Abbas: 'All options open' if peace talks fail - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned in comments published Monday that "all options are open" if the U.S. fails to restart Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. The comments, Abbas' first since U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced last week that peace talks may resume for the first time in five years, may be an attempt to exert pressure on the U.S. and Israel to meet Palestinian demands on the terms of formal negotiations. Israeli and Palestinian representatives are to hold preliminary talks in Washington soon. There, the sides are to work out the final details of what Kerry portrayed as broad agreement on the framework for restarting peace talks that collapsed in 2008.- Yahoo! News

Abbas: 'All options open' if peace talks fail - Yahoo! News: "Abbas did not name his other options, but referred to last year's upgrade of the Palestinian status at the U.N. At the time, the General Assembly accepted a state of Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem — lands Israel captured in 1967 — as a non-member observer state in a largely symbolic gesture.

Palestinian officials have said that in the absence of negotiations with Israel, they would seek further U.N. recognition, including membership in U.N. agencies and possible redress against Israeli policies at the International Criminal Court." CLICK LINK TO READ MORE

'via Blog this'

"U.N. envoy to Afghanistan Jan Kubis called for peace as Muslims across the world mark the holy month of Ramadan. "Afghanistan has endured more than three decades of violence and is undergoing a political and security transition, which is vital to its future development," he said in a statement. "I take the opportunity to also call upon all parties to the conflict to respect the sanctity of this month and allow Afghan families to worship and celebrate in peace.""

U.N. calls for Afghan peace during Ramadan - UPI.com: CLICK LINK TO READ MORE

'via Blog this'

UN Department of Peacekeeping Operation (DPKO) Hervé Ladsous pledged UN support in helping South Sudan develop into a modern state. UN peacekeeping chief, Hervé Ladsous speaks to reporters after a meeting with Jonglei state governor Kuol Manyang Juuk (left behind) who discusses with his aides in Bor on 7 July 2013 (ST) "We are very supportive to make the country a modern state with functioning institutions with full respect for human rights. This is the fundamental objective of the United Nations”, said Ladsous who was accompanied by other top officials of the peace keeping operation

UN peacekeeping chief visits Bor, pledges support to South Sudan - Sudan Tribune: Plural news and views on Sudan: "Ladsous said the UN’s mandate in South Sudan would soon be renewed and that the peace keeping mission will continue to monitor peace in areas where they have been deployed in the country. The UN’s head of peace keeping however said that with austerity measures in many countries around the world, the UN is facing financial challenges which he said makes it difficult for the global body to address all the challenges in South Sudan. “It is clear that the United Nation doesn’t have the means to take over all these issues immediately in this time of financial austerity in the whole world”, said Ladsous. In his briefing to the UN team, the state governor, Kuol Manyang Juuk, attributed the violence in his state to poverty." CLINK LINK TO READ MORE of the article of John Actually

'via Blog this'

"The UN is beginning its military mission in Mali by bringing 6,000 West African troops already in the country under its command. By December it will reach full strength with 12,640 uniformed personnel. The UN will take over security duties from the French forces which led an operation to oust Islamist militants from the north in January. Its first mission will be to secure the north so that Mali can hold a presidential election on 28 July."

UN peace force begins Mali operation - Updated News:
'via Blog this'

UN officials strongly condemned attack on Camp Liberty, an Iranian exile camp in Iraq, and called on the Government to assist and protect camp residents in need. According to media reports two people were killed and dozens injured in a mortar attack to the camp, which is located near western Baghdad. The Secretary-General's Special Representative for Iraq, Martin Kobler and the country representative for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Claire Bourgeois, said they are “deeply concerned that today's tragic violence has occurred despite their repeated requests to the Government of Iraq to provide Camp Liberty and its residents with protective measures, including T-Walls.”

United Nations News Centre - UN officials strongly condemn attack on Iranian exile camp in Iraq: "More than 3,000 residents, most of them members of a group known as the People's Mojahedeen of Iran, are temporarily housed in Camp Liberty – a transit facility also know as Camp Hurriya – while UNHCR carries out a process to determine their refugee status." CLICK LINK TO READ MORE

'via Blog this'

Congo: AFRICAN economies are rising steadily, but in the Democratic Republic of Congo life for many is as bad as ever. Armed men rape and plunder with impunity. Rebel groups terrorise vast stretches of land rich in minerals and agricultural potential. Millions have died as a result. And for years the outside world has done little more than shrug. Its main effort—a 14-year-old UN peacekeeping mission—has failed to end “Africa’s world war”, which started as an ethnic conflict sparked by the genocide next door in Rwanda before descending into murderous anarchy farther afield. Now things are changing. The Rwandan government backed Congolese rebels until recently but, shamed by their cruelty and by international outrage, it has abandoned them. That presents an opportunity too good to waste, so the UN Security Council is trying a new tack (see article), deploying 3,000 troops to fight at least some of the rebels. Soldiers from South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi wearing UN insignia will take on the irregulars who sow mayhem in Congo’s east.

The United Nations in Congo: Art of darkness | The Economist: "This is the first time that the UN will send its own troops into battle. In the past the Security Council has authorised the use of “all necessary force” but has delegated the fighting to posses from willing nations." CLICK LINK TO READ MORE

'via Blog this'

U.N. Security Council boosts peacekeeping force in Abyei: U.N. Security Council approved an extra 1,126 troops for a U.N. peacekeeping force in the flashpoint Abyei region, claimed by Sudan and South Sudan and a base for several armed groups. The 15-member council extended for six months the mandate of the mission, known as UNISFA, and boosted to 5,326 the number of troops, provided by Ethiopia, in the province, prized for fertile land and oil reserves. "The presence of armed groups inside the Safe Demilitarised Zone remains a considerable security concern," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council in a report that requested the increase in peacekeepers. South Sudan split from its northern neighbour in 2011 under a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war. Like South Sudan, Abyei was meant to have an independence referendum, agreed under the 2005 deal, but Sudan and South Sudan have been unable to agree which tribal members should participate.

U.N. Security Council boosts peacekeeping force in Abyei - World Updates | The Star Online: "U.N. peacekeepers have been administering Abyei since Sudan seized it in May 2011 following an attack on a convoy of peacekeepers and Sudanese soldiers which the United Nations blamed on southern forces. Khartoum later withdrew its forces under a U.N. peace plan." CLICK LINK TO READ MORE

'via Blog this'