Mottaki confers with Annan

Tehran, Oct 14, IRNA - Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki held talks on Monday with the former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the international and regional developments.

Mottaki said that the wars that broke out with or without permission
of the UN Security Council weakened the United Nations.

He added that the present mechanism for managing the UN has lost its
effectiveness and during Annan's tenure the alarm bell of UN failure
was tolled.

Referring to the world financial crisis, Kofi Annan offered an
analysis about the international and regional crises and called for
resolving them.

Mr. Annan is in Tehran along with other world dignitaries to attend
International Conference on 'Religion in Modern World'.

Former Norwegian prime minister Bondevick, former Italian prime
minister Romano Prodi, former French prime minister Lionel Jospin,
former Swiss president Joseph Deiss, former Portuguese president Jorge
Sampaio, former Irish president Mary Robinson, former Sri Lankan
president Chandrika Kumaratunga and former UNESCO director general
Federico Mayor as well as several other scholars are attending the
two-day confab.

Former president Mohammad Khatami addressed the inaugural session of
the conference this morning.

Sampaio, UN high representative for Alliance of Civilizations, also
presented a keynote speech to the conference organized by Khatami.