U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad on Thursday criticized recent anti-U.S. comments from the new president of the U.N. General Assembly, warning him to keep to his role as a “unifier” if he wanted to be effective. Khalilzad reminded the new president of the 192-member assembly, Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann of Nicaragua, that his role was “to facilitate the discussions, follow the rules, to do things that make this organization work, and bring people together.” “For him to succeed, he has to play his role, and that role is to be a unifier … representing the interests of all members, rather than picking on some members, siding with others,” the U.S. ambassador said. “That would undermine his effectiveness, his interests, or the interests of the organization.” On Tuesday, d'Escoto opened the General Assembly's 63rd annual session with a veiled attack on the United States. “It makes no sense to wage wars of aggression that kill hundreds of thousands of people with the purported aim of supporting democracy, while at the same time using every imaginable means and pretext to prevent a process to democratize the United Nations itself,” d'Escoto told delegates.
