CHILE SUPPORTS EGYPTIAN CANDIDATE FOR UNESCO

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000770 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR IO/UNESCO K SIEKMAN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: UNESCO CI SUBJECT: CHILE SUPPORTS EGYPTIAN CANDIDATE FOR UNESCO DIRECTOR GENERAL REF: STATE 82575 ¶1. (SBU) Poloff delivered reftel demarche to Jorge Ossa, Deputy Director of Elections in the Bureau of Multilateral Affairs. Ossa told Poloff that Chile has already declared its support for Egyptian candidate Farouk Hosni. Ossa added that Chile's decision to support Hosni is based entirely on the tradition of geographic rotation. He acknowledged concerns about Farouk's public statements concerning Israel, but said the Arab region is next in line for the Director General position. ¶2. (SBU) Ossa noted that it will not be easy for anyone to obtain a majority because there are nine candidates running. He said he was unaware of the positions of other Latin American countries, and mentioned that Ecuador already knows Chile will support the Egyptian candidate. SIMONS