U.N. Peacekeeping

Last October, with security concerns in Libya mounting, the United Nations dispatched a high-level delegation to Tripoli to determine whether U.N. staff could function safely in a country beset by Islamist extremists and renegade militias that had killed America's top envoy, attacked foreign embassies, raided the country's oil resources, and temporarily abducted both the Jordanian ambassador and the former Libyan prime minister. The answer was a resounding no, and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon sent an urgent letter to the U.N. Security Council asking for help assembling a 235-man security force that would be charged with guarding the world body's small mission in Libya. Seven months later, with security deteriorating so badly that the State Department is warning American nationals to leave Libya , the U.N. has yet to establish the force - though U.N. officials say they are gradually reinforcing their own security detail to address the shortcomings.

Mr. Fogh Rasmussen commended Armenia for the start of a new cycle of the Individual Partnership Action Plan agreed with NATO and welcomed the efforts towards more transparency and accountability in the defence and security sector.

United States Central Command in conjunction with the Global Peacekeeping Operations Initiative are sponsoring the event, which will focus on United Nations Peacekeeping Operations, Counter-Insurgency, and Disaster Response.

A fleet of Ethiopian peacekeepers under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) withdrew their presence from Baladxawo in Gedo region after intense clashes broke out yesterday. Almost as many as an entire contingent was reported to have fled the town early this morning.