UN Secretary General Sends Message Of Greeting To Bonn Conference On Afghanistan

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has sent a message of greeting to the participants of the conference on Afghanistan, which opened Tuesday outside Bonn. In his message, Annan called upon the conferees to "break the vicious circle of pain, poverty and violence". In the message, Annan expresses his hope that the day when the conference began its work would come down in history as "the beginning of a new era in Afghanistan - the era of peace, harmony and affability, the era of law and order in the state and growth of Afghan people's welfare." Kofi Annan underscored that "highly trusted authorities representing all Afghan peoples" should be formed in Afghanistan. He pointed out that neither the UN nor any neighbouring countries are going to pressure Afghanistan. All the decision-making must be made by Afghan people as the UN role comes down to providing support for this process, the Secretary General remarks.