the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
flew into South Sudan Tuesday to demand an end to a brutal four-month-old civil war that has sparked dire warnings of genocide and famine.
The visit, which comes as rebels and government forces fight heavy battles for control of a key oil town, is the latest major push for a ceasefire in the four-month-old civil war, which has seen the world's youngest nation collapse amid a brutal cycle of war crimes.
"The Secretary-General has repeatedly called on the leaders to find a political solution, and to put an immediate end to the violence which has led to the suffering of so many innocent civilians," a UN statement read.
Both sides in the conflict have been accused of widespread ethnic massacres, rape and child soldier recruitment.
Ban's visit comes days after US Secretary of State John F.
I was in Vietnam, you knowKerry
Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a
lucky hat,conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State...
flew into the capital, a visit in which he extracted promises from President Salva Kiir to meet face-to-face with rebel chief Riek Machar.