World Leaders Converge for U.N. Summit

Sept. 5 -- All the world’s problems will be put on the table for discussion at the U.N. Millennium Summit, running through Friday, as more than 150 kings,presidents and prime ministers arrive in New York.

Planning for the U.N. Millennium Summit has been in the works for two years, including hanging posters throughout New York to soothe residents navigating the inevitable traffic nightmare.

The session, from today through Friday, is billed as the largest-ever gathering of world leaders, even bigger than the world body’s 50th anniversary celebrations five years ago, which drew some 118 heads of state and government.

But this year the program is more ambitious.

As the leaders address the General Assembly for a proposed — but rarely executed — five minutes each, those not speaking are in closed round-table discussions to map out myriad programs that would help lift people out of poverty, prevent wars and save the environment.

On the sidelines and in some forums, the critical MiddleEast peace process is the subject of meetings between PresidentBill Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinianleader Yasser Arafat.

However, Barak, who was one of the first leaders to arrive in New York City on Monday, warned that he will only give a Mideast peace treaty a few weeks to be concluded, raising the possibility of failure ahead of crucialtalks with President Clinton during this week’s U.N. summit.

The formal deadline for a treaty, Sept. 13, is widely expectedto be missed. Barak has said it is now up to the Palestinians to compromise,and Israel’s Foreign Ministry said Monday the prime minister is notplanning to present new ideas to President Clinton when they meet today.

Congo on Some Agendas

African leaders hope for a meeting on the Congo’s many-sided civil war, although Congo President Laurent Kabila will be nowhere in sight. In Sierra Leone, rebels are fighting the government as well as U.N. peacekeepers.