Gerard Aziakou
Guest Author
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/ 29 January 2007

Ban calls for ‘urgent deployment’ of Darfur force

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon held crunch talks on Monday with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir where he urged him to cooperate with the deployment of a joint United Nations and African Union force for strife-torn Darfur. In 90 minutes of talks with Bashir, Ban detected a new level of cooperation after previous frustration at perceived foot-dragging by Khartoum.

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/ 15 December 2006

Ban Ki-moon sworn in as next UN chief

South Korea’s Ban Ki-moon was sworn in on Thursday as the next United Nations Secretary General at a General Assembly ceremony during which he vowed to be "a harmoniser and bridge-builder" and build on the legacy of the incumbent, Kofi Annan. The 62-year-old South Korean is to take up his post officially on January 1.

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/ 10 December 2006

How to punish Iran?

The debate over how to punish Iran for its refusal to suspend sensitive nuclear fuel work resumes in New York on Monday with Western diplomats confident that the United Nations Security Council will approve targeted sanctions against Tehran by Christmas.

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/ 8 February 2006

UN sanctions for three Ivorian politicians

Despite a last-minute snag, a United Nations Security Council panel on Tuesday slapped a 12-month travel ban and asset freeze on three Côte d’Ivoire politicians viewed as obstacles to peace. Targeted by the sanctions were Charles Ble Goude and Eugene Djue, two leaders of the nationalist "Young Patriots" loyal to Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo.

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/ 16 September 2005

Iran, terrorism top UN discussion issues

Leaders from around the world hold a final day of meetings at the United Nations World Summit in New York on Friday, with Iran’s nuclear ambitions and condemnations of terrorism as top issues. Three European foreign ministers on Thursday talked with Iranian officials at the summit in a bid to head off a showdown.