Annan calls for global cooperation against terror<\/p>\n
Jeremy Page, Reuters, Beijing<\/p>\n
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan condemned the bloody
\nweekend bomb attack on the Indonesian island of Bali and called
\nfor international cooperation against terrorism as he met Chinese
\nleaders on Monday.<\/p>\n
Annan also told Beijing it must step up the fight against AIDS
\nor face an explosive epidemic as he began a 10-day visit to
\nChina, Mongolia and Central Asia.<\/p>\n
Annan's trip was almost canceled due to deliberations over a
\nUN Security Council resolution on Iraq and the issue was high on
\nthe agenda in his meetings in China, one of five veto-wielding
\npermanent members of the UN Security Council.<\/p>\n
But the visit was inevitably overshadowed by Saturday's car
\nbomb explosion in Bali which killed almost 200 people.<\/p>\n
Annan told President Jiang Zemin the attack highlighted the
\nneed to cooperate \"to defeat the scourge of terrorism\".<\/p>\n
\"It's tragic. It is a brutal and inhuman act and my
\ncondolences and deepest sympathies to the families who lost loved
\nones and are now grieving for them,\" he told reporters later as
\nhe met Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan.<\/p>\n
\"It underscores the importance the work the Security Council
\nis doing and it is important that all of us, all countries, come
\ntogether to share information, to decide not to support
\nterrorists, not to give them financial support, not to give them
\nsafety, not to give them comfort.\"<\/p>\n
Annan said he discussed Iraq with Jiang, just two days before
\nthe Security Council opens debate on a resolution that would
\nthreaten Iraq if it failed to give full access to UN weapons
\ninspectors.<\/p>\n
\"Iraq came up, but we didn't discuss resolutions. I think the
\ncouncil will be discussing it this week and I'm sure there will
\nbe a resolution,\" he said.<\/p>\n
A U.S. draft would give inspectors more rights and authorize
\nthe use of force if Iraq did not comply.<\/p>\n
Analysts say Beijing is likely to abstain on that, but could
\ngo along with Russia and back France's proposal for a two-step
\napproach, in which a second resolution would be needed to
\nauthorise force.<\/p>\n
Annan was also expected to urge Beijing to tackle human rights
\nabuses, including those against ethnic Uighurs in the mainly
\nMuslim northwestern region of Xinjiang where China says it faces
\na terrorist threat from Islamic separatists.<\/p>\n
But he kicked off his four-day visit to China with a stern
\nmessage on AIDS delivered in a speech at Zhejiang University in
\nthe eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou.<\/p>\n
\"There is no time to lose if China is to prevent a massive
\nfurther spread of HIV\/AIDS. China is facing a decisive moment,\"
\nhe said after receiving an honorary degree from the university.<\/p>\n
\"For the truth is today, China stands on the brink of an
\nexplosive AIDS epidemic.\"<\/p>\n
According to the latest United Nations estimates, between
\n800,000 and 1.5 million Chinese were infected with HIV -- the
\nvirus that causes AIDS -- at the end of 2001 and about 30,000
\nhave died from the disease.<\/p>\n
But the number could soar to 10 million by the end of the
\ndecade if there is no effective action, UN officials say.<\/p>\n
\"Clearly, China has everything to gain if it can stem the tide
\nof the AIDS epidemic now and everything to lose if it fails to do
\nso,\" Annan said. \"Silence is death.\"<\/p>\n
Human rights groups say Annan should press Beijing to protect
\nAIDS activists' freedoms, as well as those of laid-off workers
\ndeprived of the right to organize and Uighur separatist groups.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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