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US quietly blocking UN headquarters' renovation
 The United States is quietly blocking the start of a long-awaited renovation of United Nations headquarters in hopes of keeping down costs, US Ambassador John Bolton acknowledged on Thursday. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has asked for an authorization of $100 million in new spending to get the work under way later this year, but Washington wants to commit to just $23 million at present, Bolton said. The plan has been languishing in the UN General Assembly's budget committee for the past three weeks, and diplomats said Washington was at this point the lone obstacle. "For three weeks now, the committee has been hung up on the issue, with no real word from the US as to where things stand and when they might get resolved," said one diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. Bolton said: "This is not a matter of saying we are for or against the plan. What we are saying is, 'Let's do this in a responsible, prudent, graduated fashion.'" Posted by: Fred 2006-04-08 |
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