Secretary-General condemns suicide bombing in Jerusalem

The United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, this morning condemned the latest "desperate act of terror" that killed innocent people, among them schoolchildren, in Jerusalem.

"I must, once again, in the strongest possible terms, repeat my condemnation of all such acts of violence," Mr. Annan said at the outset of an address to UN celebrity envoys and advocates at UN headquarters in New York. "My sorrow could not be deeper for all the families touched by this tragedy."

"No cause can justify the taking of innocent lives," Mr. Annan stressed, adding that this tragedy was one more reason to work harder for peace in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, the UN's senior envoy to the Middle East today said he was "appalled" by the latest suicide bombing in Jerusalem and declared that such attacks could not be endured and must stop.

In a statement issued from Gaza, Terje Roed-Larsen, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, reiterated his long-standing condemnation of terrorist attacks, and stressed that such attacks against civilians "were morally repugnant and a clear violation of international law."

Terrorist attacks from any quarter were "completely unacceptable" and could not be tolerated by the international community, Mr. Roed-Larsen said.