Falkland Islands: UN Chief Ban Ki-Moon Appeals To Britain And Argentina For Calm

Unnecessar­y ego and greediness are the main masters for all these games:

Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Secretary General has appealed for calm in the escalating dispute over the Falkland Islands, as Argentina took their claim of sovereignty to the General Assembly and Security Council.

In a statement issued on Friday afternoon, Ban Ki-moon expressed concern about the “increasingly strong exchanges between the governments of Argentina and the UK”.

It added that he had: “Expressed the hope that the governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom will avoid an escalation of this dispute and resolve differences peacefully and through dialogue”.

Argentina’s foreign minister arrived in New York on Friday to officially protest about Britain’s “militarisation” of the seas around the disputed islands.

It comes after Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner hit out at the UK’s decision to send the Duke of Cambridge and one of its most modern navy warships to the South Atlantic region.

In a speech to an audience including Falkland war veterans on Wednesday, she said the move posed a risk to “international security” before announcing the official complaint would be made.

Addressing politicians yesterday, Ms Kirchner said: “In a few hours our chancellor leaves for New York to make a presentation to the United Nations about the militarisation and the introduction of nuclear arms in the zone.”

Ban Ki-Moon’s Israel Visit: Palestinians Hurl Slippers At UN Chief

BEIT HANOUN, Gaza Strip — Palestinians tried to block the U.N. chief from entering the Gaza Strip and flung shoes at his armored convoy on Thursday, the second day of Ban Ki-moon’s mission to the region to keep informal peace talks alive.

About 40 relatives of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails for a range of violent attacks gathered at the Erez Crossing between Gaza and Israel, hoisting posters with pictures of their loved ones and signs in English and Arabic reading, “Ban Ki-moon, enough bias to Israel.”

Some swung their signs and wooden sticks at Ban’s convoy in protest. Three of them threw slippers at his car and another hurled a boot – an insulting gesture that is associated with an Iraqi protester who hurled his shoes at former U.S. President George W. Bush at a news conference in Baghdad in 2008.

The Gaza prisoners’ relatives, angry that Ban would not be meeting with them, formed a human chain at the crossing in an effort to block his vehicle, but Hamas security forces moved them away so Ban could enter the coastal territory.

“We came here in a symbolic message to Mr. Ban Ki-moon that Palestinians from Gaza want to have the right to visit their children and loved ones in Israeli jails,” said Jamal Farwana, a spokesman for Gaza prisoners’ families. “He should make more of an effort to release the prisoners and we wonder why every time he avoids meeting families of Palestinian prisoners.”

Israel holds about 7,000 Palestinian prisoners, after recently freeing more than 1,000 in exchange for a captive Israeli soldier. Many of the prisoners were convicted of carrying out deadly attacks against Israeli civilians.

Ban Ki-moon Elected For Second Term As U.N. Chief

By EDITH M. LEDERER

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. General Assembly voted unanimously Tuesday to give Ban Ki-moon a second term as secretary-general, praising him for strengthening the role and visibility of the world body in difficult circumstances.

The 192-member assembly gave the 67-year-old South Korean diplomat another five years at the helm of the U.N. by voice vote. They applauded loudly as assembly president Joseph Deiss banged his gavel and proclaimed Ban’s appointment to a new term starting Jan. 1.

Ban said earlier this month that he wanted a second term. He faced no opposition and was recommended by the Security Council for the new term, also by voice vote, last Friday.

He received the endorsement of all regional groups at the U.N., and their chairs joined in sponsoring the General Assembly resolution that was adopted.

Gabon’s U.N. Ambassador Nelson Messone, the current Security Council president who introduced the assembly resolution, said Ban has “remarkably and with all objectivity and independence” worked on every continent, to promote peace, justice and international security, “sometimes in particularly difficult and trying circumstances.”

UN Vows to Make Voices of Poorest Heard at G20 Summit

It could be better if optimism could not be optimism forever.
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