TRANSCRIPT OF REMARKS MADE BY SINGAPORE FOREIGN MINISTER PROF S JAYAKUMAR IN BANGKOK , THAILAND, ON 15 NOV 2001 IN RESPONSE TO MEDIA QUERIES ON UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION ON AFGHANISTAN
I have just come in from New York where I attended United Nations Security Council Ministerial meetings on Monday on Counter-Terrorism, and on Tuesday on Afghanistan. As you know, the Security Council passed a Resolution yesterday, and received a report from Special Representative Brahimi.
I would say that the very fast-moving developments on the ground have taken many by surprise. And the rapidity with which the events have unfolded now emphasise the need for urgent action to be taken by the international community. The steps needed to be taken fall into three categories: one, the process by which the future broad-based multi-ethnic representative government will be established in Afghanistan; the second is what kind of a force should be established to deal with law, order, security problems; and the third is, the international community's response to the need for humanitarian relief.
All three efforts will have to be discussed by the United Nations. And they have received specific proposals from Mr Brahimi. For example, on establishing a broad-based government, Mr Brahimi has a six-point proposal for reaching the objective of a broad-based government. On the question of force to deal with the problem of security, he has proposed several alternatives, including either a multinational force or a peacekeeping operation by the United Nations. The UN passed a resolution yesterday and I believe will continue to have effective consultations to come up with specific recommendations. My sense in discussing with the UN Security Council members is that they have a sense of urgency but they need to have more time to come up with specific ideas.
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