Security Council

The outgoing members of the Security Council — Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Gabon, Lebanon and Nigeria — delivered briefings this morning on the work of the subsidiary bodies they had chaired during their two-year tenure.

Welcoming the encouraging progress made so far in the fully fledged negotiations on Cyprus, as well as the prospect of further decisive progress in the coming months towards a comprehensive and durable settlement resulting from those talks, the Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for a further period ending 19 July 2012.

Recognizing the urgent need for Sudan and South Sudan to commence the process of border normalization and that the situation in that area constituted a threat to international peace and security, the Security Council today decided to broaden the mandate of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei to include assistance in that process, including supporting the development of effective bilateral management mechanisms, facilitating liaisons and building mutual trust.

The Security Council today, determining that, despite significant progress, the situation in Liberia remained a threat to international peace and security in the region, renewed for 12 months its travel ban on persons deemed to be a threat to the peace in Liberia and arms embargo, modified in previous resolutions to allow the Liberian Government, as well as the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the country, to receive certain military materiel.

The positive dynamic initiated between the Government of the Central African Republic and politico-military groups offered “a real chance for peace”, but several obstacles risked blocking that process and could ultimately result in another cycle of generalized conflict, triggering serious repercussions in the subregion, the United Nations top official in that country told the Security Council this afternoon.

Deeming the present juncture in Somalia as crucial for the international community, the country’s people and the region’s stability, the Secretary-General told the Security Council today: “We finally face a moment of fresh opportunities. We must seize it.”

The Security Council, meeting concurrently with but independently of the General Assembly, today elected Julia Sebutinde of Uganda as the fifth Judge of the International Court of Justice.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Vitaly Churkin (Russian Federation):

On 13 December 2011, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999) and 1989 (2011) enacted the amendments specified with strikethrough and underline in the entries below on its Al-Qaida Sanctions List of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set out in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 1989 (2011) adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations.

The following Security Council statement was issued today by Council President Vitaly Churkin (Russian Federation):