(AP) During the annual U.N. General Assembly, leaders who would rather not be seen on the same continent will find themselves under one roof, doing their best not to mingle, reports Trend.
Though that may make for a few embarrassing moments, or at least some good diplomatic theater, cramming so many leaders in the U.N. headquarters over the next few days may help them tackle some of the most difficult issues they now face: suspicions about Iran's nuclear program, the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, the Middle East peace process.
Heads of state and ministers from the 192 U.N. member states are certain to discuss all those topics during the session, which begins Tuesday and ends the middle of next week.
"Sometimes the advantage of having everybody together is that you can spend day and night thrashing out the details," David Triesman, the British Foreign Office's minister for Africa, told reporters after a Security Council meeting on Sudan Monday.
That meeting focused on overcoming Sudan's resistance to allowing the United Nations to take control over peacekeepers in Darfur. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas late Monday, and the Security Council was to hold a meeting Thursday that Arab leaders hope will help revive the Mideast peace process.
Over a week and a half, each nation is allotted 15 minutes at the General Assembly hall's dais to deliver a speech about the issues most important to them. Yet the session is always more about the meetings that orbit these speeches rather than the speeches themselves; and this year, the focus will be Iran's nuclear program.
Shortly before coming to New York, France's President Jacques Chirac proposed a compromise to kick-start talks between Iran and the international community, suggesting the threat of U.N. sanctions be suspended in exchange for Tehran halting its uranium enrichment program.
"I don't believe in a solution without dialogue," Chirac said in an interview with Europe-1 radio.
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because no decision has been made, said European and Iranian diplomats might meet on the sidelines of the General Assembly in hopes of easing the nuclear standoff.
President Bush will come to promote his so-called freedom agenda, the theme of his speech to the assembly on Tuesday. He will focus on democratic reforms in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East.
At a literacy event hosted by Laura Bush on Monday, Bush explained why he comes to the General Assembly session.
"It gives me a chance to meet with fellow leaders, and it gives me a chance to clearly explain the goals of this country are to help those who feel hopeless, the goals of this country are to spread liberty, the goals of this country is to enhance prosperity and peace," he said.
Though Bush will be at the U.N. around the same time as Ahmadinejad, it's certain that he won't take up the Iranian leader's offer of a head-on debate; they probably will not even shake hands.
The likelihood of a chance meeting is remote. The Secret Service is responsible for guarding all foreign dignitaries on U.S. soil, and they will all be wired into the same network to make sure the two don't cross paths. But both are invited to a lunch Tuesday hosted by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and every year there is a photo of all the heads of delegation.
Aside from the big issues, the debate gives the opportunity for the world's smallest nations Palau, Liechtenstein, and Suriname, for example to share the stage with the United States, Iran, China and India.
The undercurrent of this year's debate will be the race to succeed Annan, whose second and final five-year term expires on Dec. 31. The candidates were already making appearances Monday, and many more were planned.
The General Assembly also gives reporters an easy opportunity to get at the leaders they've been chasing for months. Among those who will give news conferences will be Omar al-Bashir, the president of Sudan, Ahmadinejad and Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez.
Not all government leaders will be in town. More than 80 prime ministers and presidents will be here, but the leaders of Russia, Germany, Britain, Egypt and Spain are skipping the U.N. meeting. They will be represented by their foreign ministers.
There was another telltale sign that the General Assembly debate was getting into swing: the ubiquitous shiny black SUVs honking their horns and flashing their red and blue lights, as they ferried VIPs from one meeting to another through the choked streets of Manhattan's East Side.