Ban Ki-moon leaves Madrid after attending UN Alliance of Civilizations Forum

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today wrapped up his visit to Madrid, where he opened a United Nations Alliance of Civilizations forum with a call to translate into action lofty pledges of tolerance and cross-cultural friendship to combat extremism and terrorism.

Before taking off for New York, Mr. Ban met with the UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, former Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio, and Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos, UN spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters.

Last night he met with Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem of Algeria.

Ms. Montas announced that Mr. Ban is scheduled to travel again next week for Geneva where on Tuesday he will visit the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The world body is launching a series of events to mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

He will also address the Conference on Disarmament and launch the UN’s Consolidated Appeal for 2008 to aid global emergencies.

While in Geneva, the Secretary-General will also attend a memorial service for the 17 UN staff members killed in the terrorist attack in Algiers on 11 December.

He will then leave for Davos, Switzerland, to attend the World Economic Forum.