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The United Nations Legal Counsel, Hans Corell, will head to Cambodia next month for negotiations with that country's authorities on an agreement for a special court to try the former leaders of the Khmer Rouge, a UN spokesman said today in New York.

The world's preoccupation with Iraq could take much-needed attention away from Afghanistan, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, warned today, urging the international community to continue helping Afghans to return to their shattered country.

United Nations disarmament official Hans Blix said today he has received new letters from Iraq containing some "positive elements" for his search for evidence of banned weapons of mass destruction, but cautioned that the correspondence needs to be explored further.

Iraqi oil revenues for the week ending 21 February totalled $338 million based on the export of 11.9 million barrels, according to the United Nations office overseeing the humanitarian "oil-for-food" programme, which allows Baghdad to use a portion of its petroleum sales to buy relief supplies.

Continuing efforts to finalize a deal to enable a united Cyprus to join the European Union (EU) later this year, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived today in Greece, where he stressed adherence to the goal of reaching agreement by end of this month.

As they have for nearly two weeks now, desperate Liberian refugees continued to demonstrate in front of the offices of the United Nations refugee agency in Abidjan demanding to be evacuated out of Côte d'Ivoire or moved to a safer location.

While the all-inclusive power-sharing agreement signed last December was an important step towards national reconciliation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the parties have yet to take steps to implement the accord and instead remain engaged in military confrontations, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a report released today.

As the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to work towards genuine peace and national reconciliation, a joint United Nations team is coordinating a series of meetings underway in Pretoria, where Congolese parties are pressing ahead with efforts to bolster a recent peace accord.

Prominent Arab journalists and media experts convened in Beirut today for a United Nations-backed workshop aimed at enhancing the capacity of reporters to raise public awareness and participation in sustainable development issues.

United Nations Security Council members today welcomed targeted sanctions as a useful tool to focus pressure on specific states and entities while minimizing the unintended impact on civilian populations and non-targeted states and entities.