    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book I)]
    [February 13, 2006]
    [Pages 231-233]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following Discussions With United Nations Secretary-General Kofi
    Annan
    February 13, 2006

        President Bush. Mr. Secretary-General, thank you.
        Secretary-General Annan. Thank you.
        President Bush. As usual, we had a very constructive dialog. I
    always enjoy visiting with the Secretary-General. It gives us a chance
    to talk about our common interests and our desire for peace and liberty
    around the world.

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        We had a good discussion on Sudan, with particular emphasis on
    Darfur. I told the Secretary-General that Mrs. Garang was in to see me the other day and that we had a long
    discussion--she and I had a long discussion not only about the Darfur
    region but about implementing the north-south accords. And I appreciate
    the Secretary's leadership on that issue.
        We talked about the broadened Middle East. And there's a lot to talk
    about. I am very optimistic, however, that democracy and liberty will
    prevail. And so I want to thank you for your interest and leadership on
    those particular issues.
        We talked about U.N. reform, structural reform, management reform,
    as well as the reform of the Human Rights Commission. I was most
    interested in the Secretary-General's thoughts. I appreciate very much
    his leading on these issues, and we'll continue to work closely through
    Secretary Bolton--Ambassador Bolton with the
    Security Council and the United Nations.
        And so, Mr. Secretary-General, thanks for coming. It's always a
    pleasure to welcome you here to the Oval Office. And the floor is yours.
        Secretary-General Annan. Thank you very much, Mr. President. I also
    enjoy our periodic exchanges, and I'm very happy that we have agreed to
    work together on the Darfur issue, working with other governments from
    Europe, from Asia, and other regions, to ensure that we do have an
    effective security presence on the ground to protect the IDPs and ensure
    that humanitarian workers have access to those in need. And of course,
    this is an issue where all governments have to play their role.
        On security--on the U.N. reform and Human Rights Council, I think
    the President and I agree that we need to reform the Human Rights
    Council, and it should be done as soon as possible. The President of the
    General Assembly, Jan Eliasson, is working very hard to ensure that we
    will have that done by this month, and that when the Human Rights
    Commission meets in Geneva, it will be in the process of transformation;
    it will not be business as usual. And I also thanked the President for
    all the support he's given us on U.N. reform, on the broader U.N.
    reform. And there are quite a lot of things that we're going to do.
        We also discussed the Middle East and the Hamas elections and the
    need for transformation of Hamas into a political party along the lines
    that the Quartet had discussed. And I think there is an opportunity here
    for Hamas to transform itself into a political party and work with the
    international community and the Israeli Government.
        We also touched on the issue of the nuclear issue in--of Iran. And
    here again, I hope the--between now and the time the Atomic Agency
    issues its next report, there will be indications and steps from the
    Iranian side to indicate that negotiations are not dead and that both
    sides can come back to the table and find a way out of this crisis. We
    need to be able to work to resolve it, and I hope there will be no steps
    taken to escalate this approach.
        Thank you very much.
        President Bush. I appreciate you. Good job. Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 2:06 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Rebecca Garang, Minister of
    Transportation, Roads, and Bridges, Government of Southern Sudan; and
    Ambassador John R. Bolton, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United
    Nations.

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