UN chief urges end to Israeli 'occupation'

UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Sunday called for an end to Israeli "occupation" in the Arab world, saying the illegal building of settlements worked against a two-state solution.

"The Israeli occupation of Arab and Palestinian territories must end. So must violence against civilians," Ban said in a keynote address at a conference in Beirut on democracy in the Arab world. "Settlements, new and old, are illegal. They work against the emergence of a viable Palestinian state," said the UN secretary general. (AFP)