Security Council – Work assessment under Italy presidency (December 2007) – Letter from Italy (excerpts)

Letter dated 18 January 2008 from the Permanent Representative of Italy 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 Italy in December 2007 (see annex). This assessment has been prepared under my own responsibility following consultations with other members of the Council.

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

(Signed) Marcello Spatafora

Annex to the letter dated 18 January 2008 from the Permanent Representative of Italy to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council

Assessment of the work of the Security Council during the presidency of Italy (December 2007)

Introduction

During the presidency of Italy in December 2007 the Security Council held 28 meetings, including three debates, one private debate, 10 briefings and two private meetings with troop-contributing countries. The Council held consultations of the whole on 17 occasions. The Council adopted eight resolutions and six presidential statements, and agreed on five statements to the press. Another six mandates were extended through five exchanges of letters between the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council and one note by the President of the Security Council. The Council produced one further note and five other operative letters of the President of the Security Council.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Italy, Massimo D’Alema, presided over the private debate on resolutions 1160 (1998), 1199 (1998), 1203 (1998), 1239 (1999) and 1244 (1999) and read out a presidential statement (S/PRST/2007/49) on the situation in Somalia on 19 December.

A list of the actions of the Security Council in December is appended to this assessment.

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Middle East

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The situation in the Middle East

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On 21 December, the Council heard a briefing by the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, B. Lynn Pascoe, on the situation in the Middle East. The briefing was followed by consultations of the whole. The Under-Secretary-General remarked on the latest developments in the peace process, stressing that, since the Annapolis conference, bilateral negotiations between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization had commenced and that strong international engagement had been reflected in a landmark donors’ conference, a Quartet meeting, and a meeting of the Quartet and members of the League of Arab States, all held in Paris on 17 December. At the same time, he stated that developments on the ground, including new settlement activity and ongoing violence, had been a cause of concern.

On Lebanon he stated that the presidential election continued to be the focus of negotiations among Lebanese political leaders, and that there appeared to be agreement in principle on the candidature of General Michel Suleiman for the presidency, though the parties remained deeply divided on the steps needed to bring about the election of General Suleiman.

The members of the Council expressed their full support for the bilateral negotiations that followed the Annapolis conference and, more generally, for comprehensive peace in the Middle East.

Following the consultations, the President of the Security Council issued a statement to the press according to which Council members welcomed the donors’ conference held in Paris and urged a prompt follow-up to the engagements taken on that occasion.

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