BAN KI-MOON THE DIPLOMAT: Last week, The Jerusalem Post wrote that UN Secretary-General Bank Ki-Moon went against the grain and publicly said that the Palestinian unity government was a "disappointing"--while at the same time claiming that the 2002 Saudi Peace Plan was a "pillar" of future peace. Perhaps one can distinguish between the two.

But now, Yahoo has a picture of Ban with the following caption:

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon lays a wreath at the grave of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat during his visit in the West Bank town of Ramallah, Sunday, March 25, 2007. The visiting U.N. secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, said Sunday that the time is not ripe for meetings with Hamas officials in the new Palestinian government.

Neither Ban nor Yahoo sense the jarring discrepancy.

Ban seems intent on making symbolic moves and statements that placate each side and are quite diplomatic, which in the end of course mean nothing.

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