The UN Security Council expressed concerned over the increasing violence between South Sudan and Sudan, deeming such violence to be " a serious threat to international peace and security ". In a statement released Thursday, the UN Security Council urged both states to establish a Safe Demilitarized Border Zone and initiate a Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism. Extracts reproduced below: "The Security Council expresses its deep and growing alarm by the escalating conflict between Sudan and South Sudan, as manifested most recently by the seizure and occupation of the town of Heglig and its oil fields in Sudan by the SPLA. The recent violence threatens to return both countries to full-scale war and the period of tragic loss of life and suffering, destroyed infrastructure, and economic devastation, which they have worked so hard and long to overcome."
British Prime Minister David Cameron has called for a suspension of EU sanctions on Burma, in recognition of its continuing democratic reforms, during the first visit by a British head of state since Burma’s independence in 1948. Mr Cameron was speaking in Rangoon, where he met President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The prime minister stressed that an arms embargo on Burma should remain in place but it was right to suspend – not lift – other sanctions. "[Burma] shouldn't be as poor as it is. It shouldn't have suffered under dictatorship for as long as it has, and things...
US President Barack Obama has approved an aid package for Syria's rebels, a US official said on Friday. The package will include communications equipment and medical supplies. "Consistent with our longstanding efforts to support the peaceful opposition in Syria, the US is providing non-lethal material assistance to the non-violent, political opposition," the official said. "It's likely deliveries of this assistance will increase over time." The aid package will include items requested by the opposition to help civilians in need and rebels to organise to fight the "brutality" of government...
India has overtaken China as the top customer of Iranian oil in data published by Geneva's Petrologistics. India imported 433,000 barrels per day in the first quarter, an increase of around 23% compared ot the same period in 2011. Meanwhile China has decreased its imports by 40.3%, buying only 256,000 barrels per day this quarter, reflecting tighter sanctions imposed on Iran by the EU and the US. India's minister of trade, Rahul Khullar, had previously commented that the sanctions presented India with an "opportunity". Khullar is reported to have said, “If Europe and the US want to stop...
A day before his historic visit to Burma, Prime Minister David Cameron has praised Burma’s progress in implementing democratic reforms and said the UK may ease sanctions on the country. Cameron said recent developments in Burma were welcome but he wanted to see the ground situation himself, to assess whether the progress was ‘irreversible’. " If Burma moves towards democracy then we should respond in kind, and we should not be slow in doing that. "But first I want to go and see for myself on the ground how things are going. "I hope that following my meetings I will have the confidence to go...
The first day of a tense cease fire in Syria has passed without major incidents. The UN is currently preparing a team of monitors to assess the situation on the ground and determine whether a full mission is possible. UN special envoy Kofi Annan said he was ‘encouraged’ but pointed out that Syria did not fully comply with the cease fire plan put forward by him. Syria still has not removed its troops and heavy weaponry from its cities, which was supposed to be completed by Tuesday. "All parties have obligations to implement fully the six-point plan. This includes both the military provisions...
The Syrian city of Homs faced further violence as the extended ceasefire deadline approaches. Opposition activists have said that at least 30 people were killed as the Assad regime launched furhter offensives on the city. The regime had previously assured the UN-Arab League envoy to the region, Kofi Annan, that they would "cease all military fighting throughout Syrian territory as of 06:00 (03:00 GMT), while reserving the right to respond proportionately to any attacks carried out by armed terrorist groups." Adding to the increasing cynicism expressed by foreign leaders , the US ambassador to...
As the Assad regime failed to put in place an agreed six-point plan towards a ceasefire by the agreed deadline of 10th April, today, the UN-Arab League envoy to the region, Kofi Annan, expressed grave concerns to the UN Security Council. Addressing Security Council members, Annan said, "The days before 10 April should have been an opportunity for the government of Syria to send a powerful political signal of peace, with action on all aspects of the six-point plan," he wrote in a report to the Security Council. "I am gravely concerned at the course of events." Extending the deadline by another...
Expressing scepticism at an extended ceasefire deadline given to the Assad regime , the UK Foreign Sectretary, William Hague, expressed further cyncism and warned that the regime would be held accountable. Hague said, “President Assad and his cronies should be under no doubt that they will be held to account for their actions ,” “There is no evidence so far that the Assad regime has any intention of adhering to any agreement it makes,” “We continue to support Kofi Annan’s efforts to implement the plan he set out. But if this process fails, Britain is ready to return to the UN Security Council...
The US announced plans to lift the travel ban on senior leaders from Myanmar, and ease sanctions on American investment in the country, on Wednesday. The United States Agency for International Development office will be reopened, paving the way to increased foreign assistance, and the first American ambassador to the country since 1990 will be named. The announcement came only days after elections brought Aung San Suu Kyi and her party into office after years of rule by military junta. Commenting on recent developments, US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton said, “The results of the April 1...