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Annan
Denies World Slow To React To African Disasters
ROME, April 5 (AFP) – U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan rebuffed on Wednesday charges that the international community had been too slow in reacting to the flood disaster in Mozambique and a threat of famine in the Horn of Africa.
"We react as quickly as we can," said Annan after talks with Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini. "It is always better to prevent disasters; with today's scientific methods droughts and rain can be forecast, and steps taken to assist people," he said.
Annan said a U.N. team led by Catherine Bertini, the head of the World Food Program (WFP), was being sent to the Horn of Africa region next week to evaluate emergency needs.
The U.N. issued a public warning to donor nations last week that the haunting images of starving Ethiopians in the mid-1980s could return if the drought in the Horn of Africa worsens.
In response, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi complained that the international community was moving too slowly to meet the famine threat, which he said threatened some 8 million people in his country.
"Donors, in particular the E.U. and countries in Europe, need to be a bit more forthcoming than they have been so far," he said.
Ethiopia’s population of 60 million is half Muslim.
Annan appointed Bertini as his special envoy on the drought in seven countries where a total of 12.4 million people need relief food assistance.
Bertini began a three-day visit to Ethiopia, the worst affected country, on Tuesday. She will then go on to Djibouti, Kenya and Eritrea, ending her trip on April 19. The three other countries for which she is responsible are Somalia, Sudan and Uganda.
Annan said Bertini would assess the situation in the region and draw up a report, which will determine the extent of international aid. "We will give and give generously," said Annan.
Dini recalled that a conference to tackle humanitarian and infrastructural rehabilitation needs in Mozambique would be held in the capital Maputo before the end of this month.
The floods have devastated much of southern Mozambique, with preliminary official estimates for infrastructure recovery at about $200 million.
The floods have also affected about 2 million Mozambicans, 250,000 of whom are displaced or homeless. The population of the whole country is only about 2.5 million, all of whom are Muslim.
Annan said he was "reasonably hopeful" that Russian authorities and President-elect Vladimir Putin would cooperate to clarify issues related to reported "abuses" in Muslim Chechnya.
This also meant "atrocities are investigated" and views on the Chechnya crisis "taken aboard by the Russians."
U.N. human rights chief Mary Robinson said Tuesday that Russian troops had committed "serious" abuses in Chechnya and urged Moscow to face up to and fully investigate widespread reports of violations.
Robinson, who had previously urged an international role on Chechnya but since has piped down, also warned that Moscow would face renewed pressure from the world community if it failed to conduct a credible enquiry.
Annan met Wednesday with leaders of the three Rome-based U.N. agencies, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Program (WFP) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
Talks with Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema later Wednesday as well as President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and Pope John Paul II on Friday were also on his agenda. Annan, who arrived from Geneva, is to leave for Madrid on Monday after visiting Florence over the weekend.
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