Annan heads to Africa to focus on conflicts in Sudan and central Africa

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 13, 2004 (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan heads to Africa next week to focus on the fight against AIDS and conflicts in Sudan and the Great Lakes region of central Africa. He will also attend an international conference to support Iraq and a meeting of French-speaking countries.

Annan’s first stop will be Arusha, Tanzania where he will attend a high-level meeting of the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria on Nov. 17, U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said Thursday.

He then heads to Kenya where he will attend the first day of a two-day Security Council meeting in Nairobi on Nov. 18-19. The council will press for an end to the 21-year civil war between the Sudanese government and southern rebels and stepped-up negotiations to settle the separate conflict in the western Darfur region.

From Nairobi, the secretary-general will return to Tanzania to attend an international conference on peace prospects in the Great Lakes region on Nov. 20. Leaders from Rwanda, Burundi, Congo, Tanzania and Uganda are expected to attend the meeting in the Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam.

Annan then heads to Egypt to attend the International Conference on Iraq, hosted by the Egyptian government in the resort of Sharm el-Sheik on Nov. 22-23.

Middle East states and the powerful Group of Eight industrial nations are expected to throw their support behind the Iraqi interim government’s efforts toward stabilizing their country. China, the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Conference and the European Union are also expected to participate.

From Egypt, Annan will travel to Burkina Faso for an official visit and to attend the summit meeting of the Organization of La Francophonie, which includes the world’s French-speaking countries.

For security reasons, details of Annan’s itinerary were not released.