United Nations: The United Nations General Assembly has decided to extend the term of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, for two more years till December 31, 2005.

Lubbers, a former Prime Minister of the Netherlands, was appointed High Commissioner in 2000 for a three-year term ending this year end.

In extending Lubbers' term, the 191-member Assembly acted on the recommendation of Secretary General Kofi Annan.

In Geneva, Lubbers expressed appreciation for the continuing support and confidence of Secretary General Kofi Annan and the international community.

"Our shared goal is to find solutions for the world's refugees and displaced," he said.

"We are now in the process of implementing a very wide-ranging set of internal and external initiatives that I believe will help us toward that goal and enable UNHCR to meet the many new challenges that lie ahead," he added.

PTI