Report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country – SecGen report

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON RELATIONS WITH THE HOST COUNTRY

Report of the Secretary-General

1. By its resolution 43/48 of 30 November 1988 the General Assembly, inter alia, urged the host country, the United States of America, "to reconsider and reverse its decision" on the application for an entry visa for Mr. Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, to enable him to participate in the forty-third session of the General Assembly and requested the Secretary-General "to submit a report on the developments in this matter no later than 1 December 1988".

2. On 30 November 1988, immediately following the adoption of resolution 43/48, the Secretary-General addressed a note verbale to the Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations drawing his attention to the resolution and requesting him to provide the information that would enable the Secretary-General to report as requested to the General Assembly on the developments in this matter.

3. On 1 December 1988, the Acting Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations addressed a note verbale to the Secretary-General and with reference to the latter's note of 30 November 1988, stated as follows:

"Our reasons for denying Mr. Arafat a visa, which we consider fully consistent with the Headquarters Agreement, have been clearly enunciated in the proceedings of the General Assembly over the past several days. We consider these reasons compelling and, accordingly, we see no basis for changing our decision."

4. In compliance with the request of the General Assembly contained in paragraph 5 of resolution 43/48, the Secretary-General brings the foregoing information to the attention of the Assembly.

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