United Nations Spokesperson's News Headlines for Thursday, 12 July 2012

SYRIA: Security forces fired mortars into a district on the outskirts of Damascus on Thursday, the first time an area of the Syrian capital has been shelled since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began 16 months ago. (Reuters)

International envoy Kofi Annan asked the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday to make clear to Syria's government and opposition that there would be “clear consequences” for not complying with his plan to end the 16-month conflict that has killed thousands. But the Security Council differed greatly over what those consequences should be, with the United States, Britain, Germany and France insisting that Syria should be threatened with sanctions, while Russia said that should be a “last resort.” (Reuters) Kofi Annan recognizes the failure of the Syrian peace plan, stating that none of the points of the plan was achieved. (RTP Notícias, Lisbon)

Western nations want a 10-day deadline set for Syria's President Bashar al-Assad to halt the use of heavy weapons or face sanctions, according to a draft resolution sent to UN Security Council members on Wednesday. The resolution, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, would allow for non-military sanctions if Syrian government forces kept up their offensive on cities. (AFP)

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has discussed the possibility of forming a transitional government as proposed by an international conference in Geneva last month, Kofi Annan said on Wednesday. Annan, the UN-Arab League envoy to Syria, said that during his discussions with Assad in Damascus this week the Syrian leader proposed someone who could serve as an interlocutor for the regime as it explores ways of forming a transitional government with the opposition. (AP, Guardian, London)

Syria's ambassador to Iraq defected on Wednesday in protest over President Bashar al-Assad's violent suppression of a 16-month uprising as the U.N. Security Council remained deadlocked over the next steps in the crisis. (Reuters) Syrian authorities said Thursday that their ambassador to neighboring Iraq had been fired, the first official, if roundabout, confirmation that the diplomat had defected in a new fracturing of the government of President Bashar al-Assad, which has faced a slow but growing rash of desertions. (NYT)

Nearly one week after the commander of one of Syria's elite Republican Guard units defected, he has not been seen in public or tried to contact the opposition, raising questions about his motives and intensions, senior officials and opposition members said. (NYT)

According to members of the SNS delegation to the Moscow talks, the armed insurgents operating within the country are acting on their own and are not accountable to the Turkey-based SNS. The opposition members also recognize that the longer the uprising continues, the more radical it becomes and the more evident its Islamist character transpires. For Moscow, this is simply confirmation of the fact that Russia has a better idea of a possible impact of the ousting of Assad's regime than the Kremlin's Western partners and the Syrian opposition. (Kommersant, Moscow)

Syria's opposition in exile and activists on the ground have hit out at Kofi Annan, accusing him of treating the victim and aggressor on the same terms and proving powerless to end the violence. (AFP, Al Arabiya)

Annan's mission in Iran is one of chasing the mirage. It is a mission impossible. He will return with false promises. Annan believes that Iran can wield pressure on Syria, but even if this were true, Iran will not hand over this negotiating card to Annan for free. Iran wants a high price in return, and Annan cannot pay it. Iran's price is lifting the oil, financial and economic blockade, which is not within Annan's prerogatives, writes Randa Takieddine. (Al Hayat, Op-Ed)

What is currently played out in the region is one of the greatest power games since the end of the First World War. Behind the cover of the "Arab Spring", the obstacles to renewed Western domination of the region are being removed one by one, writes Jeremy Salt. (Al-Ahram Weekly, Cairo, Op-Ed)

D.R. CONGO: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Wednesday he was concerned about U.N. reports that Rwandan officials were supporting rebels in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Ban phoned both Kagame and DRC President Joseph Kabila to discuss a mutiny in the mineral-rich eastern Congo province of North Kivu, which has been swept by violence since March after hundreds of former rebels defected from the army. (Reuters)

The United Nations is sending more peacekeepers to cities in Congo's North Kivu province to help combat rebel attacks in the country's east, an official said Wednesday, as Congo's army said it has regained control of two towns the rebels took over the weekend. Roger Meece, special representative of the U.N. secretary-general and head of the U.N. mission in Congo, said that they are coordinating with the Congolese army to protect major cities, including Goma. The notoriously ill-equipped Congolese army has been struggling to contain the rebellion. (AP)

Foreign affairs ministers and representatives from 11 countries that constitute the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) have called for “renewed focus on strong and decisive action against the FDLR who remain a threat to Rwanda as well as to Rwandophone and other communities in Eastern DRC”. (New Times, Rwanda)

MALI: An Islamist rebel group in northern Mali said Thursday it had freed three of seven Algerian diplomats kidnapped during the takeover of the city of Gao in April. (AFP)

TOGO: Togo's president has accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Gilbert Houngbo, the presidency announced on state television late Wednesday. (AFP)

KENYA: Aid agencies working in the world's largest refugee camp in Kenya say they are running out of funds, putting tens of thousands of lives at risk. (BBC)

ABYEI: South Sudan on Wednesday denied reports that fighting broke out between members of the Misseriya and Dinka Ngok ethnic groups in Abyei on Monday. (Sudan Tribune)

TUNISIA: With Palestinian Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal as top guest, Tunisia's ruling Islamist party Ennahda holds its first congress at home in 24 years today, seeking to clarify its strategy against a backdrop of political and religious tensions. (Tunisia TV)

EGYPT: Egypt's president has said he wants talks with other institutions to resolve a constitutional crisis over his attempts to reinstate parliament. (BBC) In a statement by the Presidency on Wednesday, Mohamed Morsi expressed his respect for the constitution and the law and his appreciation of the role played by the judicial authority and Egypt's honorable judges and his keenness to secure a smooth relationship among state authorities. (Al-Akhbar, Cairo)

Justice Muhammad Hamid al-Jamal, former president of the State Council said that newly-elected president, Mohamed Mursi and Speaker Saad al-Katatni could be dismissed from their posts and imprisoned for their violation of the ruling issued by the Supreme Constitutional Court last month dissolving Egypt's parliament. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

ISRAEL/PALESTINE: Extremists among Israeli settlers in the West Bank have stepped up attacks on Palestinians in recent years, human rights groups and UN agencies said Wednesday, claiming a lack of Israeli law enforcement has created a climate of impunity. (AP)

Israeli forces killed a Hamas gunman and wounded four others in two incidents in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, Palestinian officials said. (Reuters)

Relations between Israel and UNESCO have reached a new low following the international organization's inauguration of a Chair in Astronomy, Astrophysics and Space Sciences at the Islamic University of Gaza, which Israel identifies with Hamas. (Haaretz, Israel)

YEMEN: A suspected al-Qaida suicide bomber detonated his explosives among a crowd of Yemeni police cadets as they were leaving their academy Wednesday, killing at least 10 of them, according to security officials. (AP)

BAHRAIN: Amnesty International called on Bahraini authorities to release leading Shiite activist Nabil Rajab, sentenced to three months in jail for posting tweets deemed insulting to Sunnis. (AFP, Press TV, Iran)

IRAN: The US is building up its navel power in the Persian Gulf in response to threats by Iranian officials to close the Strait of Hormuz in case of further sanctions. (LA Times) The U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, called on Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states to pressure Iran to prevent the acquisition of nuclear weapons. (Expresso, Lisbon)

AFGHANISTAN: Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday challenged the leader of the Taliban insurgents, Mullah Omar, to take part in elections. (DPA)

PAKISTAN: At least nine police officers were killed early on Thursday when unidentified gunmen stormed a compound in the eastern city of Lahore in an attack that revived concerns about a fresh wave of terrorist strikes, officials said. (NYT)

NEPAL: Nepal's caretaker government says it is trying to avert a financial crisis in the Himalayan nation by persuading opposition parties to support a new fiscal budget. Nepal's fiscal year ends on Sunday. (AP)

MYANMAR: The Obama administration formally lifted prohibitions on U.S. investment in Burma on Wednesday, opening the door to American companies, particularly in the energy sector, that have argued they were losing business to international competitors. (WP) Southeast Asian nations on Thursday welcomed a US decision to ease sanctions on Myanmar in reward for democratic reforms, but repeated calls for all restrictions to be lifted on the former pariah state. (AFP)

Myanmar asked the United Nations to place 750,000 stateless Muslims in refugee camps, its president's website said Thursday. (DPA)

MALAYSIA: Malaysia's leader has announced plans to repeal a colonial-era law curbing free speech in the latest political reform ahead of general elections, but critics warned Thursday that his reform efforts so far have not improved the country's human rights record. (AP)

CHINA/U.S.: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi have said their countries will cooperate on Asia issues. They are meeting on the sidelines of the Asean forum in Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, amid regional tension. (BBC)

KYRGYZSTAN: The presence of Russian troops in Central Asia increasingly becomes a costlier matter for Moscow. Following Tajikistan's example, Kyrgyzstan announced on Wednesday that it raises rent prices for the Russian military bases. Experts cannot rule out that Moscow will have to live up to Bishkek's demands. (Kommersant, Moscow)

SPAIN: A peaceful demonstration in support of the miners resulted in confrontations with the police. Nine people were arrested and six injured. The miners organized the “black march” in protest against the cuts to the mining sector announced by the government. (Diário de Notícias, Lisbon)

The truth is that the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, has fallen hostage to his own discourse. He has invested so much of his political capital in the idea that austerity cures all ills that it has now become impossible for him to change course. By trying to play teacher's pet to Brussels and Berlin he has also helped set the trap he is now in, writes Spanish journalist Miguel-Anxo Murado. (Guardian, London, Op-Ed)

BOSNIA: Former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic was hospitalized Thursday after complaining of feeling unwell at his genocide trial. (AP)

PERU: Peru is using money donated by the United States to set up a pilot project to reduce the use of child labour. (BBC)

ECUADOR: Rafael Correa is putting the press against the wall. The Ecuadoran Government closed some 20 radios and television channels in a battle against the media in which the newspapers were the first victims. (El País, Madrid)

MEXICO: Two newspapers in northern Mexico have come under attack by gunfire and grenades this week, in what both called an effort to silence reporting on criminal groups. (NYT)

UNFPA: The billionaire philanthropist Melinda Gates, a practising Catholic, has thrown down the gauntlet to the Vatican and vowed to dedicate the rest of her life to improving access to contraception across the globe. (Guardian, London) That Ms Gates is a devout Catholic herself only adds to the commendation she deserves for her efforts to address the issue. (Independent, London, ed)