UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – International Syria mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said on Thursday he could not move forward with a peace plan unless it was backed by a U.N. Security Council resolution and he warned that a ceasefire would only hold if it was overseen by a peacekeeping mission.

A peaceful solution to the 20-month conflict could only be initiated by the Security Council, Brahimi told the 15-member body, which has been deadlocked on whether to take stronger action against Syrian President Bashir al-Assad.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday recommended that the Security Council approve an African Union peace enforcement mission be deployed to combat Islamist extremists in northern Mali, but did not offer financial support from the world body.

Diplomats and U.N. officials say that peace enforcement missions allow the use of lethal force in serious combat situations, while peacekeeping operations are intended to support and monitor an already existing ceasefire.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The Democratic Republic of Congo accused neighboring Rwanda on Wednesday of supporting a rebellion in the country’s east to prevent the arrest of former Congolese general Bosco Ntaganda who is wanted by the International Criminal Court.

The eight-month-old insurgency in a resource-rich Congolese province by M23 rebels was partly triggered by President Joseph Kabila’s plan to arrest Ntaganda on international charges of enlisting child soldiers, murder, ethnic persecution and rape.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The Palestinians will not rush to sign up to the International Criminal Court if they win a U.N. status upgrade on Thursday, but warned that seeking action against Israel in the court would remain an option, said the Palestinian U.N. observer.

The Palestinians appear certain to earn approval in the 193-member U.N. General Assembly for a status upgrade to “observer state” – similar to the Vatican’s rank – from observer “entity.” The move would implicitly recognize Palestinian statehood.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – A committee of the U.N. General Assembly expressed serious concern on Monday over violence in Myanmar between Rohingya Muslims and Buddhists and called upon the government to address reports of human rights abuses by some authorities.

The 193-nation General Assembly’s Third Committee, which focuses on rights issues, approved by consensus a non-binding resolution, which Myanmar said contained a “litany of sweeping allegations, accuracies of which have yet to be verified.”

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The Palestinian Authority has circulated a revised draft resolution to U.N. member states calling for an upgrade of its U.N. status to an “observer state” ahead of a planned vote on the issue by the 193-member world body on Thursday.

A senior Western diplomat said only minor changes were made to the text distributed on Monday, which seems certain to win U.N. approval as the General Assembly is mostly made up of post-colonial states historically sympathetic to the Palestinians.

UNITED NATIONS , Nov 21 (Reuters) – The U.N. Security
Council called on Israel and Hamas to uphold a ceasefire
agreement on Wednesday and commended the efforts of Egypt’s
Islamist President Mohamed Mursi and others for brokering the
truce.

The 15-member council said in a statement it “deplored the
loss of civilian lives resulting from this situation and
reiterated the need to take appropriate steps to ensure the
safety and well-being of civilians and their protection in
according with international humanitarian law.”

KINSHASA/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The United Nations defended its failed effort to prevent rebels from seizing the Congolese city of Goma, saying on Wednesday its helicopters had fired hundreds of rockets at rebels but were unable to beat them back as their ranks swelled.

Advancing M23 rebels seized the North Kivu capital on Tuesday after Democratic Republic of Congo soldiers fled.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The rebel seizure of a key city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo comes eight months after a small mutiny grew into a well-armed insurgency commanded by Rwanda’s defense minister, U.N. experts and some officials say.

The Congolese government says Rwanda is orchestrating the revolt to grab resources including diamonds, gold and coltan, used in electronics. Kigali denies the charges.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The U.N. Security Council strongly condemned M23 rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday for seizing a provincial capital, as the United Nations defended its peacekeepers who gave up the battle for the city of Goma.

The 15-member council unanimously adopted a resolution that also requested that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon “report in the coming days” on allegations of external support for M23, upon which it would be ready to take further measures.