05 November 2001

Bin Laden Remarks Insult People in Third World, UN Head Says

United Nations -- UN Secretary General Kofi Annan November 5 asked Muslims and other people around the world not to be misled by Usama bin Laden's criticism of the United Nations and its goals.

"The Secretary General read the statement. Naturally he disagrees with it and he hopes that Muslims and other people around the world will not be misled by it," UN deputy spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva said during a daily press briefing November 5.

Annan was responding to a statement by Usama bin Laden denouncing Muslim leaders who cooperate with the United Nations. In a speech broadcast November 3, bin Laden accused the United Nations of undermining Islamic interests.

The Secretary General hopes that Muslims and other people around the world "will understand that the United Nations is the expression of the will of all its members. The membership of the organization is universal as are the principles enshrined in its Charter," de Almeida e Silva said.

"The United Nations does not represent any particular culture or the views of any single member state," he said. "The decisions and actions of the United Nations are those of the member states working together to pursue common goals based on shared values of equality, tolerance, mutual respect, and human dignity."

The deputy spokesman also referred to the comments Annan made in an interview with Le Figaro published November 5.

In that interview the Secretary General said that "it is an insult to peoples of the Third World to suggest that democracy and human rights are purely Western products. On the contrary people in developing countries understand more and more that these rights -- which are economic, social, and cultural as well as civil and political -- are truly universal and must be realized for all people as an essential part of the development process," the deputy spokesman said.

"This is one of the primary purposes of the United Nations and the Secretary General hopes that all peoples will cooperate in bringing it about," de Almeida e Silva said.