Annan calls for truce at Olympic torch first ever visit to UN
(Reuters)
Updated: 2004-06-20 13:52

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan Saturday called all those engaged in armed conflict of any kind to observe the Olympic Truce and to use the opportunity to promote peace, dialogue and reconciliation.

Secretary-General of the United Nations Koffi Annan speaks while the Olympic Flame burns on the grounds of the United Nations during day 15 of the Athens 2004 Olympic torch relay on June 19, 2004 in New York. The Olympic flame travels to 34 cities in 27 countries en route to the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. [Reuters]

Addressing the Olympic Truce Ceremony, which is part of the 2004 Olympic Torch Relay in New York, the UN chief said it is "wonderfully fitting that this flame, symbolizing friendship among nations, should shed its light and grace on the United Nations" during its first ever visit to the world body.

He noted that the past few years have been difficult and troubling ones for the family of nations, and that makes it all the more important for all nations to join force to give life to the most fundamental and universal ideas, ideal shared by the Olympic movement and the United Nations.

The Secretary-General described Olympic Truce as a "unique concept," noting that this ancient Greek tradition has been revised by the General Assembly as a call to all member countries to stop fighting while the entire community of nations meet under the noble flames of this torch.

Annan stressed that the Truce should be understood as more than a symbol. "While limited in duration and scope, it can offer a point of consensus to open a dialogue and provide relief for a sovereign nation and it can offer a window of hope," he said.

"During the 2004 Olympics may the serenity of the Olympic flame silence the sound of warfare, may all heed message of hope of this Olympic torch is taking around the world, a message that carries within it all our aspirations for a better, more peaceful world," he added.

The Olympic torch was carried in and out of the United Nations complex by two young people whose lives have been deeply affected by conflict.

Jones, 18, was forced to flee her home in Monrovia, Liberia, in 1990 because of political conflict and spent three years in a refugee camp before moving to New York. Mejia, 17, was born in New York three years after his parents immigrated from Colombia, where one of his uncles was the victim of a political assassination a decade ago.

Annan took over the torch and lit a cauldron at the ceremony.

The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution last November calling for a worldwide truce during the Athens Olympics. The resolution was sponsored by Greece, and all 190 other nations in the world body signed as cosponsors.

The roots of both the truce and the Olympics itself go back to the 8th century BC The truce idea was revived in 1993 to allow athletes from Yugoslavia to participate in the 1994 games, and the latest General Assembly resolution was the seventh adopted since then.

After the relay through New York, the flame will tour Montreal on Sunday before heading overseas again. The 75,300 kilometer journey began June 4 and passed through Africa and South America for the first time.

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