Security Council

The following press statement was issued yesterday, 22 May, by Security Council President Gérard Araud (France):

Deadly Israeli-Palestinian clashes, along with the Palestinian reconciliation and state-building efforts, showed that the conflict between the two sides was not immune to the political changes sweeping across the Arab world, a top United Nations official told the Security Council today. “One way or another, change will come to it too,” said Robert Serry, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and Personal Representative of the Secretary-General.

At its thirtieth meeting on 2 May 2011, the Working Group of the Security Council on Children and Armed Conflict agreed, in connection with the third report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Chad (document S/2011/64), to address the following message to all parties to the conflict in Chad, through a public statement by the Chairman of the Working Group:

At its thirtieth meeting on 2 May 2011, the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict agreed, in connection with the examination of the second report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Afghanistan (document S/2011/55), to address the following message, through public statements issued by the Chairman of the Working Group:

Pointing to progress in consolidating peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Security Council stressed today that a strong partnership between the United Nations and the Congolese Government was needed for the next phase of the country’s emergence from civil war.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Gérard Araud (France):

On 12 May 2011, the Security Council Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee approved the changes specified with strike-through and underline in the 70 entries below to its Consolidated List of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set out in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 1904 (2009) adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.

Welcoming Burundi’s “remarkable transition” towards democracy, national dialogue and good governance, senior United Nations officials told the Security Council today that the Burundian Government’s peace-consolidation efforts should be matched by the international community’s commitment to help overcome the country’s “daunting” remaining socio-economic challenges.

The Security Council this morning extended the Panel of Experts that monitors the arms embargo and sanctions on those who impede peace in Sudan, particularly in the violence-wracked Darfur region, until 19 February 2012.

Despite the death of Osama bin Laden, the Security Council’s three counter-terrorism committees must continue to strengthen their efforts through enhanced effectiveness and cooperation with Member States, speakers said today during the regular six-month briefings by the Chairpersons of the subsidiary bodies. Peter Wittig (Germany), Chair of the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1267 (1999) on Al-Qaida and the Taliban, said Bin Laden’s death was clearly a turning point.