Monthly DPA Briefing
Today Council members will have their monthly briefing on emerging issues by the Department of Political Affairs head, B. Lynn Pascoe. It seems the briefing will focus largely on Yemen and Iraq. It is possible that other issues, particularly related to conflict prevention, may also be raised.
Among the issues that Pascoe is likely to cover in the briefing on Yemen are the 11 September GCC foreign ministers meeting on Yemen and the presidential decree signed by Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh empowering Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi to negotiate “a transfer mechanism” with the opposition. It seems that Council members may be interested in an assessment of whether Saleh’s decree represents a substantial breakthrough or not.
It is also possible that the Human Rights Council report on the visit of the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights to Yemen may come up.
It appears that Jamal Benomar, Special Adviser on Yemen, may return to Yemen later this week.
It seems that Iraq is on the agenda tomorrow mainly to remind the Council that it is still an issue. Pascoe is likely to cover the latest political developments in Iraq as well as the 11 August appointment of Mr. Martin Kobler of Germany as the Secretary-General’s new Special Representative for Iraq and Head of UNAMI. It appears that he is also likely to update the Council on UNAMI’s new security arrangements ahead of the expected withdrawal of the bulk of the remaining US troops by the end of 2011.
