Gaddafi Taps Sandinista Priest As New UN Envoy

Muammar Gaddafi has appointed former Nicaraguan politician and diplomat Miguel D’Escoto Brockmann as his representative to the United Nations.

Libya hasn’t had a representative at the UN since Gaddafi dismissed Ambassador Mohamed Shalgham and his Deputy Ibrahim Dabbashi at the beginning of March, although both men continued to play an important role in Security Council deliberations on Libya in the following weeks. Dabbashi was one the first Libyan diplomat to denounce the regime’s crack down on protests and even went as far as requesting the Security Council impose a No Fly Zone in Libya nearly a month before it eventually did.

Gaddafi had initially tapped Dr. Ali Trekki, a Libyan diplomat who served as President of the General Assembly from 2009-2010, to take over at the UN but for reasons that remain unclear, Treki never travelled to New York to receive his diplomatic credentials. 

An ordained priest turned Sandinista supporter, D’Escoto Brockmann is a well known and outspoken critique of US policies in Latin America and the Middle East. He served as Foreign Minister for the Sandinista government through out the 1980’s and was also President of the General Assembly from 2008-2009.

Obama Visits The United Nations

President Barak Obama will be at the United Nations in New York this afternoon to attend the dedication of the new US mission building at the UN, named after former Secretary of Commerce Ronald H. Brown . 

 In a prime time television address on the situation in Libya yesterday, President Obama argued that the United Nations mandated intervention called for civilian protection rather than regime change, but that the US would work with its allies at the UN to find a political solution that could precipitate Gaddafi’s departure. 

 President Obama also said he would provide assistance to Libyan opposition group. This will likely become a heated topic at the UN over the next few weeks, as several prominent Security Council members have already said that in their view ,the resolution does not allow for the arming of rebels.