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Ban's Balancing Act


By BENNY AVNI

The New York Sun


January 8, 2007


For Turtle Bay-watchers, key appointments already made by Secretary-General Ban seem less than inspiring. As the TV infomercial says, but wait, the hard-working South Korean diplomat may yet lead a U.N. revolution.

Mr. Ban plans to reshape the political orientation of the institution by appointing an American — the name I hear is Washington's ambassador to Indonesia, Burton Lynn Pascoe — as his undersecretary-general for political affairs.

He also wants to break in two the burgeoning peacekeeping department: France will continue to head the operational unit, while Japan will lead a brand-new logistical support department.

If successful, these changes may offset some disappointing appointments made so far. On Friday, Mr. Ban named as his deputy a Tanzanian foreign minister, Asha-Rose Migiro, who recently defended Iran's nuclear pursuit and — while the West mulled sanctions against the mullahs — called for better commercial ties between her uranium-mining country and Tehran.

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