Feb 1 1992
^PM-UN Summit
^Leaders Pledge to Seek Nuclear Cuts; Stronger U.N. Peacekeeping Role With AP Photos
^By ANDREW SELSKY
^Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS (AP) _ The Security Council met in an unprecedented colloquium of world leaders and hailed the Cold War's end. But the tightly scripted affair did not escape criticism that the old order still reigned.
Economically powerful Japan on Friday repeated its suggestion that it deserves a fixed seat on the 15-member council, joining the permanent five of Britain, France, the United States, Russia and China - all nuclear powers and World War II victors. And Venezuela criticized the quintet's veto power over resolutions.
Japanese officials also said Japan should have a say in future U.N. peacekeeping plans, or it couldn't guarantee it would keep up with donations to the cash-strapped world body.
At the end of the one-day summit, the leaders passed a declaration stressing the need to maintain collective security, arms control and "preventive diplomacy" that could head off future conflicts.
But the declaration was non-binding, and whether the summit succeeds in making the world a safer place depends on the council's will to pursue those goals.
The only followup measure established by the Security Council calls for Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali to issue a report July 1 on his recommendations for making the United Nations more effective and for improving U.N. peacekeeping, which could include creation of a standing U.N. army.
The meeting marked the first time that heads of state gathered to represent their countries in a Security Council meeting, and the event showed how much the world has changed in the United Nations' 46 years.
In a final symbolic burial of the Soviet Union, Russian President Boris Yeltsin claimed the defunct superpower's seat. He suggested creating a common global nuclear defense using U.S. "Star Wars" technology and Russian expertise and proposed reductions in multiple-warhead missiles, considered the world's most threatening nuclear weapons.
President Bush, who has also proposed nuclear arms cuts, hailed the diminished nuclear threat between the superpowers but said the world is still threatened by proliferation of nuclear weapons to Third World nations.
"The threat of global nuclear war is more distant now than at any time in the nuclear era ... but the specter of mass destruction remains all too real," Bush told the leaders gathered around a huge circular table in the council's chamber. Above the leaders was a mural depicting the phoenix of peace rising from the ashes of World War II.
"Our presence today is a turning point for the world and the United Nations," said Prime Minister John Major of Britain, whose nation holds the rotating council presidency and who called the meeting.
"Are we to mourn for the old order?" asked French President Francois Mitterand. "Certainly not. Liberty has grown in the world. We must continue to help it."
Mitterrand said France was ready to assign 1,000 soldiers to a U.N. rapid- deployment force that could be sent to trouble spots within 48 hours. The plan was supported by Yeltsin and several other leaders.
The summit declaration also cited commitments to democracy and human rights - a provision opposed by China and some other non-aligned nations.
China's Premier Li Peng, making his first appearance at such a forum since the bloody crackdown on China's pro-democracy movement 2 1/2 years ago, said it was "neither appropriate nor workable" for a small group of nations to set human rights standards for the world. He was received cordially by other leaders but did not mingle after the summit.
Thousands of people opposed to China's government for its military crackdown and its control over Tibet gathered near the United Nations but were kept away by police.
The summit underscored the high profile the United Nations has assumed after years of being considered ineffective.
"Gone are the days, I hope forever, when the United Nations was the last body you would turn to for effective action," Major told reporters after the summit.
After its pivotal role in the Persian Gulf War, the United Nations has had a string of diplomatic successes - including mediating release of Western hostages in Lebanon and arranging truces in Croatia, El Salvador and Cambodia.
Boutros-Ghali said he expected the United Nations, which had a shortfall of more than $800 million last month, will overcome its cash problems in several weeks.
The rotating Security Council members are: Austria, Belgium, Cape Verde, Ecuador, Hungary, India, Japan, Morocco, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.
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