§ Mr. Reevesasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1) on what principle fourteen Governments were chosen to provide personnel for the United Nations Observer Corps in the Lebanon;
(2) whether the United Nations Observer Corps in the Lebanon is responsible direct to the Secretary-General or to the Security Council; to whom the reports of its observations are sent; who pays the 100 observers: and what are their terms of service.
Commander NobleThe United Nations Organisation in the Lebanon, set 51W up to carry out the Security Council Resolution of the 11th of June, consists of a three-man observation group which is made up as follows:
Mr. Galo Plaza (Ecuador)—Chairman. Major-General Odd Bull (Norway)—Executive Member. Mr. Rajeshwar Dayal (India)—Member.The members of this group were approached, on his own initiative, by the Secretary-General. Working for this group are military observers in the field, provided by fourteen countries at the invitation of the Secretary-General. In making these approaches and appointments the Secretary-General was acting in accordance with the terms of the Security Council Resolution of 11th June which are as follows:Decides to dispatch urgently an observation group to proceed to Lebanon so as to ensure that there is no illegal infiltration of personnel or supply or arms or other materiel across the Lebanese borders;Authorizes the Secretary-General to take the necessary steps to that end;Requests the observation group to keep the Security Council currently informed through the Secretary-General.As will be seen from this the observation group is responsible to and reports to the Security Council through the Secretary-General.The three members of the observation group receive an honorarium from the general budget of the United Nations. They are assisted by a small administrative staff of United Nations officials who are paid by the United Nations. The military observers in the field are seconded to the United Nations by their Governments, who continue to pay their salaries. From its general budget, the United Nations pays travel expenses to and from the Lebanon together with a daily subsistence allowance for all concerned.
There is no time limit fixed for the service of the observation group, the administrative staff or the military observers, since it is impossible to judge how long they may be required.