The war in Iraq and its aftermath has forced the UN to face "fundamental questions" as its unity has been threatened, United Nations Deputy-Secretary-General Louise Fréchette said today.

Speaking before a meeting of the International Crisis Group (ICG), Ms Fréchette said that the war in Iraq and its aftermath had "brought us all face to face with a host of fundamental questions of principle and practice - on the rule of law, the use of force, evolving notions of sovereignty, and the principles that have helped preserve us from another world war since 1945".

Add to that the failure to reach an agreement at the World Trade Organization talks in Cancún, Mexico, earlier this year, she said, and "you begin to sense that the consensus that appeared to be so solid behind the Millennium Declaration maybe is not quite as solid as it was three years ago".

In 2000, world leaders signed on to a Millennium Declaration setting specific goals for reducing poverty worldwide.

"Some countries see terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, transnational criminal networks and the ways in which these may be coming together to reinforce each other as self-evidently the dominant threats to peace and security," Ms Fréchette said.

But, she said, others see a greater danger in civil wars, Aids, poverty, environmental degradation, oppression and violations of human rights.

"The people in developing countries have quite a different set of worries: that their voices are not being heard and that political will can be found for the former set of issues but not for the latter, despite promises and pledges made at world conferences," she said.

(gmcg)