UNITED NATIONS – Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell of Maine, co-chairmen of a congressional task force to examine United Nations reform, met with Secretary-General Kofi Annan and other top U.N. officials Friday.

Gingrich said he was impressed with U.N. officials’ apparent desire to fix the world body. Gingrich, a Republican, said U.N. officials recognized that the opportunity was right after years of promises that had brought no significant change.

“As somebody who’s often been a critic of the U.N. and a critic on occasion of Secretary-General Annan, I thought we could not have asked for more candid, more open, private discussions,” Gingrich said.