C O N F I D E N T I A L   UNESCOPARI   12082220 
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INFO RUCNSCO/UNESCO COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

id: 181899
date: 12/8/2008 16:58
refid: 08PARISFR2220
origin: Mission UNESCO
classification: CONFIDENTIAL
destination: 
header:
C O N F I D E N T I A L   UNESCOPARI   12082220 
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INFO RUCNSCO/UNESCO COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS FR 002220 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/08/2018 
TAGS: PREL UNESCO BE IT CO
SUBJECT: UNESCO DIRECTOR GENERAL CAMPAIGN:  BELGIAN AND 
ITALIAN VIEWS 
 
REF: A. (A) PARIS FR 2153 
     ¶B. (B) PARIS FR 2202 
     ¶C. (C) PARIS FR 2209 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR LOUISE V. OLIVER FOR REASON 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY:  The Belgian Ambassador to UNESCO told 
Ambassador Oliver December 5 that Belgium does not support 
the candidacy of Egypt's Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni, 
for UNESCO's next Director General (DG).  The Belgian 
Ambassador also speculated on the possibility that Ingrid 
Bettancourt might become a candidate.  Ambassador Oliver also 
met with the Italian Ambassador to UNESCO, who explained that 
Italy has not yet decided how to handle Mr. Hosni's 
candidacy, as it is a complicated situation for them.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (C) Ambassador Oliver met with Belgium's Ambassador to 
UNESCO, Philippe Kridelka, on December 5.  In response to a 
question from Ambassador Oliver regarding a statement at a 
recent EU meeting indicating Belgian discontent with Mr. 
Hosni, Ambassador Kridelka said that the comment had been 
made by a representative of the French Community in Belgium 
and was inappropriate, though correct.  He said that in 
addition to being under great pressure from the Jewish 
community in Antwerp to oppose Mr. Hosni's candidacy, 
memories of World War II were still very strong in Belgium. 
 
¶3.  (C) Ambassador Oliver and Ambassador Kridelka then 
discussed ways of slowing the momentum of Mr. Hosni's 
candidacy, including by trying to prevent African states from 
endorsing Mr. Hosni at their meeting in mid-January. 
Ambassador Kridelka was very receptive to Ambassador Oliver's 
suggestion that given the Government of Belgium's (GOB) 
strong relationships with various African states, the GOB 
could contact them to suggest that they postpone endorsing 
any candidate until the July African Union meeting. 
Ambassador Oliver asked to be kept informed on any Belgian 
contacts with African states, as the U.S. would probably be 
in contact with some of them as well.  The Belgian Ambassador 
agreed to do so. 
 
¶4.  (C) Ambassador Kridelka then speculated on the possible 
candidacy of Ingrid Bettancourt.  He said that she had been 
making many speeches recently, and was about to visit the 
capitals of eight Latin American countries.  The Belgian 
Ambassador suggested that France might be very pleased with 
Mrs. Bettancourt's candidacy, given her special relationship 
with France and President Sarkozy's role in ending her 
captivity.  He added that when he asked a high level member 
of the French government about this possibility, the response 
had been that France had no position on this idea.  However, 
Ambassador Kridelka said that he knew that the chief of staff 
of Bernard Kouchner, France's Minister of Foreign and 
European Affairs, had recently had dinner with Mrs. 
Bettancourt's mother.  (COMMENT:  Mission witll try to gather 
more information on this possibility but has not heard other 
delegations mention this possibility.  END COMMENT) 
 
¶5.  (C) During a meeting with Italy's Ambassador to UNESCO, 
Giuseppe Moscato, on December 5, Ambassador Oliver was told 
that Italy did not know what to do about Mr. Hosni. 
Ambassador Moscato said that when Mr. Hosni's candidacy was 
first announced, the Prodi government had some sympathy for 
it, as Mr. Hosni used to run an Egyptian cultural center in 
Rome, and spoke Italian.  He added, however, that things had 
changed since Mr. Hosni's remarks on buring Israeli books in 
Egyptian libraries, as Italy was close to Israel and had a 
strong Jewish lobby.  Ambassador Moscato said that he did not 
know what the Berlusconi government's position on this matter 
was, and that he had no reports on whether Mr. Hosni's 
candidacy had been discussed when President Mubarak met with 
Prime Minister Berlusconi in Rome three months ago. 
 
¶6.  (C) In response to a a question from Ambassador Oliver on 
a possible Italian candidate, Ambassador Moscato said that 
there had been some thought given to that possibility.  He 
said,however, that he had advised against doing that, as it 
would be difficult for someone from Western Europe to be 
elected UNESCO's next DG so soon after having had a Spanish 
DG.  He also said that he had told his government that it was 
too soon to endorse any candidate, since Italy would want to 
have a high level position in the administration of the next 
DG, and therefore needed to be very careful not to alienate 
any candidate.  However, the Italian Ambassador also said 
that he thought he would have little influence on decisions 
made by his government, and said that his only role was to 
share information and express opionions. 
 
¶7.  (C) COMMENT:  Pressure from Israel on Belgium and Italy 
could be effective with those countries, especially since 
Egypt is aggressively trying to line up support for Mr. Hosni 
 
UNESCOPARI 12082220  002 OF 002 
 
 
by lobbying captials.  Although in the interview published by 
Al-Ahram, Mr. Hosni had claimed that he had support from 
Italy, that claim seems to be slightly exaggerated.  Given 
the undercurrent of discomfort that is developing at UNESCO, 
it is likely that Egypt will strengthen its lobbying even 
more.  The emergence of a public figure such as Ingrid 
Bettancourt as a possible alternative candidate would 
completely change the race for the next DG, as it would slow 
down or even stop the Egyptians from being able to obtain 
endorsements for Mr. Hosni.  END COMMENT. 
OLIVER 
#2220 
 
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