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| UN chief Ban Ki-moon briefs the press in Baghdad [PHOTO: UNifeed] |
At a news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki,
Ban referred to an ongoing political stalemate involving the country's Shia,
Sunni Muslim and ethnic Kurdish parities, saying the impasse was a
"disservice to the people of Iraq, who look to their leaders to deliver a
better future."
He also touched on what he called "divergences"
over disputed territories in the country's north, where differences linked to
oil and land rights between the Iraqi federal government and the autonomous
Kurdistan Regional Government have surfaced.
"There is no alternative to peaceful coexistence within
a united federal Iraq," Ban said.
In response to questions at the press conference, Ban later
went on to reiterate his "gravest concern" about Syria's chemical
weapons and recent reports of plans for their possible use. He said he had
written again to President Bashar al-Assad urging him to refrain from the use
of any such weapons, and stressed that whoever decided to use such weapons
"will have to be brought to justice". -UNifeed