Ban to attend international conference on Afghan reconstruction

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will attend the International Conference on Afghanistan being staged in Paris on 12 June as part of international efforts to help with reconstruction and development in the Asian country.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) is tasked with promoting peace and stability in Afghanistan by leading efforts of the international community, in conjunction with the Afghan Government, to rebuild the country and strengthen the foundations of peace and constitutional democracy. The Security Council recently renewed the mission’s mandate until March 2009.

After attending the conference in France Mr. Ban will then pay an official visit to the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia from 13 to 16 June.

Earlier today, the Secretary-General arrived in Stockholm and addressed the annual review conference of the International Compact with Iraq.

While in Stockholm, Mr. Ban met with the European Union’s High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana; Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki; US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, David Miliband; and the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Amr Moussa.

He also held meetings with the Foreign Ministers of Sweden (Carl Bildt), Slovenia (Dimitrij Rupel), Italy (Franco Frattini), Turkey (Ali Babacan) and Iran (Manouchehr Mottaki).