Middle East: UN envoy meets with top UN peacekeepers in region

The top United Nations envoy in the Middle East today met with the commanders of the three UN peacekeeping missions in the region to discuss the current, “bleak” situation, according to a UN spokesperson in New York.

Terje Roed-Larsen, Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Coordinator for the Middle East, met with the Force Commanders of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan Heights, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) in Jerusalem.

He was accompanied by the Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Peter Hansen, and Mr. Annan’s Representative for Southern Lebanon, Staffan di Mistura.

Later today, Mr. Roed-Larsen – along with officials from the United States, European Union and Russia, who collectively form the “quartet” – was scheduled to meet with US envoy Gen. Anthony Zinni.

Mr. Roed-Larsen was also part of a “quartet” meeting yesterday in Ramallah with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat.