U.N. Official Attacks Western Policies on Iran and Sudan

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UNITED NATIONS — Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, the president of the General Assembly, lashed out at the West in general and the United States in particular on Tuesday, saying that Iran’s president had been maligned and that the indictment of Sudan’s president was racist.

Mr. d’Escoto has made controversial remarks periodically since assuming the presidency in September, but rarely so many in a single day.

His comments drew a rebuke from several Security Council ambassadors and even from the 33-member Latin American bloc that had nominated him. “He confuses his personal opinions sometimes with those of the General Assembly,” said Heraldo Muñoz, the ambassador from Chile. Mr. Muñoz credited Mr. d’Escoto with trying to make the General Assembly relevant by focusing attention on matters like the global financial crisis and reform of the Council.

Mr. d’Escoto was speaking at a news conference to mark the end of a world tour. He said that he had been struck by the “great respect” shown to Iran by its neighbors and that its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, had been unfairly “demonized” in the West.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/world/18nations.html?th&emc=th