Ban Ki-moon to pay official visit to Austria next week

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will pay a three-day official visit to Vienna next week at an invitation of the Austrian Government, during which he will meet with President Heinz Fischer and Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer.

Mr. Ban’s visit from 22 to 24 February will follow his attendance at a meeting in Berlin of the so-called diplomatic Quartet of Middle East peace brokers seeking to reenergize talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the second such meeting this month.

The Quartet, comprising the UN, Russia, European Union (EU) and United States, has been promoting the so-called Road Map plan for a two-State solution, with Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace, originally slated for completion by the end of 2005.

During his visit to Austria, Mr. Ban will also confer with Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik and National Assembly President Barbara Prammer, and will meet with the Director-General of the UN Office at Vienna, Antonio Maria Costa, and UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Mohamed ElBaradei.