Rice makes first UN visit in new post
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-06-29 08:32

It was kiss but don't tell on Condoleezza Rice's first visit to the United Nations as secretary of state on Tuesday.

Rice and Secretary-General Kofi Annan greeted each other with kisses on each cheek — a favorite U.N. greeting for diplomats — which the photographers loved.

"They seem to like to see us kiss," Annan joked as the camera clicked away in his 38th floor office.

Rice refused to say anything about her 35-minute meeting with Annan or her 40-minute meeting with General Assembly President Jean Ping, sweeping past microphones in the U.N. lobby and out the door into her limousine.

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, right, greets Condolezza Rice with kisses on her first visit to the United Nations as U.S. Secretary of State, New York, Tuesday June 28, 2005. [AP]

She did not say whether President Bush will appoint John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations when Congress recesses for the July 4th holiday. His nomination has been blocked in the Senate, but Bush can give him a recess appointment until January 2007.

Before Rice came to U.N. headquarters, she did preview her agenda in an interview on Fox News' Fox Friends, saying she planned to talk to Annan and Ping about U.N. reform.

Rice was asked whether Annan, who has been severely criticized by some members of Congress, is up to the job.

"Kofi Annan is a very fine man and ... as secretary general, he's done a lot of very good things, and we expect to keep working with him," she replied. "But this is not about the secretary general."

Rice added, however, that it was time for some changes at the world body.

"And I don't mean just who's going to end up on the Security Council. I know that's what everybody wants to talk about. But we need to go to the fundamental, old-fashioned issues — like how are we going to manage the place better, how is it going to be more effective," she said.

Annan has invited leaders of the 191 U.N. member states to a summit in September and urged them to adopt sweeping changes so the United Nations can deal with the global challenges of the 21st century. Annan set on a blueprint for change which Ping turned into a draft document that is currently being debated.

Annan stressed the need for agreement on a broad reform package, the U.N. spokesman's office said in a statement.

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