S/PV.3386 Security Council

As this is the first meeting of the Security Council for the month of June, I should like to take this opportunity to pay tribute, on behalf of the Council, to His Excellency Mr. Ibrahim A. Gambari, Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations, for his service as President of the Security Council for the month of May 1994. I am sure I speak for all members of the Security Council in expressing deep appreciation to Ambassador Gambari for the great diplomatic skill and unfailing courtesy with which he conducted the Council’s business last month. Adoption of the agenda

I should like to inform the Council that I have received letters from the representatives of Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, in which they request to be invited to participate in the discussion of the item on the Council’s agenda. In accordance with the usual practice, I propose, with the consent of the Council, to invite those representatives to participate in the discussion without the right to vote, in conformity with the relevant provisions of the Charter and rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure. There being no objection, it is so decided.

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Security Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in its prior consultations. Members of the Council have before them document S/1994/646, which contains the text of a draft resolution prepared in the course of the Council’s prior consultations. It is my understanding that the Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution before it. Unless I hear any objection, I shall put the draft resolution to the vote. There being no objection, it is so decided. I shall first call on those members of the Council who wish to make statements before the voting.

First of all, I wish to join my colleagues in the Council in congratulating you, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency of the Council for this month. I am confident that, with your wisdom, talent and wealth of experience, you will surely provide excellent guidance to the work of the Council for this month. I would also like to thank your predecessor, Ambassador Gambari, for his outstanding performance and effective work, which led to the successful conclusion of the work of the Council last month. Since the conflict started in Yemen on 5 May this year, the flames of war have spread wider and wider, leading to huge losses of innocent life and of property. The Chinese delegation expresses its great anxiety and concern over these developments. We urge all those concerned to cease fighting and all hostile actions forthwith, give up the use of force and resume negotiations as soon as possible so as to seek an appropriate solution by peaceful means. The Chinese delegation has always maintained that all conflicts should be settled peacefully through negotiation, and we oppose resolving political disputes by force. We sincerely hope that the armed conflict will be brought to an early end and that peace and stability will We have noted that in the course of resolving the conflict the countries concerned in the region, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the League of Arab States have all made unswerving efforts, which we welcome. We hope that the countries and organizations concerned in the region will continue to play an active role of mediation in helping all those concerned to resolve their disputes by peaceful means, thus bringing the war to an early end and restoring peace and tranquillity for the Yemeni people. Finally, it must be emphasized that, in its consideration of any issue of concern, the Security Council should respect the relevant views of the countries or parties concerned. It is our view that the consideration of the situation of the Republic of Yemen by the Council under the current special circumstances should not constitute a precedent for the handling of other similar issues.

I thank the representative of China for his kind words addressed to me and my predecessor, Ambassador Gambari.

There were 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 924 (1994). There are no further speakers on my list. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on the agenda. The meeting rose at 4.15 p.m.