Military

DATE=09/19/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=U-N / ANNAN / TERROR (L ONLY)

NUMBER=2-280750

BYLINE=BRECK ARDERY

DATELINE=UNITED NATIONS

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been active in trying to express concern and comfort from the international community after the terrorist tragedy in New York. V-O-A Correspondent Breck Ardery reports.

TEXT: Mr. Annan has been traveling all around Manhattan, visiting with local firefighters, thanking them for their work and consoling them on the loss of almost 300 of their colleagues. On Tuesday afternoon, he visited the site of what was the World Trade Center complex, saying the world realizes that "we are all in this together . . . that if it can happen here, it can happen anywhere."

The secretary-general has been trying to keep morale up among workers at U-N headquarters, some of whom lost friends or loved ones in the disaster. He has told them it is very important to stay at their jobs and continue the primary mission of the United Nations, the maintenance of world peace.

Mr. Annan has attended numerous religious services -- Christian, Islamic, and Jewish. At New York City's Temple Emanuel where a Jewish New Year's observance was held, Mr. Annan told the congregation that ethnic and religious groups should not be singled out for blame.

/// ANNAN ACT ///

This tragedy has united us. We must not let its aftermath divide us. Let us take care not to blame an entire people, an entire region, or an entire religion for the unspeakable acts of a few individuals.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Annan's numerous appearances around the city are an effort to show the human face of the United Nations to New Yorkers, some of whom have been cynical about the world organization in the past. Mr. Annan has reminded the city that the United Nations is a New York institution and has as much stake in its welfare as everyone else. (Signed)

NEB/UN/BA/JWH