United Nations 'Handcuffed' By Bush: Cuba

Agence France Presse 24sep04

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 24 (AFP) - Cuba on Friday said US President George W. Bush had "handcuffed" the United Nations, and that the war in Iraq had cost the world body its credibility and respect.

Following the US-led invasion of Iraq, the United Nations had ceased to exist as a "useful and diverse forum," and was now living through the worst period in its 60-year history, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque told the UN General Assembly.

"It pales, it pants, it feigns, but it does not work," he said. "Who handcuffed the United Nations named by President Roosevelt? President Bush."

Citing the 1,000 US soldiers "uselessly sacrificed" in Iraq and the continuing insurgency there, Perez Roque insisted that the United States would eventually have no choice but to withdraw its troops.

He also argued that the unilateral actions of the United States precluded any valid reform of the United Nations -- an issue that has been a hot topic of debate at the General Assembly.

"It would take the superpower, which inherited the immense prerogative of governing an order conceived for a bipolar world, to relinquish its privileges," Perez Roque said. "And it will not do that."

Leaders seek change at United Nations

AP 27sep04

A call to expand the Security Council

UNITED NATIONS, New York One after another, world leaders and ministers called for expanding the powerful 15-nation Security Council, saying that the modern world should not be dominated by a few wealthy countries chosen after World War II.

The Mexican foreign secretary, Luis Ernesto Derbez, said that the founders of the United Nations in 1945 could not have envisioned the terrorist attacks and other problems facing the international community. "Today we face events of such magnitude and complexity," he said on Friday. "Diplomats of this generation now have the obligation to envision a second phase, a new chapter on collective action so as to eradicate these modern threats."

Efforts to reform the UN have been under way for years and the debate is not likely to end soon because of national rivalries and differences over key details, including veto power.

But the issue came to the forefront of the 59th annual General Assembly session last week when Brazil, Germany, India and Japan joined forces to press for permanent seats and said that Africa should get one as well.

The Egyptian foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, said that Muslims and Arabs have the right "to be represented in the council on an equal basis with the representatives of other cultures and civilizations."

Only the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China have permanent Security Council seats and wield veto power, giving them effective say over the body's agenda.

The 10 other council members are chosen for two-year terms by regional groups.

The General Assembly, which consists of representatives of the 191 member states, would have to decide whether to expand the Security Council.

Britain agreed on Thursday that the Security Council should be nearly doubled in size to 24 nations as its challenges have evolved to facing "terrorist organizations, failed states and from man-made shocks to our environment like climate change."

The George W. Bush administration also has supported Security Council expansion.

The debate came as the more than 120 world leaders and ministers sought to keep their focus on humanitarian crises in Sudan and elsewhere, largely steering clear of the divisive debates of the past two years over Iraq.

Bush on Tuesday defended his decision to invade Iraq without UN Security Council backing, saying it "helped to deliver the Iraqi people from an outlaw dictator."

But he also urged the international community to refocus energies on humanitarian missions, from helping to end the bloody violence in Sudan's western region of Darfur to combating AIDS in Africa.

The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, got resounding applause after he ended his speech by calling for expanding the powerful Security Council to give more countries influence over global decisions.

"There will be neither security nor stability in the world until a more just democratic order is established," he said as the two-week ministerial meeting got under way.

Some countries sought to increase the number of permanent seats with or without veto power; others said nobody should have the right to overturn decisions.

"In a world of global threats, global markets and global media, our security and prosperity depend more and more on an effective multilateral system," the Dutch foreign minister, Ben Bot, said on Tuesday.

"What gives great strength to the United Nations is its legitimacy," he added, speaking on behalf of the European Union. "But the organization must adapt to changing circumstances."