A regional United Nations workshop on implementing United Nations Security Council resolution 1540 (2004) will be held from 7 to 10 December in Cairo, Egypt.

Calling it a “criminal attack”, the Security Council this afternoon condemned “in the strongest terms” today’s terrorist attack in Mogadishu, Somalia, which killed and injured innocent civilians at a graduation ceremony for Somali medical students, resulting also in the deaths of the Ministers of Health, Higher Education and Education of the Somali Transitional Federal Government.

“President Al Bashir [of the Sudan] will face justice. Any leader committing crimes will face justice. Power does not provide immunity”, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, said today in the Security Council.

The following Security Council press statement on the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) was read out today by Council President Michel Kafando (Burkina Faso):

On 3 December 2009, the Security Council Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee approved the deletion (de-listing) of the entry specified below from its Consolidated List. The Committee approved this de-listing following its review of the name, as called for in paragraph 25 of Security Council resolution 1822 (2008).

Noting with concern the postponement of the first round of the presidential election in Côte d’Ivoire, scheduled for 29 November, the Security Council today urged the Ivorian actors to address the remaining tasks and to hold open, free, fair and transparent presidential elections at the earliest possible date.

Concerned about the serious threat posed by drug trafficking to global security, particularly in Africa, the Security Council today called on the international community to strengthen its cooperation with the United Nations and regional organizations in fighting the scourge.

The following Security Council press statement on the 8 December bombings in Baghdad was read out yesterday by Council President Michel Kafando (Burkina Faso):

The Security Council committee monitoring the implementation of sanctions imposed on Iran had received reports of further violations of a ban on the export of arms and related materiel to Iran, its Chairman told the Council today.

Burundi was making commendable progress in emerging from the civil conflict that had ravaged the country for more than a decade, but it required continued international assistance in several critical areas, Youssef Mahmoud, Executive Representative of the Secretary-General, told the Security Council today.