Free Republic

Russia said Thursday it may not be able to complete a new draft resolution on Syria's violent unrest because amendments submitted by Western countries in the UN Security Council contradicted the contents of Russia's original text. Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, president of the 15-nation council in December, was not optimistic when asked whether the Syria draft would be ready for a vote before the holidays. He told reporters that amendments submitted by Britain, France, Germany and Portugal 'crossed out everything we said (in the text), and we cannot discuss to produce a new text.' He said prospects for completing...

The UN Security Council condemned on Wednesday the Syrian government for its deadly crackdown on anti-regime protesters. The condemnation came after months of difficulties in achieving an agreement between the members. The council said in a statement it “condemns the widespread violations of human rights and the use of force against civilians by the Syrian authorities. “The Security Council expresses its grave concern at the deteriorating situation in Syria, and expresses profound regret at the death of many hundreds of people. The Security Council calls for an immediate end to all violence and urges all sides to act with utmost...

Syria attempted to shift international focus from President Bashar Al Assad's brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters in his country by raising Israel's 'occupation' of the Golan Heights. "The real role of the Security Council is to end the illegal occupation of Israel and the Golan," Syrian ambassador to the United Nations Bashar Jaafari argued after Western ambassadors raised Assad's repressive tactics during the council's biannual meeting to renew the mandate of the UN separation force in the Golan. "We know there is an attempt to involve the Security Council in our internal issues, which have no relation to the UN...

If Tehran continues with its nuclear program, other nations should threaten it with military action, Benjamin Netanyahu has said. The sanctions imposed on Iran by the United Nations Security Council are not enough, the Israeli prime minister told CNN. He expressed concern that Iran may gain additional influence during the recent upheaval across the Middle East. Iran should know that "if it fails to cooperate, there will be credible military actions," Netanyahu said. He believes it is the only thing that could stop Tehran's nuclear program. According to the prime minister, such actions from the international community would knock out...

The Gaddafi regime yesterday taunted the West over its failure to impose a no–fly zone over Libya and said it would "finish the job" of defeating the insurrection against its rule by tomorrow. As Col Muammar Gaddafi's troops advanced towards Benghazi, the rebel capital, Saif al–Islam, the dictator's son, told "traitors and mercenaries" to flee the country or face the consequences. "We don't want to kill, we don't want revenge, but you, traitors, mercenaries, you have committed crimes against the Libyan people," he said, in an interview. "Leave; go in peace to Egypt." Asked about continuing British and French attempts...

If there were clouds of scepticism hovering over the Obama visit as the "what's in it for us" question grew louder, the US president dispersed them on Monday by endorsing India's bid for a permanent UN Security Council seat and slamming Pakistan for promoting terror havens on its soil. "I can say today -- in years ahead, I look forward to a reformed UN Security Council that includes India as a permanent member", Barack Obama said in his address to Parliament in an emphatic endorsement of India's bid for a UNSC seat. On Pakistan, the US president ended the ambiguity...

In another major sign of growing ties between India and the United States, President Barack Obama on Monday backed a permanent seat for India in the U.N. Security Council. "In the years ahead, I look forward to a reformed U.N. Security Council that includes India as a permanent member," he said in an address to the Indian Parliament. The statement came as Obama made a wide-ranging address that envisioned closer economic and security ties between the United States and India, standing "shoulder to shoulder" with the world's largest democracy. In a swift reaction, Pakistan said it is discounting the possibility...

Let’s look at the potential bright side of Canada’s humiliating loss of a temporary seat on the United Nations Security Council Tuesday to … wait for it … Portugal! Could this international slap in the face to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservatives — voting an economic basket case like Portugal onto the Security Council instead of us — finally knock some sense into the Tories on climate change? Face it, folks, the UN hates us. It really, really hates us. You can’t support Israel and condemn Hamas with this crowd and expect to come up smelling like roses....

If it were not for the fact the PM belatedly decided he wanted Canada on the UN’s Security Council, the rejection of Canada for that two-year role could be seen as an accolade. The United Nations has long been out of control as a dispassionate, objective, credible institution for peace, human rights and justice, so it’s a wonder decent countries still pay attention to it. In the first round of voting for a temporary, two-year seat on the Security Council, Germany scraped in with the necessary two-thirds of the vote — 128, beating out Portugal (122 votes) and Canada (113)....

American actor George Clooney is visiting the little known region of Southern Sudan. The U.N. Security Council arrived to a raucous welcome on Wednesday, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum also made a recent trip here. The high-level visits are putting the spotlight on the Texas-sized area of Sudan that is far less known to Americans than the western region of Darfur, where mass atrocities have been committed over the last decade. Southern Sudan is three months from a Jan. 9 independence vote that could see Africa's largest country break in two. The vote _ and the potential of...

The U.N. Security Council adopted a statement Friday condemning the attack that led to the sinking of a South Korean warship without directly linking North Korea to the incident. The 15-member council unanimously approved the statement one day after five veto-wielding members, including the North's major ally China, agreed to a draft statement. China succeeded in diluting the statement, as it did not point the finger at North Korea and included North Korea's denial of involvement in the incident, which killed 46 sailors in the Yellow Sea in March. "The Security Council condemns the attack which led to the sinking...

SNIPPET: "(CNSNews.com) – As governments consider the divisive issue of remodeling the United Nations Security Council to reflect 21st century realities, Pakistan has reiterated its view that the council should include seats earmarked for the world’s Islamic and Arab states. Pakistan’s ambassador, Abdullah Hussain Haroon, told a closed meeting at U.N. headquarters in New York this week that the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the Arab League “have clear demands for representation in an enlarged council,” according to reports in Pakistani media. “In line with new realities, it is important to increase interaction with and to embed the...

The U.S. State Department said on Friday that the delivery of Russian S-300 surface-to-air missile systems to Iran is not against the recently imposed UN sanctions. The Resolution 1929, adopted on Wednesday, imposes the fourth round of sanctions against Iran, including tougher financial controls and an expanded arms embargo. It also imposes an asset ban and a travel freeze on more than three dozen companies and individuals. "The [Resolution] 1929 prohibits the sale and transfer of items on the U.S. Register of Conventional Arms, which does not include the S-300. That said, this is a sale that Russia concluded with...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The U.N. Security Council has canceled a trip to Congo because of the volcanic ash cloud over Europe. Diplomats from the 15 council nations were scheduled to leave New York for Paris on Friday night and change planes for Kinshasa, but almost all flights to France and many across Europe have been canceled because of the hazardous cloud from an erupting volcano in Iceland....

President Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy earlier this week urged reluctant members of the United Nations Security Council to quickly pass sanctions against Iran. But that is highly unlikely, as Obama himself acknowledged: “Do we have unanimity in the international community? Not yet. And that’s something we have to work on.” In the absence of decisive action from the U.N., the Obama Administration should work with allies to impose strong sanctions outside the U.N. framework, where effective action is hampered by the veto power of China and Russia. Diplomatic Foot-DraggingPredictably, the U.S. push for another round of sanctions at...

Some unprecedented news today, folks. Never in the history of the United Nations has a U.S. President taken the chairmanship of the powerful UN Security Council. Perhaps it is because of what could arguably be a Constitutional prohibition against doing so. To wit: Section 9 of the Constitution says: No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State. The UN...

Russia sees no reason to stall on the sale of its S-300 anti-aircraft systems to Iran, the Kremlin's powerful Security Council said Sunday, hours before the premier of Iran's adversary Israel was due to visit Moscow. Barack Obama | Russia The possible sale of Russian air defense hardware to the Islamic Republic is a major irritant for both Israel and close ally the United States. Both have pressed Moscow not to go ahead with a deal that may help protect Iran's nuclear facilities from potential air strikes. "There is a signed contract (to supply S-300 missiles) which we must implement,...

KEVIN Rudd's bid for a UN Security Council seat has been dealt a severe blow after a warning from the Arab League that it is less likely to succeed because of Australia's support for Israel. Hashem Yousseff, chief of cabinet for Arab League secretary-general Amr Moussa, told The Australian Canberra kept "bad company" at the UN, where it often opposes anti-Israel resolutions in alliance with the US, Canada and small Pacific island states. Australia's support for Israel, he said, was "one of the elements that will be taken into consideration" by the 22-member Arab League in deciding whether to support...

The U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting on the situation in the Brazilian Embassy in Honduras, where ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya has been sheltering since Monday. The council condemned acts of intimidation and called on the defacto Honduran authorities to stop harassing the embassy. Security Council president for the month of September, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice, read a statement from the council, in which it stressed the importance of respecting international law by preserving the inviolability of the embassy and the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations. "They [the council] condemned acts of intimidation against the Brazilian Embassy and...

Pittsburgh: India has argued that non-proliferation obligations arise from treaties to which states are parties and that any question of non-compliance has to be addressed in accordance with those treaties or agreements and not by the Security Council over-reaching its mandate. In a letter to the U.N. Security Council president aimed at distancing India from the September 24 resolution on non-proliferation, Ambassador Hardeep Puri also insisted that India cannot accept obligations stemming from the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) or agreements it has not signed or externally prescribed norms that infringe its sovereignty, national interest and Constitution. India also emphasised that...

Barack Obama’s Gallup approval rating of 52 percent may well be lower at this stage of his presidency than any US leader in recent times with the exception of Bill Clinton. But he is still worshipped with messiah-like adoration at the United Nations, and is considerably more popular with many of the 192 members of the UN than he is with the American people. The latest Pew Global Attitudes Survey of international confidence in Obama’s leadership on foreign affairs shows strikingly high approval levels for the president in many parts of the world – 94 percent in Kenya, 93 percent...

Barack Obama will cement the new co-operative relationship between the US and the United Nations this month when he becomes the first American president to chair its 15-member Security Council.

This may be a knee-jerk reaction on my part - and I'm willing to concede the point - but in my defense, I have a long track record from which I can accurately draw this conclusion. I call it the "American Rule of Thumb." In short, whatever world opinion is, go with the opposite.Simple.Whatever the consensus from the rest of the world may be on any subject of relevance, go in the other direction.The United Nations Security Council has called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza - and, of course, because this is coming from the ever-reliable, always morally clear...

Japan wins seat at UN Security Council; Iran fails Japan was elected Friday to a seat at the UN Security Council for 2009-2010, overcoming a challenge from Iran for a place at the head table of international diplomacy. In a vote in the UN General Assembly, which includes all member nations of the world body, Japan took 158 votes against 32 for Iran, the assembly's president Miguel d'Escoto of Nicaragua said. Asia has two non-permanent seats on the 15-nation Security Council, on top of the permanent seat held by China. Indonesia's term is ending; Vietnam's stint continues through the end...

Excerpt - UNITED NATIONS (AFP)--The U.N. General Assembly on Monday agreed to begin negotiations on expanding the membership of the powerful Security Council no later than next Feb. 28. After hours-long bargaining, the assembly adopted by consensus a resolution on Security Council enlargement on the last day of its 62nd session. ~ snip ~ It said the aim was to "garner the widest possible political acceptance by member states." ~ snip ~ During the transitional period, a number of configurations including a repartitioning of seats on a regional basis and the most delicate, the veto- wielding power of the five...

Excerpt - UNITED NATIONS, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Veto-holding Russia blocked U.N. Security Council action on the Georgian crisis on Tuesday, refusing to support a Western-backed draft resolution calling for an immediate Russian military withdrawal. Even though Moscow has said it will withdraw, Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told the council the resolution should include and endorse a six-point peace plan promoted by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and signed by both Georgia and Russia. ~ snip ~

Excerpt - LONDON, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Georgia is calling for a United Nations' peacekeeping force to intervene to halt its conflict with Russia, a Georgian diplomat said. ~ snip ~ "We need troops (on the) ground," he told Reuters in an interview late on Monday. "Let it be a U.N.-mandated international force, ideally EU," he said. Russia, as a permanent member of the Security Council, would have the ability to veto any such move. ~ snip ~

http://www.un.org/webcast/

Iran seeking Security Council seat 05 Jul 2008 Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has urged unity among the Muslim countries to counter the challenges in the world today. Mottaki briefed the envoys of 57 Muslim countries to the UN on Iran's policy in a meeting at the UN headquarters in New York, IRNA reported. Iran's top diplomat condemned recent moves in the West to undermine Islamic values and said that these initiatives are intolerable for Muslim nations. He also urged Muslim countries to support Iran's bid to hold a seat at the UN Security Council and noted that Iran is...

UNITED NATIONS, June 30 (Reuters) - A U.S.-drafted U.N. sanctions resolution calls for the U.N. Security Council to impose an arms embargo on Zimbabwe and freeze the assets of specific Zimbabwean individuals and companies. The draft, obtained by Reuters on Monday, says the council would not recognize Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's June 27 re-election and would freeze the assets of and ban travel for anyone who helped the government "undermine democratic processes" or supported politically-motivated violence.

AUSTRALIA will launch an all-out push for membership of the elite 15-seat Security Council of the United Nations, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced overnight from New York. Mr Rudd emerged from hour-long talks with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to front the media in the UN's famous "press encounter" area declaring "you've got to be in it to win it and have a go." "I informed the Secretary General of the United Nations today that Australia will be seeking election to the United Nations Security Council 2013/2014," he said. "That'll be a ballot which will be held in 2012." The campaign,...

UNITED NATIONS - An interim proposal to tackle the divisive issue of Security Council reform would expand the U.N.'s most powerful body from 15 to 22 members but leave it up to the 192 U.N. member states to decide which countries should fill them. The proposal, obtained Friday by The Associated Press, also leaves it up to U.N. members to decide how long the new seats should be held — with suggestions of two years, five years and permanently offered as possible options. It leaves the contentious issue of veto power to future negotiations. There is strong support for enlarging...

Iran sanctions vote faces new delay: diplomats By Louis Charbonneau Reuters Feb 27, 2008 UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council will likely delay a vote on a third round of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, as Western countries lobby for a big vote in favor, diplomats said on Wednesday. Tehran denies Western charges it seeks nuclear weapons and has ignored three previous Security Council resolutions demanding it freeze its uranium enrichment program, which can produce fuel for nuclear power plants or atomic weapons. "It looks very likely there will not be a vote on the sanctions...

Former U.S./U.N. ambassador John Bolton returned to U.N. headquarters in NYC on Friday to launch his new book "Surrender Is Not An Option" (Threshold Editions- Simon & Schuster - 486 pgs.) The controversial U.S. diplomat quit his U.N. post in November 2006 when the Senate Foreign Relations Committee stalled a vote on his nomination. For the preceding 18 mos. Bolton served as UN ambassador under a temporary Congressional recess appointment that was to expire on January 1, 2007. With a Democratic Congress taking office and a rejected nomination likely, Bolton asked President Bush to withdraw his name rather than face...

UNITED NATIONS - Libya won a seat on the powerful U.N. Security Council on Tuesday. Libya was virtually assured of election because it has been endorsed by the African group along with Burkina Faso and faced no opposition. Vietnam, which was endorsed by the Asian group, also ran unopposed. All three countries won in the first round of voting, but the battle for seats from Latin America and Eastern Europe went to a second round. Susan Cohen, of Cape May Court House, N.J., who lost her 20-year-old daughter, Theodora, in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie,...

Despite Sanctions, Iran Seeks UN Security Council Seat September 10, 2007 Ha'aretz Shlomo Shamir NEW YORK -- Iran plans to vie for one of the temporary seats on the United Nations Security Council, according to a low-key announcement last week in a routine informational document distributed by the Asia Group of member states. The same document announced Japan's candidacy for the seat, which is reserved for the region and will become vacant in September 2009. Diplomats at UN headquarters here say Iran has little chance of beating Japan, particularly in view of the Security Council sanctions imposed on Iran for...

The United States and Britain are preparing drafts for a punishing new U.N. resolution against Iran that could impose sweeping travel bans on the country's top military and security officials, require inspections on its cargo flights and ships, forbid all import and export of arms shipments, and freeze the assets of major Iranian banks, according to U.S. and European officials. The new Security Council resolution would be the third against Iran for failing to comply with a U.N. resolution demanding a freeze on Tehran's uranium enrichment program...

UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. Security Council refused to approve a statement Friday that would condemn remarks about Israel's impending destruction attributed to Iran's hard-line president because of objections from Indonesia, council diplomats said. Qatar, the only Arab nation on the council, said it had no instructions, which also meant approval on Friday was impossible, the diplomats said. The statement must be approved by all 15 council members. France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere, who called for condemnation of the remarks attributed to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said it was unfortunate that the council could not act immediately. But he...

"The Security Council must stop acting illegally. Iran is a lion on the prowl, and we tell the Security Council: "Don't play with the lion's tail," Ahmadinejad said at a press conference marking 18 years since the death of Ayatollah Khomeini. He added: "When we look at the situation in the region we can see that the US cannot seriously damage Iran. Do they have a way out of the Iraqi crisis...

UNITED NATIONS - A deeply divided U.N. Security Council approved a resolution Wednesday to unilaterally establish an international tribunal to prosecute suspects in the assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The vote was 10-0 with five abstentions — Russia, China, South Africa, Indonesia and Qatar. Nine votes were needed for passage. Current Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora asked the council earlier this month to establish the tribunal. He cited the refusal of opposition-aligned Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to convene a session to ratify the statutes to create the tribunal, which have already been approved by his government and...

The U.N. Security Council voted Wednesday to set up the international tribunal that would try ex-premier Rafik Hariri’s suspected assassins. The 15-member council adopted a legally binding resolution that sets June 10 as the date for the entry into force of an agreement between the U.N. and Premier Fouad Saniora’s government to establish the court. Ten countries voted in favor, with veto-wielding members Russia and China as well as South Africa, Indonesia and Qatar -- three non-permanent members -- abstaining. Immediately after the voting in New York, fireworks lit Beirut’s skies in celebration of the tribunal’s establishment. A sound...

This week Dr. Mohammed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), will submit another report to the United Nations Security Council on Iran's nuclear program. The report, couched in vague diplomatic parlance, will state that Iran continues to ignore Security Council resolutions, is not allowing IAEA monitors to do their job properly, as it had pledged to, and continues to enrich uranium. The uranium enrichment facility at Natanz already has 1.600 centrifuges, 1.300 of which are operating well, at least according to the Iranians. This fact shows that Iran's nuclear experts have mastered the technology. According to...

IAEA pushes Iran to accept cameras at key atom site By Mark Heinrich VIENNA (Reuters) - The International Atomic Energy Agency is pushing Iran to agree to cameras in its underground nuclear plant within days and Western states are mulling whether to seek a crisis IAEA meeting if Tehran refuses, diplomats said. The U.N. Security Council widened sanctions against Iran last week after it defied a second deadline for it to stop enriching uranium, which Iran says will yield solely electricity but world powers fear is a disguised atomic bomb program. Tehran, disputing any obligation to do so, has refused...

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad canceled a trip to New York to address the U.N. Security Council before it votes on whether to impose further sanctions against his country for refusing to stop enriching uranium, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Friday. The decision came as diplomats from the five veto-wielding members of the Security Council ? the U.S., Britain, France, China and Russia ? and Germany held a flurry of last-minute negotiations in New York on a draft resolution seeking to pressure Iran to comply. The six powers want a vote on the resolution by Saturday, but diplomats said that could...

Islamic Republic News Agency - Iran - White House creates obstacle in visa issuance for Iran president (Updates to add quotes) Tehran, March 23, IRNA - The White House has created obstacle in issuing visa for Iranian president to take part in the meeting of the Security Council. President mahmoud Ahmadinejad decided to go to New York to defend Iranian right at the Security Council debate on Iranian nuclear program on Saturday. Deputy Foreign Minister for International and Legal Affairs Abbas Araghchi expressed regret at absence of cooperation on part of the US Administration for issuing visa for the Iranian...

Iran warns it may ignore nuclear rules TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's top leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Wednesday the country will pursue nuclear activities outside international regulations if the U.N. Security Council insists it stop uranium enrichment. "Until today, what we have done has been in accordance with international regulations," Khamenei said. "But if they take illegal actions, we too can take illegal actions and will do so." Khamenei did not elaborate what "illegal actions" could be pursued by Tehran as it faces new sanctions by the U.N. body over its refusal to halt enrichment which the West fears is...

U.S. will give visa to Iranian president The U.S. will approve Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's request for a visa so he can visit the U.N. as the Security Council moves to impose additional sanctions against his country for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Friday that the United States has approved a U.S. visa for Ahmadinejad previously and will do so again, consistent with its obligations as host country for the United Nations. Ahmadinejad has been a vociferous defender of his nation's nuclear efforts and a critic of the U.S. On Thursday, the five...

UNITED NATIONS (AP)--Iran's U.N. Mission sent a letter to the Security Council president Thursday officially requesting permission for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak during its discussion on a resolution that would impose new sanctions on Tehran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment, a council diplomat said. Iranian state television quoted government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham on Sunday as saying Ahmadinejad wanted to take his case for pursuing nuclear power before the council as it considers the sanctions resolution. ~ snip ~

The Kosovo Future Status Process Daniel Fried, Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs; Rosemary DiCarlo, Deputy Assistant Secretary On-The-Record Briefing Washington, DC March 13, 2007 ASSISTANT SECRETARY FRIED: I'd like to convey to you my impressions and sense after a week of intense meetings and discussions in Belgrade and then throughout Kosovo. Rosemary can say something about the Vienna talks which took place on Saturday. I spent Monday and Tuesday in Belgrade; Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in Pristina, but also throughout Kosovo, and I'll get to that in a minute. In Belgrade, my message -- my public message to...

via translation - Ahmadinejad wants to take part in the meeting of the Security Council on Iran TEHERAN - Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wants to attend the next meeting of the Security Council of UNO which will examine the nuclear file of Teheran, announced to Sunday the spokesman of the government. The president thus hopes “to defend the national interests and the international laws” of the Iranian people, said Gholam Hossein Elham, quoted by the television of State on his Internet site. The Security Council should meet, at a still unspecified date, to examine a draft Resolution on the Iranian...