UNITED NATIONS, Feb 6: UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and US President George W. Bush will meet in Washington next week to discuss Iran, Iraq, the Middle East peace process, UN and US officials said here on Monday.
According to a UN spokesman, Mr Annan will hold talks with Bush on Feb 13 at the White House and afterwards have a working lunch with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Mr Annan and Mr Bush will also discuss the UN reform agenda which has become a subject of intense discussion among member states many of whom are divided over the priorities set by the developed nations.
Management reform at the United Nations has become a top priority of the Bush administration following findings of mismanagement and corruption in the UN oil-for-food programme for Iraq and extensive waste in UN purchasing.
But many of the proposed reforms have met with resistance from developing nations, who fear Washington is using proposed management changes to strengthen its grip on the UN agenda and freeze out the concerns of poor countries.
Washington has argued that it deserves a bigger say in the reform agenda as the biggest UN dues-payer. As the world’s largest economy, the United States picks up the tab for about a quarter of the UN budget.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the agenda on Annan’s talks with Bush would include human rights, development and humanitarian assistance and matters of international peace and security as well as UN reform.
