A while ago we had a discussion Kofi Annan's lack of participation in African
affairs. His tireless efforts spent mediating the dispute between the
Palestinians and the Jordanians proves my point that the man has some
leverage. Leverage which he could definitely use better to influence African
crises.

In my piece, I described the UN Secretary General as part negotiator and part
provocateur, roles which he is fulfilling in the present Mideast crisis.
However, based on his lack of participation in present and past African
crises, I believe his tenure as Secretary General will be marred by his
unwillingness to help his own continent in times of extreme need.



JERUSALEM (Oct. 14) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan worked into the early
hours of Saturday trying to arrange a summit to halt the explosion of
Israeli-Palestinian violence.

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat met his advisors in Gaza to weigh his
options after meeting Annan on the 16th consecutive day of battles between
Palestinian and Israeli troops.

Annan said after a late-night meeting on Friday with Arafat that he expected
a summit within 48 hours, involving Israel, Palestinians, the United States,
Egypt and the United Nations.

He said that Arafat was to give him an answer, which he predicted would be
positive, by telephone during the night.

''I am quite confident that a cease-fire can be achieved and a summit can go
ahead,'' Annan told reporters before flying to Tel Aviv to brief Israeli
Prime Minister Ehud Barak on the meeting.

Egypt's government press center reported that Annan would meet Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak on Saturday to discuss how to bring about an end to
the bloody clashes.

But Nabil Abu Rdainah, an adviser to Arafat, played down the prospects for a
Middle East summit.

''It's too early to talk about convening a summit since the conditions are
not fulfilled yet in spite of the appreciated international efforts,'' he
told reporters on Friday night.

Diplomats said the Palestinians were still seeking conditions that Israel has
called unacceptable.

Israel's acting foreign minister, Shlomo Ben-Ami, said no decision had been
taken regarding Israeli participation and that the government did not want a
''fiasco'' like last week's Barak-Arafat talks in Paris.

As international pressure mounted on Arafat to attend a possible meeting, the
United States tried to clear the way for a meeting on Egyptian soil, and
dropped its insistence the two sides commit themselves to ending the clashes
before they hold a summit.

But White House spokesman Jake Siewert told reporters in Washington ''we have
not made any decision'' on whether to hold the summit.

The United States has vowed that a suicide attack on a U.S. ship in the
Yemeni port of Aden on Thursday that killed seven sailors will not stop it
trying to broker a Middle East peace.

European Union leaders added their voice to appeals for an emergency
gathering to end the violence and rescue the shattered peace process.

ISRAEL AND PALESTINIANS DISAGREE ON SUMMIT

Diplomats said that Palestinian conditions for participation in the talks
include withdrawal of Israeli tanks from the West Bank, reopening Palestinian
territories, and agreeing to an international commission of inquiry into the
violence.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said on Israeli television he would not pay
Arafat a price for attending a summit. ''We are not ready to pave the way
there with prizes for violence... There can be no reward for violence,'' he
said.

He added that he had asked Ariel Sharon, a leading opponent of peace deals
and the man blamed by Palestinians for provoking the current violence with
his September 28 visit to a Jerusalem shrine, to join him in a ''national
emergency government.''

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