At
UN
Election, Some
Vote AU Only
in 1st Round,
Ban Greets
Swedes
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 21 --
As Ambassadors
poured into
the General
Assembly to
vote on five
Security
Council seats
for the next
two
years, the
Morocco versus
Mauritania
race continued
to get more
heated.
A
well placed
Permanent
Representative
of an African
Union country
told Inner
City
Press his
instructions
were to "vote
with the AU in
the first
round" -- that
is, Mauritania
and Togo --
but after that
to go
with the
"better
placed"
between
Morocco and
Mauritania.
Another
major AU
member said it
would vote the
AU duo in
every round.
But some say
they hope
either
Mauritania or
Morocco will
drop out, to
make sure
that sub
Saharan Africa
is
represented,
"if only by
Togo"
as one
Ambassador put
it.
Covering
this race,
as well as the
three way
fight among
Slovenia,
Hungary and
Azerbaijan
and the
contest
between
Kyrgyzstan and
Pakistan was
made more
difficult by
the
simultaneous
scheduling of
a photo op of
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon and
the Swedish
royal couple.
The
Press was
told it would
have to leave
the stakeout
area in front
of the General
Assembly so
that the 10:15
photo op could
take place.
After some
push
back, the area
for
photographers
was enlarged.
But still due
to the
mis-scheduling,
fewer
questions to
Ambassadors
than usual
were
possible.
GA entry,
guards for
Swedes, AU not
shown, (c)
MRLee
Of
the Security
Council's
Permanent Five
members, the
UK's Mark
Lyall Grant
and China
Li Baodong
walked amiably
in. The US was
represented by
its Deputy
Permanent
Representative
Rosemary
DiCarlo.
Sudan's
Permanent
Representative
went in
wearing
flowing robes
-- national
dress, they
call it at the
UN -- while
all members of
Pakistan's
delegation
wore
green badges
with, in big
letters,
"PAKISTAN."
Colombia's
Nestor Osorio
stopped and to
his credit did
an on camera
interview,
as it's said
he did the day
previously
about the
death of
Gaddafi.
Libya
was
represented by
Shalgam, who
after being
Gaddafi's
foreign
minister
defected and
represents the
Transitional
National
Council.
As
Ban waited at
the top of the
escalator for
the Swedish
royals, he
greeted some
diplomats,
shaking hands
with Sri
Lanka's
Palitha Kohona
accompanied
by Deputy
Permanent
Representative
Shavendra
Silva. When
another
Deputy asked,
what's the
ocassion, Ban
quipped,
"Waiting for
you, of
course." If
unscripted,
impressive.
But everything
is
relative.
There
will be
further rounds
of voting.
Watch this
site.
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