once every five years, individual members of the committee are often asked for assistance and advice in specific areas of their competence. This the Commonwealth-French Joint Committee met at the Hotel Nation des Invalides, in Paris. The Committee received reports on the maintenance of French war graves in the Commission's care, numbering nearly 7,000, and on the similar number of Commonwealth graves looked after by French local and church authorities. Other subjects discussed included the pro- cedures for consultation about planned building developments near Commission sites and the effects of the Channel Tunnel and associated works. The Channel Tunnel was identified as a potential area of concern several years ago and the various French authorities have been extremely helpful in the process of consultation since then. Six cemeteries are affected in one way or another but Calais Canadian War Cemetery, where the existing entrance will need to be moved, is the only one where modifi- cations are required to the cemetery itself. Elsewhere, the effects relate to access roads and signposting outside the cemeteries. In no cases are the graves themselves under threat.
The Joint Committee meeting was preceded by wreath-laying ceremonies at the French Military Cemetery at Bray-sur-Somme and at Serre Road Cemetery No. 2, where members and invited guests saw demonstrations by Commission staff of a variety of structural and horticul- tural maintenance techniques.
A World of Difficulties
In most of the 140 countries in which the Commission operates it is able to carry out its work unhindered but there are very few international developments that do not affect it in some way. As has already been mentioned, the Gulf war cast its shadow over the year. There are no Commonwealth war graves in Kuwait, but there are more than 20,000 in Iraq and at the time of writing there are no reports of how they have fared. The Commission's Commonwealth-based Local Supervisor in Iraq was fortunately out of the country when the invasion occurred but the 20 Iraqi staff carried on working there until the war started. Since then it has not been possible to get any news of what has happened to them. Elsewhere, maintenance, travel or inspection plans were affected from Tunisia to Pakistan.
Other major events that have had their impact on the Commission include the reunification of Germany, where an understanding had to be reached that the War Graves Agreement with the Federal Republic would now apply in the former territory of the Democratic Republic, and the preparations for changed status in Hong Kong, which have called for efforts to secure the long term future of the war cemeteries. The cyclone that ripped across southern Bangladesh, in April, destroyed most of the horticulture in Chittagong War Cemetery but left the structures intact.
The cemetery at Mogadishu, in Somalia, was inspected shortly before the fall of the government there but it is not known when it will next be safe to visit. Mozambique and the Sudan have also been considered unsafe to visit because of military action, whilst in other countries some cemeteries are in troubled areas and have not been inspected. Examples are Keren and Asmara in Ethiopia and Trincomalee in Sri Lanka. In spite of the difficulties faced by Sri Lanka, the other cemeteries there have been improved under the care of the Director of the Botanical Gardens. There are other countries where developments have eased the Commission's work. The border between Egypt and Libya has been re-opened and this
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