UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon marked his first 10 days at the helm of the world organization with his first formal news conference since taking office.
The 40-minute session at U.N. World Headquarters in New York Thursday ranged widely from long-standing crises such as those in Sudan and the Middle East to "housekeeping" steps to strengthen the world body's institutional capacity.
"I have had a busy first 10 days in office," he said. "The next three months promise to be even busier."
Ban detailed his meetings with senior officials on the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region, where over three years of fighting have killed more than 200,000 people and displaced at least 2.5 million others, noting that Africa will be the focus of many of his priorities, with his first major trip to attend the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the end of the month. Darfur and Somalia will top the agenda.
Among other priorities the secretary-general cited Lebanon, Iraq and efforts to "inject new momentum into the search for peace and stability in the Middle East." On his way to Africa, he is scheduled to attend the Lebanon reconstruction conference in Paris, following last year's 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah.
On the Israelis and Palestinians, Ban said he was pushing for a meeting as soon as possible of the diplomatic Quartet of the European Union, Russia, United Nations and United States, which is seeking the establishment of two states living side by side in security and peace.
