US ambassador reiterates US position on UN budget

    UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 2 (Xinhuanet) -- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan rejected on Friday an interim UN budget proposal put forward by the United States, calling it "doesn't work for the United Nations."

    "There has been suggestion by some governments, or a government, that we should not be given the two-year budget but maybe a temporary three-month or so budget," Annan said when addressing staff on the occasion of the traditional Staff Day. "This doesn't work for the United Nations."

    US Ambassador John Bolton had suggested before that the UN General Assembly should adopt an temporary budget only for three or four months pending a resolution of a stalemate over management reforms.

    The Secretary-General refuted the request from Washington, saying "the business of the United Nation is not reform, the business of the United Nations is carrying on the mandates that the General Assembly, ECOSOC (the Economic and Social Council) and Security Council have given us, so that business must continue."

    "We should not take any initiative that will not only risk the reform but also the ongoing activities," he added.

    Annan even warned that if the biennial budget fails, it would lead to "a financial crunch".

    The UN spokesperson announced Thursday that Annan postponed his scheduled tour of Asia, including visits to China, South Korea, Japan and Vietnam, because of "discussions over the UN budget, and other urgent political issues".

    Annan explained to reporters later Friday that he decided to cancel the visit because it is a critical stage of the budget process, and the next 15 days is going to be the critical period

    "I decided that it was important for me to be on the ground, to work with the member states to ensure that we get the budget approved," he said. Enditem