At Babi Yar memorial, Annan voices concern over anti-Semitic attacks in Europe

Visiting the Babi Yar memorial in Kiev, a site where thousands of Ukrainian Jews had been massacred by the Nazis, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today voiced alarm over a recent spate of anti-Semitic attacks in Europe and vowed to spare no effort in combating the scourge of intolerance.

"I wanted to visit Babi Yar to express my solidarity with the victims of the anti-Semitism and intolerance, and as a sign of my resolve to do everything in my power to fight the hatred and evil that so disfigure our world," Mr. Annan said at the memorial to Jews and others who had been killed in the ravine during the Nazi occupation, beginning in September 1941.

"The unspeakable acts of murder permitted here half a century ago will always remind us of man's capacity for evil," the Secretary-General said.

Pointing to recent attacks on synagogues in a number of European countries, Mr. Annan stressed that those acts "should trouble people everywhere who are concerned about human rights and human dignity."