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Annan reports calm on Iraq/Kuwait border, recommends continued UN presence
2 October -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan today recommended to the Security Council that it continue the United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM), as its presence has contributed to calm and stability along the border between the two countries.

During the past six months, UNIKOM has carried out its tasks smoothly, receiving cooperation from both parties, and helping create conditions that are "generally quiet" along the border, the Secretary-General states in his latest report on the Mission, released today at UN Headquarters in New York.

Regarding violations in the demilitarized zone, Mr. Annan reports 42 violations, 43 incidents and seven complaints. Most ground violations occurred when Iraqi vehicles used the only hard-surface road along the border, which crosses in and out of Kuwaiti territory. Minor weapons violations were also recorded, as were six air violations, and 11 maritime violations.

Of the seven complaints the Mission received over the past six months, three were from Iraq for alleged violations of its airspace, and four from Kuwait alleging Iraqi vessels in the demilitarized zone, Iraqi patrol boats in Kuwaiti waters and an incident in which signposts were removed from a border marker.

In other developments, there have been increased activities related to oil-production on both sides of the demilitarized zone, the report says. There has also been extensive building within the zone. This relates in part to Kuwait's relocation of police posts to positions adjacent to gates in the fence it built along the border and which has been electrified, with a centrally controlled electronic surveillance system now in operation, the report says.

UNIKOM was established by the Security Council in 1991 following the forced withdrawal of Iraqi forces from Kuwait. Charged with monitoring the demilitarized zone along the Iraq-Kuwait border, deterring border violations and reporting on any hostile action, the Mission's 1,300 personnel includes military observers, an infantry battalion, civilian staff and technical units.