U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan will dispatch a three-person team to the Middle East to help diffuse the major crisis in the region, said spokesman Stephane Dujarric, who is traveling with the secretary-general in Rome. The team will be led by Annan's special political advisor Vijay Nambiar and also will include U.N. Middle East envoy Alvaro de Soto and Terje Roed-Larsen, who is in charge of implementing Security Council 1559 on Lebanon and Syria. “The team will first visit Cairo to meet with Egyptian officials and consult with Arab League foreign ministers, who will be meeting there on Saturday,” said Dujarric. The team also will travel to Israel, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Syria, and make any other stops as needed, he said. According to Dujarric, the team will stress Annan's message that all parties exercise restraint and take whatever measures to contain the conflict, which has Israel conducting a two-front military operation in Gaza and in Lebanon. Nambiar “will also reiterate the secretary-general's message to respect international humanitarian law and to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure,” Dujarric said.
