Hans von Sponeck speaks at University of Limerick on 11 November

Former UN official will discuss challenges facing incoming UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon

Hans von Sponeck will speak at a conference to be held by the Irish Peace Society at the University of Limerick on 11 November. The former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations will discuss the urgency of reforms to the UN and the challenges faced by the incoming Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, who will replace Kofi Annan on 1 January 2007.

Von Sponeck is expected to be joined by citizens who are concerned by the use of Leipzig airport to transport US troops to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Von Sponeck’s visit will mark the launch of the English-language edition of his new book:
A DIFFERENT KIND OF WAR: The UN Sanction Regime in Iraq

Hans von Sponeck, a former head of the UN Oil-for-Food Programme in Iraq (1998-2000), has agreed to participate in the Peace Society’s conference at the University of Limerick on Remembrance Day, 11 November, 2006. The former United Nations official, who resigned his high-ranking post in protest against the abuses of the economic sanctions on Iraq, will speak on the topic of "Global confrontation, human security and the imperative of UN reforms".

Von Sponeck is expected to be joined by a number of people from Leipzig who are concerned by the recent use of Leipzig airport as a node for transport of US troops to the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan. World Airways moved its troop transports from Shannon to Leipzig in July this year. (US troops at Leipzig airport: http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/en/fulltext/56003 )

Single-minded in his pursuit of peace, the German-born count in a recent interview expressed his dismay at the use of Shannon and more recently Leipzig airport for the transport of American troops to Iraq: "No transshipment support for US troops and munitions for Iraq. After Shannon, Leipzig must not become Shannon II."

Von Sponeck’s visit will mark the launch of the English-language edition of his new book:
A DIFFERENT KIND OF WAR: The UN Sanction Regime in Iraq
H. C. von Sponeck, with a foreword by Celso N. Amorim, Foreign Minister of Brazil
336 pages, hardback, $39.95 / £22.95. ISBN 1-84545-222-4
More details at: http://www.berghahnbooks.com/title.php?rowtag=SponeckDi...erent

For book orders, please contact Berghahn Books Ltd.
3 Newtec Place, Magdalen Rd., Oxford OX4 1RE, UK.
Tel: +44-1865-250011. Fax: +44-1865-250056.

Also speaking at the conference will be Gernot Biehler, expert in international law based at Trinity College Dublin.

To book an interview with Hans von Sponeck, please contact Coilín ÓhAiseadha at 086-060 3818.