Annan 'very sad' he couldn't resolve ME conflict

Outgoing United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed great sadness on Friday that he couldn't help resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict during his term of office. "It is with great personal sadness that I leave office with the (Israeli) occupation now in its 40th year," he said in a message to a UN-backed conference on Palestine on Friday. Annan called on all parties involved in the conflict as well as the international community to redouble their efforts to put the Middle East peace process back on track.