ISLAMABAD, Jan 17: United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan will be meeting President Gen Pervez Musharraf during his two-day visit to Pakistan beginning on Jan 23.

The visit, an unscheduled one, has been included in the itinerary of the UN secretary-general in view of the tense situation between India and Pakistan.

Mr Annan will visit Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran after attending the two-day Afghanistan reconstruction conference being held in Tokyo on Jan 21-22.

Defusing the tension between India and Pakistan and the role of Pakistan in the reconstruction of Afghanistan will top the agenda of the secretary-general’s meeting with Gen Musharraf. This would be Mr Annan’s second visit to Pakistan which he first visited in March last year.

Speaking at a news conference here on Thursday, the director of the UN Information Centre, Eric Falt, said Mr Annan during his stops in Islamabad and Tehran would reiterate UN’s call on Afghanistan’s neighbours to help restore peace in the war-battered country.

According to the schedule, Mr Annan will reach Islamabad on Jan 23 before heading to Kabul on Jan 25. He would be visiting Afghanistan for the first time since 1959 when then UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold visited the country.

Meanwhile, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson called for treating Taliban and Al-Qaeda prisoners, currently being held at United States facilities at Guantanamo, Cuba, according to the conventions of international humanitarian laws.

Ms Robinson said the trial of those being held should be guided by the principles of a fair trail, including the presumption of innocence.

She said the legal status of the detainees and their entitlement to prisoner-of-war status, if disputed, must be determined by a competent tribunal.

She also stated that at a time of difficulty, it was important that human rights and international humanitarian standards should be clearly upheld and observed.

Ms Robinson said that in some respect, some people were feeling that the rules were changing, but “it’s my concern to say the rules are not changing, the rules are as important as ever.”