UN to send special envoy to Kyrgyzstan, says Ban

Vienna - The United Nations is to send a special envoy to Kyrgyzstan, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday, while expressing deep concern over the situation in the Central Asian country.

His announcement in Vienna came a day after the Kyrgyz opposition said it had taken control of the country, and some 100 people were reported dead in clashes between demonstrators and security officers.

Former Slovak foreign minister Jan Kubis would travel to the former Soviet republic on Friday as a UN envoy, Ban told reporters after a meeting with Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger.

Kubis is a Central Asia specialist who currently heads the UN Economic Commission for Europe.

"I am deeply concerned and alarmed by all this violence in which tens of people have been killed and several 100 people were wounded", the UN chief said.

Ban visited Kyrgyzstan last Friday and Saturday and talked to President Kurmanbek Bakiyev in the capital Bishkek.

The UN leader told the president, who has since fled Bishkek, about the need to protect human rights, freedom of speech and media freedom.

"The pressure has been building for months, I believe," Ban said. "I could feel the tension in the air, and I could see some scattered demonstrations and shouting during my stay in the city."

Ban was in Vienna for a regular meeting with the heads and senior officials of all UN organizations on Thursday and Friday.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/317655,un-to-send-special-envoy-to-kyrgyzstan-says-ban.html.