Jack Straw to meet Kofi Annan
The Foreign Secretary Jack Straw is flying to New York today, and will talk with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan about the ongoing reconstruction of Iraq.
Mr Straw had planned a two-day trip to New York some time ago, and will talk with the Secretary General ahead of the UK taking presidency of the Security Council.
The talks will follow a series of high profile security problems in Iraq, where increasingly organised terrorists have attacked infrastructure and political buildings.
Twenty-four people have died and more than 100 were wounded as a result of a recent bomb attack on a UN building in Baghdad, which has highlighted the vulnerability of international civil servants.
Those killed included the UN’s special representative in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. But today secretary general Kofi Annan has insisted that his staff will carry on working in the city despite what he described as ‘an act of unprovoked and murderous violence’.
Kofi Annan also attacked the USA led forces for failing to protect United Nations workers as they undertake their duties, although the UN requested that security around the building was kept low key so as to maintain some distance between itself and the forces that invaded.
The Foreign Secretary commented on the planned meeting, saying: ‘this is a time of sadness for the United Nations. I will be expressing my condolences directly to Kofi Annan. The visit will be an opportunity to discuss the next steps in Iraq – and our shared determination that the terrorists must not be allowed to deflect our commitment to the people of Iraq’.
The UK is to take over the presidency of the Security Council in September, and it will use this position to continue to press for co-operation on the rebuilding of Iraq, which Mr Straw claims is making progress beneath the surface, with children returning to school and some infrastructure up and running.
