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Thursday 10 September 1998

Let me begin by just very briefly recapitulating the events of yesterday afternoon, as I am sure that most of you are already aware of them.

The fifty-third session was opened by the Chairman of the delegation of Ukraine, who first invited the Assembly to observe a minute of silent prayer or meditation in observance of the International Day of Peace.

The Assembly then elected nine members of the Credentials Committee. A handout listing the members of the Committee is available in Room 378.

Following that, the Assembly proceeded to elect the nominee of the Latin American and Caribbean States group, His Excellency Mr. Didier Opertti, Foreign Minister of Uruguay, as President of the fifty-third session, by acclamation.

In his acceptance speech, Mr. Opertti noted that the UN faced such special challenges as serious disruptions in the financial markets, a drammatic resurgence of terrorism, and conflicts that took the form of attacks on the security of individuals and the stability of institutions, and said that creating a favourable climate for consideration of those issues would be the main goal of his presidency. He noted, however, that very little could be done on such issues if MS did not fulfil their commitments to the Organization. Certain challenges could be met only if the tools to respond were upgraded at both the political and Secretariat level. (GA/9432)

The full text of the President's statement has been issued as a press release and it is available on the racks (GA/SM/58). The text in Spanish is available from my office.

Following the address by the President, consecutive meetings of all six main committees were held to elect their respective Chairmen. Finally, the Assembly proceeded with the election of 21 Vice-Presidents. I understand that a handout containing a listing the Chairmen of all main Committees as well as the Vice-Presidents of the Assembly is available in Room 378.

The next scheduled meeting of the Assembly is tomorrow, Friday, at 10:00 a.m., when the General Committee will meet to consider the organization of the session.

President's meetings

Before I conclude, I pleased to inform you that the video of the daily briefings is now available on the United Nations website on the Internet both live and later on demand, at the following address: www.un.org/news --- and I understand that I am the first spokesman of the President of the Assembly whose briefings are posted on the Internet. Also, I am pleased to announce that the General Assembly home page on the UN website will be unveiled today -- the address is: www.un.org/ga/53/session. On that site, under the heading "GA President, you will be able to retrieve, among other information, the list of the President's daily appointments, starting tomorrow. Also, the Spanish version of the President's statement in the plenary yesterday, has been posted on the UN website in Spanish.