Interview on CNN's "Larry King Live", (unofficial transcript)

King: To New York now for a few moments with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan. What do you think of President Mubarak's idea of an international conference, all countries, on terrorism, under the auspices of your Organization?

SG: Let me say that from the UN point of view, and having spoken to quite a lot of Member States' heads of states and their Ambassadors at the UN, every one was shocked by what happened. And there has emerged a broad international coalition to fight terrorism. And as the other panelists have indicated, every country is worried about terrorism and everyone has suffered from terrorism. And they would want to join this fight. They would want to join the fight and as it has been [inaudible] to ensure that terrorists are given no refuge, no logistical support, no financial assistance, and that we will all band together to ensure that they are uprooted and the kind of crime which was committed here is not allowed to stand.

King: Well, what role, Mr. Secretary-General, does the UN have in this current case?

SG: I think the Security Council, as you know, passed a very strong resolution soon after the event. In fact, the first -- the first day they came up with a strong resolution, which was very quick for the Security Council, and a unanimous decision the next day appealing to all the international community to come together and fight terrorism, and that all necessary means must be used to root out, to go after the perpetrators and ensure that we all take actions to fight terrorism. I think the Security Council and the General Assembly will stand by that decision. Obviously, Washington is in touch with governments bilaterally also to get them involved in this fight. But the first statement from the UN is one of solidarity, one of pain for the American people and the determination to work with others to fight the battle.

King: I know you spoke with Secretary of State Powell today. Can you tell us the gist of that?

SG: We did speak about the work that is going on in Washington, the attempts to get the evidence and to go after the culprits, and the attempts to create a global alliance to fight terrorism. And I think the crucial work is being done now. But of course, as I have said earlier, we have to manage the response in such a way that it does not lead to new divisions within countries and between countries. Today, almost every society is multicultural and multireligious, and we have to make sure that we don't get into a division between the West and Muslims, because you do have Muslims in all these societies. You'll be creating divisions within the society and also between Christian and Western and Muslim states. And so the idea of organizing the response in such a way that we hold together this unanimous sense of fighting terrorism is important.

King: Thank you, Mr. Secretary-General. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who today, by the way, visited Engine Company 21, a few minutes from the UN compound, the great firefighters of New York. *****