Security Council extends mandate of Cyprus Force until 15 December 1987.

Security Council extends mandate of Cyprus Force until 15 December 1987

THE SECURITY COUNCIL on 12 June unanimously extended the mandate of the United Nations Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for another six months until 15 December 1987. The Cyprus Force has been in place since 1964. The Council, in resolution 597 (1987), also called upon all parties concerned to continue to co-operate with the Force "on the basis of the present mandate'. The Secretary-General was asked to continue his mission of good offices, to keep the Council informed of progress made and to report on implementation of the resolution by 30 November 1987.

Established by Security Council resolution 186 of 4 March 1964, the Force has the task of preventing a recurrence of fighting and helping to restore normal conditions to the island. It also supervises the cease-fire lines in Cyprus and performs certain humanitarian tasks.

With a total strength of 2,328-- 2,290 troops and 38 civilian police-- UNFICYP is under the command of Major-General Gunther G. Greindl. Contributing countries are: Australia (20 civilian police); Austria (301); Canada (515); Denmark (341); Finland (10); Ireland (8); Sweden (374 troops and 18 civilian police); and the United Kingdom (741). UNFICYP also has 34 international civilian staff members. The Force has suffered 141 fatal casualties since its inception.

The Secretary-General, in his 29 May report to the Council (S/18880) on UNFICYP operations between 1 December 1986 and 29 May 1987, said it was essential that the Force should be kept in place. Its withdrawal could quickly lead to a recurrence of hostilities. Although UNFICYP continued to carry out its duties with efficiency and impartiality, the situation was not encouraging in other respects.

A "deadlock' existed in his efforts to restart effective negotiations between the parties; distrust between the leaderships of the two communities remained deep; tension had risen over the question of Varosha; a potentially dangerous military build-up was taking place on the island; and the troop-contributing Governments were increasingly dissatisfied, both at the unfair and growing financial burden they had to bear and at the lack of progress on the political front.

If that disturbing trend was to be reversed, a way must be found to resume an effective negotiating process, the Secretary-General averred. The informal discussions he had suggested in February 1987 could help create the conditions for the resumption of substantive negotiations in due course. The alternative would be a continued deterioration of the situation "with all that this may imply'.

The Secretary-General also reported that Sweden would withdraw its contingent by 1 January 1988. On 12 February, it had stated that unless substantial improvements could be achieved both in UNFICYP's financial situation, in particular through the introduction of financing by assessed contributions, and in the prospects for a political solution, it would take such a decision (see below).

Sweden said it would continue to provide civilian police and a small team at UNFICYP headquarters.

Mission of good offices

The Secretary-General informed the Council he had dispatched a mission to Cyprus in early February 1987 to explore again how progress could be made in view of the replies he had received from the two sides to the draft framework agreement he had presented for the consideration of the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot sides on 29 March 1986.

The mission was instructed to remind President Spyros Kyprianou of Cyprus and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash that the Secretary-General's function was to produce ideas and suggestions to help the two sides to find a solution, but that he could not impose anything on either side. At the same time, given his mandate from the Security Council, Mr. Perez de Cuellar could not allow his effort to be frozen either because one side found a particular suggestion unacceptable or because the other side, having accepted a suggestion, insisted that his effort could not proceed until the other side had also accepted it.

A way had to be found, he said, to proceed with discussions. His efforts to overcome the existing impasse could be greatly helped if their respective positions on issues that impeded progress could be clarified.

He suggested initiating a process of informal discussions between his aides and the two sides, those talks to be strictly...

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