United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan
met with President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia today and reiterated his commitment
to assist the South American country in reaching a negotiated solution
to the decades-old conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people
and displaced 2 million more.
The two discussed the work of the UN
in Colombia and Mr. Annan's "good offices continue to be at the disposal
of the parties," a UN spokesman said after the meeting at UN Headquarters
in New York, where Mr. Uribe addressed the General Assembly's annual top-level
meeting.
On a visit to Colombia in June, a senior UN relief official said civilians were not only caught in crossfire, but were also directly targeted as part of a strategy to control land and routes in the conflict involving left-wing rebels, the army and right-wing paramilitaries.