UN General Secretary In Ghana For Official Visit

ACCRA, Ghana (PANA) - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Accra Saturday night on a five-day official visit, the first to his home country since his election.

His wife, Nane, accompanied him. Already in the country are his two children, Kojo and Ama.

President Jerry Rawlings and his wife, Nana Konadu Agyeman, met Annan at the Kotoka International Airport.

Speaking to reporters, Annan expressed his delight to be home to meet fellow Ghanaians and relations.

He said one of the main areas of the UN is the provision of an early warning mechanism in conflict prevention, adding that the organisation prefers to prevent conflict instead of deploying troops to such areas, a venture which is expensive.

He said that the Security Council is considering a draft proposal on Sierra Leone's rebel Revolutionary United Front and its leader, Foday Sankoh.

He recalled the atrocities committed by the rebels against the people of Sierra Leone and wondered if such crimes should be allowed to go unpunished.

During his visit, Annan would call on Rawlings, lay a wreath at the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum, and receive a national honour, the Order of the Star of Ghana.

He would also receive an honorary Doctor of Law of the University of Ghana, Legon, and cut the sod for the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre at the Ghana Armed Forces Staff College.