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Annan criticises Bush policies
11/12/2006 22:51 - (SA)
Independence - Kofi Annan, in his
last major speech as UN secretary-general, urged the United
States on Monday to shun go-it-alone diplomacy and collaborate
on its world challenges - including the Iraq war.
Speaking here, Annan said: "We need US leadership; we have lots of problems around the world ... and
we require the natural leadership role the US played in the
past and can play today."
"None of our global institutions can accomplish much when
the US remains aloof. But when it is fully engaged, the sky's
the limit," he said.
During his two five-year terms as UN leader, Annan has
tangled often with President George W Bush's administration,
particularly over the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.
"Getting Iraq right is not only in the interests of the US
and the broad international community, but even more so for the
countries in the region." Security Council
Annan also reiterated his call for a reform of the
15-nation UN security council and took a dig at US
opposition to a plan to add 10 seats. Bush administration officials have argued Washington should
use the United Nations only to serve its national interests.
"It is only through multilateral institutions that states
can hold each other to account. "And that makes it very
important to organise those institutions in a fair and
democratic way - giving the poor and the weak some influence
over the actions of the rich and the strong," Annan said.
The United States has historically been a leader in human
rights, noted Annan.
"When it appears to abandon its own ideals and objectives,
its friends abroad are naturally troubled and confused," he
said in an apparent reference to charges of abuse at US
prisons in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Iraq's Abu Ghraib.
- Reuters
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