UNITED NATIONS – President Barack Obama will be facing a long list of possible pitfalls when he makes his first visit to the United Nations in the coming week.
First and foremost is the visit of Libyan strongman Col. Muammar Gadhafi, who also is making his first visit to the world body’s New York City headquarters, a visit that is coming at a time when Libya’s presence inside the U.N. is at an all-time high.
The African nation is concluding a two-year term as a non-permanent member of the Security Council just as it assumes the presidency of the General Assembly, and it also heads the African Union.
Libya has been the focal point of international controversy for the “welcome home” given recently to Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, the only person convicted of the Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people, mostly Americans.
He had his conviction commuted and was released on “humanitarian” grounds by a Scottish court in July when it was reported he has a terminal case of cancer.
At the time, the White House “protested” the release, but has done little since.
Gadhafi’s presence in New York could prove a headache for Obama since the two are likely to meet during their U.N. visits. They shared a well photographed “brief encounter” at the G-20 summit held in Italy last summer.
But John Bolton, the former U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said the president should beware.
“Of course they might meet on U.N. grounds, but Obama needs to be aware of the significance of any photo op and not be naive. The photos can have significant political significance and his staff must be aware of it. … It is going to be interesting to see how Obama and (U.K. prime minister) Gordon Brown handle Gadhafi when they are seated near him in the Security Council.”
While Gadhafi may claim to have “changed” from his “radical-terrorist” past, Bolton is skeptical:
“When al-Megrahi (Pan Am 103) bomber was released (and was welcomed home in Libya) that showed things haven’t really changed and Obama needs to realize it.”
Bolton noted that Gadhafi only came “clean” on his secret and illegal nuclear weapons program after the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
“It is no secret that he (Gadhafi) could have been next,” Bolton said.
He also pointed out that while the families of Pan Am 103 were denied an opportunity to attend the special Security Council meeting next week, Obama should still meet privately with the families:
“He (Obama) should at the very least meet the Pan Am 103 families and tell them what he did to try and prevent the Megrahi release,” he said.
Ironically, the special council meeting, called by the White House, is on nuclear non-proliferation.
But Bolton, a former State Department arms negotiator, says the meeting has no substance.
“Look at the resolution (to be adopted) … there is nothing there … the meeting is no more than another photo op for Obama,” he said.
On the issue of Obama meeting the Pan Am families, the White House referred the matter to the United Nations mission, where spokesman Mark Kornblau did not respond to queries.
Susan Cohen, mother of Theodora Cohen, a student returning home on the ill-fated Pan Am flight, expressed her disappointment with the new White House.
“I am very disappointed with Obama. I personally tried to call the White House and ask for a meeting and I didn’t get through to anybody. Another family member, Stephanie Bernstein, got through to the NSC (National Security Council) and was told that they thought it was not appropriate to speak with us. It was amazing. … I voted for Obama. I hung his picture on my wall . Now, I have taken it down.”
On Gadhafi’s upcoming visit to New York City, she said:
“He is going to roll into New York in triumph. He is going to address the U.N. It is absolutely despicable and the only reason for all of this is (Libyan) oil. That he is tolerated, that his existence is tolerated by the West, is a sign of moral collapse, a collapse into appeasement. It is really quite gruesome.”
The Pan Am families will join a group of Libyan dissidents and participate in a “protest” march on U.N. headquarters Wednesday, it was learned.
An NSC source said Obama did indeed speak by telephone with some (unidentified) Pan Am families shortly after the Megrahi release, which he characterized as “terrible.”
White House sources confirm that President Obama does not plan to meet any of the Pan Am families while in New York.
Beside Gadhafi, Obama could cross paths with Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe – all of whom will lunch with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon next Wednesday.
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