There have been sporadic fire fights between the Syrian security forces, including the Syrian army, and armed members of the opposition in the area of separation in Golan, the equivalent of a buffer zone between the parties under the 1974 Disengagement Agreement between the Israeli and Syrian forces.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
Lakhdar Brahimi, Joint Special Representative for Syria, met last night in Cairo with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Nabil ElAraby. Speaking after the meeting, Mr. Brahimi said that the Syrian crisis could only be resolved through a political process agreed upon by all parties.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon offered condolences to and expressed solidarity with the millions of people affected by Hurricane Sandy in the United States and Caribbean, as the United Nations and its partners worked to provide food and other aid in Haiti, where the storm left some 60 people dead and displaced more than 1.8 million others.
The Secretary-General will visit the Republic of Korea over the weekend and on Monday he will receive the Seoul Peace Prize. While there, he will meet with senior Government officials and address the National Assembly on the topic: “the United Nations and the Republic of Korea: Together Building the Future We Want.”
High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in New York today that the past year was marred by developments that tested the international community’s capacity to prevent and promptly respond to human rights and humanitarian crises. The United Nations must act to uphold the rule of law and protect fundamental rights.
With over 358,000 Syrians registered as refugees across the region, in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says it is racing against time to ensure the refugees are protected from winter conditions, even though the revised regional response plan remains only one third funded.
Lakhdar Brahimi, the Joint Special Representative for Syria, held a frank and substantive meeting in Damascus yesterday with President Bashar al-Assad. Mr. Brahimi said President Assad had reacted positively to his call for the Government to declare a military pause during the Eid al-Adha holiday. Mr. Brahimi hopes this appeal will be heeded by all concerned for the good of the Syrian people.
The Secretaries-General of the United Nations and the League of Arab States today appealed to all warring parties in Syria to heed the call for a ceasefire and a cessation of all violence during the period of Eid al-Adha so that the Syrian people are able to observe the important religious holiday in peace and security.
Today in New York, the Secretary-General spoke at the opening ceremony of the Four Freedoms Park, the memorial to American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He heralded the vision of the late President and said that no single person was more instrumental in the founding of the United Nations than President Roosevelt.
The Secretary-General spoke at the Security Council’s open debate on peace and justice this morning, saying that we now live in an age of accountability. He said that rulers and warlords who perpetrate atrocities can no longer trade their power for an amnesty and then slip away, unpunished, to some safe haven.