Mideast

6.5.2013
Visit

No consensus on visiting Syrian refugee camps in Jordan

The United Nations Security Council has failed to reach a consensus on a Jordanian proposal to send a delegation to inspect the Syrian refugee camps in Jordan, the President of the United Nations Security Council announced Monday.

6.5.2013
Airspace

Lebanon urges UNSC to condemn sovereignty violation by Israel

Lebanon has called on the U.N. Security Council to condemn violations of its airspace by Israel, which carried out raids in Syria to target what it said were Iranian missiles bound for Hezbollah militants.

6.5.2013
Air strikes

UN chief calls for maximum calm and restraint after reported Israeli air strikes in Syria

Ban Ki-moon is gravely concerned about reports of air strikes in Syria by the Israeli Air Force, according to a statement from his spokesperson, which stressed that the United Nations does not have details of the reported incidents nor is in a position to independently verify that they took place.

2.5.2013
UNAMI

April deadliest month in Iraq in five years

More people were killed and wounded in violent attacks across Iraq in April than in any month since June 2008, the United Nations mission in the country said today.

1.5.2013
Iraq

UN chief deeply concerned by violence throughout Iraq

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday expressed deep concern about the upsurge of violence throughout Iraq that has left many dead and hundreds injured over the past week.

29.4.2013
Peace

Israeli and Palestinian leaders must move beyond words and take concrete action on final status issues

Welcoming renewed international engagement in the Middle East peace process, Ban Ki-moon today said that building on that support required Israeli and Palestinian political leaders to “move beyond words” and tackle final status issues in a constructive spirit.

24.4.2013
Peace process

UN official urges Israeli-Palestinian progress

With a “grim” tragedy unfolding in Syria, the United Nations Political Chief told the Security Council today that at this moment of increased risk across the entire Middle East, rapid action was needed not only to address the impact of that crisis, but also to make progress on the Israeli-Palestinian front.

24.4.2013
International commitments

Méndez ‘deeply disappointed’ over Bahraini postponements of visit

An independent United Nations expert today urged the Government of Bahrain to honour its international commitments and allow him in to assess whether torture and ill-treatment are taking place in the country, after repeated postponements of planned visits.

22.4.2013
Yemen

UN Secretary General's Assistant leaves Sana’a

The UN Secretary General's Assistant for Civilian Capacities Sarah Cliffe left Sana’a on Monday after an official visit to Yemen lasting several days.

19.4.2013
Death penalty

Pillay condemns multiple executions in Iraq as ‘obscene’

The United Nations human rights chief today condemned the rampant use of the death penalty by the Iraqi Government, which executed 21 people earlier this week, stressing the country’s justice system is still not functioning adequately and should not carry out capital punishment at all.