New York (ANA-MPA/P. Panagiotou) -- Alternate foreign minister Dimitris Droutsas, on a visit to the US, met Thursday evening (NY time, early Friday Greek time) with UN secretary general Bank Ki-moon for discussions that included the Cyprus issue, the FYROM name issue, and the critical problem of ship piracy by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden, given that Greece currently chairs the International Maritime Organisation's (IMO) Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia.

   The IMO, a special agency of the United Nations for maritime safety and security and the prevention of marine pollution from ships which is headed by Greece's Efthimios Mitropoulos, created the International Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS), a voluntary ad hoc international forum that brings together and encourages countries, organisations and industry groups with an interest in combating piracy, on January 14, 2009. Greece will chair the 6th Plenary Meeting of the CGPCS that will be held in New York in May.

   Other issues discussed were the situation in Afghanistan and climate change.

   After the 40-minute meeting, Droutsas told reporters: "Beyond the major international issues, such as climate change, we focused our attention on matters of Greek interest, such as the developments in the Cyprus issue, particularly after the Secretary General's visit to Cyprus. The Secretary General briefed me on the outcome of that visit. We also discussed the FYROM name issue, and I once again briefed the Secretary General on the Greek positions and expressed to him Greece's volition to contribute to a resolution of the issue, expecting, naturally, the Skopje side to respond with the same constructive manner at the negotiations table in the UN. The Greek 'red line' is known to all."