Annan, Bush to zero in on Iran, Iraq, Darfur, Mohammed cartoons
AFP
UNITED NATIONS
Petroleumworld.com 02 10 06
UN chief Kofi Annan said Thursday that the Iran nuclear issue,
the Prophet Mohammed cartoon row and a UN role in Sudan's troubled
Darfur region would top the agenda of his talks in Washington
next week.
The UN secretary general is to meet US President George W. Bush
at the White House on Monday.
"We have a lot of issues on the agenda to discuss and I'm
looking forward to the meeting," Annan said. "We will
of course discuss the Iranian issue, the situation in Iraq, the
Middle East... I would not be surprised if the issue of the cartoons
comes up."
The secretary general has joined other world leaders in trying
to calm worldwide Islamic furor over the publication of caricatures
of the Prophet Mohammed.
Islam considers any image of Mohammed to be blasphemous.
Other issues to be taken up include plans to replace the beleaguered
African Union force in Darfur with a robust, mobile and better-equipped
UN force, UN reforms and the crisis in Ivory Coast, he added.
Annan, who has had an uneasy relationship with Washington since
the Iraq war and the corruption scandal over the UN oil-for-food
program for Iraq, made it clear that relations were on the mend.
"We have been on the phone quite frequently, and so there
has been quite a lot of dialogue going on between the (Bush) administration
and myself," he noted.
"And I think we're working reasonably well together both
with the president and Secretary of State (Condoleezza Rice)."
AFP
02/09/06
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© 2006 AFP. All rights reserved
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