Meetings on the sideline of Gulf states summit

President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan al-Nahyan on Monday in Abu Dhabi met with the Secretary General of the UN Kofi Annan, currently visiting the UAE to attend the 19th session of the GCC member states leaders. The two sides reviewed the Middle East peace process and the situation in Iraq.

Meantime, the UN chief held several meetings with leaders and officials on the sidelines of the said summit. Annan met with President Nelson Mandela of South Africa. Spokeswoman for the UN chief said that Mandela listened to explanations made by the UN chief on results of his meeting with Libyan President Moammar Gaddafi and Libyan officials concerning the Lockerbie incident. She added the two sides also reviewed to situation in democratic Congo in light of the meetings held during the recent African summit held in Paris. Annan also met with the GCC Secretary General Jamil al-Hujeilan and the two men reviewed several issues especially the ME peace process on all negotiation tracks and the situation in Iraq. Following the meeting, al-Hujeilan said he expressed to the UN chief the esteem appreciation of the GCC states over his efforts on the said issues.

He added that Annan expressed satisfaction for attending the GCC summit which would be a chance to meet with leaders of the GCC states. Annan also conferred with the secretary of the OIC Azeddine Laraki In his meeting with the UN chief, the Secretary General of the Arab League AL Dr. Esmat Abdul Meguid briefed on the Arab view points concerning issues pertaining to the region. Following the meeting, the AL chief said that during the meeting which he described as " fruitful" stress was laid on the need of maintaining co-operation between the UN and the AL for achieving stability in the region.