Tag Archives: United Nations

A new wave of bombs struck Syria’s eastern Ghouta on Friday, which a witness in one town described as the worst yet, ahead of a U.N. Security Council vote to demand a 30-day ceasefire across the country. For a sixth straight day, warplanes have pounded the densely populated agricultural pocket …

The Syrian ambassador to the United Nations and head of the government delegation to intra-Syrian peace talks has strongly rejected a proposal offered by some countries, including the US and Saudi Arabia, for the resolution of the Syrian crisis, saying the so-called peace plan is “not even worth the ink.”   …

Veteran US diplomat Bill Richardson has resigned from an international panel set up by Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi to advise on the Rohingya crisis. He claimed the panel was a “whitewash” and accused Ms Suu Kyi of lacking “moral leadership” on the issue. Mr Richardson, a long-time friend …

The UAE has denied a Qatari claim that its airspace was violated by an Emirates’ military aircraft in December. UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Anwar Gargash tweeted on Friday: “The Qatari complaint about the UAE’s violation of its airspace is untrue and confused; we are working to …

Qatar has lodged a complaint with the United Nations about what it calls a violation of its airspace last month by a United Arab Emirates (UAE) fighter jet, warning that Doha reserves the right to defend its skies and borders under international law. The Qatar News Agency (QNA) said Friday …

Palestinian officials are reportedly pushing for a UN Security Council resolution that rejects US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s “capital.” The measure, which would strongly condemn Washington’s decision and demand its reversal, would almost certainly face a US veto, diplomats said Wednesday. According to senior …

The ongoing Myanmar military operation against the minority Rohingya people appears to be a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing,” the UN human rights chief said Monday. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said the full humanitarian situation in Rakhine state couldn’t be fully assessed due …

Bombers killed two people and wounded 11 others at a U.N.-managed camp in Niger housing thousands of people who have fled Boko Haram violence in the first suicide attack in the region in a year, the U.N. refugee agency said on Friday. Two women entered the camp in Kabelawa, around …

THE LEVANT NEWS — Libya has been suspended from voting in the United Nations General Assembly, according to internal documents from the global body. UN Tribune, an independent United Nations monitoring website, said that Libya had now been barred from voting in the General Assembly due arrears that “equal or …

The Levant News — UNITED NATIONS | BY LOUIS CHARBONNEAU for Reuters– Saudi Arabia is pushing the U.N. General Assembly’s human rights committee to condemn Iranian and Russian intervention in Syria, a move that prompted complaints on Tuesday from the delegations of Iran and Syria. The non-binding draft resolution, prepared …

The Levant News — Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Facebook, promoted access to the Internet as “an enabler of human rights” and a “force for peace” on Saturday, as he announced that his company would help the United Nations bring Internet connections to refugee camps. “It’s not all altruism,” Mr. Zuckerberg …

THE LEVANT – A UN report is recommending the seizure of all oil tanker trucks leaving Islamist-controlled territory in Iraq and Syria to cut off millions of dollars from crude sales now bankrolling the jihadists. The UN’s Al-Qaeda Monitoring Team is also proposing an embargo on flights taking off or …

THE LEVANT – The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Wednesday to discuss Israeli plans to build more Jewish settlements in Arab east Jerusalem, diplomats said. The urgent talks were requested by Jordan following a letter from Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour, who called on the 15-member council to …

THE LEVANT – The UN Security Council on Thursday threatened sanctions against those who reject peace in Libya in a bid to shore up UN-brokered talks on ending the violence. UN special envoy Bernardino Leon held a first round of talks with rival politicians on September 29 that the council …

THE LEVANT – Syria will not begin talks to end the three-and-a-half-year war while Islamist militants are rampaging through the country, the foreign minister told the United Nations on Monday. “We cannot start any political solution while terrorism is still rampant in Syria,” Foreign Minister Walid Mualem told the UN …

THE LEVANT – The US-led coalition launched strikes against Islamic State militants besieging a Kurdish town in Syria as world leaders prepared for talks on Wednesday at the UN on battling the jihadists. The overnight raids targeted Islamic State (IS) group fighters who have waged a fierce assault in the …

THE LEVANT – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is calling for the implementation “in full, without delay” of a newly-agreed peace deal in Yemen which strives to end violence that has killed and displaced hundreds of people in recent weeks. The signing over the weekend of the Peace and National …

THE LEVANT – A “solution to the conflict” between the Israelis and Palestinians will be put to the UN Security Council, French President Francois Hollande said Friday after meeting Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas in Paris. “We will have a resolution, to be presented to the Security Council, that will say …

THE LEVANT – The Syrian government and mainstream opposition must seek a compromise to end three and half years of bloody civil war and block the rise of murderous jihadists, UN investigators said Tuesday. “The rise of (Islamic State fighters) has emphasised the need for the government and mainstream opposition …

THE LEVANT –  The Palestinian leadership intends to seek a UN Security Council resolution setting a 3-year deadline for ending the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official said Tuesday, September 2. Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the leadership of the PLO, acknowledged at a …

THE LEVANT – Syrian armed groups, some of whom are linked to Al-Qaeda, captured 43 UN peacekeepers on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights on Thursday and surrounded 81 others, the UN said. The 43 peacekeepers from Fiji were forced to surrender their weapons and taken hostage near the …

THE LEVANT – The Syrian government has likely used chlorine gas to attack civilians while the Islamic State group has committed crimes against humanity with attacks on civilians in two provinces in the country, an independent U.N. commission said Wednesday. The report from the commission, which has been tasked to investigate …

THE LEVANT – The Israeli military has been forced to retract a statement claiming that the mortar shell that killed a four-year-old Israeli boy on Friday was fired from or near a United Nations school in Gaza. After the death of Daniel Tragerman outside his home in a kibbutz near the Israel-Gaza …

THE LEVANT – By Luay Al Khatheeb – The United Nation Security Council dramatically escalated the conflict with the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL), Al Nusra Front (JNF) and other Al Qaeda splinter groups by passing UN Resolution 2170 in August 2014, thereby expanding the range of retaliatory measures (short …

THE LEVANT –  The following is a copy of a communique issued by Jamal Benomar, UN Special Adviser to Yemen. Statement from the Office of the Special Adviser on ‪Yemen The Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Yemen,‪ Jamal_Benomar‬, is doing his utmost to help address the roots of the current …

THE LEVANT – The UN refugee agency said Tuesday it was poised to mount a massive aid operation for 500,000 Iraqis driven from their homes by jihadist rebels. “In response to the deteriorating situation in northern Iraq, UNHCR is this week launching one of its largest aid pushes aimed at …

Iraq’s government has lost control of a former chemical weapons facility to “armed terrorist groups” and is unable to fulfill its international obligations to destroy toxins kept there, the country’s UN envoy has informed the United Nations. In a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, made public on Tuesday, Ambassador …