Russia looks likely to oppose a joint West-Arab call at the UN Security Council for Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad to step down.
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/ 28 January 2012
Syrian death toll spikes as Russia opposes a new Arab and European bid to secure tough United Nations resolution.
As negotiations entered the 11th hour at COP17, activists chanted slogans to the ICC. Those who saw out the peaceful protest were escorted out by UN security.
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/ 19 November 2011
Syria has agreed in principle to allow a contingent of Arab observers into the state to oversee the implementation of the Arab League peace plan.
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/ 1 November 2011
The UN Security Council has condemned piracy in the Gulf of Guinea off the West African coast and backed regional plans to tackle the growing problem.
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/ 12 October 2011
UN Security Council members are battling to come up with a way to address the growing death toll in Yemen from protests against President Saleh.
Europe and the US have embarked on a new bid to convince UN Security Council members, including SA, to condemn al-Assad’s deadly crackdown in Syria.
Rumours are mounting that, as the known death toll in Syria rises, SA’s representative is among those blocking a UN Security Council resolution.
The South African team’s uneven performance in the United Nations Security Council is a mystery to many, writes <b>Sean Christie</b>.
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/ 12 November 2010
Nigeria’s foreign minister is threatening action against Iran if it violated international law and UN sanctions in an arms-smuggling case.
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/ 17 December 2009
The European Union on Wednesday urged the Democratic Republic of Congo’s rulers to end violence against civilians in the country.
The UN Security Council is heading to Africa for a series of meetings and visits focusing on the continent’s hotspots.
Thousands of Sri Lankans under fire waded across a lagoon to escape the island’s war zone, where the military has surrounded Tiger rebels.
Kgalema Motlanthe this week slammed the attacks in Gaza, dubbing the offensive ”sheer savagery and brutality” that caused a ”deep sense of revulsion”.
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/ 15 December 2008
Zimbabwe has accused Botswana of training opposition insurgents to oust Zanu-PF leader Robert Mugabe, it was reported on Monday.
Southern African leaders will hold an emergency meeting in Swaziland’s capital, Mbabane, on Wednesday to discuss the crisis in Zimbabwe.
Negotiations sponsored by the United Nations and aimed at bringing the Somali government and its main political foes into direct dialogue were due to resume on Saturday in Djibouti. The first round of discussions ended on May 16 and although the rivals did not engage in direct talks, the move was seen as a breakthrough in efforts to end conflict.
Lebanon’s Parliament is set to elect army chief General Michel Suleiman as the country’s president on Sunday, filling a post left vacant for six months by a political crisis that threatened a new civil war. A Qatari-brokered deal last week between rival Lebanese leaders defused 18 months of political stalemate that erupted into fighting this month.
United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon flew to Burma on Thursday to press the ruling generals to allow a full-blown international aid effort for 2,4-million people left destitute by Cyclone Nargis. The government’s official toll is 77 738 people killed and 55 917 missing, and it also estimates the damage to the economy at -billion.
A leading human rights group accused the international community on Monday of not doing enough to deter Sudan from new attacks in Darfur, where it cited a return to ”scorched-earth” policies. Human Rights Watch said the United Nations Security Council should impose sanctions on Sudanese officials behind attacks on civilians in Darfur in February.
The United Nations food agency suspended aid flights to cyclone-struck Burma on Friday after the military government seized two deliveries at Rangoon airport, apparently determined to distribute supplies on its own. Governments around the world have been pressing Burma’s ruling generals to open the country’s borders to desperately needed assistance.
Iran will not give up its rights in the face of Western pressure, its supreme leader said on Sunday, two days after major powers said they would make a new offer to convince Tehran to halt its nuclear plans. Ayatollah Ali Khomenei did not explicitly mention Iran’s nuclear activities, which Western powers suspect are aimed at making bombs.
A top cleric on Friday vowed that Iran would deal a knock-out blow to what he called maniacs in the United States and Israel if they ever attacked the Islamic republic. ”If maniacs in Washington or Tel Aviv seek to take action, the Iranian nation will slap them so hard they will not get off the floor,” hard-line cleric Ahmad Khatami said.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai beat Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe’s presidential election, winning 47% of the vote against the president’s 43%, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing senior government sources. One source, declining to be named, told Reuters a run-off would be needed because Tsvangirai did not win enough votes for an outright victory.
Robert Kagan, author, essayist, former diplomat, pre-eminent thinker of what is called ”neoconservatism” — and now foreign policy adviser to Republican presidential nominee John McCain — would like it to be known that there are many things that he is not.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will present a set of proposals to the Foreign Affairs Ministry on how the government can resolve Zimbabwe’s electoral crisis, the party said on Friday. The proposals include the possible suspension of Zimbabwe from the African Union, arms embargoes and the severing of diplomatic ties.
As many as 300 000 people may have died in the five-year conflict in Darfur, a dramatic increase over earlier estimates of 200 000, a top United Nations official said on Tuesday. Sudan’s UN ambassador, Abdalmahmoud Abdalhaleem, said the figure was grossly exaggerated.
President Thabo Mbeki must be relieved of his duties as mediator in the current impasse in Zimbabwe, Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said in Johannesburg on Thursday. ”We want to thank President Mbeki for all of his efforts, but President Mbeki needs to be relieved of his duties,” he told reporters.
President Robert Mugabe’s security forces clamped down hard on unrest during a general strike in Zimbabwe, arresting dozens of opposition supporters before the stoppage fizzled out on Wednesday. The security forces scaled back their presence in the capital as it became clear that the call for people to remain off work had failed.
South African President Thabo Mbeki had intended to lead a summit on Wednesday at the United Nations in New York that would focus on the increasing peacekeeping chores of African Union troops. But on Tuesday, it became clear that Mbeki would not be able to dodge the ongoing election crisis in Zimbabwe.
Pirates off the coast of Somalia released 30 hostages seized aboard a French yacht a week ago following negotiations that ended the stand-off peacefully, French officials said. The hostages, including 22 French crew aboard Le Ponant, were freed ”without incident”, President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a statement, without providing details.
South Africa should use its powerful position on the United Nations Security Council to put the Zimbabwean election saga on the international body’s agenda, Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille said on Wednesday. Zille, who is currently in New York, said in a statement she would meet South Africa’s ambassador to the United Nations.