Security Council

The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court told the Security Council today that he planned to seek arrest warrants in the coming weeks against three Libyans who appeared to bear “the greatest criminal responsibility” for crimes against humanity committed during Colonel Muammar al-Qadhafi’s brutal, months-long crackdown against the anti-Government uprising in the North African country.

On 4 May 2011, the Security Council Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee approved the changes specified with strike-through and underline in the entry 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.

The Security Council would take advantage of a slightly lighter workload during May to take a week-long mission to the African continent, Gérard Araud, Permanent Representative of France, and Council President for the month, told reporters today at Headquarters.

Libyan authorities and opposition forces were “ready and willing” to implement a ceasefire but on different terms, the Secretary-General’s Envoy to Libya told the Security Council today, with the Government insisting that a ceasefire must be accompanied by a halt to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) aerialattacks and the Transitional National Council asserting that any ceasefire would not end the conflict if not directly linked to the departure of Muammar Al-Qadhafi.

Recalling the “heinous” terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania, as well as the numerous attacks perpetrated by the Al-Qaida network around the world, the Security Council welcomed today the news that Osama bin Laden would never again be able to perpetrate such acts of terrorism.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Néstor Osorio (Colombia):

Determining that the situation in Côte d’Ivoire continued to pose a threat to international peace and security in the region, the Security Council this morning renewed until 30 April 2012 its arms embargo and diamond trade ban on the West African nation, as well as targeted sanctions restricting the travel and finances of individuals threatening peace and national reconciliation there.

On 20 April 2011, the Committee approved the changes specified with strike-through and underline in the three 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.

Calling on Morocco and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro (Polisario Front) to fully adhere to the military agreements reached with the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), the Security Council today extended that Mission’s mandate until 30 April 2012.

Despite the promise of reform contained in a spate of recently announced legislative and legal changes, in fact the crackdown against anti-Government protesters by Syrian authorities had dramatically intensified, a top United Nations political official told the Security Council today.