Security council supports Secretary-General's proposal on Cyprus.

In a statement on 28 June 1991 following consultations, Security Council President Jean-Jacques Bechio of Cote d'Ivoire said, on behalf of Council members, that the Council regretted that despite the Secretary-General's efforts, necessary progress had not yet been made in achieving an outline for an agreement on a settlement for Cyprus.

Council members reiterated their full support of the SecretaryGeneral's efforts. They endorsed his view that a high-level international meeting "if properly prepared and of adequate duration", could give those efforts the necessary impetus and achieve an agreed outline of an overall settlement, Council members said.

They agreed with his judgement that before such a meeting could be held, "the two sides should be within agreement range on all the issues". All concerned

were urged to spare no effort to achieve that goal.

Council members also endorsed the Secretary-General's intention to have his aides meet during July and August to try to work out a set of ideas that would bring the two sides "within agreement range on each of the eight headings of the outline". They asked the SecretaryGeneral to pursue those consultations urgently and to assist in that process by making suggestions.

Sound financial basis

Meanwhile, the Council on 14 June extended the mandate of the UN Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for six months, until 15 December 1991. In unanimously adopting resolution 697 (1991), it also asked that the SecretaryGeneral continue his mission of good offices and that all parties concerned continue to cooperate with the Force on the basis of its present mandate.

The Council also on 14 June unanimously adopted resolution 698 (1991), by which it concluded that a method of financing UNFICYP was needed which would put the Force on a sound and secure financial basis. The question of the Force's COSTS needed to be studied further, it stated, with the aim of reducing and clearly defining the costs for which the UN should be responsible.

The Force, Mr. Perez de Cuellar said, faced a "chronic and everdeepening" financial crisis, imposing a "most unfair burden" on the troop-contributing countriesAustralia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

He also said that the best way to finance UNFICYP on a more equitable basis would be for the UN share of costs to be financed from assessed contributions.

A UN team, which visited Cyprus in November 1990 to examine UNFICYP's organization and operations, concluded (S/21982) that continued reliance on voluntary contributions to finance the Force would jeopardize its future.

The Secretary-General on 31 May reported (S/22665) that UNFICYP's presence on the island remained Indispensable" to achieve Council objectives. The Force-which performed in an "exemplary manner", often under difficult circumstances-was created in 1964 to help prevent a recurrence of fighting and restore normal conditions to the island. With a total strength of 2,151 troops, it supervises cease-fire lines and undertakes humanitarian tasks. UNFICYP is under the command of Major General Clive Milner.