International brief ~ Egyptian parliament approves Sudan peacekeeping force News
International brief ~ Egyptian parliament approves Sudan peacekeeping force

[JURIST] Leading Monday's international brief, the Egyptian Parliament [government website] has unanimously approved a decision by Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak [official profile] to send Egyptian troops to Sudan [government website] under the UN peacekeeping mandate in Security Council Resolution 1590 [official PDF text]. The troops are expected to be in place by 1 June and the Parliament authorized a continued Egyptian military presence for six years. The UN is paying for all expenses incurred by nations providing military troops to the Sudan peacekeeping mission. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Sudan [JURIST news archive]. ReliefWeb has more.

In other international legal news …

  • A UN investigative team issued a report Monday confirming that the final elements of the Syrian military have withdrawn from Libya in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1559 [official PDF text] which required complete withdrawal by the beginning of May 2005. The team found no "Syrian military forces, assets or intelligence apparatus" inside the Lebanese border, but noted that there was a Syrian regiment deployed at Deir al-Ashayier, an area currently the subject of border negotiations between the two countries. The team was unable to verify the complete withdrawal of intelligence agents, due to their normal status as clandestine and not clearly marked. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Syria [JURIST news archive]. Reuters has more.
  • Palitha Kohona, Chief of the Treaty Section in the UN Office of Legal Affairs [official website], Monday announced the focus for the annual UN treaty signing event scheduled for 14 – 16 September. The theme for the treaty event will be "Focus 2005: Responding to Global Challenges" and Kohona said that the event would be aimed at encouraging nations specifically to sign 32 treaties highlighted during the event. Among these is the International Criminal Court's Rome Statute, and several anti-terrorism conventions. Read the official Office of Legal Affairs press release. The UN News Centre has more.
  • Zimbabwean police have arrested nearly 10,000 illegal street vendors in the past five days in a concerted effort to eliminate the rampant black market in the capital city of Harare. Police have arrested and fined the vendors either for operating without licenses or for possessing scarce staple items such as maize meal, sugar and petrol intended for resale on the black market. Demonstrations protesting the crack-down have broken out in the streets as residents worry about their ability to obtain scarce items without a black market option. Zim Online is reporting that the Zimbabwe military has been put on alert [Zim Online report] to quell and civil unrest in response to the protests. JURIST's Paper Chase has continuing coverage of Zimbabwe. Zim Online has local coverage.
THIS DAY @ LAW

UN General Assembly approves Palestine partition plan

The UN General Assembly approved UN Resolution Resolution 181 (II) on November 29, 1947, recommending that the British Mandate for Palestine be split into a Jewish state, an Arab state, and an international zone for Jerusalem. The vote in the assembly was 33 for to 13 against, with 10 abstentions. The resolution sparked a war between Palestinian Arabs and Jews in 1947 and a wider war after Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon invaded the new State of Israel in 1948. Read Resolution 181 (II).

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On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab territories, leading to the establishment of a Jewish state the following year. Read UN General Assembly Resolution 181.

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