TOP UN ENVOY DEPLORES LATEST SUICIDE BOMB BLAST IN NORTHERN IRAQ

The top United Nations official in Iraq today strongly condemned a massive suicide truck bomb attack, killing over 70 people and wounding more than 180 others in the oil-rich, ethnically mixed north of the strife-torn country.

The 20 June blast just south of Kirkuk in Taza district was a "horrifying and wicked crime against innocent civilians, destroying more than 80 homes and businesses and severely damaging a mosque," said Staffan de Mistura, the Secretary-General''s Special Representative for Iraq.

Mr. de Mistura stressed that while this "despicable crime is aimed at provoking a new cycle of mass violence and revenge, and aims to sow new tensions among the different communities of this area, the overwhelming majority of the Iraqi people, including in Kirkuk governorate, have opted for dialogue and compromise to resolve whatever differences they may have."

Speaking from New York, where he has been briefing the Security Council, he extended "sincere condolences to the bereaved families and wishes for a speedy recovery for the wounded" on behalf of the UN.

On Thursday, Mr. de Mistura told the Security Council that Iraq has the potential to overcome its challenges and flourish, with much depending on a number of key priorities, including an improvement in the daily lives of its people and defusing existing tensions.

The past two years have seen the Iraqis "progressively fatigued" over civil strife, slowly shedding sectarian divisions, seeking reconciliation and turning up at the polls, he told the Security Council as he wrapped up his 18-month assignment in the country.
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BAN CONDEMNS DEADLY ATTACK IN PAKISTANI CITY OF LAHORE

BAN CONDEMNS DEADLY ATTACK IN PAKISTANI CITY OF LAHORE
New York, May 27 2009 2:00PM
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon strongly condemned the bombing today in the Pakistani city of Lahore, in which some 30 people were reported killed and 250 wounded.

"No cause can justify such indiscriminate terrorist violence," according to a <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=3885">statement issued by Mr. Ban's spokesperson.

The Secretary-General extended his condolences to the families of the victims and wished those injured a speedy recovery.

Meanwhile, the UN Children's Fund (<"http://www.unicef.org/media/media_49793.html">UNICEF) has said that the number of people displaced by fighting in the country's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) has now reached 3 million.

In an interview with UN Radio, UNICEF Pakistan's Deputy Representative, Luc Chauvin, warned that displaced civilians still face a humanitarian catastrophe unless the international community responds urgently to the recent appeal for funds launched by the UN and the humanitarian community.

On Friday, the UN and its partners appealed for $543 million to help those uprooted by the fighting between Government forces and militants in NWFP since 2 May.

According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (<"http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home">UNHCR), about ten per cent of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) are living in camps and the rest are staying with friends or in communal buildings, such as schools. The agency continues to assist the IDPs, including by providing tents and other urgent relief items.
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