Activities of Secretary-General in Egypt, 28-30 March
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, from New York, having transited via Istanbul, on Saturday morning, 28 March, to attend the twenty-sixth Summit of the League of Arab States.
Directly upon arrival, the Secretary-General attended the opening session. Speaking to the gathered heads of delegations, he said that four years after a generation of Arabs rose against tyranny, recent terrorist attacks show how the fragile democratic process is under threat. (See Press Release SG/SM/16629.)
War and violence in the region, the Secretary-General said, are causing enormous suffering with impacts that transcend the region and pose a direct threat to international peace and security. He reminded the audience that in order to address these threats, one needed to address the root causes that fuel extremism and violence.
In addition, even when security responses are needed they must be done in a way that protects human rights. “Fighting extremism while committing abuses is not only wrong, it is counter-productive,” Mr. Ban told the assembled heads of delegations. He went on to add that without good governance, the rule of law, human rights and human dignity, long-term political stability will remain a mirage.
The Secretary-General pointed to Syria as the prime example of where issues of radicalism and governance are the most pressing. He confessed to the assembled Arab leaders his shame and anger at the situation — his anger at seeing the Syrian Government, opposition groups and terrorists relentlessly destroying their country, and shame at sharing in the collective failure of international and regional communities to decisively act to stop the carnage that has afflicted the Arab brothers and sisters of Syria. “We have betrayed the Syrian people,” Mr. Ban said, “and this cannot continue.”
The Secretary-General said he shared the Arab leaders’ deep concern at the unravelling situation in Yemen and the tremendous toll it is having on an already suffering population. “Negotiations — facilitated by my Special Envoy Jamal Benomar — and endorsed by the Security Council — remain the only chance to prevent a long, drawn-out conflict,” he stressed. He added that it was his fervent hope that at this Arab League Summit, leaders would lay down clear guidelines to peacefully resolve the crisis in Yemen.
On the sidelines of the Summit, the Secretary-General held a number of bilateral meetings with some of the Arab leaders present in Sharm el-Sheikh. He had separate meetings with President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority; President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of Mauritania; Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane of Morocco and the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
The Secretary-General also attended an official lunch hosted by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi for heads of delegations.
On Sunday, 29 March, the Secretary-General continued with his series of bilateral meetings. These included President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi of Egypt; President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia; the President of the House of Representatives in Libya, Agila Saleh Essa Gwaider, and the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Nabil Elaraby.
On his last day, the Secretary-General also met with Aguila Saleh Essa, President of the Libyan House of Representatives.
During his stay in Sharm el-Sheikh, the Secretary-General was accompanied by a number of his senior representatives in the region, including Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya, Bernadino Leόn; Special Adviser for Yemen, Jamal Benomar; and Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Syria, Staffan de Mistura.
The Secretary-General left Sharm el-Sheikh for Baghdad, Iraq, early on Monday morning, 30 March.