Why Boutros Boutros Ghali Became One Term UN Secretary General
Death of Ghali
This week we lost Boutros Boutros Ghali, the former UN Secretary General. He led the UN during a very turbulent time as the world was emerging from the Cold War and with rising intra-state conflicts especially the crisis in Yugoslavia, the conflict in Somalia and the genocide in Rwanda. He may have committed his mistakes but he also contributed the Agenda for Peace. He will be remembered for that.
UN Politics
His
reputation became entangled in the larger controversies over the effectiveness
of the UN and the role of the United States in the UN. But it appears that what
soiled him most are the allegations of too personal involvement in the Somalia
crisis. But again too personal involvement could have been good for him if he
was involved in a manner that was acceptable and/or right. So then it is better
said that he took sides. Now that must have been bad for the top man. Some
Somalis believed he was responsible for an escalation of the Somalia crisis by
undertaking a personal vendetta against Mohamed Farrah Aidid and
his Habr Gidr clan,
favouring their rivals, the Darod the
clan of the former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. It was
believed that he demanded the 12 July 1993 US helicopter attack on a meeting of
Habr Gidr clan leaders, who were meeting to discuss a peace initiative put
forward by the leader of the UN Mission in Mogadishu, retired U.S. Admiral Jonathan Howe. It is generally believed that the majority of
the clan elders were eager to arrange a peace and to rein in the provocative
activities of their clan leader, Mohamed Farrah Aidid, but,
after this attack on a peaceful meeting, the clan was resolved on fighting the
Americans and the UN, leading to the Battle of Mogadishu on 3–4 October 1993. But also it is whispered
that the US was opposed to Boutros Ghali because of the latter's reluctance on
approving NATO bombing
in Bosnia. Anyway
he became UN Secretary General for one term effectively becoming the first
person to hold that office for one term.
An Arab; An African
Why Boutros Boutros Ghali Became One Term UN Secretary General
Reviewed by Ibrahim Magara
on
February 20, 2016
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