Factions asked to resolve differences: Embargo Committee established.

• Position: United Nations relations with Liberia

Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali on 18 April announced the creation of a small political office to monitor the situation in Somalia and keep contact with the parties concerned "to the extent possible".

Mr. Boutros-Ghali, in a letter to the Security Council President (S/1995/322), recalled that he had reported on 28 March that the size and mandate of any UN political presence in Mogadishu would "depend on whether the Somali parties wanted the United Nations to play a facilitating or mediating role and were ready to cooperate with it".

The retention of a full-time Special Representative "cannot be justified at the present time", he said, in view of the "limited possibilities" for UN political efforts related to Somalia. Therefore, Victor Gbeho of Ghana, who had held that position since July 1994, would be returning home.

On 6 April, the Council had welcomed the Secretary-General's intention to retain "a small political mission, should the Somali parties so wish, to assist them in coming together in national reconciliation".

On 31 May, the Secretary-General further reported (S/1995/451) that he had twice taken the necessary steps to dispatch special envoys, in late April and early May, to request...