[Washington Post] Edward Cody - Egypt's Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, 71, seemed like a shoo-in to become UNESCO's next director general. But as pre-election maneuvers got underway this week at the Paris headquarters of UNESCO, Hosni's chances were clouded by a chorus of charges that he is the wrong man for the job - specifically that he is filled with unremitting hatred for Israel and has long played a key role in Egypt's stultifying censorship bureaucracy. The controversy has put the U.S. and other Western allies of Egypt in an uncomfortable position. Egyptian President Mubarak has made Hosni's election a point of honor for his government. A senior administration official in Washington said, "There's no way we can support this guy....We did everything we could to get the Egyptians to support another candidate." However, Israeli Foreign Ministry officials dropped their opposition after Prime Minister Netanyahu visited Cairo in May seeking Mubarak's cooperation in preventing arms smuggling to Gaza and other issues important to the Jewish state. Voting begins Sept. 17 and can last several days.
2009-09-09 08:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive