Negotiating process needed for Mideast peace.

Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar, in reviewing recent developments in the Middle East, has indicated "little cause for hope" that the problems of the region are nearer to solution.

In his report to the Assembly and Security Council on that subject (document A/38/458--S/16015), he cited preoccupation with the events in Lebanon as a major basis for that assertion. Those events, he said, tended to overshadow consideration of major aspects of the Middle East problems.

"There can be little doubt that developments in this year of frustration will prove to have made even more difficult the comprehensive settlement which alone can eventually bring coexistance and peace to this vital part of the world", he stated.

The Secretary-General's report, entitled "Developments in the Middle East in all their aspects", covered military developments and United Nations peace-keeping activities; the Palestine refugee problem; the question of Palestine; and the search for a peaceful settlement. It was examined during debates in the Assembly plenary on items on the question of Palestine and the situation in the Middle East.

In particular, the Secretary-General cited the central problem of the legitimate rights and future of the Palestinian people; the complications caused by the growth of Israeli settlements on the West Bank and by the failure once again to get down to meaningful negotiations; and the basic problems of withdrawal of Israeli forces from occupied territories, recognition of the long-term security of all States in the region and the future of Jerusalem.

"The delay in getting to the roots of the Middle East problem cannot, in the long run, serve the cause of peace", he declared. "The process of procrastination" could only increase bitterness and tension and result in a far more fundamental and destructive crisis in the area.

Since 1948, he stated, the parties had invariably been "out of phase with each other" in relation to the question of discussing a peaceful solution, a problem exacerbated by lack of mutual recognition and communication. Only an agreed settlement, taking due account of the basic aspirations and vital interests of each, would ensure the safety and survival of all parties concerned. Such a settlement must be based on principles outlined in Security Council resolution 242 (1967).

Mr. Perez de Cuellar said the major Powers, involved in various ways in the Middle East conflict, held opposing views, which had often made it impossible for the Security Council to take decisive action at critical times. That had had adverse effects not only on the peace-making process but also on the effectiveness and even the potential of United Nations peace-keeping.

He hoped that, confronted with the increasing dangers of the Middle East conflict, which threatened the security of the region and beyond, the major Powers would "find it possible to work with each other in the search for a just and durable peace in the Middle East". With their support, the Security Council would be in a far better position to fulfil its responsibilities regarding the peace process. The Council might provide a practical framework for such a process since its existing procedures enabled the participation of all parties concerned.

Members should seriously consider ways to approach the problem, he said, for example, through the institution of a suitable negotiating process, including, in an appropriete form, an international conference. "The plight of the victims on all sides and the peace of the world demand no less", he concluded.

The process of "action and reprisal", he said, had not only taken a terrible toll of human life; it also represented "a most dangerous development in the already violent circumstances of that area". The actions taken on all sides, whatever their cause, could only make the situation more dangerous and lead to future tragedies.

On 28 November, Carl-August Fleischhauer, the United Nations Legal Counsel, reported to the Assembly's Fifth Committee that the Secretary-General was able to confirm the release of 54 United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) staff members who had been detained in Lebanon by the Israeli armed forces. Confirmation of the release of the remaining eight persons was to be made shortly thereafter. A prisoner exchange had taken place, during which all those detained at the Ansar camp had been released and the camp had been closed.

Fighting in northern Lebanon in early November affected UNRWA operations in the Tripoli area, where some 34,700 Palestinian reefugees registered with the Agency resided in the Beddawi and Nahr el-Bared camps. UNRWA schools, clinics and feeding centres were damaged and the Agency's area office destroyed. At the end of November, the first emergency ration distribution which included foof supplies of flour, rice, sardines, corned beef, jam and tomato paste, as well as kitchen kits, soap, towels, blankets and mattresses, had been completed.

On 14 December, Olof Rydbeck, UNRWA Commissioner-General, commented on a reported Israeli plan to resettle Palestianian refugees living in camps in the West Bank. "The Agency certainly does not oppose measures voluntarily accepted by the refugees which are intended to improve their living conditions. On the other hand, it would strongly object to any attempt to coerce refugees onto compliance with any particular scheme".

Mr. Rydbeck said that only a quarter of the refugees--about 90,000--registerd with UNRWA lived in 20 camps. The remaining 75 per cent--about 257,000--were scattered throughout towns and villages "in the same environment as the rest of the population". In Gaza, 211,000 registered refugees lived in eight camps, with 172,000 outside the camps.

Commissioner-general Rydbeck said Agency policy was to provide education, health and relief services to registered refugees whenever they lived in the Agency's area of operations (Lebanon, Syrian Arab Republic, Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza). Any refugees relocated from camps would continue to receive services from UNRWA. However, relocating schools and clinics would intail considerable expenditure for which the Agency would require additional funding.

On 20 January, Commissioner-General Rydbeck reported a marked increase in arrest, disappearances, woundings, murders and explosions affecting Palestine refugees in Lebanon and appealed to those with effective control in various areas of Lebanon to do everything in their power to protect the lives of citizens. The recent violence, he said, showed that the security of those refugees was still matter of serious concern.

Over the past two months, he said, 11 refugees had been killed, 10 wounded and seven reported missing. Some 26 incidents of shelling or explosions affecting refugees in south Lebanon and the Beirut area had also been reported.

In other United Nations developments concerning the Middle East:

On 31 December, France informed the Secretary-General that a certain number of French troops currently with the multinational force in Beirut would be rejoining the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), bringing its strenght to some 5,800 after the replenishment. Franch had "borrowed" 500 troops from its UNIFIL battalion a year ago, according to a United Nations official.

Currently, there are three United Nations peace-keeping operations in the area: an observer mission, the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization in Palestine (UNTSO), and two peace-keeping forces, the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) and UNIFIL. Since, August 1982, another unit established by UNTSO, the Observer Group Beirut, has monitored the situation in the around that city. United Nations observers are also stationed in Egypt.

On 1 December, the Assembly appropriated $17.4 million to operate UNDOF for a six-month period through May 1984, and on 5 December itappropriated $46,964 to operate UNIFIL for the period 19 December through 18 April 1984.

Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar in a statement through his spokesman on 5 December, said developments in Lebanon were both "alarming and tragic". He appealed to "all parties involved" to refrain forthwith form the use of force and called for a general cessation of hostilities and a redoubling of efforts for conciliation and peaceful negotiation.