Olympics-Silence the guns for Paris Games, says UN's Guterres

By Karolos Grohmann

PARIS (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged countries around the world to stop armed conflict as part of the Olympic truce, with the Paris 2024 Olympics set to open later on Friday.

Guterres met International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and said the Games were a chance for peace.

"I want to express the total support of the United Nations to the IOC," Guterres said. "We live in a divided world where conflicts are proliferating in a dramatic way.

"The horrendous suffering in Gaza, the seemingly endless war in Ukraine, terrible suffering from Sudan to the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo), from the Sahel to Myanmar.

"In a moment like this it is important to say that the first recorded, in history, real peace initiative was the Olympic truce."

During the Olympics in ancient Greece all conflicts ceased for the duration of the Games to allow for the competitions to go ahead.

"In a moment in which the Olympic Games will start it is time to remind the world of the importance of the Olympic truce and to make the world understand that we must silence the guns," he added.

The Games kick off later on Friday and end on Aug. 11 with the participation of more than 10,500 athletes representing 206 nations and territories.

These include a Palestinian team, which while not a full member of the United Nations, has an official national Olympic Committee, as well as athletes from Russia and Belarus, who will compete as neutrals without a flag or emblem following the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

"So this is the moment in which my strong appeal is for countries to come together with the same spirit as athletes will be coming together during the Olympic Games in Paris," Guterres said.

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Christian Radnedge)