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| Sunday, 29 September 2002 |
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Six countries lose UN vote over unpaid dues UNITED NATIONS, Sept 27 (Reuters) The U.N. General Assembly on Friday let eight poor countries keep their vote in the world body even though they have fallen far behind in their U.N. dues payments. Six other countries including Iraq, however, have lost their vote in the current session, which began on Sept. 10, because they owe at least two full years of back dues. Under U.N. rules, the 191-nation assembly can let countries keep voting if it concludes "the failure to pay is due to conditions beyond the control of the member." The assembly voted by acclamation on Friday to permit Burundi, Comoros, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Moldova, Sao Tome and Principe, Somalia and Tajikistan to vote, concluding they met that test. However, the Central African Republic, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Niger and Vanuatu, along with Iraq, cannot vote unless they pay enough back dues to bring what they owe below the two-year threshold. Iraq, which must pay at least $12.3 million to regain its vote, has not kept up with its dues because of the stringent U.N. sanctions imposed on it in 1990 over its invasion of neighboring Kuwait. U.S. President George W. Bush, who wants a "regime change" in Baghdad, has asked the United Nations to force Iraq to comply with past U.N. resolutions ordering it to destroy its weapons of mass destruction or face possible U.S. military strikes. That responsibility would fall on the 15-nation U.N. Security Council, where Iraq has no vote, rather than on the assembly. The General Assembly is the U.N.'s main deliberative body, composed of representatives of all U.N. member-nations. Each member normally has one vote. |
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