FT: “Zimbabwe on Thursday rejected a fledgling initiative by Kofi Annan, UN secretary general, to broker a solution to the country’s economic and political crisis.

George Charamba, spokesman for president Robert Mugabe, told the state-owned Herald newspaper that Zimbabwe was “not a UN issue”, and described a previous invitation to Mr Annan, issued during its controversial slum clearance operation, as “stale”. He said the Harare government was “unaware of any UN intervention on Zimbabwe”, and that the UN should instead be challenging “illegal sanctions imposed on it”.

“Dr. Lee Jong-wook, who led the U.N. health agency’s battles against SARS and bird flu, died Monday following surgery for a blood clot in the brain. He was 61.

Tributes praised Lee for his effectiveness in spurring the world to build its defenses against a potentially deadly flu pandemic during his tenure as director-general of the World Health Organization.

“Dr. Lee worked tirelessly to improve the health of millions of people, from combating tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS to his aggressive efforts to eradicate polio,” President Bush said in a statement.

“The world has lost a great man today,” said U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. “He tackled the most difficult problems head on, while upholding the highest principles.”Lee fell ill Saturday while attending a function in Geneva and underwent surgery later that day, the agency said. Anders Nordstrom of Sweden will take over as WHO’s acting director-general.

The opening session of the World Health Assembly, the annual meeting of the 192 members of WHO, observed two minutes of silence Monday, and flags flew at half-staff outside the U.N. European headquarters building, where the meeting took place.” [Full story]