ACTIVITIES OF SECRETARY-GENERAL IN AUSTRIA, 14 - 17 JULY

Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Vienna, Austria on Wednesday, 14 July.

Austrian Foreign Minister Benita Ferraro-Waldner called on him on Thursday morning.  She asked him about his High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, which was meeting at the time in Austria and the Secretary-General updated her on the Panel's progress.  The Minister also raised non-proliferation issues, the situation in the Darfur region of Sudan, Iran and Iraq.

The Secretary-General's new Special Representative for Kosovo, Soren Jessen-Petersen then joined the meeting for a review of the situation in Kosovo.

The Austrian Chancellor, Wolfgang Schuessel, gave the Secretary-General a tour of the newly-renovated AlbertinaMuseum, and the two chatted casually in the museum coffee shop afterwards.

The Secretary-General had lunch with Mr. Jessen-Petersen to discuss his new assignment in Kosovo.

In the afternoon, the Secretary-General had a private meeting with Margot Klestil-Loeffler, the widow of the Austrian President, Thomas Klestil, who died the previous week, two days before the end of his term.

Later that day, the Secretary-General met with the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, His Royal Highness Prince Saud Al-Faisal, who was visiting Vienna.  They had an in-depth discussion on Iraq.

That evening, he had an informal dinner with the new Austrian President, Heinz Fischer.

On Friday, the Secretary-General travelled outside of Vienna to Baden to hold a two-hour meeting with the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, which was spending several days in Baden at the mid-point in its deliberations.  He dined with panel members afterwards, before returning to Vienna. 

The Secretary-General returned to New York on Saturday, 17 July.