UNITED NATIONS: U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon emphasises need for expeditious release of Zimbabwe election results/ comments on Darfur troop deployment

Record ID: 336109

  • Title: UNITED NATIONS: U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon emphasises need for expeditious release of Zimbabwe election results/ comments on Darfur troop deployment
  • Date: 16th April 2008
  • Summary: (W5) UNITED NATIONS (FILE) (REUTERS) U.N. BUILDING EXTERIOR
  • Embargoed: 1st May 2008 13:00
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  • Reuters ID: LVA8MTZ1WFFMO3RVQOQVKNVWTRN9
  • Story Text: U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon says the international community needs to see a transparent and expeditious release of Zimbabwe election results.
    Ahead of a summit meeting of the U.N. Security Council to discuss ways of improving cooperation between the Security Council and the African Union, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on Tuesday (April 15) emphasized the need for a "very transparent and expeditious release of election result" in Zimambwe.
    The summit meeting on Wednesday (April 16) will be attended by presidents of countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Ivory Coast, as well as prime ministers of Britain, Italy, and Ethiopia. It is to be presided by South African President, Thabo Mbeki. There have been increasing signs in the African National Congress (ANC) of impatience with President Thabo Mbeki's "quiet diplomacy" on Zimbabwe.
    Speaking to reporters at the U.N., Ban said that he will be engaging in a number of meetings with leaders on Wednesday to discuss how the United Nations and the international community could help Zimbabwean people and authorities to resolve the election issue. He said that a transparent election result would enable the Zimbabwean people to enjoy the democratic process.
    Reflecting international concern, the White House said U.S. President George W. Bush had raised Zimbabwe's post-election crisis with U.N. chief Ban Ki-Moon also on Tuesday, saying it had dragged on too long and should be resolved peacefully.
    In his briefing with reporters at the U.N., Ban also talked about the situation in Darfur.
    He said that deployment of peacekeeping troops in Sudan had started and he hoped to expedite that process.
    "I hope we will be able to have a full strength of 26,000 soldiers by the end of this year. This is our target and this political process has also been progressing little by little even though we are not fully satisfied," said Ban.
    Ban added that his special U.N. envoy Jan Eliason had been working very hard on solutions to the Darfur conflict and there had been some encouraging signs. He referred specifically to the recent efforts by rebel movements to find a common platform that would help them participate in the political process.
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