(JT) - The government on Monday said Qatar broke from Arab ranks by voting against Jordan's candidate to succeed UN chief Kofi Annan. "What concerns more in Jordan is not the offensive act against us, but [Qatar's] lack of commitment to a unanimous Arab League decision to nominate Prince Zeid for the post," Government Spokesperson Nasser Judeh told reporters yesterday at a weekly press briefing, which was attended by Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit.
Following a September Arab League meeting in Cairo, foreign ministers urged Arab representatives at the UN to support the nomination of Prince Zeid. According to Judeh, Qatar spoke at the meeting of a “moral commitment” to another candidate. “But this candidate was not the South Korean [Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon],” Judeh said. He did not elaborate.
On Saturday, a senior Jordanian official told Agence France-Presse that Qatar’s envoy to the United Nations broke ranks with a unanimous Arab stand in Thursday’s straw poll to back Ban to succeed Annan. “The Qatari representative not only broke with the unanimous Arab position, he even campaigned for the South Korean candidate.” |