That's hardly surprising, when Congress still sulkily refuses to pay an ever-rising U.S. debt to the U.N. -- $1.7 billion and counting. President Clinton is sending a bill to the Hill that would cover $1 billion of that -- but what Annan will want to know is whether any strings will be attached. Last year, Jesse Helms' bid to get $800 million out of his compadres was scuppered by an antiabortion rider in the House. The last thing the secretary general wants is a repeat of that farce. "Other countries in essence provide interest-free loans to cover largely American-created shortfalls," Annan wrote recently in the New York Times. Perhaps he'd have better luck passing the hat back to Ted Turner.
Annan to U.S.: Ante Up
Kofi
Annan may feel like he has the raw end of the deal Wednesday. While his
appointed deputy, Jayantha
Dhanapala, touches down in Baghdad to head up the diplomatic posse
that will enter the long-disputed presidential palaces, the
secretary general embarks on a rather riskier mission: Selling
the U.N. in Washington. And Annan, ever the consummate diplomat, will
be making his own pointed diplomatic gesture -- by steering well clear
of Capitol Hill.
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