DATE=4/27/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=HOLBROOKE ON U-N PEACEKEEPING
NUMBER=2-261786
BYLINE=BRECK ARDERY
DATELINE=UNITED NATIONS
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The United States ambassador to the United
Nations today (Thursday) expressed concern about
mounting demands for U-N peacekeeping operations. VOA
Correspondent Breck Ardery reports on the remarks of
Richard Holbrooke at a meeting of the U-N Security
Council.
TEXT: During a meeting to discuss the U-N operation in
East Timor, Mr. Holbrooke said the Council should be
aware that the burdens of U-N peacekeeping keep
rising.
///Holbrooke act///
I want to draw the Council's attention to an
obvious but central fact. Within the last 12
months, the Security Council has authorized the
undertaking, or substantial expansion of five
major peacekeeping operations on three
continents. They include East Timor, Kosovo,
Sierra Leone, the D-R-C (Democratic Republic of
Congo) and now, the impending but virtually
inevitable increase in Lebanon.
///end act///
Mr. Holbrooke says that, aside from the financial
burdens of those operations, they put stress on the
resources of the U-N peacekeeping department as well
as the Security Council itself. As he spoke,
representatives of more than half the Council's 15
members were on a fact-finding mission to Kosovo. Next
week, seven other Council members will make a visit to
Congo-Kinshasa, the D-R-C.
The American ambassador says the cost of peacekeeping
missions should be more widely shared by U-N members.
Currently U-N peacekeeping assessments against the
United States amount to 31 percent of costs, a figure
Mr. Holbrooke would like to see reduced. The U-S
Congress has authorized 25 percent reimbursement for
U-N peacekeeping expenses.
Ambassador Holbrooke made it clear he is not opposed
to U-N peacekeeping, saying it is often
"indispensable." However, he says peacekeeping
operations must be more broadly financed if they are
to succeed.(Signed)
NEB/UN/BA/LSF/ENE/PT
27-Apr-2000 17:02 PM EDT (27-Apr-2000 2102 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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