Security Council

While it was still very difficult to know how long it will take for conflict in Libya to be resolved, the responsibility for finding a solution lay with the Libyan people themselves, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy, Abdul Ilah al-Khatib, told the Security Council today during a briefing on his second mission to the country and other recent events there.

Néstor Osorio, Permanent Representative of Colombia, which holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council, said today that the 15-nation body would tackle a “loaded” agenda this month, while also keeping a wary eye on the ripple effects of the popular protests sweeping North African and the Middle East.

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

Demanding an immediate end to the surge in violence against civilians in Côte d’Ivoire, the Security Council this evening imposed targeted sanctions against recalcitrant former President Laurent Gbagbo and his close associates, while reaffirming the mandate of the United Nations mission there to protect civilians, including to prevent the use of heavy weaponry against them.

On 25 March 2011, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1970 (2011) concerning the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya met in informal consultations, followed by its first meeting.

The Committee established to monitor sanctions recently imposed on Libya is now “fully operational”, its Chairman, José Filipe Moraes Cabral of Portugal, told the Security Council this afternoon, stressing the need for Member States to fully engage with the Committee to make the sanctions regime effective.

The deteriorating security situation in Côte d’Ivoire has had a serious toll on the lives of the West African country’s people, Atul Khare, Assistant-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, told the Security Council today as he conveyed the request of regional leaders for more stringent measures against recalcitrant former President Laurent Gbagbo.

Delivering a briefing today on the critical situation in Libya following the Security Council’s imposition of a no-fly zone on the country, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the international community must “continue to act with speed and decision” to save civilian lives.

With continued strong international support to help Sierra Leone overcome critical challenges such as youth unemployment and vulnerability to shocks, the country’s emergence from a brutal civil war could have a “ripple effect” on other troubled countries in Africa, the Executive Representative of the Secretary-General told the Security Council this morning.

On 23 March 2011, the Security Council Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee approved the addition of the entry specified 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.