Security Council

Welcoming the report of the African Union High-level Panel on Darfur, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called today for the continuation of efforts to encourage the Government of the Sudan and rebel movements to make concessions and embrace the consensus being built by United Nations-African Union Chief Mediator Djibril Bassolé.

The following Security Council press statement on Sudan was read out today by Council President Michel Kafando ( Burkina Faso):

Welcoming the 1 January establishment of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in the Central African Republic (BINUCA), the Security Council this morning requested the Secretary-General to propose in his next report clear benchmarks to guide its work, while it demanded that the country’s Government and other stakeholders hold credible, timely elections in 2010.

Israel, the Palestinians and a revitalized diplomatic Quartet must do more in concert to avert a backward slide in peace efforts, Robert Serry, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, told the Security Council today.

The Security Council today renewed for 12 months its travel ban on persons deemed to be a threat to the peace in Liberia and readjusted its arms embargo to allow the Liberian Government, as well as the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the country, to receive certain military materiel for the same time period.

The Security Council today adopted new measures to fine-tune its decade-old sanctions regime imposed on Al-Qaida, Usama bin Laden and the Taliban, including through the establishment of an ombudsperson who could mediate requests from individuals, organizations and companies to be taken off the sanctions list.

Emphasizing the need for the international community to maintain its support for peace consolidation and long-term development in Burundi, the Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Office in that country, known as BINUB, for one year, until 31 December 2010.

Progress in the coming year should allow the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) to hone its task of helping ensure the future stability of the vast central African country, Alan Doss, Special Representative of the Secretary-General, told the Security Council today.

Urging the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia to take all possible measures to complete its work, the Security Council today allowed several judges to serve beyond the expiry of their term of office to enable them to complete work on cases in which they were involved.

The Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1521 (2003) concerning Liberia today decided to remove the name of the following individual from the list of individuals subject to the travel restrictions imposed by paragraph 4 (a) of resolution 1521 (2003) (the travel ban list) and the list of individuals and entities subject to the measures imposed by paragraph 1 of resolution 1532 (2004) (the assets freeze list):