organization:u.n. security council

  • Iran says it will send 2 satellites to orbit amid US concern
    https://apnews.com/4f432f1f5c61456baf37de1fa784ab4b

    Iran’s president said Thursday the Islamic Republic soon will send two new satellites into orbit using Iran-made rockets, despite U.S. concern the launch could help further develop its ballistic missiles.

    President Hassan Rouhani’s comments, during a commemoration for the late President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, confirmed the rocket launches would take place.

    Iran typically displays achievements in its space program in February, during the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. This year will mark the 40th anniversary of the revolution, which saw the Persian monarchy of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi replaced by the Islamic Republic overseen by a Shiite cleric.

    “Soon, in the coming weeks, we will send two satellites into space using our domestically-made rockets,” Rouhani said, without elaborating.

    Previously, Iran has sent several short-lived satellites into orbit over the past decade, and in 2013 launched a monkey into space. The U.S. and its allies worry the same satellite-launching technology could be used to develop long-range missiles.

    Raison de plus pour certains de penser qu’il est vraiment temps de s’occuper rapidement de ces enturbannés... #iran

  • Tracking China’s Muslim Gulag
    https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/muslims-camps-china

    China is accused of incarcerating hundreds of thousands of Muslims in detention camps that are rising from the desert sands in Xinjiang. A forensic analysis of satellite images of 39 of these facilities shows they are expanding at a rapid rate.

    #chine #camps_de_travail #musulman #Ouïghours #détention

    • Très belle illustration visuelle !

      La légende des différentes étapes :

      Here are the footprints of all 39 camps. Prior to April 2017, these facilities had a total of 539 buildings covering 379,000 square meters.

      By August this year, the number of buildings at these facilities had more than doubled to 1,129. The area they covered had almost tripled to more than 1 million square meters - roughly the size of 140 soccer fields.

      And the expansion continues. A further 67 buildings, covering an area of 210,000 square meters, are now under construction in these compounds, according to the most recent satellite imagery that was analyzed.

      Infographie vraiment remarquable.

      #merci @odilon

    • Opinion: The Strange Silence Over China’s Muslim Crackdown

      President Trump says trade talks between the United States and China have been, “going very well.” The United States put $250 billion worth of tariffs on Chinese goods last year, to counter what it considers unfair trade practices and theft of U.S. technology.

      But there are no indications the United States, the United Nations, or any government is prepared to use any economic or diplomatic leverage to oppose China locking up between 800,000 and 2 million Uighurs, Kazakhs and other Chinese Muslims into internment camps in the western Xinjiang region.

      The camps are in remote locations — closed to the world — and ringed with barbed wire. But they have been photographed by satellite. The Chinese government calls them “re-education centers,” a phrase that carries a sinister history from the murderous purges of Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution.

      The people in the camps are forced to denounce their faith and pledge loyalty to the Communist Party. According to multiple reports, a number of people in the camps have also been tortured.

      As Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch, told The Independent, “If any other government in the world was locking up a million Muslims I think we can reasonably expect to have seen demands for a debate at the U.N. Security Council or an international investigation. That’s generally unlikely to happen with China.”

      There were calls in the U.S. Congress last fall for the Trump administration to consider sanctions against China for what Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denounced as “awful abuses.”

      But China is America’s largest creditor: it holds more than a trillion dollars in U.S. Treasury securities. Look down at whatever you’re wearing, carrying, riding in or working on right now. American businesses get rich relying on Chinese workers who earn low wages to produce our clothing, mobile phones, building materials, and dazzling new tech devices.

      The Trump administration imposed tariffs on China over unfair trade practices. But it has offered no more than a few rhetorical flourishes over human rights crimes. Neither did the Obama administration, or the European Union.

      And Muslim countries — including Saudi Arabia and Iran — have been similarly, conspicuously, silent. China invests heavily, and strategically in their nations too.

      Sometimes, the price of human rights just cannot compete.

      https://www.npr.org/2019/01/12/684687441/opinion-the-strange-silence-over-chinas-muslim-crackdown
      #disparitions

  • As the World Abandons Refugees, UNHCR’s Constraints Are Exposed

    The U.N. refugee agency lacks the funding, political clout and independence to protect refugees in the way that it is supposed to, says former UNHCR official and refugee policy expert #Jeff_Crisp.

    Over the past three years, the world has been confronted with a number of major new refugee emergencies – in Myanmar, Nigeria, South Sudan, Yemen and Venezuela, as well as the Central American region. In addition, existing crises in Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia and Syria have gone unresolved, making it impossible for large exiled populations to return to their own country. As a result, the global refugee population has soared to more than 25 million, the highest figure ever recorded.

    This means that the role of the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, which is supposed to protect and find solutions for this growing population, is more important than ever. But is it up to the task? The proliferating crises have stretched it to the limit. Funding, most of which comes from a dozen key donor states, has not kept up with the rising numbers the agency is expected to support. In April, UNHCR said it had received just $2.3 billion of the $8.2 billion it needed for its annual program.

    Things look unlikely to improve. UNHCR is losing the support of the United States, traditionally the organization’s most important government partner, whether under Republican or Democrat administrations. Since Donald Trump’s election, the country has slashed the number of refugees it admits through its resettlement program. In his final years in office, Barack Obama had raised the annual quota to 110,000 refugees. That is now down to 45,000 and may yet be reduced to 25,000.

    There is also the prospect that the Trump administration will demonstrate its disdain for the U.N. and limited interest in the refugee issue by reducing its funding to the agency, as it has already done with UNRWA, a separate agency that supports Palestinian refugees. Given that the U.S. currently contributes almost 40 percent of the UNHCR budget, even a modest reduction in its support will mean serious cuts in expenditure.

    The agency therefore has little choice but to look for alternative sources of funding and diplomatic support, especially from the European Union and its member states. But that may come at a price. One of the E.U.’s top priorities is to halt the arrival of refugees and asylum seekers who have transited through nearby countries such as Libya, Morocco and Turkey. Populist political parties throughout much of the E.U. are reaping the electoral benefits of taking a hard line on the issue of refugees and migration. Several European governments have shown little hesitation in violating the international refugee laws they have signed in their desperation to seal Europe’s borders.

    The E.U. thus looks to UNHCR for two things: first, the expertise and operational capacity of an organization that has years of experience in responding to mass movements of people; and second, the legitimacy that E.U. policies can acquire by means of close association with an agency deemed by its founding statute to be “entirely non-political and humanitarian.” In this context, it should come as no surprise that E.U. foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has been at pains to point out that the E.U. and UNHCR “work together” and have a “close partnership” – and that the E.U. remains “the strongest supporter of UNHCR.”

    But this partnership (which involved $436 million in funding from Brussels alone in 2017) also involves an important element of compromise on the part of UNHCR. In the Mediterranean, for example, the E.U. is funding the Libyan coast guard to intercept and return any refugees who try to leave the country by boat. Those people are subsequently confined to detention centers where, according to Amnesty International, they are at risk of torture, forced labor, extortion and murder at the hand of smugglers, bandits or the Libyan authorities.

    The U.N. high commissioner for human rights has publicly chastised the E.U. for its failure to improve the situation of migrants in Libya. By contrast, UNHCR has kept very quiet about the E.U.’s role in the process of interception, return and detention, despite the fact that these actions violate a fundamental principle of refugee protection: that no one should be returned to a country where their life or freedom would be threatened.

    This reveals a fundamental tension in the organization’s character. Ostensibly, UNHCR enjoys a high degree of independence and moral authority. As part of the U.N. system, it is treated with more respect by states and other actors than NGOs doing similar work. It has regular access to heads of state, government leaders, regional organizations, the U.N. security council and the secretary-general himself (who was previously UNHCR chief).

    But in practice, the autonomy enjoyed by UNHCR is at best a relative one. Almost 90 percent of the agency’s funding is provided by states, much of it earmarked for specific programs, projects and countries. UNHCR’s governing board consists entirely of states.

    The organization can operate in a country only if it has the agreement of the government, which also has the ability to shape the scope of UNHCR’s operational activities, as well as the partners it works with. In countries such as Ethiopia, Pakistan, Sudan and Syria, for example, the organization is obliged to work with government departments whose priorities may well be different from those of UNHCR.

    Almost 90 percent of the agency’s funding is provided by states, much of it earmarked for specific programs, projects and countries. UNHCR’s governing board consists entirely of states.

    The tensions at the heart of UNHCR seem unlikely to diminish. Throughout the world, governments are closing their borders to refugees and depriving them of basic rights. Exiled populations are being induced to repatriate against their will and to countries that are not safe. As epitomized by the E.U.’s deal with Turkey, asylum seekers have become bargaining chips in interstate relations, used by political leaders to extract financial, political and even military concessions from each other.

    Given the constitutional constraints imposed on the organization, UNHCR’s options are now limited. It can try (as it has done for many years) to diversify its funding base. It could assume a more assertive stance with states that violate refugee protection principles – and in doing so risk the loss of its already diminished degree of diplomatic support. And it can hope that the recently completed Global Compact on Refugees, a nonbinding declaration of principles that most U.N. member states are expected to sign, will have some effect on the way that governments actually treat refugees.

    A final option available to UNHCR is to be more transparent about its limitations, to moderate the relentless self-promotion of its branding and marketing campaign and give greater recognition to the efforts that refugees are making to improve their own lives. In that respect, UNHCR’s favourite hashtag, “We Stand #WithRefugees,” could usefully be changed to “Refugees Are #StandingUpForThemselves.”

    #UN #ONU #HCR #UNHCR #crise #indépendance #fonds #financement #it_has_begun

  • Syrian Chemical Weapons Prompts Missile Volley From Trump – Foreign Policy
    http://foreignpolicy.com/2018/04/14/syrian-chemical-weapons-use-prompts-missile-volley-from-trump

    Friday’s U.S.-led missile attack against Syria aimed at sending an unmistakable message that any future use of chemical weapons would trigger a military response from the West.

    If the Syrian regime uses this poisonous gas again, the United States is locked and loaded,” Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the U.N. Security Council Saturday at an emergency meeting convened by Russia in an attempt to protest the strike.

    But the limited nature of the strikes sent another unintended message: the United States has no intention of using its firepower to halt the mass killing of civilians through conventional means, degrade Syria’s military forces, or to challenge Russia and Iran’s military positions is Syria.

  • The Latest: Palestinian journalist dies from gunshot wounds
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/the-latest-palestinian-journalist-dies-from-gunshot-wounds/2018/04/06/858450c8-3a13-11e8-af3c-2123715f78df_story.html

    The United States for a second week in a row has blocked a U.N. Security Council statement supporting the right of Palestinians to demonstrate peacefully and endorsing Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ call for an independent investigation into deadly protests in Gaza.

    Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York Friday evening that 14 of the 15 council nations agreed to the statement, but the United States, Israel’s closest ally, objected.

    Mansour called the U.S. rejection “very irresponsible,” saying it gives Israel “the green light to continue with their onslaught against the civilian population” in Gaza.

  • Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia: Top three stunning admissions from the top U.S. general in the Middle East

    Assad has won, Iran deal should stand and Saudis use American weapons without accountability in Yemen: head of U.S. military’s Central Command’s stunning Congressional testimony

    https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/top-three-stunning-admissions-from-the-top-u-s-general-in-the-region-1.5910

    Haaretz and Reuters Mar 16, 2018

    The top U.S. general in the Middle East testified before Congress on Tuesday and dropped several bombshells: from signaled support for the Iran nuclear deal, admitting the U.S. does not know what Saudi Arabia does with its bombs in Yemen and that Assad has won the Syrian Civil War.
    U.S. Army General Joseph Votel said the Iran agreement, which President Donald Trump has threatened to withdraw from, has played an important role in addressing Iran’s nuclear program.
    “The JCPOA addresses one of the principle threats that we deal with from Iran, so if the JCPOA goes away, then we will have to have another way to deal with their nuclear weapons program,” said U.S. Army General Joseph Votel. JCPOA, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, is the formal name of the accord reached with Iran in July 2015 in Vienna.
    Trump has threatened to withdraw the United States from the accord between Tehran and six world powers unless Congress and European allies help “fix” it with a follow-up pact. Trump does not like the deal’s limited duration, among other things.
    Votel is head of the U.S. military’s Central Command, which is responsible for the Middle East and Central Asia, including Iran. He was speaking to a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the same day that Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson after a series of public rifts over policy, including Iran.
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    Tillerson had joined Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in pressing a skeptical Trump to stick with the agreement with Iran.
    “There would be some concern (in the region), I think, about how we intended to address that particular threat if it was not being addressed through the JCPOA. ... Right now, I think it is in our interest” to stay in the deal, Votel said.

    When a lawmaker asked whether he agreed with Mattis and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford’s position on the deal,Votel said: “Yes, I share their position.”
    Mattis said late last year that the United States should consider staying in the Iran nuclear deal unless it was proven Tehran was not complying or that the agreement was not in the U.S. national interest.
    A collapse of the Iran nuclear deal would be a “great loss,” the United Nations atomic watchdog’s chief warned Trump recently, giving a wide-ranging defense of the accord.
    Iran has stayed within the deal’s restrictions since Trump took office but has fired diplomatic warning shots at Washington in recent weeks. It said on Monday that it could rapidly enrich uranium to a higher degree of purity if the deal collapsed.
    Syria
    Votel also discussed the situation in Syria at the hearing.
    During the Syrian army’s offensive in eastern Ghouta, more than 1,100 civilians have died. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, backed by Russia and Iran, say they are targeting “terrorist” groups shelling the capital.
    U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley warned on Monday that Washington “remains prepared to act if we must,” if the U.N. Security Council failed to act on Syria.
    Votel said the best way to deter Russia, which backs Assad, was through political and diplomatic channels.
    “Certainly if there are other things that are considered, you know, we will do what we are told. ... (But) I don’t recommend that at this particular point,” Votel said, in an apparent to reference to military options.
    Republican Senator Lindsey Graham asked whether it was too strong to say that with Russia and Iran’s help, Assad had “won” the civil war in Syria.
    “I do not think that is too strong of a statement,” Votel said.
    Graham also asked if the United States’ policy on Syria was still to seek the removal of Assad from power.
    “I don’t know that that’s our particular policy at this particular point. Our focus remains on the defeat of ISIS,” Votel said, using an acronym for Islamic State. 
    Saudi Arabia
    In a stunning exchange with Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, Votel admitted that Centcom doesn’t know when U.S. fuel and munitions are used in Yemen. 
    “General Votel, does CENTCOM track the purpose of the missions it is refueling? In other words, where a U.S.-refueled aircraft is going, what targets it strikes, and the result of the mission?” Warren asked.
    “Senator, we do not,” Votel replied.
    The Senator followed up, citing reports that U.S. munitions have been used against civilians in Yemen, she asked, “General Votel, when you receive reports like this from credible media organizations or outside observers, is CENTCOM able to tell if U.S. fuel or U.S. munitions were used in that strike?”
    “No, senator, I don’t believe we are,” he replied.
    Showing surprise at the general’s response, Warren concluded, “We need to be clear about this: Saudi Arabia’s the one receiving American weapons and American support. And that means we bear some responsibility here. And that means we need to hold our partners and our allies accountable for how those resources are used,” she said.

  • The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب: The UN Secretary-general: who does he work for?
    http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-un-secretary-general-who-does-he.html

    #Guterres said in the report to the U.N. Security Council circulated Friday that allegations of arms transfers to Hezbollah continue “on a regular basis,” which the U.N. takes seriously. But it “is not in a position to substantiate them independently , he said. Guterres said #Israel informed UNIFIL of the alleged presence of Hezbollah weapons and infrastructure in three specific locations in that zone, which the U.N. force closely monitored, including by aerial reconnaissance, satellite imagery and patrols. But he said” no evidence to confirm the allegations was established .” (thanks Basim)

    http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/chief-warns-risk-israeli-hezbollah-conflict-51369567

    #ONU

  • Tillerson is working with China and Russia — very, very quietly - The Washington Post
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/tillerson-is-working-with-china-and-russia--very-very-quietly/2017/09/07/1aed4970-9416-11e7-89fa-bb822a46da5b_story.html

    Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has often been the silent man in the Trump foreign policy team. But out of the spotlight, he appears to be crafting a broad strategy aimed at working with China to resolve the North Korea crisis and with Russia to stabilize Syria and Ukraine.

    The Tillerson approach focuses on personal diplomacy, in direct contacts with Chinese and Russian leaders, and through private channels to North Korea. His core strategic assumption is that if the United States can subtly manage its relations with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin — and allow those leaders to take credit for successes — complex regional problems can be solved effectively.

    Tillerson appears unfazed by criticism that he has been a poor communicator and by recent talk of discord with President Trump. His attitude isn’t exactly “take this job and shove it,” but as a former ExxonMobil chief executive, he doesn’t need to make money or Washington friends — and he clearly thinks he has more urgent obligations than dealing with the press.

    Tillerson appears to have preserved a working relationship with Trump despite pointedly separating himself from the president’s controversial comments after the Charlottesville unrest. Although Trump didn’t initially like Tillerson’s statement, it’s said he was ultimately comfortable with it.

    The North Korea crisis is the best example of Tillerson’s diplomacy. For all the bombast of Trump’s tweets, the core of U.S. policy has been an effort to work jointly with China to reverse the North Korean nuclear buildup through negotiations. Tillerson has signaled that the United States is ready for direct talks with Kim Jong Un’s regime — perhaps soon, if Kim shows restraint. Tillerson wants China standing behind Kim at the negotiating table, with its hands figuratively at Kim’s throat.

    Despite Pyongyang’s hyper-belligerent rhetoric, its representatives have conveyed interest in negotiations, querying details of U.S. positions. But Kim’s actions have been erratic and confusing: When it appeared that the North Koreans wanted credit for not launching missiles toward Guam, Tillerson offered such a public statement. Bizarrely, North Korea followed with three more weapons tests, in a reckless rebuff.

    Some analysts see North Korea’s race to test missiles and bombs as an effort to prepare the strongest possible bargaining position before negotiations. Tillerson seems to be betting that China can force such talks by imposing an oil embargo against Pyongyang. U.S. officials hope Xi will make this move unilaterally, demonstrating strong leadership publicly, rather than waiting for the United States to insert the embargo proposal in a new U.N. Security Council resolution.

    Tillerson signaled his seriousness about Korea talks during a March visit to the Demilitarized Zone. He pointed to a table at a U.N. office there and remarked, “Maybe we’ll use this again,” if negotiations begin.

    The Sino-American strategic dialogue about North Korea has been far more extensive than either country acknowledges. They’ve discussed joint efforts to stabilize the Korean Peninsula, including Chinese actions to secure nuclear weapons if the regime collapses.

    The big idea driving Tillerson’s China policy is that the fundamentals of the relationship have changed as China has grown more powerful and assertive. The message to Beijing is that Xi’s actions in defusing the North Korea crisis will shape U.S.-China relations for the next half-century.

    Tillerson continues to work the Russia file, even amid new Russia sanctions. He has known Putin since 1999 and views him as a predictable, if sometimes bullying, leader. Even with the relationship in the dumps, Tillerson believes he’s making some quiet progress on Ukraine and Syria.

    On Ukraine, Tillerson supports Russia’s proposal to send U.N. peacekeepers to police what Putin claims are Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s assaults on Russian-backed forces in eastern Ukraine. The addition of U.N. monitors would help implement the Minsk agreement, even if Putin gets the credit and Poroshenko the blame.

    On Syria, Tillerson has warned Putin that the real danger to Russian interests is increasing Iranian power there, especially as Bashar al-Assad’s regime regains control of Deir al-Zour in eastern Syria. To counter the Iranians, Tillerson supports a quick move by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces to capture the lower Euphrates Valley.

    Trump’s boisterous, sometimes belligerent manner and Tillerson’s reticence are an unlikely combination, and many observers have doubted the relationship can last. But Tillerson seems to roll with the punches — and tweets. When Trump makes a disruptive comment, Tillerson seems to treat it as part of the policy landscape — and ponder how to use it to advantage.

    Tillerson may be the least public chief diplomat in modern U.S. history, but that’s apparently by choice. By Washington standards, he’s strangely uninterested in taking the credit.

  • Hillary Emails Reveal True Motive for Libya Intervention | Foreign Policy Journal
    https://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2016/01/06/new-hillary-emails-reveal-true-motive-for-libya-intervention

    But historians of the 2011 NATO war in Libya will be sure to notice a few of the truly explosive confirmations contained in the new emails: admissions of rebel war crimes, special ops trainers inside Libya from nearly the start of protests, Al Qaeda embedded in the U.S. backed opposition, Western nations jockeying for access to Libyan oil, the nefarious origins of the absurd Viagra mass rape claim, and concern over Gaddafi’s gold and silver reserves threatening European currency.

    Though the French-proposed U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973 claimed the no-fly zone implemented over Libya was to protect civilians, an April 2011 email [archived here] sent to Hillary with the subject line “France’s client and Qaddafi’s gold” tells of less noble ambitions.

    The email identifies French President Nicholas Sarkozy as leading the attack on Libya with five specific purposes in mind: to obtain Libyan oil, ensure French influence in the region, increase Sarkozy’s reputation domestically, assert French military power, and to prevent Gaddafi’s influence in what is considered “Francophone Africa.”

    Most astounding is the lengthy section delineating the huge threat that Gaddafi’s gold and silver reserves, estimated at “143 tons of gold, and a similar amount in silver,” posed to the French franc (CFA) circulating as a prime African currency. In place of the noble sounding “Responsibility to Protect” (R2P) doctrine fed to the public, there is this “confidential” explanation of what was really driving the war [emphasis mine]:

    This gold was accumulated prior to the current rebellion and was intended to be used to establish a pan-African currency based on the Libyan golden Dinar. This plan was designed to provide the Francophone African Countries with an alternative to the French franc (CFA).

    (Source Comment: According to knowledgeable individuals this quantity of gold and silver is valued at more than $7 billion. French intelligence officers discovered this plan shortly after the current rebellion began, and this was one of the factors that influenced President Nicolas Sarkozy’s decision to commit France to the attack on Libya.)

    Though this internal email aims to summarize the motivating factors driving France’s (and by implication NATO’s) intervention in Libya, it is interesting to note that saving civilian lives is conspicuously absent from the briefing.

    Instead, the great fear reported is that Libya might lead North Africa into a high degree of economic independence with a new pan-African currency.

    French intelligence “discovered” a Libyan initiative to freely compete with European currency through a local alternative, and this had to be subverted through military aggression.

    #Guerre #Politique_France

  • https://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2016/01/06/new-hillary-emails-reveal-true-motive-for-libya-intervention

    Though the French-proposed U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973 claimed the no-fly zone implemented over Libya was to protect civilians, an April 2011 email [archived here] sent to Hillary with the subject line “France’s client and Qaddafi’s gold” tells of less noble ambitions.

    The email identifies French President Nicholas Sarkozy as leading the attack on Libya with five specific purposes in mind: to obtain Libyan oil, ensure French influence in the region, increase Sarkozy’s reputation domestically, assert French military power, and to prevent Gaddafi’s influence in what is considered “Francophone Africa.”

    Most astounding is the lengthy section delineating the huge threat that Gaddafi’s gold and silver reserves, estimated at “143 tons of gold, and a similar amount in silver,” posed to the French franc (CFA) circulating as a prime African currency. In place of the noble sounding “Responsibility to Protect” (R2P) doctrine fed to the public, there is this “confidential” explanation of what was really driving the war [emphasis mine]:

    This gold was accumulated prior to the current rebellion and was intended to be used to establish a pan-African currency based on the Libyan golden Dinar. This plan was designed to provide the Francophone African Countries with an alternative to the French franc (CFA).

    (Source Comment: According to knowledgeable individuals this quantity of gold and silver is valued at more than $7 billion. French intelligence officers discovered this plan shortly after the current rebellion began, and this was one of the factors that influenced President Nicolas Sarkozy’s decision to commit France to the attack on Libya.)

    Though this internal email aims to summarize the motivating factors driving France’s (and by implication NATO’s) intervention in Libya, it is interesting to note that saving civilian lives is conspicuously absent from the briefing.

    Instead, the great fear reported is that Libya might lead North Africa into a high degree of economic independence with a new pan-African currency.

    French intelligence “discovered” a Libyan initiative to freely compete with European currency through a local alternative, and this had to be subverted through military aggression.

    Il me semble avoir vu/mis il y a très longtemps sur Seenthis quelque chose qui parlait déjà de cela. Encore un grand chapitre de la (non)intervention de la diplomatie militaire française...

    #libye

  • As Trump prepared for Riyadh visit, Saudis blocked U.S. on terrorist sanctions - The Washington Post

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/as-trump-prepared-for-riyadh-visit-saudis-blocked-us-on-terrorist-sanctions/2017/05/19/3a91eedc-3cd4-11e7-a058-ddbb23c75d82_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table

    By Joby Warrick May 20 at 3:42 PM
    Saudi Arabia, the oil-rich kingdom touted by President Trump as a key ally in the fight against the Islamic State, has helped block a Trump administration proposal to impose sanctions against a Saudi branch of the terrorist group, documents show.

    The plan to add the Islamic State’s Saudi affiliate to a U.N. list of terrorist groups was quietly killed two weeks ago in a bureaucratic maneuver at the U.N. Security Council, records show. U.S. officials familiar with the move said the Saudis objected to the public acknowledgment of the existence of a separate Saudi offshoot of the terrorist group inside the kingdom.

    [Read the letters blocking the U.N. proposal to add ISIS in Saudi Arabia to the terror list]

    “They don’t want to admit they have an issue in their back yard,” said a U.S official familiar with the events, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy.

    The news of the maneuver comes as Saudi Arabia hosts Trump in Riyadh in his first visit to a foreign capital since becoming president. U.S. and Saudi officials are expected to use the visit to underscore close cooperation between the two countries in battling Islamist extremist groups. Riyadh has contributed money, arms and fighter jets to the international coalition fighting the Islamic State in Syria.

    #OEI #ArabieSaoudite #Etats-Unis

  • Putin’s Response Options To U.S. Cyber Attack
    https://medium.com/@jeffreycarr/putins-response-options-to-u-s-cyber-attack-ad7dd4ab72ee

    Under international law, Russia could pursue remedies at the U.N. Security Council and the International Court of Justice, or it could respond with countermeasures proportionate to whatever action the U.S. takes.

    No one knows what Russia’s actual cyber capabilities are, but based upon the quality of their scientific universities and the world-wide respect garnered by their computer science engineers, they certainly are superior to the Keystone Cops antics of Fancy Bear, Cozy Bear, and Guccifer 2.0.

    We already have enough real problems with Russia in Syria and Ukraine. Someone, maybe Russian, has embarrassed the Democrats but there’s no hard proof as to who’s responsible. And the bottom line is that the DNC bears at least some of that responsibility no matter who attacked them.

    This decision by the White House to name the Russian government in the DNC hack and threaten them with a response is both inflammatory and irresponsible; especially when our entire U.S. network infrastructure is so vulnerable to retaliation by cyber means.

    #Russie #Etats-Unis

  • US ambassador ’outraged’ over South Sudan harassment
    https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-ambassador-outraged-over-south-sudan-harassment-143548818.html

    JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, says she is “outraged” that South Sudan’s government has harassed civil rights activists who met with a U.N. Security Council delegation during a visit to the young nation.

    Power said in a statement issued Saturday that the delegation observed “chilling” living conditions for civilians trapped in the ongoing conflict between the government and rebel forces. She says the South Sudanese government should elevate, not suppress, the voices of activists “who organize peacefully and provide constructive criticism.”

    She says the Security Council is “engaging directly with the government of South Sudan to underscore that intimidation and threats toward civil society must cease immediately.”

    #étranges #indignations et #aveuglement des #Etats-Unis
    https://seenthis.net/messages/524012

    #Sud-Soudan

  • Australian Navy says seizes huge weapons cache headed for Somalia | Top News | Reuters
    http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFKCN0W919M

    An Australian Navy ship has seized a huge cache of weapons near Oman’s coast from a fishing vessel bound for Somalia, the navy said on Monday, exposing a possible violation of a U.N. Security Council arms embargo.

    The United Nations has a decades-long arms embargo in place against Somalia, which has been mired in conflict since civil war broke out in 1991.

    The Australian navy, which patrols waters around the Indian Ocean as part of an international maritime force, said it had seized nearly 2,000 AK-47 rifles, 100 rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 49 PKM machine guns, 39 PKM spare barrels and 20 mortar tubes from the fishing vessel.

    The weapons were seized under United Nations sanctions, which authorise interdiction on the high seas of illicit weapons destined for Somalia,” the navy said in a statement.
    […]
    The navy said personnel from HMAS Darwin had boarded the fishing vessel about 170 nautical miles (313 km) off the coast of Oman to verify which flag it was sailing under and they determined that it was stateless.

  • China orders ’blacklist’ of 31 North Korean vessels : document | Reuters
    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-nuclear-sanctions-china-idUSKCN0W61PI

    Chinese maritime authorities must “blacklist” 31 boats operated by a North Korean firm that came under U.N. Security Council sanctions this week, according to a Ministry of Transport document reviewed by a signal that China is enforcing tough new curbs aimed at Pyongyang’s banned nuclear program.

    The notice, dated March 3, says maritime safety agencies must “urgently” determine whether 31 vessels belonging to Ocean Maritime Management Co (OMM) are in Chinese harbors or waters, and notify the ministry.

    The latest U.N. sanctions, drafted by the United States and China, blacklist the vessels. The ministry’s notice says authorities must not allow the vessels to enter Chinese harbors, adding the measures were part of the “exceedingly sensitive” work of enforcing the U.N. sanctions.
    […]
    Authorities this week also restricted how many vehicles could cross into North Korea each day via a bridge to the coastal Chinese city of Dandong, from 300-400 earlier to about 100, shopkeepers there said - a sign that sanctions are having some early impact.

  • L’exigence du jour de l’« opposition syrienne » avant d’accepter de (peut-être) négocier :
    http://www.boursorama.com/actualites/syrie-l-opposition-accepte-une-treve-si-les-raids-russes-cessent-sce-9d7

    Une autre condition de cette trêve serait que le Front al Nosra, la branche syrienne d’Al Qaïda, ne soit pas visé, ce qui fait l’objet de discussions entre Américains et Russie, indique-t-on.

    Ça va mieux en le disant.

    En revanche, je suis un peu lent : il y a des « discussions entre Américains et Russie » pour savoir si Al Qaïda est suffisamment « mainstream » pour ne plus être « visé » ?

    MàJ : @souriyam ci-dessous confirme avec le Washington Post qu’il s’agit bel et bien d’une (invraisemblable) demande américaine :

    …a U.S. proposal to leave Jabhat al-Nusra off-limits to bombing as part of a cease-fire

    #ça_commence_à_en_faire_des_conditions

    • Nous y revoilà. Mais maintenant de manière claire et explicite.
      Même Romain Caillet a compris, c’est dire !
      https://twitter.com/RomainCaillet/status/701041480576712705

      #LT Sur le terrain l’opposition est mélangée avec #JAN, donc une séparation physique entraînerait fatalement des conflits territoriaux.

      https://twitter.com/RomainCaillet/status/701040270964559873

      L’opposition modérée n’a que 3 options : refuser la trêve, l’accepter en y incluant #JAN ou combattre JAN avec le soutien russe et US.

    • http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-opposition-agrees-two-three-week-truce-russia-115934065.html

      A source close to peace talks earlier on Saturday told Reuters Syria’s opposition had agreed to a two- to three-week truce.
      The truce would be renewable and supported by all parties except Islamic State, the source said. It would also be conditional on the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front no longer being targeted, at least to start with, the source said.
      The Nusra Front is considered a terrorist organization by the U.N. Security Council and banned.
      Asked if the opposition’s insistence on the Nusra Front no longer being targeted was the main stumbling block, he described it as “the elephant in the room” .
      "They have to deal with this very delicately or they are going to end up with a civil war in Idlib on their hands," the source said.

    • Sur le fait que les Américains auraient appuyé cette demande de l’opposition de Ryadh de faire bénéficier al-Nusra d’une trêve, la chose est rapportée par le Washington Post :
      https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/russia-says-international-meeting-for-syria-cease-fire-cancelled/2016/02/19/47179aac-d692-11e5-a65b-587e721fb231_story.html

      Jabhat al-Nusra, whose forces are intermingled with moderate rebel groups in the northwest near the Turkish border, is particularly problematic. Russia was said to have rejected a U.S. proposal to leave Jabhat al-Nusra off-limits to bombing as part of a cease-fire, at least temporarily, until the groups can be sorted out .

      Pas de déclaration officielle, hors les discussions off the record entre Américains et Russes.

    • Merci @souriyam

      Marrant de constater à nouveau que (spontanément) on obtient la même « analyse » d’experts (risque de conflit ouvert entre Al Qaeda et « les rebelles », alors la « coalition » serait « obligée » d’éviter de heurter les sentiments de JAN…). Narrative qui a l’avantage de préserver l’idée qu’il y aurait une rébellion fondamentalement différente d’Al Qaeda et qu’il pourrait réellement y avoir une « guerre civile » entre eux, et que l’opposition-syrienne-de-Riyad aurait réellement une influence sur une rébellitude « modérée » sur le terrain.

      L’idée que grosso modo, côté rébellitude, s’il est si important de protéger Al Qaeda, c’est tout simplement parce qu’il y a belle lurette que c’est al-Nousra qui fait du bon boulot sur le terrain pour le compte de nos amis, cette idée est-elle si hérétique ? :-))

  • U.N. Envoy Signals That Riyadh Is Obstructing Syria Peace Talks
    http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/01/20/u-n-envoy-signals-that-riyadh-is-obstructing-syria-peace-talks

    In a barely veiled swipe at one of the Middle East’s leading powers, the United Nations’ special envoy for Syria accused Saudi Arabia of undermining his efforts to bring a broad slate of Syrian opposition groups to upcoming peace talks designed to end Syria’s brutal civil war.

    In his confidential Jan. 18 briefing to the U.N. Security Council, which was obtained exclusively by Foreign Policy, Staffan de Mistura said Riyadh is complicating his efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the Syrian conflict by trying to tightly control which opposition groups will be allowed to participate in the negotiations.

    • Comme le rappelle Christian Chesnot sur Twitter, la France soutient la position saoudienne, mais la résolution 2254 mentionne les réunions de Moscou et du Caire :
      http://www.veteranstoday.com/2015/12/20/un-security-council-resolution-2254-actual-full-text

      “Bearing in mind the goal to bring together the broadest possible spectrum of the opposition, chosen by Syrians, who will decide their negotiation representatives and define their negotiation positions so as to enable the political process to begin, taking note of the meetings in Moscow and Cairo and other initiatives to this end, and noting in particular the usefulness of the meeting in Riyadh on 9-11 December 2015, whose outcomes contribute to the preparation of negotiations under UN auspices on a political settlement of the conflict, in accordance with the Geneva Communique and the “Vienna Statements”, and looking forward to the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Syria finalizing efforts to this end,

  • Les 9 poins d’accord des participants à la réunion de Vienne sur la Syrie, tels qu’ils apparaissent dans le communiqué final :
    http://eeas.europa.eu/statements-eeas/2015/151030_06.htm

    Meeting in Vienna, on October 30, 2015, China, Egypt, the EU, France, Germany, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United Nations, and the United States [“the participants”] came together to discuss the grave situation in Syria and how to bring about an end to the violence as soon as possible.

    The participants had a frank and constructive discussion, covering major issues. While substantial differences remain among the participants, they reached a mutual understanding on the following:

    1. Syria’s unity, independence, territorial integrity, and secular character are fundamental.
    2. State institutions will remain intact.
    3. The rights of all Syrians, regardless of ethnicity or religious denomination, must be protected.
    4. It is imperative to accelerate all diplomatic efforts to end the war.
    5. Humanitarian access will be ensured throughout the territory of Syria, and the participants will increase support for internally displaced persons, refugees, and their host countries.
    6. Da’esh, and other terrorist groups, as designated by the U.N. Security Council, and further, as agreed by the participants, must be defeated.
    7. Pursuant to the 2012 Geneva Communique and U.N. Security Council Resolution 2118, the participants invited the U.N. to convene representatives of the Government of Syria and the Syrian opposition for a political process leading to credible, inclusive, non-sectarian governance, followed by a new constitution and elections. These elections must be administered under U.N. supervision to the satisfaction of the governance and to the highest international standards of transparency and accountability, free and fair, with all Syrians, including the diaspora, eligible to participate.
    8. This political process will be Syrian led and Syrian owned, and the Syrian people will decide the future of Syria.
    9. The participants together with the United Nations will explore modalities for, and implementation of, a nationwide ceasefire to be initiated on a date certain and in parallel with this renewed political process.

    The participants will spend the coming days working to narrow remaining areas of disagreement, and build on areas of agreement. Ministers will reconvene within two weeks to continue these discussions.

  • Élément de langage à utiliser quand tu parles de la relation entre l’Arabie séoudite et les États-Unis : obviously
    https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/09/03/press-call-ben-rhodes-deputy-national-security-advisor-strategic

    MR. PRESCOTT: […] Obviously, the relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia is longstanding and deep and broad, and we expect the two leaders will have a lot to talk about in their meeting.

    […] Obviously, as Ben mentioned, we expect the President will — and the King will want to talk about the conclusion of the Iran negotiations and the Iran deal. We’ve obviously been consulting closely with our partners in Saudi Arabia […]

    […]

    So we’ll be expecting the two leaders to discuss, obviously, our approaches to these issues and others, […]

    Obviously, the meeting later this week will be a good opportunity for the President and King Salman to review the work […]

    And obviously, Secretary of State John Kerry has been in the region meeting with his Gulf counterparts in recent weeks. […]

    Obviously, throughout these efforts, we’ve been looking to support Saudi efforts to build their own capabilities […]

    […] We obviously don’t agree on every detail of our respective policy approaches, but when we do disagree, we discuss these issues frankly and directly, and seek ways to bridge gaps and work towards shared goals.

    […]

    MR. PRESCOTT: Well, Ben, I would just add one additional note, which is to say this is a conversation that is not merely something that began — obviously been a feature of our longstanding security cooperation.

    […]

    MR. RHODES: […]There are obviously many different Saudi defense capabilities and relationships to U.S. contractors that are ongoing.

    […]

    MR. PRESCOTT: […] We all need to continue to work towards reaching a political solution based on the GCC Initiative, which, of course, includes the Saudis, the outcomes of the Yemeni national dialogue, and, obviously, relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions, including U.N. Security Council Resolution 2216.

    […] So I think the President and the King will have an opportunity to obviously discuss this issue in depth.

    […]

    MR. RHODES: […] On your second question, Saudi Arabia has obviously been a part of the counter-ISIL coalition that includes taking direct action in Syria against ISIL targets. […]

    Il me semble assez transparent que, si tu ressens autant le besoin de répéter « évidemment » dans chaque phrase, c’est que les choses ne sont pas du tout aussi… évidentes.

  • Palestinian statehood resolution fails at U.N council, U.S. votes against - Reuters

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/31/us-mideast-palestinians-un-idUSKBN0K81CR20141231

    The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday rejected a Palestinian resolution calling for an Israeli withdrawal from the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem and the establishment of a Palestinian state by late 2017.

    The resolution called for negotiations to be based on territorial lines that existed before Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East war. It also called for a peace deal within 12 months.

    Even if the draft had received the minimum nine votes in favor, it would have been defeated by Washington’s vote against it. The United States is one of the five veto-wielding permanent members.

    There were eight votes in favor, including France, Russia and China, two against and five abstentions, among them Britain. Australia joined the United States in voting against the measure.

    U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power defended Washington’s position against the draft in a speech to the 15-nation council by saying it was not a vote against peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

    “The United States every day searches for new ways to take constructive steps to support the parties in making progress toward achieving a negotiated settlement,” she said. “The Security Council resolution put before us today is not one of those constructive steps.”

    She said the text was “deeply imbalanced” and contained “unconstructive deadlines that take no account of Israel’s legitimate security concerns.” To make matters worse, Power said, it “was put to a vote without a discussion or due consideration among council members.”

    She did not spare Israel either. “Today’s vote should not be interpreted as a victory for an unsustainable status quo,” Power said, adding that Washington would oppose actions by either side that undermined peace efforts, whether “in the form of settlement activity or imbalanced draft resolutions.”

    Jordanian Ambassador Dina Kawar, the sole Arab representative on the council, expressed regret that the resolution was voted down, while noting that she thought council members should have had more time to discuss the proposal.

    The defeat of the resolution was not surprising. Washington, council diplomats said, had made clear it did not want such a resolution put to a vote before Israel’s election in March.

    The Palestinians, the diplomats said, insisted on putting the resolution to a vote despite the fact that it was clear Washington would not let it pass. Their sudden announcement last weekend that Ramallah wanted a vote before the new year surprised Western delegations on the council.

    PALESTINIAN FRUSTRATION

    In order to pass, a resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes from the council’s five permanent members.

    The European and African camps were split in the vote. France and Luxembourg voted in favor of the resolution while Britain and Lithuania abstained. Among the Africans, Chad voted yes while Rwanda and Nigeria abstained.

    The Palestinians, frustrated by the lack of progress in peace talks, have sought to internationalize the issue by seeking U.N. membership and recognition of statehood via membership in international organizations.

    Palestinian observer Riyad Mansour thanked delegations that voted for the resolution, noting that lawmakers in a number of European countries have called for recognition of Palestine. He said it was time to end the “abhorrent Israeli occupation and impunity that has brought our people so much suffering.”

    “It is thus most regrettable that the Security Council remains paralyzed,” he said.

    Mansour added that the Palestinian leadership “must now consider its next steps.” The Palestinians have threatened to join the International Criminal Court, which they could then use as a forum to push for war crimes proceedings against Israel.

    In a brief statement, Israeli delegate Israel Nitzan said the Palestinians have found every possible opportunity to avoid direct negotiations and brought the council “a preposterous unilateral proposal.”

    “I have news for the Palestinians - you cannot agitate and provoke your way to a state,” he said.

    French Ambassador Francois Delattre said Paris would continue its efforts to get a resolution through the council that would help move peace efforts forward.

    “France regrets that it isn’t possible to reach a consensus today,” he said, noting that he voted for the resolution despite having reservations about its contents. “Our efforts must not stop here. It is our responsibility to try again.”

    An earlier Palestinian draft called for Jerusalem to be the shared capital of Israel and a Palestinian state. The draft that was voted on reverted to a harder line, saying only that East Jerusalem would be Palestine’s capital and calling for an end to Israeli settlement building.

    The Israeli government had said that a Security Council vote, following the collapse in April of U.S.-brokered talks on Palestinian statehood, would only deepen the conflict.

    Israel, which pulled troops and settlers out of the Gaza Strip in 2005, has said its eastern border would be indefensible if it withdrew completely from the West Bank.

  • The Islamic State Makes Electronic #Surveillance #Respectable Again
    BY COLUM LYNCH SEPTEMBER 24, 2014 - 08:07 AM
    http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/09/24/the_islamic_state_makes_electronic_surveillance_respectable_

    What a difference a year makes.

    Last September, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff captured the world’s mood when she opened the U.N. General Assembly with a withering rebuke of America’s massive electronic surveillance program.

    On Wednesday, President Barack Obama, fresh from ordering up airstrikes against Islamic extremists in Syria, will strike a different tone, calling on the international community to ramp up surveillance of legions of foreign jihadists fighting alongside the self-styled Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

    And he is likely to find a receptive audience.

    The U.N. Security Council is poised to endorse a U.S.-drafted resolution that would require governments to grant law enforcement authorities wider scope to monitor and suppress the travel and other activities of suspected local jihadists.

    (...)

    Human rights groups criticize the resolution pending before the U.N. and say Western governments are exaggerating ISIS’s threat, at least in the United States, and that the proposal could lead to racial profiling of Muslim communities.

    “[T]here is still more chance of dying from a mis-hit golf shot than from an ISIS attack in the United States,” said Richard Barrett, a counterterrorism analyst at the New York-based Soufan Group who previously tracked Islamic terrorists for the U.N. Security Council. Barrett said the U.S. resolution comes close to “cutting across civil liberties and individual rights.... I think the freedom to travel is a basic freedom.”

    He also predicted that the resolution’s warning to avoid racial profiling will be ignored.

    “I wouldn’t be surprised if most people with long beards and skullcaps will be taken out of line before the guy with the polo shirt.”

    Andrea Prasow, deputy Washington director at Human Rights Watch, said the proposal is “rampant” with potential due-process violations.

    “Nowhere does it articulate by what process would [suspects] be denied of their right to travel,” she said. And some provisions “promote the idea that people can be prosecuted for their thoughts and their beliefs, but not their actions. It does not articulate any actual criminal conduct as a prerequisite for detention.”

    Matthew Waxman, a Columbia University law professor, says the “huge debates” in Europe about excessive American espionage seem “to be muted now.” Whether that’s “because they were simply overtaken by the hotter issues of the day or whether internal discussion of the threat is actually suppressing some of the concerns about intelligence activities” is unclear.

  • Dans une lettre au Conseil de Sécurité, Ban Ki-moon indique que deux bidons que le gouvernement syrien affirme avoir saisis en zone rebelle contenaient bien du sarin.

    Two ’abandoned’ cylinders seized in Syria contained sarin - U.N.
    http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/07/us-syria-crisis-chemicalweapons-idUSKBN0FC1U420140707

    (Reuters) - Two cylinders reportedly seized by Syrian government troops in an area controlled by armed opposition groups contained deadly sarin, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a letter to the U.N. Security Council published on Monday.

    Ban said that on June 14, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) United Nations Joint Mission overseeing the destruction of Syria’s chemical stockpile analyzed the contents of the cylinders.

    “The Joint Mission confirmed that these contained sarin,” said Ban’s letter. The letter said the cylinders were “reportedly seized by the armed forces of the Syrian Arab Republic in August 2013 in an area reportedly under the control of armed opposition groups.”

    Pour l’instant, l’information n’a été reprise que par Press TV (Iran), Russia Today, le Daily Star libanais, DefenseOne et le Jerusalem Post :
    http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/07/08/370388/cylinders-found-by-syria-had-sarin
    http://rt.com/news/171076-two-sarin-barrels-found-syria
    http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Jul-08/263039-two-cylinders-seized-by-regime-held-sarin-un.ashx
    http://www.defenseone.com/threats/2014/07/un-says-syria-found-more-chemical-weapons/88183/?oref=d-skybox
    http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/UN-Two-abandoned-cylinders-seized-in-Syria-contained-sarin-361808

    C’est donc une information qui, assez clairement, n’intéresse pas grand monde.

  • Two cylinders seized by regime held sarin: U.N. | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR
    http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Jul-08/263039-two-cylinders-seized-by-regime-held-sarin-un.ashx#axzz36r337Tw0

    Two cylinders reportedly seized by Syrian government troops in an area controlled by armed opposition groups contained sarin, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a letter to the U.N. Security Council published Monday.

    Ban said that on June 14, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons United Nations Joint Mission overseeing the destruction of Syria’s chemical stockpile analyzed the contents of the cylinders.

    “The Joint Mission confirmed that these contained sarin,” said Ban’s letter. The letter said the cylinders were “reportedly seized by the armed forces of the Syrian Arab Republic in Aug. 2013 in an area reportedly under the control of armed opposition groups.”

  • U.N. Security Council unanimously approves Syria aid access resolution http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/22/us-syria-crisis-un-idUSBREA1L0OV20140222

    The U.N. Security Council achieved rare unity to act on Syria’s civil war on Saturday when Russia and China supported adoption of a resolution to boost aid access in Syria that threatens to take “further steps” in the case of non-compliance.

    […]

    The initial text was weakened during negotiations with references to the International Criminal Court and targeted sanctions removed. But other contentious points including a demand for an end to barrel bombs, a demand for cross-border access and the naming of besieged areas were included.

    • United Nations News Centre - Unanimously approved, Security Council resolution demands aid access in Syria
      http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=47204&Cr=Syria&Cr1=

      22 February 2014 – The United Nations Security Council today unanimously approved a resolution to boost humanitarian aid access in Syria, a move Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said can ease some civilian suffering, if it is implemented quickly and in good faith.

      Through Resolution 2139 (2014), the Council demanded “that all parties, in particular the Syrian authorities, promptly allow rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access for UN humanitarian agencies and their implementing partners, including across conflict lines and across borders”.

      The 15-member Council also called for an immediate end to all forms of violence in the country and strongly condemned the rise of Al Qaida-affiliated terror.

      Members insisted that all parties cease attacking civilians, including through the indiscriminate use of weapons in populated areas, such as shelling and aerial bombardment with barrel bombs, whose use has been condemned by senior UN officials.

  • The Hypocrisy of US #sanctions on #education
    http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/hypocrisy-us-sanctions-education

    Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice speaks after voting to affirm a U.N. Security Council resolution on Iran June 9, 2010 in New York City. (Photo: AFP). Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice speaks after voting to affirm a U.N. Security Council resolution on Iran June 9, 2010 in New York City. (Photo: AFP).

    Students living in Iran and Sudan who are enrolled in US-based online learning services, known as “MOOCs,” will now be forced to drop out, thanks to US sanctions.

    Marc Abizeid

    read (...)

    #Culture_&_Society #Articles #united_states