Security Council – Work assessment under United Kingdom presidency (April 2007) – Letter from the United Kingdom (excerpts)

    Letter dated 14 May 2007 from the Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council

  I have the honour to enclose the assessment of the work of the Security Council during the presidency of the United Kingdom in April 2007 (see annex). This has been prepared under my own responsibility, following consultations with other Council members.

  I should be grateful if this letter and its annex could be circulated as a document of the Security Council.

(Signed) Emyr Jones Parry

Permanent Representative

    Annex to the letter dated 14 May 2007 from the Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council

    Assessment of the work of the Security Council during the presidency of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and

Northern Ireland (April 2007)

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   Asia

    The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question

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  On 25 April, the Security Council held a debate on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. The Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Kim Howells, MP, presided over the debate, in which representatives of the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine, Israel, Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic also participated. The Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, B. Lynn Pascoe, briefed the Security Council on the mostly positive evolution in the situation, but cautioned against the threat to the process from the deteriorating security situation. He welcomed recent positive developments, including the meetings between the Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert, and the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, and the reaffirmation of the Arab peace initiative by the League of Arab States and the formation of a ministerial committee by the League of Arab States to further this initiative. He called for the release of BBC journalist Alan Johnston and for both sides to take steps to calm the situation. The Council members spoke of the current momentum in the process and welcomed the Arab peace initiative. They reiterated the importance of national dialogue in Lebanon.

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