16 June 1998

Dear Mr. Dupuis,

I wish to acknowledge receipt of your letter of 16 April addressed to the Secretary-General, who has asked me to convey his appreciation for your kind words of congratulations on his successful mission in Iraq.

We appreciate your comments regarding the appeal issued on 14 April to the Tibetan hunger strikers in New Delhi to discontinue their action, while recognizing that meeting their specific demands rested within the sole competence of Member States. With regard to your organization's initiative several months ago of launching a parliamentary appeal, the text of which you kindly forwarded with your letter, in view of the nature of the issues in question, we would not be in a position to arrange a meeting with a delegation of the parlamentarians signatories of the appeal.

Yours sincerely,

(signature)

Mian Qadrun-Din

Director

Promotion & Public Services Division