New York - The United Nations Security Council plans a formal debate to recommend that South Sudan be admitted into the United Nations after it has gained full-fledged sovereign state status, the council president said on Tuesday.
South Sudan will officially split from North Sudan on Saturday, the result of a referendum held in January in which the majority of its people chose independence from Khartoum. The secession will trigger a series of steps and adjustments by the UN, including the creation of a new UN mission.
The council meeting on July 13 to debate UN membership for South Sudan will be presided over by German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle because Germany is holding the UN Security Council presidency for July.
The German ambassador to the UN, Peter Wittig, said the 15-nation council is expected to recommend UN membership for South Sudan to the UN General Assembly, which will make the final decision. A new UN mission will be deployed to replace the current mission created in 2005 to monitor a peace agreement between Khartoum and Juba.
“Intense discussion is under way as to the form and shape of the new mission,” said Wittig, who is the council president. He said a draft resolution is being put together by legal experts and it might be adopted before Saturday. - Sapa-dpa