Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08PARISFR2144
2008-11-21 16:00:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Mission UNESCO
Cable title:  

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN THE UNESCO DIRECTOR-GENERAL RACE

Tags:  UNESCO PREL FR JA EG IS NO 
pdf how-to read a cable
C O N F I D E N T I A L   UNESCOPARI   11212144 
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DE RUEHFR #2144/01 3261600
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O 211600Z NOV 08
FM UNESCO PARIS FR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
INFO RUCNSCO/UNESCO COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS FR 002144 

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E.O. 12958: DECL 11/21/2018
TAGS: UNESCO PREL FR JA EG IS NO
SUBJECT: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN THE UNESCO DIRECTOR-GENERAL RACE

Classified by Ambassador Louise V. Oliver for reason 1.4 (b) and (d).

REF: (A) Paris FR 02103
(B) Paris FR 02119

C O N F I D E N T I A L PARIS FR 002144

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E.O. 12958: DECL 11/21/2018
TAGS: UNESCO PREL FR JA EG IS NO
SUBJECT: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN THE UNESCO DIRECTOR-GENERAL RACE

Classified by Ambassador Louise V. Oliver for reason 1.4 (b) and (d).

REF: (A) Paris FR 02103
(B) Paris FR 02119


1. (C) Summary: The Egyptian Ambassador to UNESCO has asked for
meetings with the Japanese and French Ambassadors to UNESCO to find
out if the Government of Japan (GOJ) and the Government of France
(GOF) are supporting the Egyptian candidate for the next Director
General of UNESCO. The results of those meetings will help the
Egyptians decide whether to move forward with a formal nomination of
their candidate, Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni. In the meantime,
Ambassador Oliver has confirmed that the Ambassadors of Israel and
Germany, as well as the Deputy Permanent Representative of Norway,
agree with the U.S. position on Mr. Hosni. End Summary.


2. (C) The Egyptian Ambassador to UNESCO, Dr. Shadia Kenawy, has
requested a meeting with the Japanese Ambassador to UNESCO, Mr.
Tadamichi Yamamoto, on November 21 to find out the position of the
Government of Japan (GOJ) regarding the Egyptian candidate for UNESCO
Director General, Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni. The Japanese
Ambassador told Ambassador Oliver that the GOJ will be unable to
openly state its opposition to the Hosni candidacy at that meeting
because of its desire to keep the current Japanese Director General
of UNESCO, Koichiro Matsuura, out of the election process. However,
Ambassador Yamamoto said that the GOJ had given him permission to
tell the Egyptian Ambassador that it had "grave concerns" about Mr.
Hosni's candidacy. The Japanese Ambassador also said that the GOJ
had been lobbied on November 10 on behalf of Mr. Hosni by the Foreign
Minister of Qatar. (N.B. That was three days before Ambassador
Oliver informed the Egyptian Ambassador about the U.S. opposition to
Mr. Hosni's candidacy.) He also said that he had been instructed by
the GOJ to meet with the Ambassador of Brazil on November 24 in order
to share the concerns of the GOJ with him.


3. (C) The Egyptian Ambassador has also requested a meeting with the
French Ambassador to UNESCO, Catherine Colonna, on Monday, November
24, presumably to ascertain the French position on Mr. Hosni.

Although Ambassador Colonna has told Ambassador Oliver on several
occasions that the GOF opposes the Hosni candidacy, she did not say
how direct she could be with the Egyptian Ambassador. The French
Ambassador also told Ambassador Oliver that she would try to find out
what other countries the Egyptian Ambassador is talking to. In
addition, the French Ambassador suggested that a small number of
other countries, such as Germany, should be discreetly informed about
the U.S. position, in case they are approached by the Egyptians for
support. On November 21, Ambassador Colonna also told Ambassador
Oliver that Egypt's Ambassador to the UN had just met the individual
responsible for international organizations at the Quai d'Orsay and
had not mentioned Mr. Hosni's candidacy for the UNESCO Director
General position during that meeting.


4. (C) On November 20, Ambassador Oliver met with the Israeli
Ambassador to UNESCO, David Kornbluth, to get an update from him on
the DG race. Ambassador Kornbluth stated that after Mr. Hosni's
remarks on burning Israeli books in Egyptian libraries, a number of
countries had approached him to state their deep concerns about Mr.
Hosni and to say that they did not think he was an appropriate
candidate for UNESCO's next Director General. These countries
included Mexico, Russia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada, and
Mauritius. He also mentioned that he thought that Switzerland, the
Czech Republic, and Monaco would probably not support Mr. Hosni.
Ambassador Kornbluth added that the Government of Israel (GOI) thinks
that Mr. Hosni is the worst of all possible Arab candidates, as he
has consistently blocked any possibility of expanding
Egyptian-Israeli cultural ties during his twenty years as Culture
Minister. He also said that Mr. Hosni has a vast machine at work in
Cairo supporting his candidacy. Ambassador Kornbluth said that he
doubted that Egypt would withdraw Mr. Hosni's candidacy given how
much time and effort they have spent promoting it. He thinks that it
would be a huge loss of face for Egypt, and does not see Egypt
"buckling down to soft pressure". He added that in the unlikely
event that they did so, the GOI would continue to have difficulty
supporting an Egyptian for the Director General position. He did not
elaborate.


5. (C) Ambassador Kornbluth also said that six months ago the
Russians had indicated that they were supportive of the possible
candidacy of UNESCO's Brazilian Deputy Director General, Marcio
Barbosa. The Israeli Ambassador will speak to the Russian Ambassador
to UNESCO, Mr. Vladimir Kalamanov, to determine their current
position. (N.B. The Russian Ambassador told Ambassador Oliver that
he would be leaving UNESCO in January.) Ambassador Kornbluth also
mentioned that he was told that initial French support for Mr. Hosni
was in exchange for Egyptian support for Dominique Strauss-Kahn at
the IMF. During his meeting with Ambassador Oliver, the Israeli
Ambassador said several times that he had been instructed by the GOI
to take a low profile position at UNESCO on the Director General
race, and that he did not expect those instructions to change in the
immediate future.


6. (C) Ambassador Oliver met with the Ambassador from Germany, Gunter
Overfeld, on November 20 to discuss the Director General race.

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SUBJECT: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN THE UNESCO DIRECTOR-GENERAL RACE

Ambassador Overfeld was pleased to learn that the U.S. had told the
UNESCO Egyptian Ambassador of the U.S. opposition to Mr. Hosni's
candidacy. He added that although he was comfortable with an Arab
candidate, including a candidate from Egypt, he agreed that Mr. Hosni
was not the right person for the UNESCO position. Ambassador
Overfeld also agreed that the U.S. position should be kept quiet for
the moment, but thought it might be helpful if the German government
expressed its concerns on Mr. Hosni's candidacy to the Egyptians,
without mentioning the U.S., given the fact that the Egyptians have
not yet formalized Mr. Hosni's candidacy.


7. (C) Ambassador Oliver also met with the Deputy Permanent
Representative of Norway to UNESCO, Ole Briseid, on November 20 to
inform him of U.S. opposition to Mr. Hosni's candidacy. Mr. Briseid
said that the Government of Norway was strongly opposed to Mr. Hosni.
He added that he understood that the other Nordic countries,
Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland, agreed with this position. He
also said that the Nordic countries would like to have a Director
General who is strongly committed to freedom of expression and of the
press, and that Mr. Hosni had not demonstrated that commitment. Mr.
Briseid said that the Egyptians have not yet approached Norway, and
that as far as he knew, the same was true for the other Nordic
countries. He understood that the U.S. wanted to keep its position
quiet in order to allow the Egyptians to consider withdrawing Mr.
Hosni's candidacy, but asked to be kept informed if the U.S. decided
to change its position and take a more public approach. (N.B. The
Nordic countries are among the largest contributors of
extra-budgetary funds to UNESCO.)


8. (C) Comment: Mission believes that the Egyptians are now talking
to several major countries about Mr. Hosni in order to decide whether
to move forward with his candidacy. If they think that Japan and
France would be willing to support Mr. Hosni, or at least not oppose
him, the Egyptians will probably decide to nominate Mr. Hosni
formally. The Egyptians have been conducting a very aggressive and
smart campaign thus far. After getting support from the foreign
ministers of all Arab countries, they are in the process of getting
support from as many Ministers of Culture as possible. At the moment
they seem to have the support of most of the African Ministers of
Culture, and according to a recent article in the Egyptian press, the
support of Spain's Culture Minister. Because Mr. Hosni has been the
Egyptian Minister of Culture for twenty years, he has personal
relationships with many of these individuals. The Egyptians expect
that the Ministers of Culture will be able to persuade their
respective heads of state to support Mr. Hosni. The Egyptians will
probably offer "deals" to those who are reluctant to support their
candidate, as they did to the Ambassador of Lithuania in order to try
to persuade her to withdraw from the race. (N.B. The Lithuanian
Ambassador to UNESCO, Ina Marciulionyte, has just been officially
nominated as a candidate for the Director General post by the Baltic
States.)


9. (C) Comment continued: Although it is clear that there are many
countries who are not enthusiastic about, or are even opposed to Mr.
Hosni's candidacy, nothing has been said publicly by anyone thus far,
either because they think it is premature to do so, or because they
are too nervous to risk offending Egypt. However, the Egyptians are
probably aware of the lack of enthusiasm for their candidate in a
number of countries, and will not want to risk losing a secret ballot
vote at UNESCO's September 2009 Executive Board session. This is a
critical moment for the Egyptians, and a coherent U.S. strategy in
coordination with other key countries might be able to stop the Hosni
candidacy and enable new candidates to enter the race.

OLIVER