In progress at UNHQ

GA/9209

ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT PROFOUNDLY SHOCKED BY ACT OF VIOLENCE AGAINST ICRC WORKERS

17 December 1996


Press Release
GA/9209


ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT PROFOUNDLY SHOCKED BY ACT OF VIOLENCE AGAINST ICRC WORKERS

19961217 The following statement was made this morning by General Assembly President Razali Ismail (Malaysia) in the plenary:

I would like to inform the Assembly of a communication of tragic news received from the International Committee of the Red Cross, an observer of the Assembly.

Six members of its delegation were assassinated at their quarters at the hospital in Novye Atagi, near Grozny, Chechnya, Russian Federation, this morning, local time. I, as President of the General Assembly, am profoundly shocked and grieved by this tragedy, and would like to extend my deepest sympathy to the families of the deceased. The ICRC pursues its work with courage and determination in defence of humanitarian principles by caring for people caught in conflict and emergencies. I share with the ICRC outrage and grief for such an act of violence.

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For information media. Not an official record.