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Annan seeks Security Council decisions on terms of Cyprus plan

Annan seeks Security Council decisions on terms of Cyprus plan

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With Cypriots preparing to vote this weekend on a reunification plan, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has asked the Security Council to endorse the basic agreement creating a United Cyprus Republic, ban arms sales to the country and approve the mandate of a new United Nations operation there.

The Secretary-General’s request is being submitted in accordance with the plan finalized last month at the invitation of the parties and he asks the Council to consider it before Saturday’s simultaneous referenda, which if approved would enable a united Cyprus to enter the European Union on 1 May.

“I would hope that the Council could reassure Cypriots, as they proceed to referenda, that the United Nations is prepared to act to meet the responsibilities foreseen for it under the plan,” he writes in the report released today.

The decisions requested of the Security Council would be contingent on the outcome of the balloting, and be null and void if the Foundation Agreement did not enter into force for any reason.

The Council is being asked to endorse the Foundation Agreement, Mr. Annan says, “to reassure the two sides that the Council is cognizant of their key concerns and endorses the means by which they are addressed in the agreement.” He also asks the 15-member body to take formal note that the plan expressly prohibits partition or secession and to acknowledge the political equality and distinct identity of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.

In asking the Council to prohibit the import and export of weapons to Cyprus, the Secretary-General notes that the arms embargo is part of the broader understanding that the country should be demilitarized. It is also seen as “an important factor in ensuring the effective implementation of the Comprehensive Settlement and in eliminating further threats to international peace and security in the area,” he adds.

Meanwhile, the new UN operation would serve quite different tasks and take over from the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), which after its creation in 1964 has been supervising ceasefire lines on the island nation. The new mandate would include monitoring and verification of the parties’ compliance with the plan’s provisions relating to troop withdrawals, dissolution of local forces and police activities.

The UN operation would enjoy freedom of movement throughout the island, and be comprised of some 2,500 hundred troops, double the current UNFICYP force, 510 civilian police, and a substantial number of national and international civilian staff.