U.N. Chief Meets With Waldheim


William J. Kole
February 23 2007
Washington Post
Original Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/23/AR2007022301402_pf.html
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon met Friday with a scandal-stung predecessor, Kurt Waldheim, and his spokeswoman described the visit as private and personal while sidestepping questions about the appropriateness of the meeting.
Waldheim's 1972-82 tenure as U.N. chief was darkened by allegations that he belonged to a German army unit that committed atrocities in the Balkans during World War II. He has always denied it.
Waldheim, 88, was elected president of Austria in 1986 despite an international scandal triggered by revelations about his secretive military service during the war.
My understanding is that the secretary-general personally knew Mr. Waldheim and his daughter during his tenure as his country's ambassador to Austria. So it was a private and personal visit, U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said at United Nations headquarters in New York.
Ban was South Korea's foreign minister and a career diplomat before he took over as U.N. chief at the beginning of this year.
Asked whether any consideration was given to the appropriateness of the meeting, given the allegations that have dogged Waldheim, Okabe said: It was a private meeting and he met with somebody he knew on a personal basis and I have nothing further.
In 1988, a government-appointed international commission of six historians investigating his wartime service said it found no proof that Waldheim himself committed war crimes. But it also made clear that his record was far from unblemished.
The panel declared that Waldheim was in direct proximity to criminal actions. Its report found Waldheim knew about German army atrocities in the Balkans and never undertook any action to prevent or oppose them.
William J. Kole
February 26, 2007
Washington Post
Original Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/23/AR2007022301402_pf.html