21 January 2014 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Security Council and the UN envoy to Lebanon have condemned today’s explosion in a southern Beirut suburb that killed four people and wounded a number of others, and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice. “The recurrent acts of terrorism and violence in Lebanon are totally unacceptable,” Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said in a statement. “The Secretary-General calls on all Lebanese parties to come together in support of their State institutions, particularly the security forces, and to strive for national unity as the best safeguard of Lebanon’s security and…
Author: UN News
21 January 2014 – After being on the brink of civil war, Yemenis negotiated an agreement for peaceful change, the only such in the region, a senior United Nations official today said welcoming the conclusion of the National Dialogue Conference as an “historic moment” for the country. “Yemen serves as a model for comprehensive national dialogue, based on transparency, inclusivity and active and meaningful participation of all political and social constituencies,” said Jamal Benomar, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Adviser on Yemen. The National Dialogue established a new social contract, the Special Advisor said, “breaking from the past and paving the…
20 January 2014 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today withdrew his invitation to Iran to attend a United Nations conference on ending the nearly three-year-old Syrian civil war, voicing “deep disappointment” that Iranian public statements were totally inconsistent with oral assurances he had been given. Mr. Ban announced last night that he had invited Iran to attend the conference’s opening in Montreux, Switzerland, on Wednesday after Foreign Minister Javad Zarif assured him that his country understands that the basis of the talks is full implementation of an action plan adopted in the so-called Geneva Communique of 2012, which calls for a…
20 January 2014 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on Iraq’s political leaders to enter inclusive talks in the face of rising conflict and warned that failure to make progress in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks could spark a new outbreak of violence. “Today, I reiterate my message to Iraqi political leaders to fulfil their responsibilities to ensure inclusive dialogue, social cohesion, and concrete political progress,” he told the United Nations Security Council at the start of the body’s regular debate on the situation in the Middle East following his return from a visit to the region. “The country is again facing…
12 January 2014 – United Nations officials are calling on the international community to increase aid to Haiti on the fourth anniversary of the devastating earthquake that struck the impoverished country, as well as pledging the Organization’s ongoing solidarity with the Haitian people and Government. “Haiti remains extremely vulnerable on many fronts,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a message delivered on Friday to UN staff in Port au Prince, the capital, by his Special Representative Sandra Honoré. “145,000 people continue to live in make-shift camps. The country is structurally exposed to recurrent food crises. Haiti has the lowest level of…
18 January 2014 – Top United Nations officials and the Security Council have strongly condemned a suicide attack at a restaurant in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Friday evening that killed 21 people, including four UN staff members, and injured many more. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described as “horrific” the attack against the Lebanese restaurant, for which the Taliban has reportedly claimed responsibility. “Such targeted attacks against civilians are completely unacceptable and are in flagrant breach of international humanitarian law. They must stop immediately,” Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said in a statement. In remarks on Saturday, Mr. Ban said it was “another…
19 January 2014 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the decision taken on Saturday by the opposition National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Armed Forces to participate in this week’s international conference that aims to peacefully resolve the ongoing conflict. “This is a courageous and historic step in the interest of a negotiated political solution to a three-year conflict that has caused so much misery and destruction,” Mr. Ban said in a statement. “I look forward to the opposition’s expedited formation of a delegation that broadly represents the diversity of the Syrian opposition, including women,” he added. The Geneva Conference…
17 January 2014 – The United Nations human rights chief today strongly condemned the repeated obstruction of aid convoys trying to bring supplies to a besieged Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, stating that impeding humanitarian assistance to desperate civilians may amount to a war crime. More than 160,000 Palestinian refugees lived in Yarmouk, a suburb just south of Damascus, until December 2012, when the vast majority fled after armed opposition groups entered the camp and Government forces attacked. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has been unable to deliver any assistance since September last year, with…
16 January 2014 – The United Nations human rights chief today warned armed opposition groups in Syria that executions and unlawful killings violate international law and may amount to war crimes, as reports continue to emerge of mass executions in the northern part of the strife-torn nation. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said in a news release that it has received reports in the past two weeks of a succession of mass executions of civilians and fighters who were no longer participating in hostilities in Aleppo, Idlib and Raqqa by hardline armed opposition groups in…
16 January 2014 – The United Nations and Arab League Joint Special Representative for Syria regrets the decision of one of the opposition groups, the National Coordination Committee (NCC), not to take part in next week’s international conference in Switzerland seeking to end nearly three years of civil war. Lakhdar Brahimi called NCC President Hassan Abdel-Azim yesterday to convey his “deep regrets’ but said he respected the decision. The conference will seek to achieve a comprehensive agreement between the Syrian Government and the opposition for fully implementing the decision of an earlier Geneva conference in June 2012, which called for…