In Salt Lake City, Annan meets with President of International Olympic Committee

As the XIX Winter Olympic Games were set to open today in Salt Lake City, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan met this morning with the President of the International Olympic Committee, Dr. Jacques Rogge, who had invited Mr. Annan to attend the Games' opening ceremony.

This is the first time that a UN Secretary-General is attending the opening of the Games at the invitation of the IOC.

In his letter to Dr. Rogge accepting the IOC invitation, the Secretary-General noted that the UN General Assembly's adoption last December of a new resolution on "Building a better world through sport and the Olympic ideal" was "a welcome reaffirmation of the value of the cooperation" between the United Nations and the IOC.

Mr. Annan, who arrived in Salt Lake City on Thursday, also met with his Special Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace, Adolf Ogi. Later in the day, the Secretary-General is scheduled to attend a reception convened by Utah Governor Mike Leavitt in honour of US President George W. Bush.