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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 Tue 18 Jun 2013

Africa

• Mali says reaches deal with Tuareg rebels. Mediators, including delegates from the European Union and the UN, have worked round the clock to salvage the ceasefire deal and said a week ago that both parties had reached an agreement in principle, but Mali's interim President Dioncounda Traore then balked at a draft deal imposing conditions on the army's return to Kidal and sent government representatives back to the negotiating table. The interim accord was expected to be signed at 1530 GMT. (Reuters)
• West Africa piracy overtakes Somali ship attacks. Piracy off the coast of West Africa has now overtaken Somali piracy, a report by the International Maritime Bureau and other seafarers' groups says. The report, entitled The Human Cost of Maritime Piracy 2012, was released by the International Maritime Bureau, the Oceans Beyond Piracy project and the Maritime Piracy Humanitarian Response Programme. It says 966 sailors were attacked in West Africa in 2012, compared with 851 off the Somali coast. West African pirates mostly steal fuel cargo and the crews' possessions, often resorting to extreme violence. Five of the 206 hostages seized last year off West Africa have been killed, the document says.(BBC)
• Libya to try Gaddafi son in August. The trial Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, Abdullah al-Senoussi and ex-premier al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi, along with ex-spokesman Milad Daman, will be tried for crimes committed during late dictator Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year rule and during the eight-month civil war that deposed him. ICC judges ruled that Libya will not be able to give Saif al-Islam a fair trial, but last week Libya appealed the ICC order to try him in The Hague and asked for the suspension of its order to hand him over the ICC. (Al Jazeera)
• ICC suspect placed at scene of Darfur crimes. A militia leader wanted for war crimes by the ICC is suspected of playing a role in the destruction of villages in Sudan, Human Rights Watch said on 18 June. The rights organization in an early June report said witnesses to an April raid in the Um Dukhun region of Darfur put former militia leader and police commander Ali Kosheib at the scene of alleged crimes against humanity. He's wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes committed in Darfur from 2003 to 2004. The group said on 18 June its review of satellite images of the area confirm "the wholesale destruction" of villages in the region. Human Rights Watch said villagers who fled the attack accused Kosheib of leading the assault. (UPI)

Middle East

• G8 calls for urgent Syria peace conference. Leaders of the world's most powerful nations have strongly endorsed calls for a peace conference on the Syria conflict "as soon as possible", but failed to mention the fate of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a final communique. The G8 also called for an agreement on a Syrian transitional government "formed by mutual consent", and said the military and security services "must be preserved and restored" in a future set-up. "We strongly endorse the decision to hold as soon as possible the Geneva conference on Syria," the final communique of the summit said. (Al Jazeera)
• Twin attacks kill 29 in Iraq. Iraqi officials say a double-suicide bombing at a Shi'ite mosque in Baghdad killed at least 29 people and wounded 52 others. Tuesday's coordinated blasts struck after midday prayers in the Iraqi capital's northern al-Qahira district. The first bomber detonated his charge at a checkpoint near the mosque and minutes later a second person blew himself up inside the building. (VOA)

Justice and Criminal Accountability

• Kenya's Ruto 'partially exempt' from attending his ICC trial. The court said it had partially granted Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto's request to participate in the trial via video link to accommodate the demanding functions of his office. The ICC ruled Ruto, who is accused of crimes against humanity, would have to attend the opening and closing statements of all parties and participants, when victims present their views and concerns in person during the trial, as well as the delivery of the judgment and, if applicable, sentencing. (BBC)

Asia

• Afghan troops take lead on security nationwide, leaving NATO in supporting role. Afghan forces have taken over the lead from the U.S.-led NATO coalition for security nationwide, President Hamid Karzai announced on 18 June in a significant milestone in the 12-year war. The announcement came amid a grim reminder of Afghanistan's daily violence. A few miles from where Karzai was speaking a bomb targeted a prominent lawmaker, missed him but killed three civilians. (Associated Press)
• US to meet with Taliban for talks to end Afghanistan War. Representatives from the United States and the Taliban will meet in the coming days for their first formal talks to try to find a peaceful settlement to the war in Afghanistan, senior US government officials said on 18 June. Speaking on the condition of anonymity during a background briefing, the senior officials from US President Barack Obama's administration said the meeting will take place at the Taliban's new office in Doha, Qatar. The office is being opened to negotiate directly with the Afghan government, the officials said. (RIA Novosti)

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