Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Ban Ki Moon: the Lebanese are divided, but the Security Council should split them further

To all those "wicked" people who thought that Secretary Ban was the worst choice for UN Sec-Gen at this time of heightened conflicts most notably in the Middle East, read below (and the full "off the cuff" interview).

Q: Do you support a referendum regarding Lebanon, since the Lebanese people are totally split, and the Government is not representative of the people of Lebanon, and it is not constitutional, as Mr. Lahoud has put it in his letters. Do you support a referendum on the Tribunal in Lebanon, ... (and) I am sure you saw the picture full of flame on the top of the front page of this morning's New York Times (in Gaza) ... have you been in touch with any of the principals involved, and is there anything you think that the UN can do to use its good offices to get this situation back on track?

SG: This is something which the Lebanese people should decide on I am of the view that,... asking the Security Council to take necessary action ... (and) I am gravely concerned about all this continuing violence in Gaza, particularly among the Palestinian people (not the Basque in Gaza!), and I was going to talk to President [Mahmoud] Abbas to take the necessary measures to control the situation ."

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