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Islamic nations should be represented in an expanded U.N. Security Council "in proportion to their membership of the United Nations," according to foreign ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). In a resolution passed at a meeting in Uganda last week, the ministers pointed to size of the Islamic bloc in the international community, noting that its members make up "one-fifth of the world population." Any proposal to reform and enlarge the U.N. Security Council "which neglects the adequate representation of the Islamic Ummah [community] in any category of membership ... will not be acceptable to the Islamic...

Foreign ships gained authorization Monday to enter Somali waters when fighting piracy and armed robbery — rampant problems along the African nation's lawless coast. The U.N. Security Council's 15 members unanimously adopted a resolution intended to combat the attacks and hijacking of vessels along the country's 1,880-mile coastline, the continent's longest. More than a dozen pirate attacks have occurred this year alone, creating concerns for shipping along routes that connect the Indian Ocean with the Red Sea. Two more ships were attacked in the Gulf of Aden last week. The resolution, pushed by France and the United States, is in...

There can be no question of foreign troops being withdrawn from Iraq at present, Russia's foreign minister said on Tuesday. "Iraq's law enforcement structures are not in a position to assume complete responsibility for ensuring security in the country and to effectively counter terrorist groups," Sergei Lavrov told an international conference on Iraq in Kuwait City. He said that although some successes had been achieved in the security sphere, the situation remained volatile. "Positive changes are yet to be irreversible. Consider the recent fighting in Basra and Baghdad, the echo of which is still resounding [throughout the country], and the...

Washington - Senator John McCain, the Republican Party's likely presidential nominee, Monday defended Israel's right to defend itself against rocket attacks from Gaza. In remarks broadcast from the campaign trail, McCain said the US 'obviously' wants a ceasefire. But in the case of 'attacks on Israel that continue from Gaza ... I believe that any nation has the right to respond to attacks.' On Saturday, amidst a mounting death toll in Gaza from Israeli air and ground attacks, the Palestinian leadership called off peace talks with Israel while the United Nations Security Council met in emergency session. The death toll...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The U.N. Security Council is certain to approve a third round of sanctions against Iran on Monday for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment, but it's doubtful the new measures will receive the unanimous support that the first two sanctions resolutions did. The five permanent council members with veto power - the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France - are all backing the new resolution, and they have more than the nine yes votes needed for approval in the 15-member council. But four non-permanent council members have raised a variety of concerns - Libya, Indonesia, South Africa...

Western diplomats announced that Security Council might vote on Saturday on a third round of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. British Ambassador to UN John Sawers affirmed that France, Britain, Germany and the United States will hold discussions on Friday and would maybe vote on Saturday.

Iraq plans to propose one final extension to the UN Security Council mandate for the American deployment, the AP reports this morning. After the end of 2008, Iraq wants to directly negotiate a bilateral security arrangement with the US similar to that of Kuwait and Qatar: Iraq wants the U.N. Security Council to extend the mandate of the 160,000-stong U.S.-led multinational force in Iraq only through the end of 2008, then replace it with a long-term bilateral security agreement, Foreign Ministry officials said Saturday. Aides to Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said the mandate extension for the U.S.-led coalition, due to...

Both the U.N. Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency have found Iran in breach of its obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The IAEA reports that Iran ignored the Security Council's February deadline to stop enriching uranium and has even expanded its nuclear program. As Iran's Atomic Energy Organization moves toward its announced goal of operating 50,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges in Natanz, the World Bank is funding nine government projects in Iran totaling $1.35 billion -- one of which operates in Isfahan, where Iran's nuclear program is headquartered. While the World Bank is part of the U.N. family,...

Syria has called on its citizens to leave Lebanon ahead of an expected "eruption" in that country, Arab and Iranian press reports have said. The media reports were translated and made available by MEMRI in a special dispatch on Sunday. "In the past few days, Arab and Iranian media reports have pointed to the possibility that Lebanon's current political crisis may become a violent conflict after July 15, 2007," the MEMRI dispatch said. July 15 comes one day before a special UN Security Council meeting which is expected to discuss the possibility of stationing international experts on the Syria-Lebanon border,...

Between 100 and 200 Iranian dissidents protested in Stockholm on Monday against a visit to Sweden by Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. Protesters threw eggs at the door of the Swedish Institute of International Affairs where Mottaki was due to deliver a speech, and shouted slogans denouncing the Iranian regime. The group also called for the release of political prisoners. A large police force was on hand to prevent the demonstrators from entering the building. In his address, Mottaki stressed that Iran's nuclear programme was "peaceful" and posed "no threat to international peace and security." The UN Security Council imposed...

The UN Security Council said it would hold a meeting on the tense situation in Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region next Monday following the ambush killing of two Rwandan peacekeepers there. The announcement came as the United States and Britain last week presented a draft resolution in the council calling for deployment of 17,000 UN peacekeepers to Darfur, despite threats by the central Sudanese government to attack any UN troops who go to the area. Ghana's UN Ambassador Nana Effah-Apenteng, the council president for August, stressed that Monday's open debate was not being convened specifically to discuss the British-US draft....

Print this document Print this Transcript Email a Friend Email a friend Close this window Close this window The Middle East Media Research Institute 8/13/2006 Clip No. 1241 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: The U.S and England Are Not Worthy of Security Council Membership. Those Who Want Good Relations with the Iranian People Should Bow and Surrender to its Right and Might Following are excerpts from a speech delivered by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which aired on Iranian News Channel (IRINN) on August 15, 2006: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: When they talk about a "New Middle East," they mean a Middle East that...

Countries that send troops to be a part of the United Nations international force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) must recognize the Jewish state, Israel's United Nations Ambassador Danny Gillerman told the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) Friday. He said it is not comprehensible to allow the participation of countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia, who have offered to send 1,000 soldiers each and who do not have diplomatic ties with Israel. Last week, Malaysia encouraged other countries to cut off relations with Jerusalem.

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France and the U.S. have revived a draft for a U.N. resolution aimed at ending hostilities between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hizbullah terror group. A vote on Friday is possible but not certain. The two Western nations came to a last-minute agreement on the proposal over which they have been wrangling for days. Both sides were working Thursday evening on last minute changes in the wording of the document. Envoys from both the U.S. and France met with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to discuss the proposal. The resolution calls for an embargo on arms for Hizbullah terrorists but...

NEW YORK - The National Director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Abraham Foxman, yesterday accused United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan of demonstrating "blatant one-sidedness" in his comments about Israel's war against Hezbollah in Lebanon. "I am stunned that the UN secretary general cannot find his tongue except to criticize and denounce Israel, and is unable to raise his voice to denounce Hezbollah's daily firing of hundreds of rockets that are specifically intended to hurt civilians," Foxman said yesterday in an exclusive interview with Haaretz. "In addition, [Annan] has not bothered to mention the loss of life in Israel as...

France a short time ago has requested to push off Tuesday’s scheduled UN Security Council session dealing with an Israeli ceasefire in Lebanon. Reportedly bowing to increasing pressure to amend the French ceasefire proposal, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy a short time ago announced the scheduled UN session will be placed on hold to permit officials to amend the ceasefire document.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran still plans to reply by August 22 to a big power offer of incentives to stop making nuclear fuel, an official said on Monday, but more senior politicians have already rejected the terms of the package. The United States, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia proposed two months ago to give Iran trade and technical concessions if it shelves an uranium enrichment program first. But Iran was deemed to take too long to respond and was referred to the U.N. Security Council. The world body promptly passed a resolution ordering Tehran to halt atomic work or...

BEIRUT, Aug 5, 2006 (AFP) - Lebanon rejects a draft UN Security Council resolution which aims to brings about a ceasefire with Israel, and wants the text to be amended, a government source told AFP on Saturday. "The Lebanese government is opposed to the Franco-American draft and has sent Lebanon's representative to the UN, Acting Foreign Minister Tarek Mitri, an amended text which includes Lebanon's demands," the source said.-AFP UN resolution calls for 'full cessation of hostilities' in Lebanon UNITED NATIONS, Aug 5, 2006 (AFP) - The United States and France reached agreement Saturday on a draft resolution for Lebanon...

Agreement by the United States and France on a possible Mideast cease-fire deal is an ``important development,'' but Israel will not halt its war against Hezbollah for the time being, an Israeli Cabinet minister said Saturday. The draft U.N. Security Council resolution, formulated Saturday, calls for a halt to hostilities. ``It's a very important development,'' Tourism Minister Isaac Herzog told Israel TV's Channel One. ``We have to study the details of this draft. There's a lot in there.'' ``The Israeli military continues to act in the meantime, without letup, in many areas,'' he added. ``We still have the coming days...