PRESS STATEMENT ON MIDDLE EAST BY SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT

The following statement to the press was made yesterday evening by the President of the Security Council, Sergey Lavrov (Russian Federation):

Members of the Security Council closely follow the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.

They had a briefing by the Secretariat on the latest developments.  They were informed that the Secretary-General expects the fact-finding team to arrive in the region by the end of the week, as originally planned.

Members of the Council noted various political efforts aimed at achieving the goals set out in Security Council resolutions.  They expressed the hope that all these efforts would bring about positive changes on the ground, including a non-violent resolution of the situation around Chairman Arafat’s headquarters in Ramallah and the arrival of the fact-finding team by the end of the week.

Members of the Council will continue to follow the situation in order to ensure the implementation of the Security Council’s latest resolutions on the Middle East.  At the consultations of the whole on 26 April 2002 they would have an update from the Secretariat and would have another round of discussions, with participation of the Department of Political Affairs and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, on the Secretary-General’s initiative on a multinational force for the Palestinian territories.

* *** *