Security Council – Work assessment under Mali presidency (Dec 2001) – Letter from Mali (excerpts)

Letter dated 8 February 2002 from the Chargé d’affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission

of Mali to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council

I have the honour to transmit herewith the final version of the assessment of the work of the Security Council during the Mali Presidency, in December 2001 (see annex).

I should be grateful if you would have the text of the present letter and its annex circulated as a document of the Security Council.

(Signed ) Cheickna Keita
Chargé d’affaires a.i.

Annex to the letter dated 8 February 2002 from the Chargé d’affaires a.i. of

the Permanent Mission of Mali to the United Nations

addressed to the President of the Security Council

[Original: English/French]

Assessment of the work of the Security Council

during the presidency of Mali (December 2001)

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 The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question

  In December, the Council continued its active monitoring of the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, in the light of the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.

  On 13 December, the Permanent Representative of Egypt, Chairman of the Group of Arab States, in a letter addressed to the President of the Security Council, requested “the convening of an immediate meeting of the Security Council to consider the extremely dangerous situation in the occupied Palestinian territory and take the necessary action in that regard” (S/2001/1191).

  On that same date, in another letter addressed to the President of the Security Council, the representatives of Egypt and Tunisia transmitted a draft resolution for expeditious action by the Council.

  On 13 and 14 December, Security Council members engaged in intense informal consultations on that draft resolution, by which, inter alia, the Council demanded the immediate cessation of all acts of violence, provocation and destruction and called on the two sides to start the comprehensive and immediate implementation of the recommendations contained in the report of the Sharm El-Sheikh Fact-finding Committee (Mitchell report); and encouraged all concerned to establish a monitoring mechanism to help the parties implement the recommendations contained in the Mitchell report and to help create a better situation on the ground in the occupied Palestinian territories.

  On 14 December, in the absence of a consensus among Council members, the text was issued provisionally at the sponsors’ request (S/2001/1199).

  On that same day, the Security Council, at the request of the Group of Arab States, held an urgent meeting during which it considered the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question (see S/PV.4438).

  At the conclusion of the meeting, the text contained in document S/2001/1199 was put to a vote. The result of the vote was 12 in favour, 1 against and 2 abstentions. The draft resolution was not adopted because of the negative vote of a permanent member of the Security Council.

/…

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