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September 17, 2005

Guess who doesn't want reform at the UN?

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The New York Sun identifies the cast of characters obstructing reform at the United Nations:

At 6 p.m., however, with the mandate of the General Assembly's 59th session about to expire, representatives of such countries as Cuba, Venezuela, Syria, Sudan, as well as the Palestinian Arabs, took the stage, demanding to see what agreements were already achieved and expressing opposition to some of the agreements already made by the group of 15 nations.

"It was ugly in there," a Western diplomat, asked not to be identified said.

The WaPo expands the list:

Human rights and development advocates, meanwhile, say that a number of other countries have quietly sought to undercut the negotiations. "Less than 48 hours from the beginning of the summit there remains real risk that major agreements will be blocked by a small number of countries that seem determined to block the summit's success," said Nicola Reindorp of Oxfam International. "These include Pakistan, Egypt, Iran, Syria, Venezuela and Cuba."

Ed Lasky   9 13 05