UN chief deplores Kirkuk’s deadly attacks

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon has condemned the suicide bombing that left scores of people killed or wounded in Kirkuk city two days ago. “‘No cause can justify such inhumane and indiscriminate violence,’ according to a statement issued by Mr. Ban’s spokesperson,” the UN News Centre said on its web site. “The suicide bomber struck a popular restaurant in an the ethnically mixed area 25 miles from the city of Kirkuk while hundreds of families were celebrating the last day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.” “According to media reports, the blast killed 55 people while the restaurant was packed with lunchtime diners, including children, and local Kurdish and Arab leaders who were trying to settle their differences concerning the oil-rich area,” the statement explained. “‘This terrorist attack was particularly troubling because it targeted a meeting to promote dialogue and reconciliation between different communities in the region,'” the statement added. “Mr. Ban called on the Iraqi people and their leaders ‘not to be deterred by such acts of provocation and to continue to work together in a spirit of national reconciliation in order to ensure a peaceful atmosphere for the holding of next month’s provincial elections’,” the statement said. SS (S) 1