New York, Sep 17 (DPA) US President George W. Bush will be made to face a growing number of world leaders opposed to US policies around the world, at the UN General Assembly here Tuesday.
The session will be attended by scores of heads of state and government and foreign ministers leading delegations from the UN's 192 countries.
Some of Bush's fierce critics, including presidents Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, will be present.
By tradition, Brazil will open the debate with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Bush will follow them to the podium in the annual session expected to be dominated by the US-led war in Iraq and other Middle East issues, including the month-long conflict between Israel and Lebanon in July.
Iran's rejection of international calls to end its uranium enrichment programme will also be high on the agenda. North Korea's nuclear activities will likely be a topic of the US and its allies attending the UN session.
Ahmadinejad will address the assembly late Tuesday and is likely to use his address to criticise the US president. But he will not face Bush in the televised debate he had been calling for.
Other speakers Tuesday include the presidents of France, South Africa, Pakistan, Mexico, Finland, Poland, Ghana, Honduras, Cyprus and Uganda.
Chavez is due to speak Wednesday, insisting he will go to New York, whether or not accompanied by his security and health personnel, which he says the US had denied entry visas. Cuba's foreign minister will follow him to the podium.
While attending the Non-aligned Movement conference in Havana, Chavez denounced the US for blocking his people's entry.
"The gringos (US) don't want me to go. They denied visas to my personal security officials, my personal doctors. They do not want my party in New York but I am going, even alone," Chavez said in Havana Thursday.
Chavez called the Havana conference "the UN of the South", emphasising anti-US feelings among the non-aligned countries.
The 116-nation bloc voiced support for Iran's right to develop nuclear technology, rebuffing demands by the European Union and the US that Iran suspend its uranium enrichment programme.
The US is pushing for the UN Security Council to impose sanctions on Iran for failing to halt its nuclear activities.
On the sidelines of the UN gathering, officials of the diplomatic "quartet" on the Middle East - the UN, European Union, the US and Russia - will meet next week to try to revive the peace plan devised to end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
The plight of Palestinians, who are facing a dire economic situation due to US and European sanctions since the militant group Hamas took power in March, will also be discussed.