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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 Thu 23 May 2013

Middle East

• Palestine urges Council to end "provocations" by Israel. Palestine's Permanent Observer to the UN, Riyad Mansour, has said that during the last two weeks, Palestine has sent four letters to the President of the Council "about the illegal policies and practices of the Israeli occupying power, particularly in and around occupied East Jerusalem, especially with regard to the provocation against Palestinian Christian clergymen and also Palestinian Muslims." (Xinhua)
• Five dead in Lebanon clash of Assad foes, backers. Opponents and supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad traded heavy machine gun fire and mortar shells in the Lebanese port city of Tripoli, leaving five people dead in what was described as some of the heaviest fighting there in years, officials said Thursday. The latest overnight deaths brought to 16 the number of people killed in clashes there this week, and the overall number of wounded rose to 190. (AP)
• Gunmen kill seven Iraqi soldiers in worsening conflict. Seven Iraqi soldiers were killed in clashes with gunmen on Thursday, police and hospital sources said, as fears mount that Iraq might slide back into bloody sectarian strife. More than 300 people have been killed in violence over the past week. More than 700 died in April, according to the UN, the highest monthly toll in almost five years. (Reuters)
• Hezbollah 'perpetuating Assad's campaign of terror', says Kerry. US Secretary of State John Kerry has said the militant Lebanese Shia Islamist group Hezbollah and Iran are helping perpetuate President Bashar al-Assad's "campaign of terror" in Syria. Kerry said thousands of Hezbollah fighters were contributing significantly to the violence. He added that Iran was actively supporting Hezbollah's involvement. (BBC)

Africa

• Council extends peacebuilding mandate in Guinea-Bissau for another year. The Security Council on Wednesday extended the mandate of its peacebuilding office in Guinea-Bissau, also known as UNIOGBIS, until 31 May 2014. In a resolution, the Council "condemns the violations and abuses of human rights, including political and civil rights" in the West African country, and "urges the Guinea-Bissau authorities to take all necessary measures to protect human rights, put an end to impunity, (and) initiate investigations to identify the perpetrators of such acts." (Xinhua)
• M23 rebels declare truce for Ban Ki-moon DRC visit. M23 rebels in eastern DRC have declared a ceasefire for UN chief Ban Ki-moon's visit to the conflict-hit area, a spokesman for the group says. Ban has arrived in the regional capital Goma, where one person was killed in a rocket attack on Wednesday. Ban said he was deeply concerned by the renewed fighting. Earlier, the World Bank unveiled a $1bn aid package to help DR Congo and its neighbours. (BBC)
• Islamists kill 20 in suicide attacks in Niger. Islamist suicide bombers struck a barracks and a French-run uranium mine in Niger on Thursday, officials said, killing 20 people and wounding dozens in attacks that showed armed unrest spreading across West Africa. In Agadez, the largest town in northern Niger, at least 20 soldiers were killed and 16 injured when suicide bombers attacked a barracks at dawn, Defense Minister Mahamadou Karidjo told state radio. Three Islamists were also killed. (Reuters)

Asia

• Taliban claim bomb in southwest Pakistan that kills 13. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility on Thursday for a bomb that killed 11 security personnel and two civilians in the southwestern city of Quetta. Sixteen people were wounded in the attack in the capital of Baluchistan province, and the death toll could rise, police said. The bomb was planted in a three-wheeled auto-rickshaw and blew up as a truck carrying the security men passed by. (Reuters)

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