Head of UN Peacekeeping Says Darfur
Situation Remains Bad
The
process leading to the deployment
of a joint UN/AU force
in the Darfur region of Sudan
is slow. The head of UN peacekeeping
operations, Jean Marie Guehenno, says the government and
rebels must come to the conclusion that there is no military
option in Darfur. "The first thing is to have
a cease-fire. Neither the government, nor the rebels have
respected any cease-fire."
Africa Stands to Benefit from
an Arms Trade Treaty
Small
arms kill and maimed thousands of Africans. So, Africa stands
to benefit from a worldwide campaign for the adoption of
an international treaty to control arms trade. Former UN
High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, has visited
some of the African countries affected by this problem.
"I saw first hand that it is the small arms that
are the weapons of mass destruction at ground level."
African Diplomat
Says Only Talks Can Resolve Zimbabwe Crisis 
Ambassador Legwaila Joseph Legwaila of Botswana who has
left the UN after serving in various capacities for almost
thirty years, shares his views on the Zimbabwe crisis. He
maintains that it is only diplomacy that can help resolve
this problem. He says that as a diplomat he sees
a lot of virtue in quet diplomacy.
Transcript
PREVIOUS
EDITION
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Liberians Celebrate Lifting of
Diamonds Embargo
The Security Council has lifted
the ban on Liberia's
diamonds imposed in 2001to stop the West African country
from using the stones to fuel conflicts in the region. The
Security Council has now determined that Liberia has taken
adequate steps to control the movement of its diamonds.
Liberia'sMinister of Lands, Mines and Energy, Eugene Shannon
says Liberians have reasons to celebrate. "Diamonds
today will be diamonds for development and not diamonds
for conflict."
UN Security Council Calls for
Talks on Western Sahara
The
Security Council has called on Morocco and the POLISARIO
Front to resume negotiations to resolve their dispute over
Western Sahara. Morocco wants the territory to have greater
autonomy under its jurisdiction but POLISARIO wants independence.
Veteran African Diplomat Recalls
Freedom Struggle
Ambassador Legwaila Joseph Legwaila of Botswana has left
the UN after serving in various capacities for almost thirty
years. In this first part of our conversation with Ambassador
Legwaitla, he looks back to the time when he began his career
at the United Nations: "I may sound conservative
twenty-nine years later, but I can tell you when I came
here I was full of fire"
Transcript
PILOT EDITION Real Audio
Tenth anniversary of the Rwandan
genocide: Why did the genocide happen? Why was the
UN unable to prevent the killings or stop the massacres?
What lessons have been learned? Transcript
