Ban Ki-moon, the outgoing UN secretary-general, says he laments not ending conflicts and doing more to promote peace as he ended 10 years at the UN.
Thronged by UN staff as he made his way out of UN headquarters on Friday, the South Korean diplomat thanked his colleagues, saying it was an honour to have worked with them.
« You should be very proud, just as I am so very proud to call you my colleagues, » he said.
The 72-year-old transfers stewardship of the world body to Antonio Guterres, a f ormer Portuguese prime minister, amid continuing conflicts in Syria, Yemen, Mali, the Central African Republic and Libya, to name but a few.
Ban said he lamented the « fires still burning », and in a rare show of criticism of world leaders, criticised unnamed presidents, prime ministers and monarchs for the turmoil.
Singling out Syria, he said he could not understand why it was being held hostage to « the destiny » of Bashar al-Assad.
The Syrian conflict has killed an estimated 400,000 people, contributed to Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II and allowed the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group to emerge as a global threat.
