UN risks shutdown

2006-06-06 21:40

Brussels - The UN faces a potential shutdown if the United States and Japan carry out a threat to withhold funds, a top UN official said on Tuesday.

This could result in the security council not being able to meet and peacekeepers around the world would be left adrift.

But, said Shashi Tharoor, he hoped the big donors would pull back from the brink and not stop funds from July 1 as they had threatened to do unless stalled management reforms were enacted.

"I don't think anyone wants to see the United Nations shut its doors," Tharoor told Reuters.

"I don't think either of these countries, which have been longstanding supporters and pillars of the organisation, would want ... a global crisis where you couldn't convene the security council because you couldn't afford to pay the interpreters."

Developing nations last month blocked the centrepiece of Secretary-General Kofi Annan's reform programme, a move western nations said could lead to a drastic funding cut-off this summer.

US ambassador John Bolton voiced willingness to extend the deadline to September 30.

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However, diplomats said developing countries seem intent on adopting their version of the budget and effectively daring Washington to shut the place down.

"The UN isn't a body which can afford not to be available 24/7, because there are peacekeepers who are awaiting instructions from New York.

There are humanitarian operations that depend on staff in New York," Tharoor said.

"There are ... genuine challenges in the political process in New York that require electricity bills to be paid, phones to be able to ring, interpreters to be able to function."

- Reuters