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Annan heads for Europe for meetings on Iraq, Middle East peace

Annan heads for Europe for meetings on Iraq, Middle East peace

Kofi Annan
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is leaving New York for Europe tonight to attend an international conference on Iraq and a high-level meeting on efforts to build peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Mr. Annan will deliver remarks at the opening and closing sessions of the International Conference on Iraq, which is being co-hosted by the European Union and the United States in Brussels, Belgium, on Wednesday.

He will also take part in a press conference, along with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyer Zubari and the conference's co-hosts.

On Thursday, he will attend a meeting at Principals' Level in London of the diplomatic Quartet – the UN, European Union, Russia and the United States – which are co-sponsors of the Road Map peace plan for the Middle East.

The plan calls for parallel and reciprocal steps by Israel and the Palestinians leading to two States living in peace and security, originally targeted for the end of this year.