New York  - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday welcomed the agreement between the Sudanese government and a rebel group to release prisoners in Darfur.

The agreement between the government and main rebel group Justice and Equality Movement was signed on February 17 in Doha and mediated by the Qatar government.

"This represents a concrete step in the ongoing efforts to negotiate a peaceful settlement in the Darfur conflict," Ban said in a statement.

Johannesburg - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was expected in South Africa Tuesday on the first leg of a five-nation African tour that will focus on the victims of conflict, climate change and UN reform, among other issues.

Ban's visit to South Africa is his first to the country as UN chief. He is scheduled to be met on arrival Tuesday evening in Johannesburg by Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma before holding talks with President Kgalema Motlanthe in Pretoria on Wednesday.

He is also expected to meet with former president Nelson Mandela and the ministers for finance and environment.

New York  - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Monday that he and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper discussed efforts to secure the freedom of a Canadian diplomat kidnapped last December in Niger.

Robert Fowler, a high-ranking Canadian official and former ambassador to the United Nations, disappeared on December 14 with his foreign affairs aide, Louis Guay. They were in a UN-marked vehicle and were believed to be kidnapped with their driver.

New York - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday called on Myanmar's military junta to release all political prisoners, including the main opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi who was not among those freed over the weekend.

Ban also said he was ready to visit Myanmar, but urged the junta to ensure a return to democracy.

Ban visited Myanmar in May 2008, after the devastation caused by cyclone Nargis, which killed more than 100,000 people and left 2 million homeless. That visit focused on humanitarian assistance to the impoverished nation.

New York  - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Friday social justice is denied to too many people around the world as the UN celebrated its first World Day of Social Justice.

"Tragically, social justice still remains an elusive dream for an appallingly large portion of humanity," Ban said in a message.

"Extreme poverty, hunger, discrimination and the denial of human rights continue to scar our moral landscape," he said. "The global financial crisis threatens to worsen these ills further still."

New York  - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will visit several African nations starting next week, including South Africa and Tanzania for the first time since he assumed the UN leadership in 2007, the UN said Wednesday.

Ban will also attend the March 2 international conference in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt organized to support the Palestinian people in and the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

The conference will be co-chaired by Egypt and Norway.