The UN Security Council deadline for Sudan and South Sudan to negotiate a peace agreement has passes, as extra time is granted to further develop negotiations. France’s UN ambassador and current president of the Security Council, Gerard Araud, said, “clearly Sudan and South Sudan have not fulfilled all the conditions laid down, although progress has been achieved.” The Security Council passed a resolution in May, giving the 2 states, who were at that time on the brink of war, 3 months to resolve their issues. The resolution allowed for the consideration of sanctions if a peace accord was not...
The United Nations General Assembly has passed a resolution condemning the Syrian government’s use of heavy weaponry as it battles against rebel forces, in the midst of Kofi Annan stepping down as the UN and Arab League negotiator for Syria. The resolution passed earlier on Friday also goes on to condemn the UN Security Council for failing to make Syria comply with earlier UN decisions. It was passed by 133 votes to 12, with 31 abstentions. Russia voted "no" on Friday along with China, Syria, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Belarus, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Burma, Zimbabwe and Venezuela. India and...
Colonel Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam said he wants to be transferred to The Hague to face trial. "I am not afraid to die but if you execute me after such a trial you should just call it murder and be done with it," Saif al-Islam said according to documents submitted to the ICC by his lawyers. He has already been indicted by the ICC for crimes against humanity, but Libya has refused to hand him over till now. The Libyan interim government argues he should face justice in his own country for the crimes that he is suspected of committing. Saif al-Islam’s father is thought to have been killed by...
US President Obama, has signed a secret order authorising 'intelligence finding' assistance by the CIA and other agencies to the Syrian rebels, reports the Reuters news agency. According Reuters the exact extent of assistance remains unclear, however, it will not include giving the rebels arms. White House spokesperson, Tommy Vietor reportedly declined to comment. A US government source, told Reuters, that the US was colloborating with a 'secret command centre' in Turkey. The report comes as the US State Department set aside $25 million for 'non-lethal assistance' to the Syrian rebels.
US officials earlier dismissed reports that claimed US President Barack Obama had signed a secret order to send aid to Syrian rebels, currently fighting against President Assad’s regime. Whilst White House Press Secretary Jay Carney did not deny that aid was being supplied to the rebels, he stressed that the only assistance being provided was non lethal, stating , “We do not believe that adding to the number of weapons in Syria is what is needed to help bring about a peaceful transition,” The State Department also confirmed that $25 million was allocated for non-lethal assistance, mainly...
The Indian government has announced it will allow investment from Pakistani citizens and companies in India. A press release by the commerce ministry said all foreign direct investment from Pakistan will need to be approved by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board. Investments cannot be made in defence, space or atomic energy. "It is a great decision... Now Pakistan should also implement the most favoured nation (MFN) trading status to India," Rajiv Kumar of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) told the state-run Doordarshan news channel. India has already...
A report by Human Rights Watch released earlier on Wednesday found that Myanmar troops shot at Muslims, committed rape and failed to protect Muslims from mobs during deadly ethnic clashes in June. Labelling the figure of around 80 dead from the violence as “grossly underestimated”, the New York-based human rights organisation also concluded that the forces "unleashed a campaign of violence and mass roundups against the Rohingya". The report, entitled “ The Government Could Have Stopped This ”, is based on 57 interviews with Rakhine Buddhists, Rohingya Muslims and others in both Myanmar and...
The United States has imposed fresh sanctions on Iran’s energy sector and some financial companies. President Obama said the existing sanctions had been made more difficult to evade “by making sanctionable the purchase or acquisition of Iranian petrochemical products". Iran has been trying to get around sanctions, including by using gold instead of cash as payment. Mr Obama added that the US remains committed to find a diplomatic solution but that it is Iran’s responsibility to meet international obligations. He said that firms dealing with the National Iranian Oil Company, the Naftiran...
South Sudan and Sudan are unlikely to reach an agreement before the UN deadline ends on Thursday. Despite recent talks, the two states failed to find common ground on key issues such as security and oil. Speaking to the Financial Times, Sabir Hassan, head of Sudan's economic negotiating team said, “We have made some progress on oil and other issues, but I don’t think we will reach conclusion or agreement before August 2.” The UN Security Council had warned of sanctions should the two states fail to follow a roadmap drawn out by the African Union. Hassan said, “We are wanting to see how they’...
Amnesty International held the Syrian government responsible for crimes against humanity in the largest city, Allepo and surrounding areas, in a report - ‘ All-Out Repression ’ - released on Wednesday. Despite the obstacles imposed by the Syrian authorities the report outlined that Amnesty had been able to independently investigate the allegations of human rights violations on the ground in Syria and had established that, “the Syrian government is responsible for widespread, as well as systematic violations amounting to crimes against humanity.” The report concluded: “it is manifestly evident that the Syrian government has no intention of ending, let alone investigating, these crimes.”