AFP: UN chief urges end to Israeli occupation

Israeli soldiers stand guard during a weekly demonstration against the construction and expansion of Israeli settlements, in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah, on January 13. UN chief Ban Ki-moon has called for an end to Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, saying the illegal building of settlements works against a two-state solution. (AFP Photo/Abbas Momani)

http://news.yahoo.com/un-chief-urges-end-israeli-occupation-132016168.html

UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Sunday called for an end to Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, saying the illegal building of settlements worked against a two-state solution.

"The Israeli occupation of Arab and Palestinian territories must end. So must violence against civilians," Ban said in a keynote address at a conference in Beirut on democracy in the Arab world.

"Settlements, new and old, are illegal. They work against the emergence of a viable Palestinian state," said the UN secretary general.

"A two-state solution is long overdue. The status quo offers only the guarantee of future conflict."

Ban arrived in Beirut on Friday to attend a conference entitled "Reform and Transitions to Democracy" organised by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)....READ MORE