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Date Posted: 19:25:19 10/04/02 Fri
Author: MUNGO
Subject: WHo CARES??

>> DRY the fuckers up ON THE VINE and be rid of their scum sucking asses... Let them ask the Rockefeller slime for $$, or maybe they could hire Possum' Schumer and Rosie assed O'Donnel for security. Let Ted Turnip stand guard with a baseball bat.. Hell, this pack of socialist/communist/crooks/ beggars/ and deviates should move to Denmark and open a child porn bidness... Anywhere, but just get OUT of a free peoples misery and take their tax burden with them.. and throw in Wal-Mart for good measure.>>>---->> U.N. Headquarters Remain Vulnerable
U.N. Vulnerable Because of Budget Constraints, but Sept. 11 Spurred New Money for Security

The Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS Oct. 4 — The United Nations has been a target of rockets and terrorists, yet its sprawling headquarters has remained vulnerable most recently to a Korean-American who jumped the five-foot fence and started firing a gun.

One obstacle to beefing up security was a budget freeze, U.N. officials say. This spring, in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, money was authorized to hire more guards and make other security improvements, but that process is just beginning.

Michael McCann, the chief of U.N. security, said Friday that for years the U.N. complex on New York's east side has needed better protection around its perimeter, modern security technology including cameras and sensors, and more staff.

Those needs became glaringly apparent on Thursday when an Illinois postal worker protesting against human rights in North Korea jumped the metal fence near an abandoned guard house, ran across a patch of grass and fired seven shots in the air without being challenged. He then dropped his gun and was tackled by U.S. Secret Service agents, assisted by U.S. State Department diplomatic security officials and U.N. security officers.

McCann said the fence which was a gift to the United Nations from the city of New York was one of the problems because it's low and easy to get over.

"We need financial resources," McCann said.

The United Nations, which is funded by assessments paid by its member states, has had a zero-growth budget since 1994, which is currently about $1.3 billion. It was pressed by the United States which pays 22 percent of the U.N. budget to freeze expenses on the grounds that the U.N. bureaucracy was bloated and needed reform, a view supported by some other nations. U.N. reform has been a priority of Secretary-General Kofi Annan since he became the U.N. chief in 1997.

"Over the last number of years ... due to the financial constraints upon the organization .... there's things we wanted to do and we weren't able to do," McCann said, noting that security needs weren't the only items that were cut from the U.N. budget.

The United Nations headquarters has been a magnet for protesters, and has for decades been a security concern because of its vulnerable location in the heart of midtown Manhattan overlooking the East River.

In 1964, a rocket was fired from a bazooka across the river during a demonstration by anti-Communist Cubans protesting against the presence of Cuban guerrilla leader Ernesto Che Guevara, who was addressing the General Assembly. The rocket shell landed harmlessly in the river, about 200 yards from shore.

Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman an Egyptian cleric linked to the men who bombed the World Trade Center in 1993 was convicted in 1995 and sentenced to life in prison for plotting to blow up the United Nations and other New York landmarks.

In 1997, three mail bombs were sent to the U.N. correspondent for Al-Hayat, an Arabic-language daily newspaper. One of the three, made of plastic explosives, evaded U.N. security checks and reached the newspaper's mail box but was discovered before it was opened.

But it was the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that forced the United Nations and its member states, now numbering 191, to get its security in order.

In a videotaped statement in November, Osama bin Laden accused the world body of siding with the United States and called the secretary-general a "criminal."

"Obviously, in the wake of Sept. 11, security should be one of the top priorities," said Richard Grenell, spokesman for U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte. "The United States has asked the U.N. to prioritize spending."

This spring, U.N. member states authorized more money for security and McCann said he is in the process of hiring 36 new people, and looking at how best to improve security around the complex whether it's a new fence, security cameras, new technology or a combination.

McCann has proposed additional security measures that will take the United Nations into the 21st century in a plan to refurbish the U.N headquarters building which will be discussed by the General Assembly later this month.

Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Copyright © 2002 ABC News Internet Ventures.

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