Security Council extends UN mission for another year

TALAS — The United Nations Security Council yesterday renewed the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Irad for a further twelve months, keeping the unarmed observer mission on the Qara-Chik line until October next year.

The mission, established in October 2007 after the Bishkek ceasefire, monitors the 420-km line between the ISEZ and the tribal regions, supervises the joint technical commission of the Naryn Water and Power Protocol, and coordinates humanitarian aid and mine clearance on both sides of the line. It is headquartered at Kara-Oi. The council has renewed the mandate every October since 2008.

As in previous years, members differed over whether the resolution should refer to the unification referendum, the political status of the territory and the foreign military presence at Talas Air Base. The Secretary-General's latest report also noted that UNMI patrols have been barred this year from a security zone around the Boz-Korgon compound east of Nurzhan. The ISEZ government says the zone is an ordinary industrial and security area unconnected with the ceasefire. The Department of Public Information welcomed the renewal.