Security Council – Work assessment under France presidency (August 2012) – Letter from France (excerpts)

Letter dated 19 December 2012 from the Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council

  

  

 Please find attached the report on the work of the Security Council during the Presidency of France in August 2012 (see annex). This document was prepared under my supervision, after consultation with the other members of the Council.

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

  

  

(Signed) Gérard Araud  

  

 

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Annex to the letter dated 19 December 2012 from the Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council 

  

  

[Original: English] 

  

   Assessment of the work of the Security Council during the Presidency of France (August 2012) 

  

   Introduction 

  

 During the month of August 2012, under the Presidency of Ambassador Gérard Araud, the Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations, the Security Council held eight formal meetings, of which two were private and six were open. The Council also held 13 consultations of the whole, adopted one resolution and one presidential statement, and issued seven statements to the press. 

  

  

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   Middle East

 

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   Middle East, including the Palestinian question

  

 On 22 August the Security Council held consultations on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. The Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs reported that no progress had been made towards sustained negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians. He stressed the urgent need to resolve the fiscal situation of the Palestinian Authority. He expressed concern about the demolitions and forced evictions carried out by the Israeli authorities in Area C and in East Jerusalem. He condemned the attack perpetrated on 5 August in Sinai and the rocket firings from Gaza into Israel and said the incidents underlined the fragility of the security situation. …

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 By a letter dated 23 August, the President of the Security Council responded to a letter from the Permanent Observer of Palestine dated 27 February 2012 and indicated that, having considered the invitation from President Abbas to make a visit to the region, the members of the Council had not reached consensus. 

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