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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 17 May 2013

Africa

• UN chief appoints former Dutch minister to head Mali mission. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday appointed former Dutch development minister Albert Gerard Koenders as UN special envoy for Mali and head of the UN peacekeeping mission in the West African country. Ban said Aichatou Mindaoudou Souleymane of Niger would replace Koenders as head of the UN peacekeeping mission Côte d'Ivoire. Souleymane is currently deputy envoy for UNAMID. (Reuters)
• UN reinforces peacekeeping presence in Pibor town amid South Sudan violence. Additional peacekeepers are on alert to protect civilians in the town of Pibor in South Sudan's Jonglei state where the situation remains tense amid recent violence, looting and displacement, the Secretary-General's spokesperson today said. UNMISS said on 14 May that it is particularly alarmed by reports about the involvement in some of the incidents of "allegedly defected and ill-disciplined members of security forces". (All Africa via UN News)
• South Sudan Doctors Without Borders hospital ruined. The medical aid group Doctors Without Borders says one of its medical facilities located in a rural but violent region of South Sudan has been ransacked and destroyed. The group said Friday the attack leaves 100,000 people without medical care in South Sudan's Jonglei state. MSF did not blame a group for the attack. (AP)

Middle East

• Syria refugee total now more than 1.5 million, says UNHCR. The UN's refugee agency has said that more than 1.5 million people have fled the conflict in Syria. Most have fled to Jordan and Lebanon, but not have all been registered yet, meaning the true total is likely to be far higher, according to the UNHCR. It says some 4.25 million have been displaced within the country. (BBC)
• UN chief discusses Middle East peace with Israeli, Palestinian leaders. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in separate phone talks during the last two days, discussed the Middle East peace process with both Israeli and Palestinian leaders, a spokesman told reporters here on Thursday. During the talks, the Secretary-General strongly encouraged the ongoing efforts toward the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, and expressed his hope that they will lead to a substantial peace initiative soon. (Xinhua)
• Russia 'sends sophisticated weapons' to Syria. Russia has sent sophisticated anti-ship missiles to Syria, US media report. The New York Times quotes unnamed US officials as saying the missiles could be used to counter any potential future foreign military intervention in Syria. Without confirming details, Russia's foreign minister said Russian supplies did not break any international rules. (BBC)
• US has seen Syria chemical weapons evidence, says Obama. President Barack Obama has said the US has seen evidence of chemical weapons being used in Syria. However, speaking after meeting Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he insisted it was important to get more specific details about alleged chemical attacks. Earlier, residents of a north Syrian town told a reporter how government forces had dropped poisonous gas canisters on them from helicopters. (BBC)
• Iraq mosque and funeral hit by deadly blasts. At least 40 people have been killed and dozens injured by two attacks apparently targeting Sunnis in towns near the Iraqi capital. In the first attack, in Baquba, north of Baghdad, at least 30 people were killed by two bombs detonated outside a Sunni mosque. Later, police said at least seven people were killed by a bomb at a Sunni funeral in Madain, to the south. (BBC)
• Syria ex-minister leads rebuilding plan. A six-member UN team led by a former Syrian planning minister is drawing up a comprehensive postwar reconstruction plan even as the country's civil war rages on with no apparent end in sight. In a rare interview Abdullah al-Dardari said that more than two years of fighting have cost Syria at least $60 billion and caused the vital oil industry to crumble. A quarter of all homes have been destroyed or severely damaged, and much of the medical system is in ruins. (AP)

Asia

• Eleven insurgents killed in eastern Afghan operations. Eleven insurgents have been killed in military operations in eastern Afghan provinces within the last 24 hours, said the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) on Friday morning. The operations were conducted in Ghazni, Laghman, Nangarhar, Paktika and Wardak provinces, the release added. Afghan and ISAF officials use the term insurgents for referring to Taliban. (Xinhua)

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