Yus, before making such an indictment on the UN secretary, perhaps you
might want to look at the dynamics involve in the African Diaspora. Annan
can only do for Africa what his position prescribes; lets face it Africa
has never been a priority for the west if it were the UN would've done a
lot more in Rwanda than the nominal efforts it showed. Annan I suspect
learn from the former UNESCO head, how the west specifically the U.S. work
to rid him off that position. One of the main concerns the Reagan
administration had was Dr Baboucar's(forgot the last name) efforts in
promoting African interest. Annan himself is being constantly reminded bb
Madeline Al bright that had it not been for the U.S. he wouldn't be in his
present position. The politics at the Un is vicious and i suspect one works
a fine line when in Anna's position. He's doing for Africa but not as much
as he would like because of constraints place on him. I do however think
he's ideal to affectuating the situation in the Middle East. The U.S. as I
see it is wearing two hats; one for promoting peace in the region and the
other in defending Israel at all cost. The U.S. role is like serving two
masters which does not always work " One either loves one or hate the other"
and from I sit Arafat is being made the heavy unjustifiably
So Yus Give Anna a chance he may surprise us yet.
Daddy Sang


> [Original Message]
> From: Yusupha Jow <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: 10/13/00 10:14:13 PM
> Subject: The role of Kofi Annan revisited
>
> A while ago we had a discussion Kofi Annan's lack of participation in
African
> affairs. His tireless efforts spent mediating the dispute between the
> Palestinians and the Jordanians proves my point that the man has some
> leverage. Leverage which he could definitely use better to influence
African
> crises.
>
> In my piece, I described the UN Secretary General as part negotiator and
part
> provocateur, roles which he is fulfilling in the present Mideast crisis.
> However, based on his lack of participation in present and past African
> crises, I believe his tenure as Secretary General will be marred by his
> unwillingness to help his own continent in times of extreme need.
>
>
>
> JERUSALEM (Oct. 14) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan worked into the
early
> hours of Saturday trying to arrange a summit to halt the explosion of
> Israeli-Palestinian violence.
>
> Palestinian President Yasser Arafat met his advisors in Gaza to weigh his
> options after meeting Annan on the 16th consecutive day of battles between
> Palestinian and Israeli troops.
>
> Annan said after a late-night meeting on Friday with Arafat that he
expected
> a summit within 48 hours, involving Israel, Palestinians, the United
States,
> Egypt and the United Nations.
>
> He said that Arafat was to give him an answer, which he predicted would be
> positive, by telephone during the night.
>
> ''I am quite confident that a cease-fire can be achieved and a summit can
go
> ahead,'' Annan told reporters before flying to Tel Aviv to brief Israeli
> Prime Minister Ehud Barak on the meeting.
>
> Egypt's government press center reported that Annan would meet Egyptian
> President Hosni Mubarak on Saturday to discuss how to bring about an end
to
> the bloody clashes.
>
> But Nabil Abu Rdainah, an adviser to Arafat, played down the prospects
for a
> Middle East summit.
>
> ''It's too early to talk about convening a summit since the conditions are
> not fulfilled yet in spite of the appreciated international efforts,'' he
> told reporters on Friday night.
>
> Diplomats said the Palestinians were still seeking conditions that Israel
has
> called unacceptable.
>
> Israel's acting foreign minister, Shlomo Ben-Ami, said no decision had
been
> taken regarding Israeli participation and that the government did not
want a
> ''fiasco'' like last week's Barak-Arafat talks in Paris.
>
> As international pressure mounted on Arafat to attend a possible meeting,
the
> United States tried to clear the way for a meeting on Egyptian soil, and
> dropped its insistence the two sides commit themselves to ending the
clashes
> before they hold a summit.
>
> But White House spokesman Jake Siewert told reporters in Washington ''we
have
> not made any decision'' on whether to hold the summit.
>
> The United States has vowed that a suicide attack on a U.S. ship in the
> Yemeni port of Aden on Thursday that killed seven sailors will not stop it
> trying to broker a Middle East peace.
>
> European Union leaders added their voice to appeals for an emergency
> gathering to end the violence and rescue the shattered peace process.
>
> ISRAEL AND PALESTINIANS DISAGREE ON SUMMIT
>
> Diplomats said that Palestinian conditions for participation in the talks
> include withdrawal of Israeli tanks from the West Bank, reopening
Palestinian
> territories, and agreeing to an international commission of inquiry into
the
> violence.
>
> Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said on Israeli television he would not
pay
> Arafat a price for attending a summit. ''We are not ready to pave the way
> there with prizes for violence... There can be no reward for violence,''
he
> said.
>
> He added that he had asked Ariel Sharon, a leading opponent of peace deals
> and the man blamed by Palestinians for provoking the current violence with
> his September 28 visit to a Jerusalem shrine, to join him in a ''national
> emergency government.''
>
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
> Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
> You may also send subscription requests to
[log in to unmask]
> if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write
your full name and e-mail address.
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------



--- Carolann Durda
--- [log in to unmask]
--- EarthLink: It's your Internet.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask]
if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------