SECRETARY-GENERAL ADDRESSES UNIKOM TROOPS ON KUWAIT SIDE OF ITS BORDER WITH IRAQ
Press Release
SG/T/2014
SECRETARY-GENERAL ADDRESSES UNIKOM TROOPS ON KUWAIT SIDE OF ITS BORDER WITH IRAQ
19951228 (Received from the Deputy Spokesman travelling with the Secretary-General.)At 9:30 a.m. today, the Secretary-General visited the Centre for Research and Studies on Kuwait, which specializes in documenting the history of Kuwait, including the period of the Iraqi aggression.
At 11:30 a.m., the Secretary-General began a visit to the United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM) on the Kuwaiti side of the Kuwait-Iraq border. He was accompanied throughout the visit by UNIKOM Force Commander Major- General Jian Giuseppe Santillo, his military adviser Major-General Franklin Van Kappen, and the Executive Director of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), Hazem El-Beblawi, as well as the Permanent Representative of Kuwait to the United Nations, Mohammad A. Abulhasan.
The Secretary-General was briefed by the Force Commander's Senior Adviser, Tesfaye Tadesse, on the mandate, responsibilities and activities of the peace- keeping mission, which include monitoring the demilitarized zone (About 200 kilometres of land and 40 kilometres of the Khor Abdallah Waterway) and observing any hostile or potentially hostile actions by one State against the other.
The Secretary-General then addressed the troops, which total around 1,300 from 32 countries, including an infantry battalion from Bangladesh. He thanked them for their vital work and for the success of their mission. (For a full text of the Secretary-General's speech see Press Release SG/SM/5860.) He also visited a patrolling and observation base and border pillar and then joined UNIKOM staff for lunch. Before flying back to Kuwait City, the Secretary-General was given an aerial tour of the Kuwaiti maritime demilitarized zone and the Abdally Crossing.
In the evening the Secretary-General held a press conference in which he thanked the Government and people of Kuwait for their warm welcome and hospitality, adding that he was also pleased to have been able to witness first- hand Kuwait's scientific, educational and developmental programme, which aim at promoting peace and development.
Tomorrow the Secretary-General will visit the offices of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and meet the staff of the United Nations system in Kuwait, before leaving Kuwait City for Yemen.
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