Un Special Envoy, Yasushi Akashi

EDM number 1232 in 1994-95, proposed by Calum Macdonald on 12/06/1995.

That this House is astonished at the actions of UN Special Envoy, Yasushi Akashi, in travelling to Pale to hold talks with Radovan Karadzic, leader of the nationalist Serbs in Bosnia, at a time when Dr Karadzic is still holding six British troops hostage, together with 139 UNPROFOR soldiers; is dismayed that Mr Akashi has once again undermined the position of the UNPROFOR Commander in Bosnia, General Rupert Smith, by reaching a deal with Dr Karadzic which bars UNPROFOR from escorting UN aid convoys to Sarajevo, and leaves them to be 'escorted' by Dr Karadzic's police; finds it incredible that the UN Envoy is once again taking the work of Dr Karadzic at face value, and is deliberately spurning the wish of the UNPROFOR commanders for a more robust enforcement of the UN's humanitarian mandate; fears that this return to the policy of compromise, appeasement and muddle will prove disastrous for the new British and French troops now being deployed in Bosnia; and calls upon the British Government to make plain its disquiet at Mr Akashi's actions, to back up the judgement of its commander on the ground, and to follow through its promise of a more robust enforcement of the humanitarian mission.

This motion has been signed by a total of 27 MPs.