Question: Yesterday, I asked you about Abdul Rahman and you pointed to the Covenant of Human Rights and you said that Tom Koenigs had made a statement. And I’m glad that he did on behalf of the United Nations. However, after I asked you that, a number of prominent Muslim clerics in Afghanistan made calls for this man, who had converted from Islam to Christianity, to be executed.
I want to ask you this. Annan -- Mr. Secretary-General -- made two statements on the cartoon issue. He also went to Qatar and he made a statement about -- he also found -- helped to found the Alliance on Civilizations, which is supposed to bridge the problems encountered by Western and Islamic societies. And I don’t understand why he can’t make a statement now, because nobody knows who Tom Koenigs is. I appreciate that he did make that statement, but to put that in an article is a bit of a –-
Spokesman: I think Mr. Koenigs speaks -– is the Secretary-General’s Representative in Afghanistan. He speaks for him in Afghanistan. The Secretary-General, as a UN official, firmly believes that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is exactly that -- universal -- and applies to all, and specifically to this gentleman in Afghanistan, who should be free to choose his belief and change his beliefs, as he so wishes.
Question: But I don’t understand why the Secretary-General cannot say that himself. You know, this is what this whole building was founded on, and I’m just trying to understand that.
Spokesman: OK. I’m saying to you, when Mr. Koenigs speaks, he speaks as the Secretary-General’s Representative. This is currently a local issue in Afghanistan, and when Mr. Koenig speaks, he speaks as the Representative of the Secretary-General. So, it’s as if the Secretary-General had spoken.
Si no fós per les pressions de Bush, a aquestes hores Abdul Rahman ja estaria mort, o poc li faltaria. El govern afganès ha aconseguit que Rahman sigui allibertat, però a risc de tenir greus problemes polítics. És difícil guardar les aparences.
