HOST COUNTRY COMMITTEE APPROVES FINAL SECTION OF DRAFT REPORT

Press Release
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HOST COUNTRY COMMITTEE APPROVES FINAL SECTION OF DRAFT REPORT

The Committee on Relations with the Host Country this afternoon approved the final section of its draft report, which covers the period from 22 November 1996 through November 1997. Sections I through III, which review the Committee's work on such issues as privileges and immunities and transportation, were approved at its meeting on 5 November. The recommendations and conclusions contained in Section IV, approved as orally revised, concern: the maintenance of appropriate conditions for the normal work of the delegations and the missions accredited to the United Nations; the security of those missions and the safety of their personnel; the problem of parking diplomatic vehicles, which the Committee says should be resolved in a manner that was "fair, non-discriminatory, efficient and consistent with international law"; travel restrictions on certain missions; financial indebtedness; and health care. Also this afternoon, the Committee approved an addendum, by which it added paragraphs to the report describing additional topics dealt with during the year, including the recent incident involving the New York City Police and the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation, comments on the New York City parking situation, and the change in the Committee's chairmanship. After a brief discussion this afternoon, the recommendations and conclusions were orally revised to meet concerns expressed by Cuba that, while the issue of mission security, in general, was dealt with, the unresolved matters of her country's mission security were not addressed. The wording was changed so that the recommendations and conclusions make reference to those matters, which are described in detail elsewhere in the report. The representatives of China, Russian Federation, Côte d'Ivoire, United Kingdom, Cyprus, Spain, Costa Rica and the United States also spoke. The Committee's Rapporteur, Emilia Castro de Barish (Costa Rica), introduced both the final section and the addendum to the draft report. The Acting Chairman, John T. Holmes (Canada), announced that the new Permanent Representative of Cyprus, Sotirios Zackheos, had been recommended for election as Committee Chairman. The formal election would be held at the Committee's next meeting, at which time the Committee would also elect the Chairman of the working group on indebtedness. The Committee is scheduled to meet again next week.

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