(13 May 1998) English/Nat
U-N Secretary General Kofi Annan is taking some time out on the Riviera.
He's in France for the opening of the 51st Cannes Film Festival, which coincides with the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
But while Annan was to spend his first night in town in the cinema, the worries of the world - in particular India and Indonesia - were still upmost in his mind.
The head of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, flies into Cannes.
He joins hundreds of celebrities and journalists in town for the 51st Film Festival.
The U-N chief will be mixing showbiz with politics as the festival coincides with the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"It's really exciting for me to be here at this 50th anniversary celebrations of human rights."
SUPER CAPTION: Kofi Annan, U-N Secretary-General
At a special news conference, Annan said the Universal Declaration - signed in 1948 - touched all people, particularly where freedom of expression was concerned.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"I have always maintained, in today's world, we need to take a broader view of human security - it's not just absence of war - but an environment that allows people to live their life in a decent manner, to be able to satisfy their basic needs. We've seen the situation in Indonesia, which apparently was doing quite well, and then of course we had the financial crisis and sometimes when we look at the macro figures these macro aggregates do not capture the trauma of the poor, the vulnerable, it does not tell us the numbers of people who are hoping to be thrown out of jobs, who are going to be unemployed and all this."
SUPER CAPTION: Kofi Annan, U-N Secretary-General
But it won't be all fun and games in Cannes for the U-N secretary-general.
He took time out to comment on the latest developments in both Indonesia and India.
On Wednesday, India conducted two more explosions - bringing to five the number of detonations it has carried out in the past week.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"As you have seen the reactions from around the world has been one of deep regret and disappointment. Many member states signed the non-nuclear proliferation treaty which means that a majority of member states around the world have chosen to limit the spread of nuclear weapons, even though India had not signed the treaty, it had been expected it would respect the spirit and intent of that treaty and now, of course, that is not the case and the reactions have been very swift. I, myself, will be seeing the Indian ambassador in New York tomorrow for us to go over this. What I would hope that this will not lead to an arms race in the region - our world is dangerous as it is without a resumption of an arms race in any region."
SUPER CAPTION: Kofi Annan, U-N Secretary-General
Asked about possible action by the Security Council, Annan said that would depend on the deliberations of the council, adding he could not predict what the council would do.
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