Annan to visit Croatia

06 Nov 2002 23:47
Annan to visit Bosnia, Croatia, Yugoslavia

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 6 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi 
Annan visits Bosnia, Croatia and Yugoslavia later this month 
as part of a nine-day trip to Europe, the United Nations said on Wednesday.
The trip begins Nov. 17 with a series of official visits to 
Balkan states, U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said. Annan goes 
first to the Bosnian capital Sarajevo and then to the Yugoslav 
capital Belgrade and Croatia.
The secretary-general then travels Nov. 21 to the Netherlands, 
where he is to receive an honorary doctorate from Tilburg University.
He wraps up his trip with an official visit to France, 
returning to U.N. headquarters Nov. 26.
Bosnia has been bankrolled and supervised by the international 
community since its 1992-1995 war that gave rise to the term "ethnic cleansing."
The U.N. peacekeeping mission in the former Yugoslav republic 
is preparing to shut down by the end of the year and turn over 
its main project -- the creation of a professional multiethnic 
police force -- to the European Union.