UN Budget Approved, 141 versus U.S., in Committee Vote, Durban II Opposed by 40

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis

UNITED NATIONS, December 22, 1:05 a.m. -- The UN budget passed the relevant committee, 141 to 1, after midnight on Saturday morning. The lone negative vote came from the United States. U.S.  Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, speaking after the vote, said he thought his colleagues in the Group of 77 shared the U.S.'s concerns about the budget being piecemeal, and an incomplete picture of the UN's finances. On an earlier vote, about the Durban II conference, the U.S. garnered more support: it only passed 94 to 40, with six abstentions. Working the room was senior aide Kim Won-soo. On the podium was Management chief Alicia Barcena. One wag  joked, of Durban, that someone should have asked Ted Turner to pay for the conference, thus taking it off the General Assembly's agenda. Inner City Press suggested this, and George Soros, to U.S. Permanent Representative Zalmay Khalilzad. "Soros might not fund it," Khalilzad replied. It is said to be anti-Israel.

            Before the Durban vote, the U.S. asked for a suspension.  Pakistan opposed  it, and its position prevailed. The vote was taken, after which the Canadian delegate said his country opposed the conference, and the structure of the budget proposal as well.

U.S. Amb. Khalilzad -- 141 to 1, a matter of principle, he says

            Before the budget vote, a request for a European Union meeting was made, but overridden. After the budget passed, there was a standing ovation. Wallace said he joined it, though he did not appear to stand. In the hallway, the U.S. delegation milled around. At least another hour until the full General Assembly vote, they said. It passed one in the morning.

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Click here for a Reuters AlertNet piece by this correspondent about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click here for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali National Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an undefined trust fund.  Video Analysis here

  Because a number of Inner City Press' UN sources go out of their way to express commitment to serving the poor, and while it should be unnecessary, Inner City Press is compelled to conclude this installment in a necessarily-ongoing series by saluting the stated goals of the UN agencies and many of their staff. Keep those cards, letters and emails coming, and phone calls too, we apologize for any phone tag, but please continue trying, and keep the information flowing.

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