Annan, Brahimi meet with US officials to consult on Afghanistan

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his senior envoy Lakhdar Brahimi met in New York today with senior United States officials to consult on the situation in Afghanistan.

Mr. Annan and Special Representative Brahimi held discussions at UN Headquarters with the US Ambassador to the UN, John D. Negroponte, and Richard Haass, the US Secretary of State's Personal Representative for Afghanistan.

Speaking to reporters following the meetings, Mr. Haass said discussions had covered a full range of issues involving Afghanistan, including what could be done to ease the humanitarian situation there. "Tomorrow, Ambassador Brahimi will be coming to Washington, D.C. for a full set of meetings, and we look forward to continuing the dialogue then, and more generally to continuing our conversation with the United Nations on this issue," he said.

Asked about potentially conflicting positions between the UN and the US, Mr. Haass said that while it was too early to present plans, "we did discuss various aspects of the evolving situation that would have to be addressed."

"I don't see differences between the United States and the United Nations," he added. "This was and is a consultation in every sense of the word, where both sides are essentially sharing thoughts about a rapidly evolving situation, and what the two can do to usefully make the situation there better both now and down the road."