Transcript of White House conference call press briefing on President Obama's Africa Trip

the President will fly with the First Family to Tanzania, also a strong democratic partner of ours in East Africa. He'll have a bilateral meeting there with the President and then they will host a joint press conference. Following the joint press conference, the President will go to a roundtable with business leaders. And then he'll speak to a group of business leaders and CEOs from the United States and across Africa.

And this will be an opportunity for him to really focus on what we can do to increase trade and investment from the United States into Africa, what we can do to advance our trade relationships, dealing with AGOA and other opportunities that we have going forward, how do we improve the climate for economic growth in East Africa and Africa generally.

I should add that in addition to this event and the food security event with the private sector in Senegal, members of the President's economic team -- Valerie Jarrett, Mike Froman, Fred Hochberg, and Raj Shah -- will be participating in an event with the private sector in Cape Town as well, independent of the President. And they'll be discussing these issues there as well. So the President will speak to business leaders and CEOs about these issues. And then, that night he'll attend an official dinner hosted by the President of Tanzania.

For the First Lady, that day she'll have tea with Ms. Kikwete, the wife of the Tanzanian President. And then, she will visit the memorial to the embassy bombing at our embassy. Then the First Lady will attend a performance by the Baba wa Watoto troupe, which serves underprivileged boys and girls between the ages of 5 and 18 years old. And then she will join the President for the dinner that night.

Then, finally, on our last day of the trip, the President will begin his day by going to the embassy and also laying a wreath at the sight of the memorial to the embassy bombings. Then, he will visit the Ubungo power plant in Tanzania -- one of his focuses of not just our development policy, but also our support of economic growth on the continent is power, and the President will be able to speak to those issues as he visits the Ubungo power plant. And then that will conclude the President's agenda on the trip.

I'll also add on July 2nd, the last day, in Dar es Salaam, the First Lady will participate in an African First Ladies' Summit, Investing in Women Strengthening Africa, which is going to be hosted by the George W. Bush Institute, including Laura Bush. At the summit, first ladies from across the continent will gather to focus on the important role that first ladies play in promoting women's education, health and economic empowerment. I think that this will also speak to the bipartisan support that exists in the United States for support for sub-Saharan Africa, for deeper relations between the United States in sub-Saharan African countries, and of course, for the empowerment of women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa and around the world.

So that concludes our very busy schedule on the trip. Before we open it up for questions, I want to turn it over to my colleagues. I'll start with Grant to see if he has any words you want to add.

Friends of Syria pledge to arm rebels Friends of Syria group agrees to give rebels everything they need, and calls for Iran and Hezbollah to end their roles.

Western and Arab countries have agreed to give urgent military support to Syrian rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad, and to channel that aid through a Western-backed rebel military command.
In a statement following talks in Qatar on Saturday, ministers from 11 nations in the Friends of Syria group agreed "to provide urgently all the necessary materiel and equipment to the opposition on the ground".
Their final statement also condemned "the intervention of Hezbollah militias and fighters from Iran and Iraq", demanding that they withdraw immediately from Syria.
The ministers said the growing sectarian nature of the conflict and the foreign interventions "threaten the unity of Syria [and] broaden the conflict" across the region. They also expressed strong concern at the increasing presence of "terrorist elements" and growing radicalisation in Syria.

To provide urgently all the necessary materiel and equipment to the opposition on the ground. Friends of Syria statement

James Bays, Al Jazeera's diplomatic editor, said the statement allowed members to do “as they wish” to aid the rebels, but also showed that there was no agreement on what that should be.
US Secretary of State John Kerry had earlier said that the group was committed to increasing aid to the rebels through the Supreme Military Council (SMC) of the Free Syrian Army, to address the imbalance of the conflict.
"The US and other countries, in their various ways - each choosing its own approach - will increase the scope and the scale of assistance to the political and military opposition. That is why we are working with our allies to coordinate our support to the Syria [National] Coalition and the Supreme Military Council."
However, he added : "We do so not to seek a military solution. Both sides should be able to compromise. Both sides should come to the table", to find a political settlement.
Al Jazeera's Basma Al Atassi, reporting from the conference, said Kerry also said that Assad had "internationalised the militarisation" of the conflict by allowing Iran and its proxy Hezbollah's involvement.

The Friends of Syria group comprises Britain, France, the US, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Egypt.
Qatar's Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani said "force may be the only way to enforce righteousness and supplying weapons to the opposition may be the only way to reach peace in Syria".
"As we know there are international and regional interventions, especially by Hezbollah, that led to bloodshed, especially in Qusayr and the same thing is being arranged in Aleppo."

Spotlight In-depth coverage of escalating violence across Syria

Sheikh Hamad spoke later of "secret decisions about practical measures to change the situation on the ground in Syria".
He said "most countries, except for two, are agreed on how to provide assistance to the rebels through the military council," but did not name the two dissenting states.
Supreme Military Council commander General Salim Idriss, speaking to Al Jazeera, gave his word that weapons would go to the right people.
"I can give them any kind of guarantee they need and that the weapons and ammunition will go to the right hands, to the hands of the defected officers in the army," he said, referring to soldiers who had left regime forces to fight for the rebels.
"I am going to build technical groups to discuss in details with every country what kind of guarantees they need."
Russia, an ally of Syria, has warned that weapons provided to rebels could fall into the hands of groups like Jahabat al-Nusra, which the US has branded a terrorist organisation.

NSA leaks: US seeks Snowden extradition from Hong Kong

The White House has contacted Hong Kong for the extradition of US intelligence fugitive Edward Snowden, who leaked details of secret surveillance.

The Obama administration confirmed to the BBC that it had asked for his transfer under an agreement between the US and the Chinese territory.
A senior administration official was quoted as saying failure to act soon could "complicate relations".
In May, Mr Snowden fled to Hong Kong after leaking details of the operation.
The US justice department has filed criminal charges against the former National Security Agency (NSA) analyst, including espionage and theft of government property.
His leaks revealed that US agencies had systematically gathered vast amounts of phone and web data.

Continue reading the main story

Who is Edward Snowden?

• Age 30, grew up in North Carolina
• Joined army reserves in 2004, discharged four months later, says the Guardian
• First job at National Security Agency was as security guard
• Worked on IT security at the CIA
• Left CIA in 2009 for contract work at NSA for various firms including Booz Allen
• Called himself Verax, Latin for "speaking the truth", in exchanges with the Washington Post

The criminal complaint was lodged with a federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia, court documents show, and a provisional arrest warrant had been issued, officials said.

On Saturday a senior US administration official said: "If Hong Kong doesn't act soon, it will complicate our bilateral relations and raise questions about Hong Kong's commitment to the rule of law."
Beijing influence Mr Snowden left a hotel in Hong Kong on 10 June after allowing newspapers to name him as the source of the leaks.
His current whereabouts are unknown. However, a report in Hong Kong's Sunday Morning Post suggested he was "in a safe place" in the city and not in custody, nor under police protection, as reported elsewhere.
Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of China, signed an extradition treaty with the US in 1998.
It has a separate legal system from the Chinese mainland, and Mr Snowden's right of appeal could drag out any future extradition proceedings for several years.
Some Hong Kong politicians have voiced support for Mr Snowden.
Left-wing MP Leung Kwok-hung said Beijing should tell the authorities to protect him from extradition, and the people of the territory should "take to the streets" to shelter him.
The BBC's Juliana Liu in Hong Kong says Beijing is highly unlikely to interfere in the early stages of what could be a long legal battle.
The leaks have led to revelations that the US is systematically seizing vast amounts of phone and web data under an NSA programme known as Prism.
Mr Snowden also alleged that US intelligence had been hacking into Chinese computer networks.
Further details of his allegations emerged on Sunday in a report by the Sunday Morning Post, which said that as recently as January this year the NSA hacked computers and servers at the prestigious Tsinghua University in Beijing.
He said earlier that he had decided to speak out after observing "a continuing litany of lies" from senior officials to Congress.
US officials have since defended the practice of gathering telephone and internet data from private users around the world.
They say Prism cannot be used to intentionally target any Americans or anyone in the US, and that it is supervised by judges.
'Treasonous act' Mr Snowden is charged with theft of government property, unauthorised communication of national defence information and wilful communication of classified communications intelligence.
Each of the charges carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence. The complaint is dated 14 June although it was made public only on Friday.
In the US, the charges were welcomed by Democratic Senator Bill Nelson, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
"I've always thought this was a treasonous act,'' he said in a statement. "I hope Hong Kong's government will take him into custody and extradite him to the US."
Julian Assange, founder of the Wikileaks organisation, issued a statement supporting Mr Snowden.
"The US government is spying on each and every one of us, but it is Edward Snowden who is charged with espionage for tipping us off," said Mr Assange, who has been living in Ecuador's London embassy for the past year, fighting extradition to Sweden for questioning on alleged sex offences.

Spending review: UK economy 'leaving intensive care'

The UK economy is "leaving intensive care", Chancellor George Osborne will say as he unveils his spending plans for 2015-16.

Mr Osborne will outline £11.5bn of Whitehall cuts when he delivers his spending review on Wednesday.
But Mr Osborne will announce investment in infrastructure projects, including roads, railways, education and science.
Shadow chancellor Ed Balls has said the government should do more to boost the economy to avoid the need to make cuts.
'Rescue to recovery' Mr Osborne will announce an infrastructure plan to "power Britain back into the economic premier league".
The chancellor is expected to tell MPs: "Britain is moving from rescue to recovery. But while the British economy is leaving intensive care; now we need to secure that recovery.
"Full recovery won't be easy, but I won't let up in my determination to put right what went so badly wrong.
"We are already making progress; the economy is growing, more than a million new jobs have been created by British businesses and the amount the government has to borrow each year - the deficit - is down by one third.
"But there's more we have to do - it's time for the next stage of our economic plan."
Scale of cuts And he will launch an attack on the opposition, saying: "Three years ago Labour tried to scare the country about the pain to come if any government actually dared to cut spending and borrowing. But their predictions haven't come true."
Mr Osborne will use fines from the Libor bank interest rate-fixing scandal to benefit war veterans and their families.
The chancellor is still in negotiations with some government departments over the scale of cuts required.
Labour leader Ed Miliband has announced that he would not be able afford to reverse Mr Osborne's cuts should his party come to power at the next election in 2015.
Writing in the Sunday Mirror, Mr Balls said: "Instead of planning more cuts two years ahead, they should use this week's spending review to boost growth and living standards this year and next year.
"More growth now would bring in more tax revenues and mean our public services would not face such deep cuts in 2015."

Gunmen 'kill 10 tourists' in Kashmir

Gunmen have killed 10 foreign tourists after storming a hotel in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, police say.

Initial reports say five are from Ukraine, two from Russia and three from China. A Pakistani woman is also said to have been killed.
The attack is reported to have happened in the Diamer district of Gilgit-Baltistan.
The reason for the shooting is not clear and no group has so far said it carried out the attack.
The area is popular with tourists and home to the Nanga Parbat Mountain which forms part of the Himalayan Range.
The incident is thought to have happened near the base camp of the mounta

in.
"Unknown people entered a hotel where foreign tourists were staying last night and opened fire," Ali Sher, a senior police officer, told Reuters.
"They killed 10 foreign tourists and fled."
A senior official said the area had been sealed off and police were hunting for the killers.
"Since the area is very remote with no roads or transport, their bodies will have to be retrieved by helicopter," he said.
Correspondents say Gilgit-Baltistan, which borders China, had been considered one of the more secure areas under Pakistani control.
However, in recent years it has suffered a spate of attacks by militants targeting Pakistan's Shia Muslim minority.
The area is famous for its natural beauty and the main city of Gilgit is seen as a gateway to the Karakoram and Himalayan mountain ranges.
Source: BBC

Why is Tanzanians`patriotism wilting?

There is a song we have known since the days Tanzania assumed the status of a United Republic – or thereabouts. It often adds much-valued colour to political rallies, particularly those organised by public officials of various levels of seniority, prominence and popularity, presumably for ordinary souls to hear and draw cues from.
The song runs something like this – in Kiswahili: “Tanzania, Tanzania, nakupenda kwa moyo wote. Nchi yangu, Tanzania, jina lako ni tamu sana…. Nilalapo nakuota wewe; niamkapo ni heri kabisa…!”

The unofficial English version: “Tanzania, Tanzania, I love you immensely. What a wonderful name you have, my country – Tanzania! Whenever I’m asleep all my dreams are about you; upon waking up, I feel completely at peace with myself…!”

 

The message the song carries is similar to the one in the country’s National Anthem, which millions of Tanzanians still find pride in although perhaps with less dedication, devotion, commitment and sincerity than obtained during the early years of independence.

 

The anthem, for those caring for details, stresses the importance of unity, peace and love – which it fondly refers to as the pillars of the nation’s survival and development.

 

In much similar vein, the country’s Constitution places a premium on the need to safeguard and promote basic human rights in the knowledge that no Tanzanian is – or should be considered – a better human being than any other.

 

The preamble to our “mother law” meanwhile states, in part, that Tanzanians have firmly and solemnly resolved to build a democratic nation founded on the principles of freedom, justice, fraternity and concord.

 

It adds that the Judiciary would be independent and would dispense justice without fear or favour, “thereby ensuring that all human rights are preserved and protected and that the duties of every person are faithfully discharged”.

 

There is also Tanzania’s Development Vision 2025, which says the nation’s development ought to be people-centred, based on sustainable and shared growth and free from abject poverty.

 

It adds that the creation of wealth and its distribution in society must be free from inequalities and all other factors that inhibit empowerment and effective popular participation in nation-building.

 

Equally importantly, Vision 2025 underscores the need for the nation “to enjoy peace, political stability, national unity and social cohesion in an environment of democracy and political and social tolerance”.

 

“Although Tanzania has enjoyed national unity, peace and stability for a long time, these attributes must continue to be cultivated, nurtured and sustained as important pillars for the realisation of the Vision,” it says.

 

Much like most other official documents on Tanzania and Tanzania’s development agenda, inclusive of the 1967 Arusha Declaration, the Vision lays stress on good governance, the need to have both a well-educated and learning society and a strong, competent and competitive economy.

 

What the wealth of documents, declarations, progammes and strategies Tanzania boasts means is that the problems or challenges we may be grappling with have little relation to lack of “lights” to guide us into sustainable social and economic development characterised by the prevalence of peace and genuine law and order.

 

As we contemplate the nature of the goings-on in our country, especially the sporadic cases of chaos and violence we have been witnessing recently, we need to seriously reconsider our ways of doing things.

 

It is neither right nor proper that Tanzania should become ungovernable while we, to whom it is entrusted, sadly, helplessly or gleefully look on.

 

If we may ask two rhetorical questions: Who would be assured of safety were the inflammatory pronouncements irresponsible elements in our midst keep making to lead to anarchy? And, why are we seeing a noticeable rise in the incidence of manifestations of lack of restraint and people’s failure or refusal to behave in a socially acceptable manner?

 

If we may add to this: could it be that undercurrents of disillusionment and loss of hope have set in unbeknownst to us all, particularly those officially expected to lead in “smelling” looming danger and helping avert disaster?

 

It would be foolhardy to expect peace and justice to thrive where there is grinding poverty amidst plenty, where a few people illegally mint billions from the country’s natural resources and where double standards are a fact of life in the administration of justice or in the provision of basic public services like education and knowledge.

 

We are warned that a culture of admiring “effortless” success is setting in, while productive individual initiative risks losing value. This spells disaster for the nation in that it may lead to the mistaken belief that education, training and diligence don’t necessarily count.

 

In our view, our only salvation lies in fear of God, ensuring that the instruments and organs we have put in place to help keep the peace live up to expectations, and putting our nation’s interests before any others.

 

It’s essentially about truly loving Tanzania. How many of us really do?

 

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Shivji: Three governments will kill this nation

The Chairman of the Mwalimu Nyerere Professorial Chair, Prof. Issa Shivi yesterday spoke against the proposed three-tier government earlier recommended in the newly launched draft constitution, arguing that the set-up would never resolve the existing union concerns.
Speaking at his last professorial chair debate titled, “the Silent Points in the New Constitutional Draft,” Prof. Shivji argued that recommendations on the three-tier government were purely political in nature and that it would lead to economic inequality.
Prof. Shivi commended that most terms in the draft constitution were a result of compromise rather than  consensus, saying that formation of three governments would create more conflict in the two countries, leading to the break-up of the current union. He argued that union concerns could not be resolved by the number of governments but by democracy.
Prof. Shivji added that nobody would benefit, but all would suffer, from the break-up of the union -- citing the example of Sudan where conflict followed immediately after the country split into two countries.
He noted that the people in Zanzibar had raised many complaints over the union, and that they had called for democratic ways of deciding their own affairs -- not just the need for three government – hence the democratic factor in the current debate and not just the number of government which could ‘kill’ the union.

Instead of three governments now on the cards, Professor Shivji has proposed an alternative structure that could sustain the union – and proposes the formation of people’s as well national councils.
He noted that having three government would also mean having three presidents, and cautioned that trouble would begin if those three presidents come from different political parties.

He argued that in the process of forming three governments the mainland president would have a stronger voice because he would be ruling the bigger portion of the union.

Professor Shivji also wondered aloud why the police had been completely left out in all the seven issues of union – as is the case in the existing constitution.

On human rights, Prof. Shivji said the draft constitution had left out important issues such as the right to conduct demonstrations to demand their constitutional rights and justice at work.

The draft constitution which was unveiled this year by the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) proposes, among many things, formation of three governments.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Bush, wife to host Dar summit on empowerment of women

Former US President George W. Bush and his wife Laura Bush are expected to host a summit on the crucial role of African first ladies in promoting women’s empowerment to be held in Dar es Salaam on July 2 and 3 this year.

In a statement issued in Dar es Salaam yesterday the US Embassy said African First Ladies from across the continent will gather at the George Bush Institute’s “Investing in Women: Strengthening Africa.”

The summit will focus on the important role First Ladies play in promoting women’s education, health and economic empowerment.

With support from ExxonMobil, the summit will bring together African First Ladies, government officials, private organisations, NGOs and academics to discuss best practices that can reap sustainable, replicable results, benefit women and strengthen society.

Featuring keynote addresses by former us president and his wife, the summit will include First Lady announcement and commitments and the opportunity to learn from experts in the fields of education, health and economic empowerment. It will spotlight success stories and provide follow-up services.

It said the advancing women’s economic empowerment, health and education is imperative to development because the inclusion and active participation of women in all areas of society increases stability and prosperity of countries.
Investing in women results in better outcomes for entire families, communities and nations.

The summit, organised by the Bush Institute, brings together government, private organisations, NGOs and academics.

Many African countries are committed to introducing critical interventions in education, health and economic opportunity led by First Ladies that will benefit women and strengthen society.

ExxonMobil partners with organisations to promote women's economic empowerment improve education and end deaths from malaria in developing countries. ExxonMobil is supporting the African First Ladies Summit and follow-up training sessions to implement new initiatives.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Nyerere, Karume visionaries, who united two republics, says Museveni

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has described Tanzania’s founding fathers Dr Julius Nyerere and Sheikh Abeid Karume as visionary East African leaders and wise thinkers who gave up their country’s sovereignty to unite the people for a common objective.

‘’These leaders should be saluted for the wise decision of uniting the Tanganyika Mainland and Zanzibar to form the United Republic of Tanzania,’’ President Museveni told the Inter-Parliamentary Relations Seminar in Entebbe over the weekend.

“This brave and commendable example should be followed suit by the East African Community Partner States,” he added.

President Museveni was addressing the two-day seminar run under the theme: “Promoting a people-centred and market driven East Africa”.

“With a population of 140 million, [East Africa] offers huge market that can easily attract investors who in turn will offset the manufacturing age for the region,” Museveni commented.

“Sectarianism based on tribal and religious grounds interferes with the interest of both producers and entrepreneurs,’’ said the president in reference to what the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar has achieved in terms of alleviating tribal and civil conflicts that are still plaguing some of the nations in the region.

As such, he argued that unification of East Africa is “a necessity as the people of the region are already linked through culture, history and dialects.”

Mwalimu Nyerere, who retired from presidency in 1985, died from leukemia in London on 14 October 1999, aged 77. Sheikh Karume (67) was assassinated in April 1972 in Zanzibar Town.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Tanzania one of E. Africa's fastest growing economies

Tanzania's economy grew by 6.9 per cent last year, the highest among five East African Community member countries.

It was an improvement on the 6.4 per cent growth recorded in 2011.
The region’s biggest economy, Kenya grew at 4.7 per cent up from 2011’s 4.4 per cent.

The figures were revealed yesterday by the Minister of State in the President Office Responsible for Social Relations and Coordination, Stephen Wasira, when tabling in Parliament the state of the economy for 2012 and annual development plan for 2013/14 financial year.

Minister Wasira told the House that while Tanzanian and Kenyan economies were on the rise, those of the rest of the East African Community states were on the decline.

“Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda economic growth rates declined from 8.6 per cent, 4.2 and 6.7 in 2011 to 7.7 per cent, 4.0 and 2.6 in 2012 respectively,” noted Wasira.

Wasira added: “According to analysis, conducted by the Institute of Business Insider of USA, based on World Bank estimates, Tanzania is among the twenty countries with the highest projected compounded annual growth rates from 2013 to 2015”.

He said the EU-economic Commission for Africa report of 2013 shows that Tanzania is among ten fastest growing economies in Africa, recording at least 7 per cent growth in league with Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Ghana and Zambia.
Despite the high performance, the Minister conceded that inflation rose to 16 percent from 12. 7 recorded in 2011.

“This rate of price increase was caused by rising oil prices in the world market and food prices, in part due to growing demand for food in neighbouring countries.

The index of food prices accounted for most of the overall sharp rise of inflation, as food constitutes half of the goods and services in the consumer goods basket used to compute inflation,” the minister said.

Wasira said measures to tame inflation included ensuring sufficient food supply, expanding cultivation of food crops and increasing availability of agricultural inputs, particularly fertilizer, pesticides and improved seeds and enhancing food security by increasing grains purchase through National Food Reserve Agency and construction of more silos.

According to the minister the value of goods and services exported rose by 15.5 per cent from $7,398.2 million in 2011 to $8,544.4 million in 2012, mainly to an increase in traditional exports particularly coffee, cotton and tobacco and increase in the export of manufactured goods, flowers fish and fish products.

The value of the imports and services increased increased by 5.1 per cent from $9,827.5 million in 2011 to $10,324.9 million in 2012, due to importation of capital, intermediate and consumer goods.

Foreign Direct Investment for 2012 was $1,806 million compared to $1,330 million, in 2011, an increase attributed to drilling of more wells for gas, which rose from three in 2011 to ten 2012.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Nigerian parliament bans same-sex marriage

Nigerian lawmakers have approved a bill banning same-sex marriage, setting jail terms of up to 14 years for offenders.

The measure backed by the House of Representatives also makes it illegal to form gay groups or organisations.
The bill - which was adopted by the Senate in 2011 - is now expected to be sent to President Goodluck Jonathan to be signed into law.
It is already illegal to have gay sex in Nigeria, and homosexuals say they often suffer abuse.
The proposed bill also envisages prison sentences up to 10 years for anyone who participates in gay clubs or organisations.
A number of other African nations have already made homosexuality punishable by jail sentences.

Syrian rebels and Hezbollah 'exchange fire in Lebanon'

Hezbollah has been fighting alongside the Syrian army in the strategically important Syrian town of Qusair

A number of people have been killed in an exchange of fire between Syrian rebels and fighters from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, say reports.

Lebanese security sources said the clashes took place on Lebanon's side of the border, near the town of Baalbek.
Hezbollah is fighting alongside the army in Syria, but the clashes have rarely crossed onto Lebanese soil.
Meanwhile the Red Cross has said it is alarmed by the worsening situation in the besieged Syrian town of Qusair.
It has appealed for access to the town, which lies just 10km (6 miles) over the Lebanese border.
Thousands of civilians are believed to be trapped as pro-government forces - including Hezbollah fighters - battle rebels.
The office of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also appealed to the warring parties to allow residents to flee.
Syrian state TV quoted Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem as saying the Red Cross would be allowed in "as soon as military operations are over".
Reuters reported that Mr Moualem had expressed his surprise to Mr Ban about the international concern, saying there had been none when rebels took over the town last year.
Also on Sunday, a car bomb killed nine members of the Syrian security forces in the capital, Damascus, according to the British-based pro-opposition watchdog the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The watchdog said the bomb had targeted a police station in the eastern district of Jobar, which has seen renewed clashes between government forces and rebels who are entrenched there.
source: BBC