United Nations

The recent National Intelligence Estimate painted a troubling picture. While al-Qaida is resurgent, with an "undiminished" intent to attack the U.S. homeland, international counterterrorism cooperation is likely to wane as 9/11 grows more distant. Revitalizing the United Nations' counterterrorism role would be an important step to bolster the international effort against al-Qaida. The United Nations has demonstrated that it can play a significant counterterrorism role. Indeed, for the first few years after 9/11, it was at the center of the fight against terrorism.

WASHINGTON -- A U.S. soldier faces punishment as early as today for refusing to wear the blue patch and cap of a United Nations peacekeeper.Spc. Michael New is the first U.S. soldier to refuse to wear the U.N. insignia, according to Army spokesman Lt. Col. Bill Harkey. How the Army handles his case will set a precedent for dealing with breaches of an increasingly controversial and frequent part of military service -- assignment to the United Nations.His defiance touches a sensitive national political nerve as conservative opposition to U.S. troops serving under foreign -- .. and particularly U.N. -- command grows on Capitol Hill.

In SARAJEVO, the United Nations commander for Bosnia, Lt. Gen. Philippe Morillon, warned that the republic is plunging into "total chaos" and that U.N. soldiers might have to be withdrawn. A mortar slams into a funeral at a Muslim cemetery, killing eight people.The UNITED NATIONS halted overland aid deliveries after Croats attacked a convoy bound for Tuzla.Fighting between Bosnian Croats and the mostly Muslim Bosnian army resumed near TRAVNIK. The Bosnian Serbs continued an offensive against Gorazde.

MOGADISHU, Somalia -- United Nations officials are concerned at signs of disputes between the rival Somalian factions that share control of the capital and fear that a clash may be increasingly likely.Renewed tensions between the forces of Gen. Mohamed Farah Aidid and Ali Mahdi Mohamed are a growing threat to peace efforts being pressed by the United States and the United Nations, the officials say.U.N. representatives have urged each faction to avoid steps that might provoke the other to violence.

UNITED NATIONS - A year after the suicide bombing of the United Nations' Baghdad headquarters killed 22 people in Iraq, U.N. staffers around the world paid tribute yesterday to their fallen colleagues. They also complained that the United Nations had yet to adequately protect its workers in dangerous areas. In solemn ceremonies in New York, Geneva, Baghdad, and Amman, Jordan, U.N. staffers and relatives of the 22 victims lighted candles and shared a moment of silence. "We are no strangers to violence and intimidation," Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the audience in Geneva.

WASHINGTON -- The United States' failure to pay $500 million in dues owed to the United Nations might undermine the world body's efforts to deal with the situation in the Persian Gulf, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday.Thomas R. Pickering said that the positive role played by the world body against Iraq's invasion of Kuwait made it necessary that the United States pay its dues. He said he was disturbed by the fact the United States was the United Nations' largest debtor, something he said had put in question "our leadership" in the Security Council.

NEW YORK - The United Nations will need to make a decision on its temporary office space before the end of this year, officials said at a news briefing yesterday. The world body wants to start renovating its dilapidated headquarters in 2007, so it can't wait on the state Legislature to approve its previous plans to build temporary office space at Robert Moses Playground across the street from its current location. A report released Tuesday said that one site in downtown Brooklyn and another in Manhattan would meet the United Nations' specifications for temporary space.

President Bush is sending U.S. combat aircraft back to the Persian Gulf to escort United Nations inspection teams looking for weapons in Iraq.The Evening Sun would like to know if you agree with the president's decision -- or should he have explored other options such as leaving the decision on sending troops up to the United Nations? The call is local and must be made from a tone phone. The SUNDIAL number is 783-1800 or, in Anne Arundel County, 268-7736. When you reach SUNDIAL, enter category 4600 and wait for instructions from the announcer.

LONDON -- New United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, who assumes office today, faces a tough job. Not only is the South Korean coming into a job as the other half of his motherland is testing the international community with nuclear saber-rattling, but he is also taking the helm at an institution that increasingly appears to have lost its way. The United Nations' loss of credibility is in part due to a disconnect among what it can do, what people...

George showed he knows there is more to the Middle East than bombing targets.If Yeltsin really made peace on the shores of the Black Sea, his next trick will be to walk on it.Cheer up. The Republic of the Marshall Islands was admitted to the United Nations.