Statement of the Ambassador of Colombia Mr. Camilo Reyes Rodriguez, President of the CD,
to the Conference on Disarmament 22/6/01

Distinguished Colleagues, the 878th plenary meeting of the Conference on Disarmament is resumed. I should like to inform you that the process of consultations to fill the posts of special coordinators established in CD/1646 taken by the Conference at its 877th plenary meeting on the 14th of June 2001 has been completed successfully. And I can also inform you that the Conference is now ready to appoint Ambassador Gunther Seibert as Special Coordinator on Review of Agenda of the Conference, Ambassador Petko Draganov as Special Coordinator on Expansion of Membership of the Conference and Ambassador Prasad Kariyawasam as Special Coordinator on the Improved and Effective Functioning of the Conference. May I take it that the Conference agrees to these appointments ... ? It is so decided.

I should like to extend our sincere congratulations to Ambassador Seibert, Ambassador Draganov and Ambassador Kariyawasam on their appointments. I wish them every success in their important responsibilities and encourage them to embark on their tasks as soon as possible. In this connection, I should like to draw your attention to the last sentence of CD/ 1646, in which the Conference requests the Special Coordinators to, and I quote, "report to it before the conclusion of the 2001 session, " end of quote.

I wish briefly to thank the Conference. I would like to thank all of you for your trust and solidarity that led to this modest but significant step forward. This is a very timely decision and it is highly relevant I can assure you. I would like to thank the representative of the Secretary-General here and Secretary-General of the Conference Ambassador Petrovsky. I would like to thank Enrique Roman and I would also like to thank all the team in the Secretariat. And I would also like to thank the interpreters and everyone else who with their work help facilitate and foster our work. Finally, I would like to thank Camilo Reyes and everyone else in our mission for their invaluable assistance. Finally, I would like to wish Carlo Amat, every success in his responsibilities and obviously he can be fully assured of the entire cooperation of the delegation of Colombia so that indeed his endeavours will be successful.