United Nations Daily Highlights, 96-12-19

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Thursday, 19 December 1996

HEADLINES

• Members of Security Council condemn taking of hostages by terrorist elements in Lima, Peru; appeal for immediate release of all hostages.
• Cyprus problem has been at impasse for considerable time, UN Secretary- General says in report to Security Council.
• General Assembly suspends fifty-first regular session, approving medium- term plan for 1998 - 2001.
• Representatives of Greece and former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia agree to continue direct discussions in context of Interim Accord.
• Governing Council of UN Compensation Commission approves claims by individuals and Kuwait Oil Company.
• United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to continue operations in neighbouring States, following killings of Red Cross staff.
• Economic Commission for Latin America and Caribbean says region has returned to path of moderate growth during 1996.

"The Security Council has always firmly condemned terrorist acts, whatever the circumstances, in the most unequivocal terms," the members of the Council said, adding that such acts constituted a violation of basic principles of international law and human rights as well as an attempt to jeopardise the democratic system and threaten peace and security.

Expressing solidarity with the Governments of Peru and Japan, as well as with the Governments of all countries concerned, the Council members appealed for the immediate release of all officials, diplomats and other persons being held.

Meanwhile, Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has sent a message of solidarity to the Government and the people of Peru. In a letter to the President Alberto Fujimori of Peru the Secretary-General expressed support for the efforts to bring about a peaceful resolution of the crisis through the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

He said frustration that a settlement had proved elusive for so long ran deep within both communities. "Unless the political leadership on both sides manifests the necessary determination to negotiate an overall settlement and this process is fully supported by Greece and Turkey, the present unstable situation will persist and even lead to greater dangers," the Secretary-General stated.

Dr. Boutros-Ghali said an urgent effort was required in 1997 to bring about early direct talks between the two leaders, to negotiate an overall agreement. He said both leaders should clearly and publicly commit themselves to such a process.

"The two leaders have a responsibility to their communities and to Cyprus as a whole to recognise the seriousness of the moment and to seize the opportunity it presents by agreeing to negotiate a comprehensive settlement on the basis of mutual concessions," the Secretary-General noted.

The Assembly had before it some 160 items, with a number of sub- items, covering a wide range of issues from those dealing with peace and security to those dealing with development, including development assistance, human rights, women, youth and drugs.

The Assembly adopted 265 resolutions during the regular session. "Can we attest that the resolutions which were adopted do in fact reflect the issues of our time?", the Assembly President asked in his closing remarks.

The major challenge for 1997, according to the Assembly President Ambassador Razali Ismail of Malaysia, was to fulfil the overwhelming will of Member States to make progress in the working groups dealing with reform, restructuring and the financial situation of the United Nations.

From the outset, the Assembly President was intent on ensuring that the Assembly would finalise it's business within the agreed period. At the first plenary meeting of the fifty first session in September, representatives were asked to "discard the syndrome of business as usual". "The occasions of delays and long lunches which lead to more delays, at enormous cost are over. So too I trust the torture of long unfocussed speeches in the committees", the President of the Assembly told delegates.

Three months later, the Assembly President's plea paid off and the Assembly made some significant savings of money by "conducting its business more efficiently", according to the Assembly President. "The notional savings for the plenary meeting alone since September was $410,000", he told delegates Wednesday.

Among the highlights of the regular session was the appointment of the new Secretary-General, an "issue which had riveted global attention on the United Nations", according to the Assembly President.

The new medium term plan sets eight priorities, instead of the six contained in the Secretary-General's proposed plan. Some of the others are development of Africa, promotion of human rights, coordination of humanitarian assistance efforts, promotion of justice and international law as well as disarmament.

By adopting a resolution on the budget outline, the Assembly invited the Secretary-General to base the 1998 - 1999 budget on an adjusted estimate of $2.480 billion, at revised 1996 - 1997 rates. It also set the contingency fund at the level of 0.75 per cent of the preliminary estimate at 1998 1999 rates.

The Assembly asked the Secretary-General to submit to it, not later than 31 May 1997, a policy paper that would help the search for a comprehensive solution to the question of additional expenditures, including those for the maintenance of international peace and security and on inflation and currency fluctuations.

With that installment of $637 million, nearly half of the 450,000 claims filed with the Commission in category C (individual claims) had been resolved, with the total amount of compensation awarded exceeding $1.4 billion.

The Governing Council also approved the recommended award of $610 million to the Kuwait Oil Company for its $951 million claim concerning the costs it incurred in extinguishing the oil well fires that were burning upon the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from Kuwait. The panel considered that those were the verifiable costs within that claim.

The agency said it would continue its operations in the neighbouring Republics of Daghestan, Ingushetia and North Ossetia assisting persons displaced by the Chechnya conflict.

The UNHCR said it had asked its field staff to upgrade security measures and instructed personnel to stay clear from areas bordering the territory of Chechnya.

In a preliminary overview of the economy of Latin America and the Caribbean for 1996, ECLAC estimated that average growth in the region as a whole reached some 3.5% (1.5% per capita) and average inflation fell to 20%. More than half the countries registered single-digit price increases or very little more.

The Commission said that growth was due to a sustained expansion of exports and, in second place, to greater access to external finance. "The increase in the volume of exports almost tripled that of GDP. Regional exports of goods reached US$248 billion, 11% more than in 1995," the Commission said.

It said that exports were the principal factor contributing to the recovery of the Mexican economy, and made up for low internal demand in several countries, such as Colombia, Peru, Venezuela and those of Central America.

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

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