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Secretary-General calls for Olympic Truce to be observed
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for observing the Olympic Truce during the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, UN Spokesman Martin Nesirky announced Tuesday.
"The Secretary-General is calling for a worldwide cessation of hostilities for the duration of the 21st Winter Olympic Games, which start in Vancouver this Friday. The truce is in the spirit of what the Games' founders did in ancient Greece some two-and-half thousand years ago."
The Secretary-General joins the UN General Assembly, the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic Movement in calling for the truce. He says it brings hope of at least a temporary respite from violence and armed conflict.
The Olympic Truce, he adds, is based on a yearning for peace and stability, and on ideals shared by the United Nations and the Olympic movement alike: global friendship; harmony; non-violence; and non-discrimination.
Bissera Kostova, United Nations.
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