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World leaders meet at UN amidst security uncertainties, health hazards

(Curtain raiser) NEW YORK, Sept 23 (KUNA) -- Heads of State and Government of around 140 countries meet at UN General Assembly's (UNGA) 69th session tomorrow amidst security uncertainties in Middle East, growing threat posed by the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (ISIL), climate change and Ebola.
The leaders will be attending the meetings on the heels of building up an international alliance to politically and militarily crack down on ISIL, which has declared a so-called Islamic State on large swath of territories it controlled in Syria and Iraq.
US President Barack Obama had announced a strategy that included regional countries, but excluding Iran, and other states from around the globe to crack down on ISIL militants, who committed massacres against people.
Tight security measures have been in place in New York City in general and around the UN headquarters in particular. Some leaders will be addressing the UNGA meeting for the first time like Egyptian President Abdelfatah Al-Sisi, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The world leaders will also explore how to address security uncertainties in the Middle East, ranging from the conflict in Syria, which has been ongoing since March 2011, to Yemen where the government and Houthi group have signed an agreement two days ago ending a political crisis.
Iranian President Hassan Rohani is expected to address the UNGA session, his second time since becoming president.
Iranian and American officials have been meeting either bilaterally or within the P5+1 group to try to reach a final agreement over Iran's nuclear file. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry met in New York two days ago and discussed nuclear issues and threat posed by ISIL.
Other key activities are taking place on sidelines of the UNGA session related to crises around the globe.
Obama will be addressing the UNGA and then chair a meeting of the UN Security Council to address growing problem of foreign fighters in Iraq and Syria.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will be convening a meeting on the spread of Ebola crisis in West Africa. Kuwait donated USD five million to the World Health Organization (WHO) to help it fight the disease.
Ban is to chair a summit on climate change, where Kuwait Minister of Oil and Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs Dr. Ali Al-Omair is due to give a speech.
The summit aims at signing up a comprehensive new climate agreement in Paris, France, next year.
Kuwait's Prime Minister His Highness Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah is representing His Highness the Amir to the UNGA session.
His Highness the Prime Minister, in a statement after his arrival in New York, described the UN meetings as "very important." He hoped the international community would fully cooperate with the UN and its agencies in the fight against terrorism.
He said Kuwait was keen on coopering with the UN and its agencies to boosting international security and stability, as well as contribution actively to the UN's humanitarian endeavors with the aim of addressing crises in some countries.
The UNGA session would be held after the UN honored His Highness the Amir as a Humanitarian Leader and the State of Kuwait as a Humanitarian Center. (end) bs.mao