Extension of observer mission endorsed by Council.

• Position: United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan, United Nations Security Council

Security Council members on 6 March endorsed the Secretary-General's recommendation to extend the presence of the United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan (UNMOT) until 26 April 1995.

In the interim, they urged the Tajik parties--the Government and the opposition--to "resolve the remaining difficulties in arranging the fourth round of inter-Tajik talks aimed at reaching a political settlement to the conflict".

An earlier extension, until 6 March--the first since UNMOT's establishment under Council resolution 968 (1994) on 16 December 1994--was endorsed by Council members on 6 February.

Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali on 3 March informed (S/1995/179) the Council that the parties had agreed to extend their cease-fire, after negotiations conducted by Under-Secretary-General Aldo Ajello with the Russian Federation officials in Moscow (24-27 February), the Government of Tajikistan in Dushanbe (28 February-1 March) and the Tajik opposition in Islamabad, Pakistan (2-4 March).

The initial cease-fire agreement, signed on 17 September 1994 in Teheran, Iran was first extended until 6 February--during the third round of inter-Tajik talks on national reconciliation, held from 20 October to 1 November in Islamabad--and then until 6 March.

However, the situation in...