MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“Divisions threaten world”

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a farewell address to global leaders yesterday, depicted a world divided by an unjust economy, contempt for human rights and a failure to make peace in the Middle East.

To a standing ovation from presidents, prime and foreign ministers, Annan, who ends 10 years in office on December 31, said there had been some progress in living standards, security and a drop in global conflicts since he first addressed the General Assembly in 1997.

"And yet. And yet. Every day, reports reach us of new laws broken, of new bestial crimes to which individuals and minority groups are subjected," Annan said.

"The events of the last 10 years have not resolved, but sharpened, the three great challenges I spoke of ? an unjust world economy, world disorder, and widespread contempt for human rights and the rule of law," Annan said.

"As a result, we face a world whose divisions threaten the very notion of an international community, upon which this institution stands," he said.

Annan said fear of terrorism had made many people feel insecure but warned that should not be used as a pretext "to abridge or abrogate fundamental human rights."

Annan had pushed for the right of the international community to protect populations when their governments refused to do so, which was enshrined in a document adopted by world leaders a year ago.

But Annan, a Ghanaian, said the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region made that commitment of protection from atrocities seem an empty promise.

Meanwhile, President George W. Bush said yesterday in a message to the Iranian people that the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is using their resources to fund terrorists and pursue nuclear weapons.

In his annual address to the UN General Assembly, Bush directed a portion of his remarks to Iranians, saying "you deserve an opportunity to determine your own future" and an economy that rewards their talents.

"The greatest obstacle to this future is that your rulers have chosen to deny you liberty and to use your nation's resources to fund terrorism and fuel extremism and pursue nuclear weapons," Bush said. Bush has long sought to show his support for Iranians against a Tehran government that Washington sees as a major supporter of terrorism.

With the United States and Europeans pressuring Iran to suspend uranium enrichment, Bush told Iranians that "despite what the regime tells you, we have no objection to Iran's pursuit of a truly peaceful nuclear power programme."

Meanwhile, thousands of protesters including former US soldiers rallied outside UN headquarters yesterday, urging the US government to end the war in Iraq and bring home the troops.

Nearby, about 200 other protesters demonstrated against the presence of the Iranian president, others called for human rights in Myanmar, and just a handful demonstrated to press claims the United States orchestrated the September 11 attacks.

While world leaders gathered at the UN General Assembly inside, about 2,000 anti-Iraq war protesters chanted "Peace can work, no more war" half an hour before US President George W. Bush spoke.

"This war has drained the economy and has cost a lot of lives," said Claire Thompson, a nurse and union leader. "We're calling on our leaders to end this unsustainable war and just bring the troops back home."

There have been 2,681 US military deaths since the Iraq war began in March 2003, according to Pentagon figures, and 147,000 US troops are serving there. At least tens of thousands of Iraqis also have died in the war.

Ahmadinejad skipped Bush's speech avoiding any possible contact with the US leader as they spar over Tehran's disputed nuclear programme.

However, when his turn came hours later, Ahmadinejad said before the UN General Assembly that Iran's nuclear activities are "transparent, peaceful and under the watchful eye" of United Nations inspectors.

Furthermore, in his speech yesterday, Ahmadinejad accused some permanent members of the UN Security Council ? an apparent reference to the United States ? of using the powerful UN body as a tool of "threat and coercion." He reiterated his nation's commitment to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

His speech was sharply critical of the United States and Britain, and focused in large part on what he said was their abuse of the Security Council, on which they are both permanent members with veto power.

Earlier this month, Ahmadinejad proposed a debate with Bush at the General Assembly's ministerial meeting.

The White House did not respond to that suggestion but dismissed a previous TV debate proposal from Ahmadinejad as a "diversion" from serious concerns over Iran's nuclear programme.

Iran's defiant pursuit of a nuclear programme was at the top of the agenda when Bush met earlier with French President Jacques Chirac at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel where the US delegation was staying.

The French leader is balking at the US drive to sanction Iran for defying Security Council demands that it freeze uranium enrichment.

Also, Pakistan's president yesterday said that the world must confront the plague of terrorism head-on while ending conflicts in the Islamic world to eliminate the "desperation and injustice" that spawn extremism.

Gen. Pervez Musharraf made what appeared to be veiled references to the US-led 2003 invasion of Iraq and Pope Benedict XVI's recent comments on Islam that outraged Muslims worldwide.

"Each new battleground involving an Islamic state has served as a new breeding ground for extremists and terrorists," Musharraf said in his address. "Indiscriminate bombings, civilian casualties, torture, human rights abuses, racial slurs and discrimination only add to the challenge of defeating terrorism." Buenos Aires Herald