Noon briefing of 12 October 2010

GENERAL ASSEMBLY ELECTS FIVE NEW MEMBERS TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL

• The General Assembly today voted on the five incoming members of the Security Council, who will serve two-year terms beginning in 2011.
  

• The incoming members are Colombia, India, Germany, Portugal and South Africa. They will replace Austria, Japan, Mexico, Turkey and Uganda, whose two-year terms expire at the end of this year.

SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON UNVEILS PORTRAIT OF FORMER SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN

• Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today unveiled of the UN portrait of his predecessor, Kofi Annan.
  

• The Secretary-General said that the painting, by artist John Keane, is a fitting tribute to the wisdom and grace that Kofi Annan showed throughout his long and distinguished career.

SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR WEST AFRICA TRAVELS TO GUINEA

• The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa, Said Djinnit, will travel to Guinea on Thursday to extend UN support to the efforts to create the conditions for a peaceful second round of presidential elections, which is now planned for 24 October. Djinnit will meet with Interim President Sékouba Konaté and the two candidates in the presidential election runoff.
  

• After Conakry, Djinnit will travel to Abuja where he will meet on Thursday with the President of the ECOWAS Commission to discuss Guinea and other regional issues.

U.N. POLICE ADVISER IN TIMOR-LESTE FOR ASSESSMENT OF RESUMPTION OF POLICING BY TIMORESE POLICE

• United Nations Police Adviser Ann-Marie Orler arrived in Timor-Leste today for a 5-day official visit aimed at getting a first-hand assessment of the resumption of policing by the Timorese national police.
  

• During the visit, she is set to meet with the country’s political leaders, Government authorities and international and local police officials.
  

• Later this week she will take a field trip to the districts of Baucau and Liquica, to see how the Polícia Nacional de Timor-Leste (PNTL) has resumed executive policing authority in certain districts from UN Police, as part of an ongoing handover process.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

SUDAN REFERENDA SHOULD REMAIN ON TRACK: Asked about the referenda in Sudan, the Spokesperson reiterated the importance of staying on track, in line with the communiqué issued following the high-level meeting on Sudan at UN Headquarters last month.

SECRETARY-GENERAL INTENDS TO VISIT THAILAND: The Spokesperson confirmed that the Secretary-General intends to visit Thailand soon. An announcement will be made in due course.

* The guest today was Radhika Coomaraswamy, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.