Annan reiterates offer to help Colombia reach negotiated solution to conflict

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan met with President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia today and reiterated his commitment to assist the South American country in reaching a negotiated solution to the decades-old conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced 2 million more.

The two discussed the work of the UN in Colombia and Mr. Annan's "good offices continue to be at the disposal of the parties," a UN spokesman said after the meeting at UN Headquarters in New York, where Mr. Uribe addressed the General Assembly's annual top-level meeting.

On a visit to Colombia in June, a senior UN relief official said civilians were not only caught in crossfire, but were also directly targeted as part of a strategy to control land and routes in the conflict involving left-wing rebels, the army and right-wing paramilitaries.