ACTIVITIES OF SECRETARY-GENERAL IN UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, 6 - 7 FEBRUARY

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Dubai early in the morning of Monday, 6 February.

That afternoon, he met with the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum.

He later attended the ceremonial opening of the ninth Special Session of the Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum, and received the Global Leadership Award of the Zayed International Prize for the Environment.

He said he was honoured to receive a prize named after someone with a well-known commitment to the environment.

The Secretary-General said, as he received the award, that action on climate change is particularly urgent, and he called on all countries to take seriously, discussions on action against climate change.  Equally important, he said, is a change in mindset, at a time when the world remains perilously wedded to oil and other fossil fuels.

The Secretary-General also expressed alarm at the attacks that have taken place following the recent publication of caricatures seen as insulting to Islam.  The Secretary-General said he shares the anguish over those cartoons, but added that “it cannot justify violence, least of all attacks on innocent people”.  He appealed once more to Muslims to accept the apology that has been offered.  (See press release SG/SM/10340.)

In between his meeting with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum and before the prize ceremony, the Secretary-General spoke to the press. The issues he discussed in that encounter included Iran’s suspension of its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, relations between India and Pakistan, and the repercussions of the publication in Denmark several months ago, of the insulting caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.  (See http://www.un.org/apps/sg/offthecuff.asp?nid=831.)

His bilateral meetings that day included Rachmat Witolear, State Minister of the Environment of Indonesia and President of the UN Environment Programme’s Governing Council; and Mariano Arana, Minister of Housing and Land Use Management and Environment of Uruguay and President of International Conference on Chemical Management.  He also visited an exhibition on Environmentally Sound Technology before attending the prize ceremony.

During the day, Nane Annan had met with Her Highness Princess Haya Bint Al-Hussein, who has served a Goodwill Ambassador for the World Food Programme since October 2005.

The Secretary-General departed Dubai on Tuesday morning, 7 February.