Security Council backs Annan's call to maintain UN Iraq-Kuwait border mission

The United Nations Security Council has backed a recommendation by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to maintain the UN Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM), which monitors the demilitarized zone on the border between the two countries.

In a letter released today at UN Headquarters in New York, Security Council President Sergey Lavrov of the Russian Federation informs Mr. Annan that the 15-member body concurs with his proposal and will review the question again this October.

Ambassador Lavrov's letter came in response to a recent report by Mr. Annan, who said the Mission should remain in place because it contributes to calm and stability in the area.

According to that report, UNIKOM continued to carry out its monitoring duties over the past six months, reporting 437 air violations of the demilitarized zone. The Secretary-General emphasizes, however, that UNIKOM lacks the technical or intelligence means to definitively identify the origins of the overflights "and cannot rely on inference or supposition in such a matter."