Security Council: Meetings Coverage

In overcoming the challenges posed by the dramatic changes in the Middle East and North Africa, strict commitment to political reform and inclusiveness were needed, as well as an international change in attitude towards the Arab world, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council in a meeting addressed by Government ministers and other high-level officials this morning.

The Security Council this morning extended the authorization for the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) for one year, with a modified mandate subject to review within six months, while also adjusting the sanctions regime imposed on the country at the start of last year’s civil war.

The Special Representative for the Secretary-General in Haiti told the Security Council this morning that progress in security conditions and rule of law institutions allowed the planned drawdown of the United Nations Mission to proceed, although he was deeply concerned over the political tensions that resulted in the recent resignation of the Prime Minister and said it could threaten the progress of the country to democracy.

As post-revolution Libya began to undo its authoritarian past and piece together a democratic future, the top United Nations official in the North African country today urged the Security Council to support the creation of a compact, flexible United Nations mission that could respond effectively to the priorities set by the Libyan Government and help ensure a genuine role for women and youth in the transition process.

Gravely concerned by reports of violent cross-border clashes between Sudan and South Sudan, the Security Council today demanded that all parties, including proxy forces, cease all military operations in the border areas and put an end to the cycle of violence.

Security Council members affirmed this morning that the period of political transition in Somalia must end in August and that, in order to meet that deadline, the country’s leaders, supported by the international community, must use the results of the 23 February London Conference to pursue a comprehensive strategy for peace, security and development.

Reporting the peaceful celebration of the first anniversary of the start of Libya’s revolution and progress in the country on elections, security, human rights and humanitarian concerns, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Libya presented a hopeful picture of Libya’s future to the Security Council this morning.

Expressing deep concern about piracy and armed robbery at sea in Africa’s Gulf of Guinea, the Security Council this morning urged States of the region to act with dispatch to counter the scourge at the national and regional levels, encouraging international partners to provide support for regional patrols, coordination centres and the implementation of a region-wide strategy.

The Security Council, recalling its decision of 22 December 2010 to establish an International Residual Mechanism to “continue the functions” of the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda in anticipation of completion of the courts’ work, this morning appointed the Prosecutor of the “Mechanism”, to begin his four-year term tomorrow, 1 March.

The United Nations top political official told the Security Council this morning that the talks that had started between Israelis and Palestinians in Amman, Jordan, on 3 January had, unfortunately, “stalled”. “So far, prospects for the resumption of direct bilateral negotiations remain dim,” B. Lynn Pascoe, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, said in his monthly briefing on the Middle East.