Asia Pacific

President Mahinda Rajapaksa of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Tamil ‘terrorists’ must lay down arms, Sri Lankan leader tells UN debate

24 September 2008
Sri Lanka’s President today issued a call during the General Assembly’s annual high-levels segment to the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) – a group he branded as “terrorists” – to renounce violence and engage in dialogue with the Government.
President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan

UN hears call for ‘Afghan-ization’ of military, development processes

24 September 2008
Afghan ownership of its military, police and development operations are essential to allow the country to counter terrorism and further its reconstruction efforts, the South Asian nation’s President told the General Assembly’s high-level segment today.
Wen Jiabao, Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China

China has no hegemonic aspirations, UN hears

24 September 2008
China is pursuing a path of peaceful development, building its military strength only to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity, the General Assembly’s high-level debate was told today.
Bayar Sanj, Prime Minister of Mongolia

Mongolia issues call at UN for strategy to ensure global energy security

24 September 2008
A comprehensive, global strategy is needed to ensure all countries have energy security, Mongolia’s Prime Minister told the General Assembly tonight, voicing concern about the impact of recent oil price hikes and the need to develop greener sources of energy.

UN’s Asia-Pacific arm teams up with China to curb disaster risk

23 September 2008
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)has joined forces with China, which was struck by a devastating earthquake in May that left nearly 100,000 dead or missing, to reduce the damage wrought by future disasters.
Bhutanese refugees in Khudunabari camp

More than 5,000 Bhutanese refugees resettled from Nepal with UN help

23 September 2008
Over 5,000 refugees from Bhutan have left their camps in Nepal to resettle in third countries this year, in one of the United Nations refugee agency’s largest and most promising resettlement programmes.
Tomas Ojea Quintana, Special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar

UN rights expert welcomes Myanmar’s freeing of political prisoners

23 September 2008
The independent United Nations expert on the situation of human rights in Myanmar has welcomed the reported release of seven political prisoners today, calling it a positive sign of cooperation from the Government of the South-East Asian nation.

UN-backed meeting examines impact of soaring migration on Asia-Pacific

22 September 2008
A United Nations-supported meeting opening today in Bangkok is closely looking at the impact of migration in Asia and the Pacific – where the number of international migrants has skyrocketed from 28 million to 53 million in just under half a century – on socio-economic development in the region.

Citing rising terrorism, UN extends Afghan security force for another year

22 September 2008
The United Nations Security Council today unanimously extended the mission of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan for another year and called for it to be strengthened in the face of increased violence and terrorism from the Taliban, Al-Qaida and drug smugglers.
Ambassador Michel Kafando of Burkina Faso, Security Council for September 2008, briefs the press.
UN Photo/Ryan Brown

Security Council speaks out against deadly attack on Pakistani capital

22 September 2008
The Security Council today strongly condemned the weekend’s terrorist attack in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, which claimed dozens of lives and injured many others.