Press Conference by Security Council President

 

Ambassador Gérard Araud, of France, which holds the Security Council’s rotating Presidency this month, told reporters today that the 15-member body would kick off its work with a briefing tomorrow from United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on his recent travels, as well as on the massive humanitarian effort underway in earthquake-devastated Haiti.

Speaking at a Headquarters press conference following consultations on the Council’s February programme of work, Mr. Araud said the Secretary-General planned to update Council members on the outcome of last week’s London conference on building support for Afghanistan (28 January), and on the Fourteenth Annual African Union Summit (25 January to 2 February).  He added that he was certain the Secretary-General would also discuss the United Nations relief efforts in Haiti.

He said that on Friday, the Council was expecting a briefing from Kazakh Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev, in his role as chairman of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) for 2010.  Mr. Araud said the Foreign Minister would discuss Kazakhstan’s Chairmanship and present the OSCE’s programme of work for 2010.

On 10 February, he said, the Council would hold consultations in the afternoon with the head of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and other senior peacekeeping officials.  He recalled that France and the United Kingdom had been working closely in recent years on identifying ways and means to improve the effectiveness of United Nations peacekeeping operations, especially in light of the sharp increase in the number and complexity of peacekeeping missions over the past decade.

Mr. Araud said the officials, including Alain Le Roy, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, and Susana Malcorra, Under-Secretary-General for Field Support, would provide an update on the status of the Secretariat’s ongoing activities in that regard.  The Council’s actual debate on peacekeeping operations would be held in an open session on 12 February and focus on transition and exit strategies. 

He expected the discussions during that debate to touch on such matters as the transition from peacekeeping to peacebuilding, and how to ensure that, following the drawdown of a peacekeeping operation, robust State systems were in place that could prevent a return to violence.  Such transitions required the combined cooperation of United Nations agencies, Bretton Woods organizations, regional banks and non-governmental organizations.  He added that the heads of peacekeeping missions in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Democratic Republic of the Congo -- which he called “one of the greatest challenges” for the United Nations in the area of peacebuilding -- would make presentations.

Continuing, he said that, on 24 February, the Council’s open briefing on “threats to international peace and security” would feature a presentation from Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and Director-General of the United Nations Office in Vienna.  That official would speak on the impact of drug trafficking on State institutions and security, as well as its increasing influence on criminal networks involved in trafficking in people or weapons.  That criminal nexus -- “which is creating veritable mafias” -- was not only corrupting State systems, but also providing ever-increasing funding for terrorist organizations, he said.

In response to several questions, Mr. Araud said the Council had placed matters regarding the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) in the “footnotes” of its monthly agenda.  The members were aware that when that Mission’s mandate expired on 15 March 2010, the Government of Chad had signalled its wish that the force be withdrawn.  To that end, the Secretariat had sent a high-level mission to Ndjamena, the Chadian capital, and the Council hoped to be briefed on the outcome of those talks before the middle of March. 

On matters regarding “peace and consolidation in West Africa”, also a footnoted item, he said that, in the coming days, he believed the Council might issue a Presidential Statement expressing its support for the political process in Guinea, “which was still precarious.”  Such a statement might also comment on the report of the International Commission of Inquiry set up to probe last September’s violent crackdown on unarmed demonstrators in Conakry.  He said that report clearly stated that crimes against humanity had been committed.  Guinea was a party to the Rome Statue, the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court, and he understood that the Court had begun its own process.

To a question on any possible action by the Council regarding Iran’s nuclear programme, he recalled that that country was not abiding by five Security Council resolutions, and said that it was not unlikely that a member of the Council would introduce a resolution on the matter.  At the moment, however, no member had signalled an intention to do so.  Even so, matters regarding “non-proliferation” had been included in the footnotes, and the issue could be raised “at the appropriate moment”.  Further, the Council was awaiting results of contacts between Iran, the European Union and thethree plus three group.

One reporter asked if the Council was set to take any action regarding the ongoing controversy over listing and de-listing individuals or entities on the so-called 1267 Committee’s list of possible Al-Qaida and Taliban associates.  Recently, Britain’s highest court ruled that the Government had overstepped its power when it froze the bank accounts of five terrorist suspects without a vote in Parliament.  

“This is a difficult, sensitive question,” Mr. Araud said, noting that all States had different legal systems.  Moreover, persons and entities were added to the list based on intelligence provided by Governments, so one key issue was finding a way to keep such intelligence, and how it was gathered, confidential.  He said that he believed that negotiations on the matter were moving forward, and, of course, the Council would take up the matter once those talks had wrapped up.

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For information media • not an official record