Latest UN lecture series to focus on Islam and the west

Continuing efforts within the United Nations to create a strengthened framework for international dialogue and mutual understanding, the fifth in Secretary-General Kofi Annan's lecture series will be held next week with a focus on Islam.

Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr, a respected Muslim scholar at George Washington University, is scheduled to give the lecture on 15 September at UN Headquarters in New York. He will speak on the topic "Islam and the West."

Meanwhile, the first of a series of three lectures to mark the centenary of the birth of UN diplomat and Nobel Laureate Ralph Bunche will be held tomorrow, also at the UN Headquarters.

The lecture, entitled "Ralph Bunche and the Question of Palestine" will feature Dennis Ross, the President of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and Edward Mortimer, Director of the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General.