By NNN-KUNA
Cairo : UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said that, despite recent progress achieved at internal security level in Iraq, its environment still represents a challenge.
He pledged, in an interview with the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram published Saturday, to maintain the UN’s role as an “objective mediator” in international conflicts.
The UN’s main objective is to defend the interests of the Iraqi people, he said and added that the international community was determined to live up to its mission in that country against all odds.
“Iraq’s political stability serves the political stability of that country’s neighbors,” the secretary-general said. He called for cooperating with the UN and the Iraqi government.
Commenting on the Turkish air intrusions into northern Iraq, Ban called for “halting air raids and terrorist attacks in northern Iraq.” He stressed that UN member states were divided on the issue of whether or not new sanctions were needed to punish Iran in connection with its nuclear activities.
He also expressed concern about the growing political gap and armed conflict between the Fatah and Hamas organizations in the Palestinian territories.