unitex@rubbs.fidonet.org (unitex) (09/03/89)
UN END-OF_WEEK HIGHLIGHTS
UN SECRETARY-GENERAL: CENTRAL AMERICA PEACE PROCESS
APPOINTS SENIOR OFFICIAL TO HELP CO-ORDINATE THREE ON-GOING UN
INITIATIVES IN CONTEXT OF CENTRAL AMERICAN PEACE PROCESS
Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar today announced the appointment
of senior official to help co-ordinate United Nations efforts in the ongoing
peace process in Central America. Assistant Secretary-General Alvaro de Soto
will be his Personal Representative in relation to three major United Nations
initiatives in which the United Nations is involved, at the request of the
Governments of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, and
in the context of recent agreements among those five countries.
One of these tasks -- monitoring the electoral process in Nicaragua, at
the request of the government of that country with the support of the other
four -- has already begun. Another concerns the setting up of a United
Nations Observer Group to verify compliance with security commitments
undertaken by the five countries. The Secretary-General this weekend is
sending a reconnaissance mission to Central America, to help him in drawing up
a formal proposal that he will shortly submit to the Security Council.
The third United Nations involvement in Central America derives from
arrangements between the Secretary-General and his counterpart in the
Organization of American States (OAS), related to overseeing the voluntary
demobilization, repatriation or relocation in Nicaragua (or elsewhere) of
members of the Nicaraguan resistance, as well as assistance for the
demobilization of all those involved in armed actions in the countries of the
region when such persons voluntarily ask for it. A United Nations official
said today the demobilization part of the operation would probably entail a
military unit equipped with defensive weapons and thus require the approval of
the Security Council. The Secretaries-General of the United Nations and the
OAS would be expected to certify full implementation of the agreed
arrangements.
UNITED NATIONS MISSION TRAVELLING TO ANGOLA TO CHECK ON POSSIBLE DETENTION
OF ANY NAMIBIANS BY SOUTH WEST AFRICA PEOPLE'S ORGANIZATION (SWAPO)
A United Nations mission is to travel to Angola tomorrow to check on the
possible detention of any Namibians by the South West Africa People's
Organization (SWAPO). It was announced today in the Namibian capital of
Windhoek that the Secretary-General's special representative in the territory,
Martti Ahtisaari, had authorized the mission, to ascertain whether any
Namibians were detained by SWAPO at locations already identified or
elsewhere. If so, the mission would ensure that appropriate arrangements were
promptly made for their release and voluntary repatriation.
A United Nations official said the mission may also travel to Zambia,
subject to the necessary clearances being obtained. He said the mission was
being undertaken against a background of allegations from various sources
concerning this matter.
Provision for such an inquiry was included in the United Nations
settlement proposal for Namibia, which required that the Secretary-General's
representative be satisfied that all Namibians outside the territory be
allowed to return peacefully, and to take part fully in the electoral process.
UN SECRETARY-GENERAL REFLECTS ON FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF SECOND WORLD WAR
In a message on the fiftieth anniversary of the outbreak of the Second
World War, Secretary-General Perez de Cuellar said it was a time to reflect on
the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, and to resolve once
again to "unite our strength to maintain international peace and security".
The Secretary-General said the world could not but recall with profound
sorrow "the appalling ruination that wracked the globe" during the conflict.
Out of the devastation of that experience, nations of the world joined
together to create the United Nations, to give a secure foundation for peace.
While, for almost half a century, there had been no world war, regional
conflicts had exacted a heavy toll and the world was also confronted "with an
entirely new generation of problems". It was a time, he said, to practise
tolerance and to live together with one another as good neighbours.
* Origin: UNITEX --> Toward a United Species (1:107/501)
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Patt Haring | UNITEX : United Nations
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