Forty-second General Assembly opens in hopeful atmosphere of increasing multilateral co-operation.

PositionIncludes article on new General Assembly President Peter Florin

Forty-second General Assembly opens in hopeful atmosphere of increasing multilateral co-operation

Soviet-United States accord, unified "Big Five' stand on Council resolution encourage positive expectation

CALLS FOR RENEWED and reinvigorated support for a spirit of worldwide co-operation--the hallmark of the opening of recent sessions of the United Nations General Assembly--seem to have come to fruition as its forty-second session opened in New York City on 15 September. Last year, the 159-member body convened in an atmosphere of uncertainty and pessimism under the shadow of the most serious financial crisis in United Nations history. This year the atmosphere had changed somewhat and, many felt, improved.

Delegates assembling in the cavernous Assembly Hall welcomed what was widely described as an "historic breakthrough' in the field of disarmament, when an agreement between the United States and the USSR to eliminate an entire category of nuclear weapons was announced on 17 September. Aware also of a rare unified front among the five permanent members of the Security Council regarding negotiations over the fiery Iran-Iraq conflict, they embarked on consideration of a 143-item agenda in a more hopeful and positive atmosphere.

Peter Florin of the German Democratic Republic, elected President of the forty-second session, said: "A turn for the better, that is, an ease of international tensions, is certainly possible. It can be brought about by responsible statesmen engaging in a common act of political will marked by dialogue and mutual understanding'. The Assembly, he said, "should consider it its task to promote all efforts towards settling international conflicts by way of negotiation and dialogue, a joint search for solutions and essential decisions'.

Mr. Perez de Cuellar in his annual report (A/42/1), which traditionally provides a keynote for the Assembly opening, observed that the Organization had been an important catalyst for consensus on global problems and was the "object of a greater commonality of view' than in 1986. It remained "prey to a financial crisis of very damaging dimensions', yet there had been a "perceptible rallying' to it, prompted by not only its jeopardized situation but also "changes in the international political, economic and social situation which evidenced with persuasive clarity the need for, and the unique value of, the United Nations and other multilateral organizations'.

President of the forty-first Assembly, which ended on 14 September, Humayun Rasheed Choudhury of Bangladesh, said the United Nations had displayed a remarkable resilience over the years in dealing with the challenges of an increasingly complex world. While the United Nations did not proscribe sovereignty, it pointed to the deeper and greater commitment of mankind, beyond those inspired by State structures.

Major political items

Mr. Perez de Cuellar, in his 1987 annual report, referred to what he called "new opportunities . . . to settle long-standing differences and move towards more positive and fruitful relationships'.

The plenary, as in past years, will review and consider a number of politically sensitive conflict areas, including ongoing negotiations within or related to the United Nations context on Iran-Iraq, Central America, the Middle East, Afghanistan, Western Sahara and Kampuchea.

Particular attention will be paid to the Secretary-General's personal presentation--during a September visit to both Teheran and Baghdad--of an "outline plan' to implement Security Council resolution 598, adopted unanimously on 20 July. That text calls for a ceasefire between the warring nations and withdrawal of forces to internationally accepted boundaries.

The Guatemala peace agreement among Central American nations, signed in August, will be the subject of Assembly discussion and action early in the session. (On 7 October, the Assembly in its resolution 42/1, expressed its firmest support for the Guatemala Agreement and called upon the Presidents of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua to continue their efforts to achieve a firm and lasting peace in the region. The international community was asked for full support for the Central American peace process. The Secretary-General was asked to draw up a special plan of co-operation for Central America.

A 1983 proposal for an international peace conference on the Middle East is expected to receive wider support than in previous years.

The question of Cyprus will be considered in plenary, on the understanding that the representatives of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities would be heard in the Special Political Committee, as happened when the item was last debated in the...

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