UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will visit Italy later this week, where he is to attend meetings on the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan, the UN chief's spokesperson announced Tuesday.

"The secretary-general will be heading to Trieste, Italy, later this week, for a meeting of the Middle East Quartet," a diplomatic group of the United Nations, the European Union, Russia and the United States in search of peace in the region, an email message to Xinhua from the spokesperson, Michelle Montas, said.

"On the day of that gathering, Friday, June 25, the Quartet principals are also hoping to meet with members of the League of Arab States' follow-up committee on the Arab Peace Initiative," the message said.

High-level Quartet meetings are usually attended by foreign ministers. Foreign ministers from the Group of Eight (G8) major industrialized nations are already scheduled to meet in Trieste on June 26-27.

The G8 includes the United States, Russia, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Italy and Canada.

"While in Trieste on the 26th, the secretary-general also plans to attend a meeting of the G8 on Afghanistan and Pakistan," the message said.

Ban will begin the visit after he addresses the opening of a high-level UN conference on the global financial crisis and its impact on development. The three-day UN meeting begins here Wednesday.

Source: Xinhua