ACTIVITIES OF SECRETARY-GENERAL IN ITALY, 11-13 JULY
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Italy from Germany in the evening of Tuesday, 11 July.
On arrival at his hotel in Rome, Deputy Prime Minister Francesco Rutelli paid a courtesy call to the Secretary-General.
The following morning, the Secretary-General met with Italy’s President, Giorgio Napolitano. They discussed United Nations reform, the situation in the Middle East, Afghanistan and the United Nations presence in Italy.
Following a working luncheon with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, he told reporters that they both felt extremely concerned about what is happening in the Middle East.
He condemned, without reservation, the attack that took place in southern Lebanon and demanded that the captured Israeli troops be released immediately. He added that leaders in the region should do whatever they could to press all parties to exercise restraint.
The Secretary-General warned that the region was a very dangerous part of the world, where we would not want to see an escalation. He stressed that all concerned should exercise maximum restraint, adding that every effort must be taken not to harm civilians.
The Secretary-General and the Prime Minister also discussed other issues, including Darfur, Afghanistan, Iran and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
In the afternoon, he addressed the Foreign Relations Committee of the Italian Senate and Chamber of Deputies. The Secretary-General provided the parliamentarians with an update on the efforts to reform the United Nations and its bodies. He reiterated his view that the Security Council must be reformed and brought in line with today's realities, adding: “We should make it more representative, more democratic and, therefore, it would gain in greater legitimacy.” (See press release SG/SM/10564.)
The Secretary-General also congratulated Italy on its World Cup victory, and said, in pushing for United Nations reform, that “the United Nations is no less vital to the world than football is to the Italian fan”.
He then met with Fausto Bertinotti, President of the Chamber of Deputies; and with Pier Ferdinando Casini, President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. He stressed to them the importance of the work of parliamentarians in international diplomacy.
Later in the day, he met with former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
On Wednesday evening, he was guest at a private dinner hosted by Foreign Minister Massimo D’Alema.
The following day, the Secretary-General spoke to the press, expressing his deep alarm at the escalation of violence in Lebanon and Israel.
He said he was particularly concerned at the suffering that had been unleashed on civilians, with tens of Lebanese civilians already killed as a result of Israeli operations and many more injured, and Israeli civilians killed and wounded from Hizbollah attacks on Israeli population centres.
The Secretary-General added that he was gravely concerned about the situation in Gaza, where Palestinian civilians are “paying a bitter price” from heavy Israeli military operations, and an alarming humanitarian situation that threatens to get worse. He condemned all actions that target civilians, and reminded the parties that, under the law of armed conflict, attacks must not be directed against civilian objects. He also asked for all concerned to extend full support to the mission headed by Vijay Nambiar. That mission was being sent to the Middle East to help defuse the crisis in the region. (See Press Release SG/SM/10566).
The Secretary-General’s next official engagement would be in the Russian Federation, to attend the Group of Eight Summit 2006, on 17 July in St. Petersburg.