Security Council

The following Security Council statement on the Secretary-General’s briefing on the London Conference on Afghanistan was read out today by Council President Gérard Araud (France):

Strengthening the role of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in the European security architecture and improving its partnership with the United Nations in tackling threats to global peace and security would be key priorities for the Government of Kazakhstan in 2010, as the country took over the regional body’s leadership, Foreign Minister and incoming Chairman-in-Office Kanat Saudabayev told the Security Council today.

Ambassador Gérard Araud, of France, which holds the Security Council’s rotating Presidency this month, told reporters today that the 15-member body would kick off its work with a briefing tomorrow from United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on his recent travels, as well as on the massive humanitarian effort underway in earthquake-devastated Haiti.

Reiterating its determination to bring its full support to a credible electoral process in Côte d’Ivoire, the Security Council today approved a four-month extension of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the West African country, and boosted that Operation’s troop strength, specifically to support the organizing of a free, fair, open and transparent election, now scheduled for the end of late February or early March 2010.

Welcoming the Secretary-General’s recommendations for continued action on the political, security and recovery tracks in embattled Somalia, the Security Council today authorized the African Union to maintain its mission there ‑‑ AMISOM ‑‑ until 31 January 2011 and asked it to increase its force strength, with a view to achieving the originally mandated target of 8,000 troops thus enhancing its ability to fully carry out its mandate.

With Israeli-Palestinian negotiations at an “extremely worrying impasse”, due largely to simmering tensions and frequent protests in East Jerusalem, ongoing deprivation in the Gaza Strip, and an uptick in militant rocket fire into Israel, a senior United Nations political official today warned the Security Council that the effort to forge a viable Middle East peace was seriously at risk.

On 25 January 2010, the Security Council Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee approved the amendments specified with strikethrough and underline in the 35 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.

On 25 January 2010, the Security Council Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee approved the deletion (de-listing) of the five entries specified below from its Consolidated List. These de-listings are a result of the review of the Consolidated List called for in paragraph 25 of Security Council resolution 1822 (2008).

The senior United Nations official in Kosovo, briefing the Security Council today, called on the authorities in that territory and in Serbia, as well as on Kosovo Albanians and Kosovo Serbs, to work together on creating a multi-ethnic society, protecting cultural heritages and ensuring regional prosperity.

The long-awaited presidential election in Côte d'Ivoire could take place before mid-2010 if solutions could be found to key outstanding issues relating to the electoral list and the country’s reunification, Choi Young-Jin, the senior United Nations official in the country, said in a briefing to the Security Council this morning.