On the sidelines of the International Conference on Somalia, the Secretary-General had a range of bilateral meetings in Istanbul on Saturday.

These were with:

Jean Ping, the Chairperson of the African Union (topics discussed included Somalia, Sudan, Nigeria, Guinea, Madagascar)

Bernard Kouchner, Foreign Minister of France (topics discussed included Somalia, Sudan, Iran)

Miguel Angel Moratinos, Foreign Minister of Spain (topics discussed included Somalia, Middle East, Millennium Development Goals)

Moses Wetangula, Foreign Minister of Kenya (topics discussed included Somalia, Sudan, ICC)

Andris Piebalgs, EU Commissioner for Development (topics discussed included Somalia, Sudan, Millennium Development Goals, the Democratic Republic of the Congo)

Johnnie Carson, US Assistant Secretary of State (topics discussed included Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, Madagascar)

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey (topics discussed included Somalia, Iran, Cyprus, G20)

Crispus Kiyonga, Defence Minister of Uganda (topics discussed included Somalia, Lord's Resistance Army, UN presence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo)

Augustin Nsanze, Foreign Minister of Burundi (topics discussed included Somalia, elections in Burundi)

Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (topics discussed included Somalia, UN-OIC cooperation, Alliance of Civilizations)