United Nations Daily Highlights 96-08-15

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From: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.org

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Thursday, August 15, 1996

HEADLINES

• UN Secretary-General appeals for restraint from Eritrea and Yemen in their dispute over the Hanish islands in the Red Sea.
• Security Council welcomes progress made by UNTAES and calls on the Croatian Government to create conditions conducive to maintaining stability in the region of Eastern Slavonia.
• Landmines are a major impediment to peacekeeping operations in every part of the world, United States representative tells the Security Council open session on demining in the context of UN peacekeeping.
• In Geneva negotiators cannot agree on the final wording of a treaty to ban nuclear weapons.
• The Council of the International Seabed Authority elects its first President.

According to the Spokesman, Under-Secretary-General Ismatt Kittani held a series of meetings with representatives of Eritrea and Yemen as well as representatives of France earlier this week. She added that the Secretary- General supports the diplomatic efforts that France is currently undertaking at both capitals.

In a statement read out by its President Ambassador Tono Eitel of Germany, the Council stressed that the restoration and maintenance of the multi- ethnic character of Eastern Slavonia are important to international efforts to maintain peace and stability in the region of the former Yugoslavia as a whole.

Reminding both parties of their obligation to cooperate with UNTAES, the Council underlined the importance of economic rehabilitation of the Region, the establishment of a Transitional Police Force and the return of displaced persons and refugees to their homes in the Region. "The Security Council reminds the Government of Croatia of its responsibility to cooperate with UNTAES and to create conditions conducive to maintaining stability in the region. It calls on the Government of Croatia to take the necessary action without further delay," the Council President said.

Recalling its earlier statements, the Council urged the Government of Croatia to adopt a comprehensive amnesty law concerning all persons who, voluntarily or by coercion, served in the civil administration, military or police forces of the local Serb authorities in the former UN Protected Areas, with the exception of those who committed war crimes as defined in international law.

The Council underscored the importance it attaches to UNTAES being able to complete its mandated task, including the organisation of elections as provided for in the Basic Agreement, promptly and in full.

On the issue of funding, the Council noted with appreciation the agreement reached by the Government of Croatia and UNTAES relating to the funding of public services on the territory administered by UNTAES. "It notes, however, that this funding is not sufficient to cover all the costs of such services and it expects further funding to be made available by the Government of Croatia urgently and without conditions," the Council President noted.

Addressing an open meeting of the Security Council on Demining in the context of United Nations peacekeeping, the US representative said the burden imposed by the proliferation and indiscriminate use of landmines was beyond calculation. "In the last several years, the nature of the landmine problem has changed dramatically. Landmines have become the weapon of choice for many government and insurgent groups," Ambassador Inderfuth said.

He noted that in addition to the thousands of civilian lives claimed by landmines every year, they also crippled important international peacekeeping and humanitarian relief operations. "Landmines are a major impediment to peacekeeping operations in every part of the world...Parties in conflict often use landmines to hinder the peace process by effectively blocking the movement of people and resources," Ambassador Inderfuth noted.

The Negotiating Chairman said the treaty text had considerable support and was acceptable to a great many delegations although there were degrees of unhappiness with the treaty. He said that was being reflected in the report that was being written, and expressed confidence that there would be a consensus on the report.

Some delegations felt there was still more room for negotiation. Iran was among countries objecting to the draft treaty in its present form. Its representative spoke of the need for a timetable to eliminate nuclear weapons and of Iran's objection to any inspection of suspected test facilities based on espionage and human intelligence.

Following his election, Mr. Ballah said the immediate task facing the Council was the approval of the 1997 budget of the Authority as soon as the Finance Committee had made its recommendations.

Meanwhile, after more than a week of intensive negotiations, the Assembly of the International Seabed Authority elected its Finance Committee which is expected to immediately begin work on the Authority's draft budget.

Final agreement on the composition of the Committee came after the various regional and interest groups reached an understanding on the allocation of seats and the duration of terms. Overall, seven members come from developed countries and eight from developing ones.

From the United Nations home page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.org

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