February 20, 2006

Annan, Assembly head expect progress on rights council, other reform this week, UN News Centre

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=17549&Cr=UN&Cr1=reform

Secretary-General Kofi Annan worries about a "power-grab" by the United States, a democratic state funding a quarter of the UN budget. Note he never talks about a power-grab when it comes to the strangle-hold that the Organization of the Islamic Conference has on the General Assembly - witness the Assembly's inability to adopt a definition of terrorism. Nor does he speak about a power-grab when it comes to the African group's protection of such serial human rights abusers as Sudan and Zimbabwe. The 2005 Assembly refused to adopt resolutions condemning these states. (AB)