NORWAY FLOATS IDEA OF NORDIC ALTERNATIVE UNESCO DG

C O N F I D E N T I A L OSLO 000672 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/17/2018 TAGS: PREL UNESCO NO SUBJECT: NORWAY FLOATS IDEA OF NORDIC ALTERNATIVE UNESCO DG CANDIDATE REF: SECSTATE 130916 Classified By: Political Counselor Kristen Bauer for reasons 1.4(b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Deputy Director of the UN section of the Norwegian MFA, Lars Petter Henie, has raised concerns abut the UNESCO candidates independently before with poloff. Norway is very unhappy with the prospect of "an anti-Semite keen on burning Israeli books" (Henie's words) as DG of UNESCO. In response to our demarche, Henie said Norway would like to know how the US would feel about a possible Nordic compromise candidate. He was unable at this time to share a name with us. ¶2. (C) Senior Advisor Anne Merchant of the UN Human Rights section encountered poloff by chance in an MFA hallway, and added that her perception was that the Egyptian diplomats are growing more and more powerful at the UN, managing to speak with increasing frequency not just for the Arab and Muslim world, but for Africa as well. She was unsure whether the Egyptians would back down from their support of Hosni, even given the possible PR headache he could present. WHITNEY