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  • Coleman says he'll be part of U.N. delegation

    Coleman says he'll be part of U.N. delegation
    By FREDERIC J. FROMMER

    Duluth News Tribune, MN
    Sept 7 2006

    WASHINGTON - Sen. Norm Coleman, a fierce critic of the United Nations,
    said Thursday that the White House has appointed him to serve as a
    congressional delegate to the world body.

    The White House declined to comment, saying it hasn't officially made
    the appointments yet. Amy Call, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority
    Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., confirmed that Frist recommended Coleman
    to the White House.

    Coleman said that he and a Democratic lawmaker he declined to
    identify will represent Congress as part of the U.S. delegation,
    starting later this month.

    In congressional investigations, Coleman found abuses in the U.N.'s
    oil-for-food program, which was aimed at allowing the Iraqi government
    under Saddam Hussein to sell oil for humanitarian goods.

    Coleman has called on U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to resign
    over the program.

    But Coleman said he might meet with Annan as a U.S. representative.

    "It's not personal," he said. "... My concerns are not personal
    concerns. They are concerns about the ability of the U.N. to be
    effective in dealing with the situation in Lebanon, with Iran, in
    Darfur, with North Korea."

    Coleman argued that his criticism of the U.N. makes him the right
    person to serve as a delegate.

    "Everything I've done with the United Nations has not been to bring it
    down, but to strengthen it," he said. "I would hope that the passion I
    have for an effective United Nations puts me in position to be a voice
    for reform. That's what I've articulated, that's what I've pushed. In
    doing so, sometimes you have to call things as you see them."

    Coleman said that he would focus on U.N. policy in Lebanon, Iran
    and Darfur. Sudan recently launched a new military offensive against
    rebels in Darfur, stoking fears of a humanitarian crisis. Some 200,000
    people have died there and several million displaced since 2003.

    Last week, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution that would
    give the United Nations authority over peacekeepers in Darfur as soon
    as Sudan's government gives its consent - which it has so far refused
    to do.

    "We're pushing for an international presence to deal with the situation
    in Darfur," Coleman said. "One of the problems we've had there is
    the Chinese. I anticipate meeting with the Chinese officials when
    I'm there to reiterate the call for a greater China cooperation in
    dealing with the situation in Darfur."

    Brenden Varma, a spokesman Annan, said it was up the United States
    to choose who would serves in its delegation.

    "We look forward to working with all of the delegations," Varma said,
    adding, "We're always open to criticism of the U.N."

    Also Thursday, Coleman voted against the nomination of career
    diplomat Richard Hoagland to be ambassador to Armenia, citing the
    Bush administration's refusal to classify the deaths of 1.5 million
    Armenians in 1915 as "genocide."

    Coleman was the only Republican to vote against the nomination in
    the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which approved Hoagland's
    selection on a 13-5 vote. The nomination now goes to the full Senate
    for a final vote.

    At his June 28 confirmation hearing, Hoagland declined to use the
    word genocide to describe the 1915 killings, which occurred during
    the waning days of the Ottoman Empire.

    Turkey strongly objects to any such characterization. U.S.

    policy-makers are wary of antagonizing Turkey, an important NATO ally.

    "While I do not doubt Mr. Hoagland's abilities, the State Department's
    continued refusal to acknowledge the mass killings of Armenians in
    1915 as genocide gave me no choice but to vote against this nominee,"
    Coleman said. "...History must be remembered for it was, not for what
    we would like it to be."

    (AP)
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