March 29, 2007	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 9, 1428

RIYADH, March 28: The situation in the Middle East was more dangerous than ever, warned UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a speech to the opening session of an Arab summit in Riyadh on Wednesday.

“The Middle East region is more complex, more fragile and more dangerous than it has been for a very long time,” said Ban, one of several world figures invited to the opening of the two-day gathering.

“For most in the Arab world, the wound that is still fresh even after 40 years is the continued (Israeli) occupation of Arab territory and the denial of legitimate Palestinian claims to statehood,” he said.

“The basis for a solution is clear – an end to the occupation that began in 1967, the creation of an independent and viable Palestinian state alongside a secure and fully recognised state of Israel, and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the region,” Ban said.

The UN chief, who plans to visit Lebanon as part of a regional tour that also took in Iraq, said the political stalemate in Lebanon “threatens to undermine one of the region’s most vibrant societies,” while the violence in Iraq “continues to take a shocking daily toll in civilian lives”.

Ban also visited Israel and the West Bank in a bid to revive Middle East peace talks before coming to Riyadh, where the Arab summit is expected to revive a 2002 plan for peace with the Jewish state.—AFP