NEW YORK (AA) - July 20, 2012 - The United Nations (UN) Security Council extended UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus until early 2013.
UN Security Council on Thursday stated that it extended its peacekeeping force in the island until 31 January 2013.
The resolution passed with 13 votes in favour and two abstentions, from Azerbaijan and Pakistan.
The council also acknowledged the progress made so far in fully-fledged negotiations, but noted that this has not been sufficient and has not yet resulted in comprehensive and durable settlement.
In April, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had told the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot leaderships that there was not enough progress on key aspects of reunification talks to warrant holding an international conference on Cyprus. The UN chief had also urged two sides to take bold and decisive action in order to move the process forward.
UN Peacekeeping Force's task duration has been extending regularly every 6 or 7 months since 1964.
