SECRETARY-GENERAL'S VISIT TO IRAN, KUWAIT, MALAYSIA 8-17 DECEMBER
Press Release
SG/T/2114
SECRETARY-GENERAL'S VISIT TO IRAN, KUWAIT, MALAYSIA 8-17 DECEMBER
19971222 (Received from the Spokesman travelling with the Secretary-General.)Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Tehran in the evening of 8 December, to begin his first official visit to Iran. On Tuesday, 9 December, he addressed the opening session of the eighth summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). In his speech, he praised the partnership between the United Nations and the OIC in dealing with crises, from Iraq to Tajikistan to the Middle East. He blamed foreign military, material and financial support for depriving the Afghan factions of a genuine interest in making peace while rendering diplomatic initiatives almost irrelevant. And he expressed distress at the extremists who resort to violence and terror in the name of Islam, sullying the image of a religion whose very name signifies peace. (For the full text of the speech, see Press Release SG/SM/6418/Rev.1 of 8 December.)
Before the summit opened, the Secretary-General met with President Mohammed Khatami of Iran and met informally with many heads of State and government ministers. He also met with the Foreign Minister of Iran, Kamal Kharrazi; the Vice President of Iraq, Taha Yassin Ramadan; and the Prime Minister of Togo, Kwassi Klutse.
The Secretary-General also met with the following: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran; President Abdou Diouf of Senegal; Prime Minister Abdellatif Filali of Morocco; the OIC Secretary-General, Azeddine Laraki; and President Sapiar Murat Niyazov of Turkmenistan. Later in the day, the Secretary-General and Mrs. Annan attended an official dinner hosted by President Khatami.
On Human Rights Day, 10 December, the Secretary-General delivered a speech at Tehran University. "Human rights lie at the heart of all that the United Nations aspires to achieve and develop", he told the assembled students and faculty. "Tolerance promoted, protected and enshrined will ensure all freedoms", he went on, "without it, we can be certain of none". "Human rights are your rights", he concluded, "they are the best in us. Give them life." (For the full text of the speech, see Press Release SG/SM/6419 of 9 December.)
The Secretary-General and his party then toured Esfahan, before meeting with representatives of United Nations agencies. That evening he had a "family dinner" with the roughly 170 national and international United Nations staff in Tehran.
The Secretary-General spent the third and final day of the eighth Islamic summit holding bilateral meetings and attending the closing session of the event.
With the President of Azerbaijan, Geidar Aliyev, he discussed the conflict with Armenia and the proposal by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for a settlement. He then met with President Idriss Deby of Chad and discussed a number of issues, including demining in northern Chad. He discussed regional issues with President Mathieu Kerekou of Benin, and the Comoros internal conflict with the President of that country, Mohamed Abdoulkarim.
His other meetings included one with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh and the only woman head of State at the summit. He also met with the Foreign Minister of Libya, Omar Mustafa Muntasser; and President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir of Sudan.
The Secretary-General gave a press conference in the early afternoon. In it, he repeated a phrase from his human rights speech at the University of Tehran of the day before: "Faith elicits respect; fanaticism provokes hate".
The Secretary-General flew from Tehran to Kuwait City on the morning of Friday, 12 December, and immediately travelled by helicopter to Camp Khor of the United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM) in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) at the Kuwait-Iraq border.
He was briefed by the UNIKOM Force Commander, Major-General Esa Kalervo Tarvainen, and by the mission's Senior Political Adviser, Tadesse Tesfaye, who reported that the DMZ had been calm and quiet, even during the recent weeks of increased tension between Iraq and the United Nations. He travelled by vehicle to a UNIKOM observation post on the border itself, south of the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr.
Upon return to Kuwait City, he visited with United Nations staff at the office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
He then met with representatives of the Kuwaiti Public Authority for the Assessment of Compensation, who asked to review with him the status of payment of compensation claims connected with Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
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In the evening he attended a dinner in his honour hosted by the Under- Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Suleiman Majid Al-Shaheen.
On Saturday, 13 December, the Secretary-General met the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. He then had an extensive discussion of issues of common concern to Kuwait and the United Nations with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Those included the fate of hundreds of Kuwaiti prisoners of war taken in the Iraq-Kuwait conflict, the return of stolen property, the work of UNIKOM and regional issues. The Secretary-General spoke of the work of the UNDP in Kuwait and his desire to establish a "United Nations House" there, where all United Nations agencies and programmes could be based, with government support.
The Secretary-General also met with the Speaker of the National Assembly and toured the Parliament building. He visited the headquarters of the Kuwait Fund, which supports development projects in the third world, and urged cooperation with UNDP.
An honorary doctorate was conferred on him by Kuwait University, where he made a statement. (See Press Release SG/SM/6421 of 12 December.)
His official visit concluded with a dinner banquet hosted by the Minister for Foreign Affairs at his residence.
At the airport on departure on Sunday morning, the Secretary-General told the press that Kuwait had come out of the tragedy of the 1990 invasion by Iraq stronger, and was rebuilding its society on a firm democratic basis.
The Secretary-General arrived in Kuala Lumpur from Kuwait late Sunday, 14 December, and began an official visit to Malaysia on Monday. The National Economic Planning Unit gave him an extensive briefing on that country's economic development, the impact of the current economic crisis in Asia on the country's plans, and prospects for future growth.
He then visited the world's tallest building, the Petronas Twin Towers, and was briefed on the downtown development project of which it is a part.
The United Nations Association of Malaysia, headed by former Foreign Minister Ahmad Rithauddeen, hosted a luncheon in the Secretary-General's honour. He then travelled outside of Kuala Lumpur to visit the nerve centre of the new Multimedia Super Corridor, which will link the capital with the new airport in a 40-kilometre stretch of land dedicated to the latest in communications technology.
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He then went to the site of the Second Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Informal Summit, where he met with the Prime Minister of Viet Nam, Phan Van Khai, to discuss regional issues.
He also met with the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad, for a wide-ranging discussion on topics from the Asian financial crisis to United Nations reform.
His last appointment of the day was with the Prime Minister of Thailand, Chuan Leekpai, with whom he discussed refugees in Thailand as well as the regional economic crisis.
His day concluded with a gala dinner hosted by the Prime Minister of Malaysia for the participants in the ASEAN summit commemorating the regional group's thirtieth anniversary.
The Secretary-General began the final day of his official visit to Malaysia with a breakfast meeting with President Fidel V. Ramos of the Philippines, with whom he discussed the situation in Cambodia and Myanmar.
He then met with the Foreign Minister of Indonesia, Ali Alatas. Their agenda included the United Nations peace effort on East Timor, and again, Cambodia and Myanmar.
His final bilateral meeting of the morning was with President Jiang Zemin of China. They discussed China's relations with the United Nations, Cambodia, Iraq and United Nations reform.
He also met with United Nations staff at WISMA UN (United Nations House). With agency and programme representatives he reviewed United Nations projects and objectives in Malaysia and then addressed a gathering of about 100 local and international staff, telling them to humanize the United Nations by building strong ties to the people.
The Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, and his wife, hosted an official lunch for the Secretary-General and his wife.
The Secretary-General's afternoon programme began with a bilateral meeting with Senior General Than Shwe, Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of Myanmar. The 45-minute meeting covered a range of political issues, democratization, economic development and the efforts to combat illicit narcotic drugs. The General agreed to receive an envoy of the Secretary-General, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Alvaro de Soto, who will travel to Myanmar in January for discussions with the Government as well as with opposition leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi.
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The Secretary-General and Mrs. Annan then had an audience with the King and Queen of Malaysia, The Yang Di Pertuan Agong Tuanku Ja'afar and Tuanku Najihah, Raja Permaisuri Agong.
That was followed by three bilateral meetings, one with the Prime Minister of Singapore, Goh Chok Tong, the second with the Sultan of Brunei, and the third with the Malaysian Foreign Minister, Ahmad Badawi.
He ended his programme with a dinner talk organized by the Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations. (See Press Release SG/SM/6425 of 16 December.)
The Secretary-General departed Malaysia on Wednesday morning, 17 December, after giving a press conference at the airport. He travelled back to New York via London, where he met briefly with Richard Branson, Chairman of the Virgin Group of Companies. That meeting was part of the efforts of the Secretary-General to reach out to the private sector. Issues dealing with the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were also discussed.
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