Afghanistan
Negotiations Stalled
At the end of March 1999, the Taliban and the opposition Northern Alliance each released 20 prisoners as a preliminary to a possible peace settlement to end twenty years of civil war in Afganistan. However, by 13 April, negotiations had collapsed, coinciding with an upsurge in fighting in several areas of the country. The extremist Taliban, which controls most of the country, and the Northern Alliance had been expected to hold another round of peace talks in neighbouring Turkmenistan. UN-sponsored negotiations later in April were initially hailed as a breakthrough, as the factions appeared to have agreed a power sharing formula for a future coalition government. However, deadlock subsequently emerged over the issue the leadership of such a government. The UN promised to continue efforts at mediation. Heavy fighting was reported in mid-April, with reports of bombing by Taliban jets in several northern areas. (Economist, 24-4-99)
Secretary-General's Report on the Situation in Afghanistan
The 31 March report covered developments since 23 November 1998.
Political Developments
The Secretary-General stated that, under the auspices of the UN mission in Afghanistan, the Taliban and the United Front met in Ashkabad from 11 to 14 March. The talks were not intended to create written settlement, but the two sides were able to agree in principle to form a shared executive, a shared legislature and a shared judiciary and to continue negotiations.
Kofi Annan asserted that a series of meetings were convened by the United Front towards consolidating anti-Taliban forces, politically and militarily, under a single, unified command. On 3 March, the United Front announced that it was forming a 40-member Leadership Council headed by its leader, Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani.
Military Situation
Annan reported that the usual relative calm had accompanied winter in Afghanistan. Since the beginning of 1999, fighting appeared to be restricted primarily to isolated attacks in central and north-western regions, with only minor activity around the principal front lines, except north of Kabul. However, both sides were thought to have used the time to restock significant war matériel from and through countries in the region. Recruitment was also taking place, although Annan reported increasing popular reluctance, particularly in Taliban areas, to allow youth to sign up.
Taliban Regional Relations
Annan reported increased Taliban contacts with neighbouring states, including, for the first time, a senior level meeting with Iranian officials on 2 February. Foreign ministers from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan also met with Taliban representatives in Islamabad. The Taliban welcomed delegations from China and Japan during February and March, while its representatives also met with a US Assistant Secretary of State and a UK Foreign Office Minister.
Activities of the Mission
On 21 December 1998, James Ngobi was succeeded as Acting Head of Mission by Andrew Tesoriere, who was appointed Officer-in-Charge. The Mission took the initiative to hold extensive and detailed discussions with leaderships of both parties in late January/early February, which led to the negotiations outlined above. It worked to broaden contacts within the Afghan political community and with interlocutors in neighbouring countries, continuing its visits to Peshawar and Quetta, Pakistani towns with considerable Afghani minorities, and encouraging central and local Pakistani authorities to uphold Afghani rights to security and to education.
Annan said that the Mission co-ordinated with the UN resident and humanitarian co-ordinator to try to resolve outstanding security issues regarding the return of UN international staff and the resumption of UN activities in Afghanistan.
The Humanitarian Situation and Human Rights
UN security assessment missions despatched to Afghanistan in late February/early March reported that authorities in Taliban-held areas expressed a commitment to the security of UN staff and facilities and there was evidence of compliance with the provisions of the October 1988 supplementary protocol on security between the Taliban and the UN. Thus, it was decided on 12 March that conditions allowed a limited and phased return of UN international staff to Afghanistan.
A combined relief effort was mounted by the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, UN agencies and non-governmental organisations in response to an earthquake in Logar and Wardak provinces on 11 February. Immediate needs were for temporary shelter, given the severity of the climate in the affected area.
Human Rights
Annan reitereted the severe restrictions to women and access to education, employment and an adequate level of health care. The Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights, Kamal Hossain (Bangladesh), undertook a mission to the area from 15 to 20 March 1999 with a view to completing his report to the Commission on Human Rights at its forthcoming fifty-fifth session. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights prepared for the establishment of a UN investigation team to be deployed to the field as soon as security conditions on the ground allowed.
Source: UN Doc; S/1999/362- 31 March 1999
Iraq
Drought Threatens Humanitarian Crisis
At the beginning of April, a special UN disarmament committee recommended that the Security Council seek to resume arms monitoring and verification in Iraq, but that the composition of the monitoring team should be changed from the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM). In the middle of the month, UN relief organisations were working to alleviate the impact on sanctions-hit Iraq of what was feared could develop into the country's worst drought in 50 years. Both the UN and the Iraqi government asserted that yields in 1999 of particularly wheat, barley and rice, would be a minimum of 75% down on last year. Meanwhile, during the third week of April, US warplanes bombed Iraqi air defences in the northern no-fly zone after being tracked by radar. (Economist, 24-4-99)
UNSCOM Leaves Behind Weapons Samples
On 2 June, UNSCOM Chair Richard Butler proposed dispatching a special team to destroy chemical and biological weapons samples left in UNSCOM's Baghdad laboratory, in response to a complaint by the Russian Ambassador to the UN, Sergei Lavrov, that the samples had been left behind after the four-day US and UK air strikes in December 1998. However, Butler insisted that only minute quantities of chemical agents and less than 1kg of mustard gas were there (Financial Times, 3-6-99).
UK Suggests End to Iraq Deadlock
The UK presented an amended draft resolution to the Security Council to try to break the deadlock over sanctions against Iraq. The resolution suggested suspending sanctions for 120 days after arms inspectors reported that Baghdad had answered remaining questions satisfactorily. Foreign oil companies could then start to invest in Iraqi oil. The Council would decide every 120 days to maintain the suspension on condition of Iraqi co-operation. The proposal was intended to convince Iraq that co-operating with inspectors would pay off. Amongst the Permanent Five Security Council members, Russia and China wanted sanctions lifted immediately, while the US and UK wanted inspectors to return and remaining questions over chemical and biological weapons answered. France recently suggested linking co-operation with inspectors and suspending sanctions. UNSCOM was to be replaced by a new agency excluding Butler. (Financial Times,17-6-99)
Secretary-General's UNIKOM Report
The report covered the period from 24 September 1998 to 23 March 1999. The Secretary-General stated that the period under review saw the situation along the Iraq-Kuwait border remain generally calm. The United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission (UNIKOM) was not significantly affected by UK and US air operations in the southern no-fly zone in Iraq, except for the suspension of its fixed-wing aircraft flights and the restriction of helicopter flights to the Kuwaiti side of the demilitarised zone.
As of March 1999, UNIKOM comprised: 194 military observers from - Argentina (4), Austria (6), Bangladesh (5), Canada (5), China (11), Denmark (6), Fiji (5), Finland (6), France (11), Ghana (6), Greece (4), Hungary (5), India (5), Indonesia (5), Ireland (5), Italy (5), Kenya (4), Malaysia (6), Nigeria (5), Pakistan (6), Poland (5), Romania (6), the Russian Federation (11), Senegal (5), Singapore (6), Sweden (5), Thailand (5), Turkey (7), the United Kingdom (11), the United States (11), Uruguay (5) and Venezuela (2); an infantry battalion of 775 from Bangladesh; an engineering unit of 50 from Argentina; a logistic unit of 34 from Argentina; a helicopter unit of 35 from Bangladesh; a medical unit of 14 from Germany; 208 civilian staff, of whom 61 were recruited internationally; Total (1,311); Force Commander General Esa Tarvainen (Finland).
UN Doc: S/1999/330- 25 March 1999
Israel
Palestinian Independence Postponed
Between late March and early April, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat visited the capitals of twelve friendly governments to consult on what he should do on 1 May, the expiry deadline for the five year interim period of the Oslo agreement. Arafat has asserted that a failure to reach agreement by this date would lead to the unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, with Jerusalem as its capital. Foreign leaders have almost universally told Arafat to postpone the declaration through fear that it would have allowed the then Israeli President, Binyamin Netanyahu, to ignore the Oslo agreement, less than two weeks before Israeli elections on 17 May. In return, Washington tacitly pledged a more active role in the peace process after Israel's election and opposition to the continuing expansion of Israeli settlements, while the European Union in March reaffirmed the Palestinians' right to self-determination, including the option of statehood. In the end, Arafat did not declare independence on 4 May after the Palestine Liberation Organisation had voted the week before to defer any decision on statehood until after the Israeli election.
Barak Elected Prime Minister
At the beginning of May, Netanyahu ordered the closure of three offices in Orient House, the Palestinian's de facto headquarters in East Jerusalem, on the grounds that they were connected to the Palestinian Authority, forbidden by the Oslo agreement. However, Netanyahu was forced to wait for a decision by the high court. The election of Ehud Barak to Prime Minister brought increased hope for the future of the Middle East peace process. But, despite Barak's substantial labour majority, internal wranglings within the Israeli government would hamper the prime minister's attempts to build a coalition committed to the peace process.
During the week of 14 June, Barak played down the military threat represented by the Palestinians, insisting that other neighbouring countries, notably Syria, were militarily more significant. Therefore, any solution to the Palestinian problem had to be comprehensive. The Prime Minister proposed building a bridge from Dura in the West Bank to the Gaza Strip to enable free movement of people and goods but which would also separate Israelis from Palestinians. However, diplomats asserted that Palestinians were likely to oppose the plan, as Dura was far from the Green Line, Israel's pre-1967 internationally recognised border, while Tel Aviv would control who travelled on it. Western diplomats further warned that building such a bridge did not bode well for normal relations between neighbours. (Financial Times, 19-6-99)
Withdrawal Likely from Southern Lebanon
At the end of May, there were strong indications that the South Lebanon Army (SLA), Tel Aviv's proxy army in South Lebanon, would shortly withdraw from a large part of the 15 km "security zone" established in 1985 after Israel withdrew from the rest of Lebanon, which it had first invaded in 1978. Then, on 1 June, the SLA withdrew from the Jezzine area, which was being badly harassed by Hizbullah fighters. The Lebanese government declined to send its army to control the area. Analysts warned that Syria, as the major power broker in Lebanon, wished to link any Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon with regaining the Golan Heights.
Western Sahara
MINURSO Head Resigns
At the end of March, the UN announced the resignation of Charles Dunbar, the Head of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO). Dunbar attributed his resignation to the UN's concentration on managing the peace process in Western Sahara at the expense of fulfilling the UN resolution to organise a plebiscite over the future status of the territory. Dunbar claimed that the UN had spent a fortune on mediation but seemed to have forgotten the refugees themselves. Then, shortly after his departure, Kofi Annan announced Morocco's agreement in principle to the UN plan and a referendum in March 2000. However, there were reports that Moroccan officials had privately stated that a vote would only take place when King Hassan was convinced of a satisfactory outcome. Most importantly, Hassan gave no ground on the issue of voter eligibility (Economist, 27-4-99).
Identification Process Re-established
The identification process was re-established on 15 June. MINURSO opened thirteen centres where Sahrawis could register for the referendum, re-scheduled for 31 July, 2000. A recent agreement between Morocco and the Frente Popular para la Liberacion de Siguia el-Hamra y del Rio de Oro (POLISARIO), concluded under the aegis of the UN, aimed to finish the identification process in November this year, while outstanding claims needed to have been lodged by February 2000. The Secretary-General's Special Representative, William Eagleton, met with King Hassan and Sahrawi President Mohamed Abdelaziz during a tour of the Maghreb which ended on 13 June (Panafrican News Agency, 16-6-99).
Secretary-General's MINURSO Report
The 22 March report covered events since 28 January 1999.
Some Progress in Identification Agreement
Kofi Annan stated that there had been several rounds of consultations between the UN and the Moroccan authorities to clarify key provisions of the package designed to accelerate the referendum process in Western Sahara which had been offered in draft protocols on voter identification and appeals procedures. Meanwhile, the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) was extended until 31 January 1999 and again until 31 March 1999. On 22 March, the Morroccan government accepted the package, on condition that certain amendments would be incorporated in the identification and appeals protocols and operational directives, together with a revised timetable. Moroccan authorities requested that the modalities for organising the identification and appeals be consistent with the objective of holding the referendum by March 2000. Annan asserted that MINURSO accordingly expected, at the end of March, to provide revised texts of the various protocols incorporating the required amendments, including revised dates.
Annan welcomed the prompt support of the package from the POLISARIO and the Morroccan government's agreement in principle. Operational directives were being prepared by the Identification Commission to ensure the transparency and common understanding of its work and of the identification and appeals procedures. Annan further welcomed the agreement between the Moroccan government and MINURSO to destroy mines and unexploded ordnance in the mission area. MINURSO was pursuing efforts to reach a similar agreement with POLISARIO. In the light of the resignation of Annan's Special Representative, the Chair of the Identification Commission, Robin Kinloch, was appointed Acting Special Representative with immediate effect. Annan recommended that the mandate of MINURSO be extended until 30 April 1999.
MINURSO Contributions as at 15 March 1999
[Military Observers (MO); Staff Officers (SO); Troops (Tr); Civilian Police Observers (CPO); Total (T)]
Argentina 1 (MO) 1 (T); Austriaa 5 (MO) 5 (T); Bangladesh 6 (MO) 6 (T); Canada 2 (CPO) 2 (T); China 15 (MO) 15 (T); Egypt 19 (MO) 1 (CPO) 20 (T); El Salvador 2 (MO) 2 (T); France 25 (MO) 25 (T); Ghana 6 (MO) 7 (Tr) 1 (CPO) 14 (T); Greece 1 (MO) 1 (T); Guinea 3 (MO) 3 (T); Honduras 12 (MO) 12 (T); Ireland 8 (MO) 8 (T); India 10 (CPO) 10 (T); Italy 5 (MO) 5 (T); Kenya 8 (MO) 8 (T); Malaysia 13 (MO) 13 (T); Nigeria 5 (MO) 5 (T); Norway 2 (CPO) 2 (T); Pakistan 5 (MO) 2 (SO) 9 (CPO) 16 (T); Poland 3 (MO) 3 (T); Portugal 2 (MO) 1 (CPO) 3 (T); Republic of Korea 20 (Tr) 20 (T); Russia 25 (MO) 25 (T); Uruguay 13 (MO) 13 (T); US 15 (MO) 15 (T); Venezuela 3 (MO) 3 (T); Total: 200 (MO) 2 (SO) 27 (Tr) 26 (CPO) 255 (T);
a In addition to the Force Commander.
Source: UN Doc; S/1999/307- 22 March 1999
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