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UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday met with Arab countries to hear their views about the situation in Iraq before starting a series of meetings this week with the regional groupings of UN Member States.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Annan said the Arab Group was concerned about the situation on the ground, as well as the Iraqi population and the civilian casualties.
"They are also anxious that assistance should get to the citiesand to the people as soon as possible," he said. "But of course they are worried as to how all this is going to turn out, which nobody really knows."
As for the Oil-for-Food program, the UN chief said he thought the world body was taking steps to be able to get food to those in need. Some 60 percent of the Iraqi population depends solely on the program for their daily rations.
"We would expect the belligerents, we would expect the Government of Iraq and the coalition forces to give us humanitarian access and help us create humanitarian space for us to do our work and get assistance to the needy," he said.
(Xinhua News Agency April 1, 2003)
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