Harare/Johannesburg - Former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan said Thursday that he and former United States president Jimmy Carter planned to forge ahead with a visit to Zimbabwe at the weekend, despite their visit being rebuffed by President Robert Mugabe's regime.

Annan, Carter and Mozambican social activist Graca Machel, members of The Elders group of leading activists and ex-world leaders, are planning to spend Saturday and Sunday in Zimbabwe "to meet those working on the ground to better assess the extent of the crisis and how assistance can be improved," Annan said.

Nairobi - Former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan has backed calls for an international tribunal to try people accused of involvement in Kenya's post-election violence.

A commission led by Justice Philip Waki last week said that prominent politicians and businessmen helped organize ethnically based violence.

He gave an envelope containing the names of the accused to Annan, who said he would hand it over to the authorities at the appropriate time.

"I think it is important that the government acts on it," Annan told the BBC. "The victims demand justice too."

Dublin - Former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan warned on Thursday, World Food Day, that the global hunger crisis is as serious as the current financial crisis and must be tackled with the same urgency.

Speaking at the international Fighting Hunger Conference in the Irish capital, Dublin, along with economist Jeffrey Sachs and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, Annan said the credit crunch should not be used as an excuse for stopping aid to developing countries.

Nairobi - Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called on the Kenyan government on Friday to reform its electoral system after an independent report found serious problems with last December's disputed presidential elections.

"This report must not be simply brushed aside and allowed to gather dust," Annan told journalists in Nairobi. "The devastation wreaked in this country was too grave."

"This is why I urge all concerned... to take heed of this report and see that it is implemented," he continued.

Nairobi  - Former United Nations chief Kofi Annan returned to Kenya Wednesday, congratul