Secretary-General condemns deadly rocket attack in southern Jordan

3 August - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned this week's rocket attack that killed one person in the southern Jordanian town of Aqaba and urged countries in the region to work together to bring those responsible to justice.

A Jordanian man died after the rocket attack yesterday morning, with press reports indicating the rocket may have been aimed at the nearby Israeli resort town of Eilat.

“This is an act of terrorism,” Mr. Ban said earlier today in response to journalists' questions in Tokyo, where he is making an official visit. “After… [this] violence, and earlier unacceptable rocket attacks against civilian neighbourhoods in Israel like Ashkelon and Western Negev in Israel, and Israel's retaliatory air strikes on Gaza, which caused civilian casualties, I sincerely hope that all these countries concerned should exercise maximum restraint.”

Mr. Ban urged “cooperation among the countries concerned to bring those responsible to justice as soon as possible.”

He also stressed the need for “an end to indiscriminate attacks by militants and urge all parties in the region to remain focused on the urgent goal of moving forward the political process. All these situations which happened recently would not be conducive to ongoing dialogue between Israel and Palestine for the peace process.”