Asia and the Pacific
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Chapter IV Asia and the Pacic e United Nations, in 2011, continued its eorts to February 2011, the Council extended the mandate address political and security challenges in Asia and the of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor- Pacic in order to restore peace and stability and to pro- Leste (!) for one year and requested ! to mote economic and social development in the region. support preparations for the elections. On 27 March, In Afghanistan, the phased transition of security re- the Polícia Nacional de Timor-Leste resumed re- sponsibility from the International Security Assistance sponsibility for all police operations in the country. Force ( ), a multinational force led by the North e Security Council Committee established to Atlantic Treaty Organization, to the Afghan National oversee the implementation of sanctions measures Security Forces began in July. e Security Council against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea welcomed the start of the process to transfer respon- continued its work. In June, the Council extended sibility to the Afghan Government country-wide by the mandate of the Panel of Experts, which carried the end of 2014 and extended its authorization of out certain tasks under the Committee’s direction, until October 2012. e United Nations Assistance until 12 June 2012. Mission in Afghanistan () continued to foster e United Nations continued to address Iran’s political dialogue, coordinate international humanita- nuclear programme and the sanctions imposed by rian and development activities, and assist the Govern- the Council in that regard. e International Atomic ment in institution-building. In March, the Council Energy Agency ($) reported that Iran had not im- extended the mandate of by another year. plemented the Additional Protocol to Iran’s Safeguards While the assassination of former Afghan President Agreement or the relevant resolutions of the Council Burhanuddin Rabbani on 20 September 2011 had and the $ Board of Governors, nor had it permitted adverse political and security implications, progress the Agency to conrm that all nuclear material in Iran was achieved later in the year at the Instanbul Confer- was being used in peaceful activities. In June, the Coun- ence for Afghanistan held in November and the Bonn cil extended for another year the mandate of the Panel of Conference in December. In other developments, the Experts established to assist the Sanctions Committee. Council separated the Al-Qaida and Taliban sanctions e mandate of the United Nations Mission in regime to strengthen the eectiveness of targeted sanc- Nepal () ended on 15 January. In a 14 Janu- tions against Al-Qaida and its aliates. ary presidential statement, the Council rearmed its Iraq continued to make progress in consolidating support for the peace process and called on the Nepa- its young democracy, strengthening the rule of law, lese caretaker Government and all political parties to developing its institutions and addressing economic continue to full the commitments they had made in and social challenges. e Secretary-General’s Spe- the 2006 Comprehensive Peace Agreement. cial Representative for Iraq and Head of the United During the year, the Council expressed concern Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq () contin- about the deteriorating security and humanitarian ued to engage political gures and parties in order situation in Yemen and welcomed the mediation ef- to advance negotiations on outstanding issues related forts of the Secretary-General, through his Special to the Government formation process and to facili- Adviser, and of the Gulf Cooperation Council (%&&). tate political dialogue on Iraq’s disputed territories. On 21 October, the Council adopted a resolution e Council extended the mandate until July demanding all sides to reject the use of violence to 2012. At the end of the year, although tensions had achieve political goals, and calling for all parties to risen between the main political blocs in the coun- sign and implement the %&& initiative for an inclusive, try, the withdrawal of United States military forces orderly and Yemeni-led process of political transition. from the country marked another milestone in Iraq’s progress. On 27 December, all major political blocs consented to the convening of a national conference. Afghanistan e overall situation in Timor-Leste remained gen- erally calm, with further progress towards the consoli- dation of peace, stability and development. Political In 2011, the international community continued to parties intensied their activities in preparation for assist the Government of Afghanistan to lay the foun- the 2012 presidential and parliamentary elections. In dations for peace and stability and the restoration of 310 Chapter IV: Asia and the Pacic 311 economic and social development through the United the focus of attacks, including abductions and as- Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (), sassinations. e Afghan National Security Forces under the direction of the Special Representative of and international military forces intensied their op- the Secretary-General and Head of Mission, and the erations. Pro-Government forces reportedly in+icted International Security Assistance Force ( ), led losses on mid-level commanders of networks of anti- by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (!*). Government elements. As a result of the increased The Secretary-General submitted four pro- tempo of security operations in northern and western gress reports to the General Assembly and the provinces, an increasing number of anti-Government Security Council, in March [A/65/783-S/2011/120] , elements were seeking to join local reintegration pro- June [A/65/873-S/2011/381] , September [A/66/369- grammes. As a reaction, insurgents were increasingly S/2011/590] and December [A/66/604-S/2011/772] , attacking those who chose to reconcile and reintegrate on the situation in Afghanistan and on with the Government. activities as well as a later report including infor- On implementation of the Kabul process, which mation relating to 2011 [A/66/728-S/2012/133] . e was developed at the 2010 International Confer- Secretary-General also submitted to the Council a ence on Afghanistan (Kabul Conference) [YUN 2010, February report [S/2011/55] on children and armed p. 347] , six national priority programmes were elabo- con+ict in Afghanistan. rated and consultations were initiated with donors. e !* Secretary-General, through the UN Two priority programmes (on public nancial man- Secretary-General, reported to the Council on agement and economic reform and on the Afghan activities [S/2011/124, S/2011/364, S/2011/562, S/2011/760, Peace and Reintegration Programme) were endorsed S/2012/150] . e Council, by resolution 1974(2011) of and their implementation had begun. 22 March, extended the mandate of until International development partners expressed 23 March 2012. By resolution 2011(2011) of 12 Octo- concern at the continued absence of an Interna- ber, it extended the authorization of until 13 Oc- tional Monetary Fund ( ) country programme, tober 2012. the establishment of which was dependent on agree- Staan de Mistura (Sweden) completed his assign- ment between the Government and on how to ment as the Special Representative of the Secretary- deal with the Kabul Bank, which had been declared General for Afghanistan on 31 December. In Novem- bankrupt. e Secretary-General stated that, with- ber, the Council took note of the Secretary-General’s out an programme, it would be dicult for in- intention to appoint Ján Kubriš (Slovakia) to replace ternational partners to meet the Kabul Conference Mr. de Mistura. commitment to direct funds through the Govern- ment’s budget. Political and security developments e Secretary-General said that two immedi- ate challenges had to be overcome in the transition Report of Secretary-General (March). In his process that would lead to Afghan institutions tak- March report on the situation in Afghanistan [A/65/783- ing over full responsibility from !* for security S/2011/120] , the Secretary-General said that the inau- across the country: tension between the executive, guration of the National Assembly by President Ha- legislative and judiciary branches over the status of mid Karzai took place on 26 January after a series parliament; and the impasse over the Kabul Bank. of meetings between the President, elected members He warned that if the tension over the status of par- of parliament and unsuccessful candidates, during liament continued, or led to an entrenched political which the UN Special Representative extended his crisis, it would be detrimental to the credibility, ef- good oces. e inauguration ceremony brought to- fectiveness and inclusiveness that was necessary for gether the newly elected Lower House (Wolesi Jirga) the Government to lead the transition process. He and Upper House (Meshrano Jirga) in a joint session. acknowledged that +aws in the election process had On 27 January, the new Meshrano Jirga Speaker was created a parliament where the Pashtun population named and the leadership of the Wolesi Jirga was in some areas was underrepresented compared to the elected on 27 February. On 19 February, President previous parliament; the problem needed to be ad- Karzai presented the list of 34 presidential appointees dressed, but the manner in which it was addressed to the Meshrano Jirga. would have consequences for the transition process e security situation continued to deteriorate, with and the future stability of Afghanistan. He said his 1,664 incidents in January, compared to a monthly Special Representative had been working closely with average of 1,620 in 2010 and 960 in 2009. Armed all parties to nd an appropriate solution, while un- clashes and the use of improvised explosive devices derscoring that any solution should not be achieved constituted the majority of incidents. e southern at the expense of the electoral institutions, the con- city of Kandahar and its surrounding areas remained stitutional separation of powers, the condence of 312 Part One: Political and security questions the international community, or indeed that of the On 25 February [S/2011/110] , the Russian Fed- Afghan people.