Negotiators at the UN internet summit worked throughout the night to broker the agreement that takes tentative steps towards international co-operation in overseeing the world wide web.

While the US will remain in charge of the internet’s technical, administrative and addressing system, an international forum will be set up to tackle issues such as spam e-mails, cyber crimes and wider internet topics. It was feared that Iran and China, whose strict control of the web has been nicknamed the Great Firewall of China, could plunge the summit into crisis after they called for an international body under UN auspices to take over regulation of the internet.

A number of countries, including Cuba and Venezuela, backed the call at the opening of the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis, Tunisia. The EU wanted to water down US powers.

Officials warned that the internet could have been torn into competing or disconnected networks if the split had continued. Such a division raised the prospect that some totalitarian countries could further limit freedom of expression on the internet.

David Gross, one of the senior US negotiators, welcomed the accord, claiming that it “preserved the unique role of the US Government in ensuring the reliability and stability.”

It means that the US will keep control of the private, non-profit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. The Californian-based organisation maintains responsibility for domain names, addressing systems, such as .uk and .fr, and managing how net browsers and e-mail programs direct traffic.

An Internet Governance Forum will be set up for an initial five-year term to hold talks on internet issues. The first forum, which Greece has offered to host, will be allowed to “build on the existing structures of internet governance” but will have no concrete powers.

Emily Taylor, director of legal and policy issues for Nominet, Britain’s domain registration agency, welcomed the settlement. Miss Taylor, a delegate at the conference, told The Times: “There’s a direct link between vibrant internet use, growth and innovation and a hands-off approach to registration of the internet from governments. It is possible to stifle growth through overregistration.”

Bernard Benhamou, a member of the French delegation, said: “The worst has been avoided, but we’re not sure that the best is to come in the future. We have left a door open.” François Loos, the French Industry Minister, said that the accord was not a significant leap forward but he was satisfied that a “roadmap” had been established. More than 10,000 delegates from 170 nations attended the summit.

Shashi Tharoor, the UN Under Secretary General for Communications, said that an agreement on internet governance was “crucial” to build on freedom of expression.

There was a pointed reference to freedom of speech as a core component of a modern information society. Samuel Schmid, the Swiss President said: “For myself, it goes without question that here in Tunis, inside these walls and outside, anyone can discuss quite freely.” The President was sitting alongside Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the Tunisian President. “For us it is one of the conditions — a sine qua non — for the success of the international conference.”

Two suspects were being questioned by an investigating magistrate in connection with an earlier assault on a French journalist investigating allegations of human rights abuses in Tunisia.

The conference will end tomorrow.

• Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General, has called for the information technology gap between the developed world and African nations to be bridged to help to build a better life for the world’s poor.

  Mr Annan said that the economic, cultural and political benefits of the internet remained out of reach for “far too many people”. He said: “There is a tremendous yearning, not for technology per se, but for what technology can make possible.” He told the delegates at the conference to “respond to that thirst”.

  “This summit must be a summit of solutions,” he said “The hurdle here is more political than financial. These assets, these bridges to a better life, can be made universally affordable and accessible. We must summon the will to do it.” He also welcomed the recent development of a £58 laptop.

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