A UN summit to discuss the global financial crisis planned for early June may be postponed by a few weeks, the spokesman for General Assembly President Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann said on Friday. Enrique Yeves told reporters that in the past few days some member states had asked about the possibility to postpone the summit, which had been set for June 1-3, for a few days or weeks.
A letter posted on the General Assembly's website said many representatives have asked for a brief deferral to June 24-26 due to conflicting meetings. The summit is called the United Nations Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development and its aim is to identify emergency and long-term responses to mitigate the impact of the crisis, especially on vulnerable populations.
Yeves said in a statement late on Friday that a decision on the date would be made on Tuesday. "Delegates have expressed concern that they require more time to negotiate the draft outcome document that is to be adopted by world leaders," he said in the statement. The statement said that the General Assembly met informally on Friday but failed to reach consensus on the delay. It will reconvene on Tuesday.