Alatas gets another assignment at UN<\/p>\n
JAKARTA: Indonesia's former minister of foreign affairs Ali
\nAlatas has received another assignment from United Nations
\nSecretary-General Kofi Annan.<\/p>\n
Alatas is presently the UN secretary-general's special envoy
\nto promote the planned UN reforms among member countries.<\/p>\n
Annan recently chose Alatas and 17 others to form an advisory
\ngroup that will guide the Alliance of Civilizations, an
\ninitiative meant to bridge the gap between Islamic and Western
\nsocieties, the Associated Press reported from the United Nations
\nrecently.<\/p>\n
The selection was made after extensive consultations with
\nexperts on intercultural relations. A few more members might be
\nincluded later, UN deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe told the
\nAssociated Press. The group will hold its first meeting in late
\nNovember.<\/p>\n
The alliance -- an initiative of the prime ministers of Spain
\nand Turkey -- seeks to overcome the mutual suspicion, fear and
\nmisunderstanding between Islamic and Western societies that have
\nbeen exploited by extremists throughout the world, according to
\nits terms of reference.<\/p>\n
The group is expected to report to Annan in the second half of
\n2006 on actions to counter extremism and promote mutual respect
\nbetween civilizations and cultures.<\/p>\n
It will be co-chaired by Federico Mayor of Spain, the former
\ndirector-general of UNESCO who is president of the Culture of
\nPeace Foundation, and Mehmet Aydin of Turkey, a minister of state
\nand professor of theology.<\/p>\n
Some of the other members include former Iranian president
\nMohamed Khatami; the wife of the emir of Qatar, Sheika Mozza bint
\nNasser al-Misnid; former prime minister of Senegal Moustapha
\nNiasse; Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa; former French
\nforeign minister Hubert Vedrine; Rabbi Arthur Schneir, president
\nof the Appeal of Conscience Foundation in New York; and Prof.
\nJohn Esposito, founding director of the Center for Muslim-
\nChristian Understanding at Georgetown University in Washington.
\n-- JP\/AP<\/p>",
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