S/PV.5350 Security Council

I should like to inform the Council that I have received a letter from the representative of Côte d’Ivoire in which he requests to be invited to participate in the consideration of the item on the Council’s agenda. In conformity with the usual practice, I propose, with the consent of the Council, to invite that representative to participate in the consideration without the right to vote, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Charter and rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure. There being no objection, it is so decided.

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in its prior consultations. Members of the Council have before them document S/2006/2, which contains the seventh progress report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire. After consultations among members of the Security Council, I have been authorized to make the following statement on behalf of the Council: “The Security Council strongly condemns the recent violent attacks against the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) and international NGO facilities in Côte d’Ivoire by street militias and other groups associated with the ‘Young Patriots’, as well as their instigators. The Security Council expresses its deep concern also at the violent and orchestrated street protests led by the ‘Young Patriots’, in particular in Abidjan and in several cities in the west. “The Security Council regards these particularly serious and unacceptable incidents as endangering the process of national reconciliation enshrined in resolution 1633 (2005) and as contrary to this resolution. It calls upon all Ivorians to refrain from any hostile action, and demands the immediate end of this violence and of all hatred messages in the media, in particular the attacks against the United Nations. The Security Council welcomes the urgent mission led by President Obasanjo in Abidjan. It pays tribute to his efforts and hopes that they will lead to a rapid decrease of the current tensions on the ground. “The Security Council underlines also that the occupation of the RTI facilities constitutes an attack against freedom and neutrality of information as well as a breach of the principles of the process of national reconciliation, of the previous resolutions of the Security Council and of the peace agreements. It demands that effective control by the board and the General Director over the RTI shall be re-established immediately. “The Security Council reiterates its full support for the Prime Minister, Mr. Charles Konan Banny, and invites UNOCI, in accordance with its mandate, to provide him all the necessary support. It reiterates also its full support for the International Working Group (IWG), the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and the High Representative for the elections. It endorses the final communiqué of the IWG of 15 January 2006. “The Security Council firmly calls upon all the Ivorian parties to cooperate with the Prime Minister, the International Working Group, the Mediation Group, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and the High Representative for the elections in implementing the road map. “It underlines that targeted measures will be imposed against persons to be designated by the Committee established by paragraph 14 of resolution 1572 (2004) who, among other things, block the implementation of the peace process, including by attacking or obstructing the action of UNOCI, of the French forces, of the High Representative for the elections or of the International Working Group, or who incite publicly hatred and violence, as provided in resolutions 1572 (2004) and 1643 (2005).” This statement will be issued as a document of the Security Council under the symbol S/PRST/2006/2. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda.