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About What's In Blue

When the Security Council approaches the final stage of negotiation of a draft resolution the text is printed in blue. What's in Blue is a regular feed of insights produced by Security Council Report on evolving Security Council decisions. It is designed to help interested readers at UN Missions keep up with what might soon be "in blue". These insights supplement the Monthly Forecasts and other reports from SCR.

What's in the news

posted on Fri 24 May 2013

Asia

• North Korea envoy meets Chinese President. A North Korean envoy visiting China has met President Xi Jinping and handed him a letter written by Kim Jong-un, Chinese state media has reported. The letter was handed over by the envoy, Vice Marshal Choe Ryong-hae. The contents of the letter were not disclosed, but North Korea said earlier that it was willing to take "positive action" to improve strained relations, which cooled after China supported tightened UN sanctions following North Korea's third nuclear test in February. (BBC)
• Taliban attack UN compound in Afghan capital. Taliban militants launched a coordinated attack on a UN compound in the center of the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Friday setting off explosions and battling the security forces. Kabul police chief Ayoub Salangi said four attackers had entered a UN compound. There was no information about anyone who had been inside the compound at the time of the attack. (Reuters)

Africa

• Africa backs Kenya's request to drop ICC Kenyatta case. African nations have backed a request by Kenya for charges of crimes against humanity by its president to be referred back to the east African country, AU documents show. One minister, who asked to remain anonymous, said that the AU specifically avoided calling on the war crimes tribunal to drop its prosecution, but he acknowledged that the request for a local process amounted to the same thing. (VOA)
• Darfur conflict displaces 300,000 in five months, says UN. Some 300,000 people have fled resurgent fighting in Sudan's Darfur region in the first five months of this year, the UN's top humanitarian official said. This was more than the number of people displaced there over the last two years put together, Valerie Amos said. As many as 1.4 million remain homeless after the decade-long conflict. (BBC)
• UN chief challenges African leaders over Congo. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is urging African leaders to implement a plan that the UN hopes will stabilise eastern Congo after years of turmoil. Ban told a news conference in Uganda that he expects regional leaders to find solutions as eastern Congo once again moves into another phase of hostilities sparked partly by the UN's deployment of new peacekeepers authorised to attack rebels. Ban said the force will be fully operational "in a matter of weeks." (AP)
• Death toll from Guinea opposition march rises to four. The official death toll from Thursday's clashes between Guinean opposition protesters and police and government supporters rose to four on Friday, meaning at least 22 people have now been killed in unrest since March. The government has denied accusations that opposition leaders were targeted by security forces and said the victims had been attacked by people on their own side. (Reuters)
• China 'offers troops' to UN Mali peacekeeping mission. China has offered soldiers to the new UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, UN officials say. Talks are underway, and more than 500 Chinese peacekeepers and engineers could potentially take part in the mission, according to UN officials. Around 6,000 African troops are currently in Mali providing security. (BBC)

Middle East

• Three al-Qaida members, 2 soldiers dead in Yemen clash. A security official says al-Qaida gunmen attacked a military position in a southern province, touching off fighting that left three militants and two soldiers dead. The official said the Friday attack in the mountainous al-Thalib region in the militant stronghold of al-Bayda province was repulsed, and nearby army positions responded with heavy artillery shelling. The official said the attack was part of an al-Qaida bid to take positions near Radda. (AP)
• Kerry, Lavrov to meet on Syria in Paris on Monday. US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet privately in Paris on Monday to discuss their efforts to bring Syria's warring parties to a peace conference, a US official said on Friday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the two men would "continue their conversation (from) Moscow," a reference to their 7 May agreement to try to get the Syrian government and opposition to discuss an end to the more than 2-year-old civil war. (Reuters)
• Russia says Syrian regime may take part in peace talks. The Syrian government has agreed "in principle" to attend a conference proposed by Russia and the US on ending the country's civil war, Russia's Foreign Ministry said Friday, the first confirmation that President Bashar Assad's regime would be willing to take part in the talks with the opposition. Damascus has not issued a definitive statement of its own on the proposed talks. (AP)

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