Security Council

Briefing the Security Council this afternoon on the situation in Darfur, the senior United Nations official for peacekeeping highlighted progress in the implementation of the provisions of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur, and agreement between the Sudanese Government and the Justice and Liberation Movement.

The recent prisoner exchange agreement between Israel and Hamas showed that it was possible with sufficient exercise of political will to overcome long-standing impasses in the Middle East, the United Nations political affairs chief told the Security Council this morning, ahead of a full-day debate on the Middle East that included some 50 speakers.

Gravely concerned by the growing threat of piracy and armed robbery at sea off the coast of Somalia, and by the increased violence employed by pirates, and also strongly condemning the practice of hostage-taking by suspected pirates, the Security Council acted today on a resolution to consider further the establishment of specialized anti-piracy courts in Somalia and other States in the region.

Strongly condemning what it called human rights violations by authorities, and abuses by other actors, in Yemen following months of political strife, the Security Council this afternoon demanded that all sides immediately reject violence, and called on them to commit to a peaceful transition of power based on proposals by the major regional organization of the Arabian Gulf.

At its thirty-second meeting, on 30 September 2011, the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict agreed, in connection with the consideration of the first report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Iraq (S/2011/366), covering the period from January 2008 to December 2010, to address the following message to the armed groups mentioned in the report of the Secretary-General through public statements by the Chair of the Working Group:

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the deployment of an assessment mission to the Gulf of Guinea region in order examine the scope of the increasing threat of piracy in the Gulf, and to make recommendations on anti-piracy, including in the broader context of organized crime and drug trafficking.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President U. Joy Ogwu (Nigeria):

On 17 October 2011, the Security Council Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee removed the name of Mr. Shafiq ben Mohamed ben Mohamed Al-Ayadi from the Al-Qaida Sanctions List after concluding its consideration of the de-listing request submitted by this individual through the Ombudsperson established pursuant to Security Council resolution 1904 (2009), and after considering the Comprehensive Report of the Ombudsperson on this de-listing request.

The Security Council this morning made a one-time exception to a previous decision by authorizing a judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda to perform other judicial work while still engaged with the court.

Recognizing that the overall security situation in Haiti, while fragile, had improved in the year since a powerful earthquake struck the tiny island nation, the Security Council today extended until 15 October 2012 the mandate of the United Nations Stabilization Mission there and adjusted its force capacities.