Press Release

The following statement was issued today by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

On 11 March 2013, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1591 (2005) concerning Sudan approved the updates, as underlined below, to the four existing entries on its List of Individuals Subject to the Travel Ban and Assets Freeze.

The sixth annual commemoration of the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade will be observed at United Nations Headquarters under the theme "Forever Free — Celebrating Emancipation", from Monday, 18 March to Monday, 25 March.

The new Permanent Representative of South Africa to the United Nations, Kingsley Mamabolo, today presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Bénédicte Frankinet, the new Permanent Representative of Belgium to the United Nations, presented her credentials to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today.

The new Permanent Representative of El Salvador to the United Nations, Carlos Enrique García González, presented his credentials today to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Major General Yohannes Gebremeskel Tesfamariam of Ethiopia as the Head of Mission and Force Commander of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei.

On 11 March 2013, the Security Council Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee decided to remove the name of the individual below from the Al-Qaida Sanctions List after concluding its consideration of a delisting request submitted through the Ombudsperson established pursuant to Security Council resolution 1904 (2009), and after considering the Comprehensive Report of the Ombudsperson on this delisting request.

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s video message to the high-level meeting on National Drought Policy in Geneva, 11 March: