State's Boucher says mission was a model peacekeeping operation

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher issued a statement October 6, marking the end of the U.N. Iraq Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM).

Calling it a model peacekeeping operation, Boucher said UNIKOM was the first U.N. peacekeeping mission involving observers from all five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.

Following is the text of Boucher's statement:

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
October 6, 2003

Statement by Richard Boucher, Spokesman

Successful Completion of the UN Mission in Iraq-Kuwait

October 6, 2003 marks the final day of the UN Iraq Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM). This Mission was first established in April 1991, under Security Council Resolution 689. Its mandate was to monitor the demilitarized zone along the Iraq-Kuwait border and deter border violations. With the end of Saddam Hussein's regime, Iraq no longer threatens Kuwait, and the Mission has successfully fulfilled its mandate.

The United States joined all other Security Council members in adopting Resolution 1490 in July 2003, which re-affirmed our collective commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq and Kuwait and recognized that the continued operation of UNIKOM and a demilitarized zone were no longer necessary.

The United States commends the men and women of UNIKOM and the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations for their contributions to ensuring peace and stability along the Iraq and Kuwait border. For 12 years, UNIKOM served as a model peacekeeping operation. It bore the distinction of being the first UN peacekeeping mission in which military observers from all five permanent members of the UN Security Council worked side-by-side, including France, Great Britain, China, Russia and the United States of America.

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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)