Despite military setbacks and loss of territory last year, Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da'esh) was a present and continuing threat, the senior United Nations official for counter‑terrorism told the Security Council today, as he presented the Secretary‑General’s sixth report on the international and regional threat posed by that group (document S/2018/80).
The Security Council, acting unanimously under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, today adopted a resolution extending for 13 months the mandate of the Panel of Experts appointed to monitor the arms embargo, travel ban and asset freeze imposed on those impeding peace in Sudan’s Darfur region.
The establishment of the Specialist Chambers in Kosovo had been a major achievement, and recent attempts to abrogate the 2015 law supporting its work were cause for grave concern, the senior United Nations official in the Balkans told the Security Council today, adding that the assassination of a Kosovo-Serb politician in January had shaken the region.
On 26 January 2018, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 2127 (2013) concerning the Central African Republic held, under the Presidency of Côte d’Ivoire, an open briefing for all Member States on the final report of the Panel of Experts (document S/2017/1023) and on national implementation of sanctions measures by invited regional States.
On 26 January 2018, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1533 (2004) concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo held an open briefing on the midterm report of the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (S/2017/1091). The meeting was held in pursuance of paragraph 31 of resolution 2360 (2017), by which the Security Council encouraged the Chair to hold regular briefings for all interested Member States.
Amid complex crises faced by peacekeepers, and ongoing strategic reviews of those operations, now was an ideal time to examine the Security Council’s working methods, delegates said today in an open debate focused on improving efficiency, transparency, inclusiveness and accountability.
There was still work to be done before the international community could have shared confidence that the Government of Syria’s chemical weapons programme had been eliminated, the Security Council heard today, as it was briefed by the United Nations top disarmament official on recent events in the war-torn country.
On 2 February 2018, the Committee enacted the amendment specified with strikethrough and underline in the entry below on its List of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and other measures relating to attempts to illicitly export petroleum, including crude oil and refined petroleum products, from Libya (the Libya Sanctions List), set out in paragraphs 15 and/or 17 of Security Council resolution 1970 (2011) and/or paragraph 19 of resolution 1973 (2011), or paragraph 10 of resolution 2146 (2014) as extended and modified by paragraph 2 of resolution 2362 (2017), adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations:
On 1 February 2018, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1533 (2004) concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo added the following individuals to the List of Individuals and Entities subject to the measures reaffirmed by paragraph 2 of resolution 2360 (2017):
Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, would attend the Security Council’s meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the question of Palestine, on 20 February, Mansour Ayyad Sh. A. Alotaibi (Kuwait), Council President for the month, said at a press briefing at Headquarters today.
