Reacting to media reports of an internal United Nations document about proposals for Iraq, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today (5 Mar.) said there was no U.N. plan for administering post- conflict Iraq and stressed that the world body has been focusing instead on dealing with the humanitarian side of a potential conflict.
"There is no U.N. plan for managing or administering Iraq," Mr. Annan told reporters this morning (Wednesday)) at United Nations Headquarters in New York.
"There is some preliminary thinking but there is no plan and no document."
"There is no U.N. plan for managing or administering Iraq," Mr. Annan told reporters this morning (Wednesday)) at United Nations Headquarters in New York.
"There is some preliminary thinking but there is no plan and no document."
"We have been doing lots of good work and contingency planning for the humanitarian aspects and obviously some preliminary thinking on what would happen if there were to be war and the other aspects of post-conflict Iraq," he added.
The Secretary-General emphasized that the U.N. has "no mandate to make these plans" and that yesterday, at a lunch with Security Council members, he had discussed "very clearly" the status of the U.N. Secretariat's contingency planning, particularly on the humanitarian aspects.
The Secretary-General emphasized that the U.N. has "no mandate to make these plans" and that yesterday, at a lunch with Security Council members, he had discussed "very clearly" the status of the U.N. Secretariat's contingency planning, particularly on the humanitarian aspects.