BAGHDAD, March 22 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon arrived here on one-day unannounced visit to Iraq for talks with
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi television reported.
Ban and Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki are expected to hold
talks in the fortified green zone, a Iraqi governmental source was quoted as
saying.
This is Ban's first visit to Iraq after he took over
Kofi Annan as the UN chief. Annan visited Baghdad in November 2005.
Ban will be in Baghdad for only one day to hold talks with
premier Maliki, confirmed U.N. officials, declining to give more details about
the visit.
UNITED NATIONS, March 19 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon has condemned the recent chlorine gas attacks in Iraq that wounded
more than 350 people, his spokesperson Michele Montas said Monday.
"The secretary-general strongly condemns the recent
multiple terrorist bombings using chlorine gas in the Al Anbar province of Iraq
which wounded or sickened more than 350 people," she told a press briefing.
UNITED NATIONS, March 19 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon will leave later this week for Egypt, the occupied Palestinian
territories, Israel, Jordan and elsewhere in the Middle East, his spokesperson
Michele Montas said Monday.
During the visit, the secretary-general will attend
the Arab Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on March 28, before departing for
Beirut, Lebanon, Montas said.
The secretary-general's main priorities for the trip
will be the Middle East peace process, stability in Lebanon, Darfur and the UN
role within the International Compact with Iraq, an initiative launched by the
UN and the Iraqi government to garner international support for the country's
political, economic and social development over the next five years, she added.
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