Activities of Secretary-General in Kuwait, 21 July

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Kuwait from Doha, Qatar, on Monday, 21 July, on the second stop of a visit to the Middle East.

In Kuwait, the Secretary-General met with the Amir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.  The Secretary-General thanked the Amir for his leadership role in the Arab League.  He told the Amir that he was in the region to promote a ceasefire, but stressed that a ceasefire was not enough, that the root causes of the conflict also had to be addressed.

The Secretary-General added that efforts should be made to strengthen the Palestinian Government of national unity, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, by encouraging an internal Palestinian dialogue.  The Amir updated the Secretary-General on his recent meeting with Hamas leader Khaled Mashal, who had been in Kuwait the previous day.

The two also discussed the political and humanitarian situation in Iraq.  The Secretary-General thanked the Amir for Kuwait’s support of United Nations humanitarian work in Iraq and for his Government’s generous donation of $10 million towards that effort.

Finally, the Secretary-General invited Kuwait to participate at the highest level in the September Climate Change Summit.  The Secretary-General stressed the importance of the active participation in the summit of oil and gas producing countries.

Immediately following that meeting, the Secretary-General met Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.  In addition to discussing the situation in Gaza and Iraq, they also reviewed the current crisis in Libya.

Before leaving for Egypt, the Secretary-General paid a courtesy call to Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al Sabah.

He also spoke by phone with President François Hollande of France.

The Secretary-General left for Cairo in the mid-afternoon.