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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 21 May 2013

Asia

• Afghan forces in deadly battle with Taliban. A coordinated Taliban assault on checkpoints in southern Afghanistan has killed five police officers and 25 Taliban fighters, local officials have said. Omar Zwak, the provincial governor's spokesman, said that there were 500 to 1,000 Taliban fighters involved in fighting in Helmand province, which raged for 24 hours. However, ISAF issued a written statement which said that it had not seen anywhere near that number of Taliban fighters. (AJE)
• UN urges implementation of law on violence against women in Afghanistan. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and UN Women have urged Afghan authorities to step up their efforts to fully implement the law on the Elimination of Violence against Women, deputy UN spokesman Eduardo del Buey said. Jan Kubis, UNAMA head, noted that "progress in implementing the law to eliminate violence against women would help deter harmful practices and protect women from violence in their daily lives". (Xinhua)
• Seven Muslims jailed over violence in Burma's Meiktila. Seven Muslims have been jailed for their role in religious clashes in the Burmese town of Meiktila in March. One man was jailed for 34 years for killing a monk; the others received sentences ranging from two to 14 years for crimes including unlawful assembly and religious disrespect. At least 43 people, mostly Muslim, died in the violence that erupted after an argument at a Muslim-owned shop. (BBC)

Africa

• UN chief to visit African Great Lakes Region in support of peace deal. Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon, together with Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank, will visit the Great Lakes Region of Africa this week, with the purpose of promoting the implementation of a crucial peace accord, a spokesperson told reporters here Monday. Mary Robinson, the Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa, will join Ban and Kim in the visit. (Xinhua)
• Fifty-one die in 2 South Sudan clashes; army retakes town. Twenty-four people died in a battle between South Sudan's military and rebel fighters the government believes to be supported by neighbouring Sudan, while a cattle-raiding attack elsewhere in the country killed 27 people, officials said Monday. A battle in Jonglei state on Sunday killed 20 rebel fighters and four government troops, said Col. Philip Aguer. Aguer said the army recaptured the town of Boma, from rebels led by David Yau Yau who took over the town earlier this month. (AP)
• Militiamen attack gas complex in western Libya. A Libyan gas company official says militiamen have attacked a natural gas complex in the country's west, injuring two guards and stealing weapons and military vehicles. The official says the attack took place early Monday and targeted the Mellitah Oil and Gas complex near Zwara, about 110 km from the capital, Tripoli. The militiamen fled the site briefly after seizing weapons and equipment from the guards. (AP)
• Congolese army, rebels clash for a second day near Goma. The Congolese army clashed with rebel fighters near the eastern city of Goma for a second day on Tuesday, threatening an uneasy six-month peace in the region ahead of a scheduled visit by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon this week. Government forces and the M23 insurgents exchanged heavy weapons fire from early on Tuesday, with both sides reporting an unspecified number of dead and accusing the other of starting the clashes. (Reuters)

Middle East

• Hezbollah, Syrian army renew Qusair offensive. Lebanese Hezbollah fighters and Syrian soldiers, backed by air strikes and artillery, renewed an offensive aimed at driving Syrian rebels from the town of Qusair near the Lebanese border on Tuesday, opposition activists said. Hezbollah's role in the Qusair battle, its biggest military commitment yet in support of Assad, has prompted international alarm that Syria's civil war may spread to Lebanon and beyond. (Reuters)
• Fresh Iraq bombings kill at least 13. At least 13 people have been killed in new bomb attacks in Iraq, a day after a wave of bombings across the country left at least 70 people dead. Two car bombs hit the northern town of Tuz Khurmato, a device went off in a cattle market in Kirkuk, and a suicide bomber struck in the town of Tarmiyah. In the latest attacks, three people were killed when the bombs went off simultaneously in Tuz Khurmato, a town populated mainly by ethnic Turkmen. (BBC)
• Syria names negotiating team for peace talks. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has put forward names of five officials from his administration for internationally-sponsored peace talks with the Syrian opposition, EU diplomatic sources said on Tuesday. According to a second EU diplomat, Syria's opposition has already rejected some of the officials on the list because of their lack of influence. (Reuters)

Arms Control and Disarmament

• Iran acts to expand sensitive nuclear capacity, say diplomats. An IAEA report due this week is expected to show Iran further increasing its capacity to produce material that its adversaries fear could eventually be put to developing atomic bombs, Western diplomats said on Tuesday. But they said it is also likely to indicate that growth in Iran's most sensitive nuclear stockpile has been held back because some of it has been used for reactor fuel, potentially providing more time for diplomacy between Iran and major powers. (Reuters)

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