces of Afghanistan.

Mr Sen said such "inhuman and barbaric" incidents calls for international responses against such destabilization were highly essential and could not be limited to combat operations on the ground. "It is equally necessary to resolutely attack the financing, the safe haven, the training camps and networks that support them."

He said "Afghanistan today is suffering from a level of insecurity, especially in the south and parts of the east, not seen since the departure of the Taliban. The growing influence of non-Afghan elements in the security environment is of particular concern".

Mr Sen said the recent escalation in violence, illustrated by the deaths of Mr. Kutty and many other development and humanitarian personnel, underlines the continuing serious threat to Afghanistan's security and stability posed by the remnants of the Al-Qaida, Taliban and other terrorist and extremist elements.

Squarely blaming the Taliban for the abduction and murder of Kutty who was engaged on the construction of Zaranj-Delaram road, the Ambassador strongly condemned the "inhuman and barbaric" killing of an innocent person. "The Taliban and its backers bear the responsibility for the consequences of this outrageous act," he told the delegates and expressed the hope that the perpetrator would be swiftly brought to justice.

Pointing out that the Indian organisation is engaged in building a road which is vital for the development of Afghanistan and for the welfare of the people, he said, "it is inconceivable that anybody should be opposed to it and threaten those working on it."

UN says sonar threatens dolphin, whale survival

NAIROBI, Nov 24: Increased naval military manoeuvres and submarine sonars in the world's oceans are threatening dolphins, whales and porpoises that depend on sound to survive, a United Nations report said on Wednesday.

According to the report, the use of powerful military sonar is harming the ability of some 71 types of cetaceans -- whales, dolphins and porpoises -- to communicate, navigate and hunt. "While we know about other threats such as over-fishing, hunting and pollution, a new and emerging threat to cetaceans is that of increased underwater sonars," Mark Simmonds of the Whale and Dolphin Society said.

"These low frequency sounds travel vast distances, hundreds if not thousands of kilometres from the source." In October, a coalition of environmental groups sued the U.S. Navy over its use of sonar, saying the ear-splitting sounds violated environmental protection laws. The navy said it was studying the problem but said sonar was necessary for national defence.

Animal protection groups have for years lobbied to restrict the use of sonar, saying the sound blasts disorient the sound-dependent creatures and causes bleeding from the eyes and ears. Simmonds said in recent years, western governments have developed stealthier submarines the detection of which requires more powerful, low-frequency sonars.

The report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) says species like the Beluga whale, Blanville's beaked whale and the Goosebeak whale are seriously at risk. Researchers found that a stranding of 12 Goosebeak whales in the Ionian Sea in the 1990s coincided with NATO tests of an acoustic submarine detection system. Other Goosebeaks were stranded off of the Bahamas in 2000, and experts link that to military tests.

Tests on the bodies of seven whales that died near Gran Canaria in 2002 found haemorrhages and inner ear damage, which experts said was caused by high-intensity, low-frequency sonar used in the area. "This is a hugely serious concern as these animals need sound to navigate, to find their food, to communicate and to mate," said Simmonds.

There are no laws governing noise pollution in the world's oceans, but western governments, considered largely responsible with their increased military presence in the seas, say they need more research before taking action.

Charles Galbraith, a senior wildlife advisor to the British government, told Reuters the report highlighted a potential problem. "But the issue is still in a relatively grey area in terms of scientific proof and we need to do more research before the government can review its defence systems," he said.

Annan warns of disaster for UN if budget delayed

By Deepak Arora

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 22: The Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, has warned that any delay in approving a new UN budget because of faltering reform proposals would create a severe fiscal crisis for the world body.

He was speaking to newsmen at the UN on Monday after defending his proposals for management and other UN reforms to developing nations, many of which have criticized him for trying to bypass the General Assembly in order to accommodate American demands.

Diplomats have questioned how much the reforms would cost and whether the biennial budget, due by January 1, would be adopted or possibly blocked by Washington and others.

Responding to a question, the Secretary General said "you need the budget to be able to assess the member states and let them pay their contributions. You need the budget to be able to plan ahead and carry out our work. And if you do not do that...you may create a serious financial crisis for the organization."

Mr Annan said if some issues were not decided by January 1, the General Assembly could pass a supplementary budget later. He has estimated some $3.6 billion for the 2006-2007 regular administrative budget, or about $1.3 billion annually, a slight increase over 2004-2005. This excludes peacekeeping, which in 2005 alone amounted to $3.6 billion.

The United States has not threatened to block the basic budget, which would be a first for the United Nations, but leading members of Congress have vowed to cut US dues, as they did in the late 1990s, if reforms are not passed.

US Ambassador John Bolton, in recent interviews, has questioned the usefulness of the United Nations to the American public as the main international problem solver. "The UN is one of many competitors in a marketplace of global problem solving," he told the Washington Times. That "should be an incentive for the organization to reform."

Among Annan's management proposals, backed largely by the United States and Europeans, are the creation of an ethics office, an oversight body, enhanced auditing and investigation and independent external evaluations. He also wants a review of UN programs he thinks have outlasted their usefulness.

The Group of 77, the largest single coalition of developing nations, which now has 133 members, has accused Annan of "intervention in the inter-governmental process" and trying to bypass the General Assembly, whose key committees have control over the budget and operate by a consensus process.

Ambassador Stafford Neil of Jamaica, head of the group, in a November 8 letter to the General Assembly president said some of the supervisory bodies would not strengthen oversight but overload the UN "with more layers of bureaucratic structures."

After Monday's meeting with developing nations, Mr Annan said "I made it quite clear that there's no attempt at power grab. We accept the General Assembly as the key deliberative body of the Organization."

He added that “without their approval, and approval of budgets, nothing can get done." Nevertheless diplomats predict Annan will have a difficult time cutting outdated mandates and creating new commissions and bodies, some as a result of corruption in the $64 billion oil-for-food program for Iraq.

UN, Volcker panel ready to cooperate with India

By Deepak Arora

NEW DELHI, Nov 9: The United Nations and the Volcker panel are willing to cooperate with India and other national authorities into allegations of illegal payoffs by individuals and companies named in the Independent Inquiry Committee (IIC) report on the oil-for- food scam, according to a UN spokesperson.

The Committee is a fact-finding body and "cannot make any binding judicial determination of fact or law,'' she said. Responding to a query from this correspondent, the office of the UN Secretary General said a number of national authorities have already commenced or announced their intention to undertake follow-up inquiries concerning the individuals and companies, based on the information contained in the final Volcker report. "The Independent Inquiry Commission and UN are willing to cooperate as appropriate," said the spokesperson.

The Indian Government has appointed a former diplomat to investigate the credibility of the report and also ordered a judicial probe headed by RS Pathak, a former chief justice of India, to get to the bottom of the controversy. The report has made controversial references to the Congress party and the former external affairs Minister, Mr Natwar Singh.

The Congress Party has also sent a letter to the UN Secretary General requesting him to make available to it all relevant documents on the basis of which adverse references have been made against it in the Volcker committee report. The letter was sent on Monday through a reputed law firm Amarchand Mangaldas.

The UN spokesperson said the five reports of the Independent Inquiry into the Oil for Food Programme chaired by Paul Volcker are the culmination of an 18-month investigation into all aspects of the Programme. "The five public reports have been issued by the IIC and represent the findings and conclusions of that independent inquiry, which is a fact-finding body and cannot make any binding judicial determination of fact or law. This information enables the UN and national authorities to further investigate and, if appropriate, take action against individuals or corporations under their jurisdiction."

The spokesperson said "a number of national authorities have already commenced or announced their intention to undertake follow-up inquiries concerning individuals and companies, based on the information contained in the final report. The IIC and UN are willing to cooperate as appropriate."

In a meeting with the India's Ambassador to the UN, Mr Nirupam Sen, Mr Paul Volcker assured New Delhi that his panel would fully cooperate and share information with the country's investigating agencies within the "legal constrains."

After the meeting in New York on Tuesday, Mr Sen said his impression from the discussions is that the former External Affairs Minister, Mr Natwar Singh, was not sent any notice by the Committee prior to publication of his name as a "non contractual beneficiary" of the Iraqi oil-for-food programme. He, however, said the Committee is still examining documents to reach a final conclusion on that.

On what exactly is meant by "legal constrains", Ambassador Nirupam Sen said the evidence had been collected from several witnesses and some of them might have given it on the understanding that they should not be identified. In those cases, the Committee would need to get waiver from them before releasing the documents.

Asked about the remarks of Volcker that responses were sought from all those who had been mentioned in the report, Mr Sen said the report contained those who were thoroughly investigated and those who were just mentioned on the basis of documents which the Committee considered authentic.

Apparently, Mr Natwar Singh's case was not thoroughly investigated by the Committee, he said. But he cautioned that final judgement would have to await the examination of all relevant documents by the Committee. Those who were thoroughly investigated were given the chance to respond.

Mr Sen said the Committee, as a policy, would share information and documents only with the investigating agencies after they inform it exactly what they are looking for. But it would be necessary to move quickly as the Committee's mandate ends in just over a month.

India has already sent a letter to the Committee on the information it is seeking but that would need to be fine-tuned, he added. Asked whether the investigations would stall if some witnesses refuse to give waiver, Mr Sen said there are other ways also to get the information. For example, it could be asked bilaterally. "We shall cross the bridge when we reach there," he remarked. The Ambassador conveyed to Volcker the Government of India's decision to hold inquiry.

Replying to a question, he said the Committee is aware of the political storm the report has created in India. Mr Sen said Indian investigators would have to look into allegations that the names were not given by the Iraqis but by other "vested interests." That is why India is asking for documents and other information.

To a question whether the fact that response from some of the Indian commercial and non-commercial entities was not sought constituted discrimination, Mr Sen said that is one way of looking at it.

But the Committee investigated only the cases where the wrongdoing was extensive. So, in case of the entities from which response was not sought, the wrongdoing would have been comparatively much less.

In its report, the Committee had named some 2,200 entities worldwide, including around 135 Indian companies, which paid bribes to get contract for the supply of humanitarian goods to the Saddam Hussein regime. Natwar Singh, the Congress Party and Panthers party chief Bhim Singh were mentioned among the "non contractual" beneficiaries who were allocated oil to win political support. Singh was subsequently divested of his External Affairs portfolio.

The price of sale of oil fixed by Iraq was below the market price and those allocated oil used front companies to buy oil and then sell it to the regular oil companies at the market price. The difference between the price the oil was purchased and sold was the profit the allottees got.

UN will help any Indian probe: Tharoor

NEW DELHI, Nov 8: The UN will aid any inquiry by India into the irregularities in Iraq's oil-for-food programme highlighted by the Volcker Committee's report, according to Shashi Tharoor, Under Secretary General.

Tharoor, who is in charge of communication and public information at the UN, told an Indian TV channel there was no "presumption of guilt" in the references made in the report, which were also not the equivalent of legal charges against anyone. He also said the UN could not be issued legal notice as it enjoyed certain immunities.