Author Peter Daou

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Peter Daou

UNHCR Field Teams in Lebanon

Lebanon town.jpg UNHCR spokesperson Ron Redmond: "With UNHCR's distribution of emergency aid proceeding smoothly, our field teams are now looking at some of the wider problems facing the victims of the war in Lebanon. There are thousands of Lebanese who have not been able to return to their homes - in areas around Beirut there are an estimated 12,000 displaced who have not returned after the war. In Beirut itself, the charity Caritas estimates there are 35,000. These people have lost their source of income. Older people and those with disabilities have chronic medical needs. And our partners note that the children need help to resume their education and counselling because of their war experiences. As part of that problem, UNHCR has helped a Lebanese NGO, the Development for People and Nature Association, to set up a summer camp they're running for children in the town of Jezzine." More

Annan Plans Mediation for Israel and Hezbollah

NYT: "Secretary General Kofi Annan said Monday that the United Nations would mediate talks on the release of Israeli and Hezbollah prisoners.... Mr. Annan said the talks would be conducted discreetly, with the goal of setting up the "mechanism" to effect the release of prisoners from both sides, which he said he hoped would be the first step in more thorough-going talks involving Israel and Lebanon. He also said he would insist on control of the negotiation and no interference from outside."

Sudan Heightens War in Darfur

"The Sudanese government has dramatically intensified the war in Darfur in a bid to finish off the tenacious, three-year-old rebellion before a U.N. peacekeeping force can deploy there, say analysts, rebels and officials from the African Union monitoring mission.... The U.N. Security Council last week approved a peacekeeping force of up to 22,500 that would take the place of the African Union troops, but Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has sought to block it from being deployed." More

Afghan Opium Crop at New High

IHT: "Afghanistan's opium harvest this year has reached the highest levels ever recorded, showing an increase of almost 50 percent from last year, the head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Antonio Maria Costa, said in Kabul."

BBC: Annan’s ‘Calm Presence’

"The UN post at Naqoura is barely a kilometre from the Israeli border. Beside it is a sleepy fishing harbour used to bring in supplies and reinforcements.

Survey: Katrina Survivors Find Extra Strength to Avoid Suicide

AP: "A new study finds that very few survivors of Hurricane Katrina contemplated suicide despite the extreme conditions they faced. While the survivors suffered twice as much mental illness as the pre-storm population, they contemplated suicide far less often than mentally ill people surveyed before Katrina.

UN Warns of New Darfur Disaster

BBC: "The UN's most senior humanitarian official has warned that Sudan's Darfur region faces a new humanitarian disaster owing to lack of security. Jan Egeland spoke as the Security Council considered a US and UK plan to send 22,000 UN troops to Darfur."

Annan Begins Mideast Tour in Beirut

UNSG Annan.jpg NYT: "U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Beirut Monday at the start of a Mideast tour to strengthen the cease-fire in Lebanon, saying it was "a very critical time" for the country. During his two-day stay, Annan will meet with Lebanese leaders and visit with U.N. peacekeepers deployed in southern Lebanon. He also was expected to visit Israel, Syria and Iran." "I think it's important that I come here myself to discuss with the Lebanese authorities the aftermath of the war and the measures we need to take to implement U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 and to underscore international solidarity," Annan told reporters after being met at the airport by Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh."