Abdallah Baali Quotations

We hope to use the weekend to move toward unanimity.

People were very cautious, to say the least, because of his reputation as a tough guy who didn't like the U.N. ... In fact, I was the only one who said that Bolton was an intelligent man who could be creative and constructive and wouldn't go around bullying delegations.

On management reform, you have one side basically saying that the secretary general should be empowered and should have all flexibility as a kind of C.E.O. and the other side saying that it is not ready to give up the prerogative of the General Assembly and would like to keep a close eye on the work of the secretary general.

I am satisfied with the level of cooperation. I don't think that putting an unbearable pressure on Syria would really be very productive at this stage.

What matters in our eyes is that he's the president's choice and that he's close to the president. That gives him certainly the authority to deal with us in New York.

He's a very smart guy who can be very constructive, who can be very creative. So I think it will be very interesting to spend a few months with him in the Security Council,

I think honestly he can keep doing his job... It's important for him and for us to have a good outcome at this summit. If we have a good outcome, if we have real reforms to be implemented in the months to come, I think the secretary general will be in a more comfortable position.

We have made it clear that it is premature and it is unjustified to talk about sanctions when the investigation is still going on and we do not know what will be the final outcome,

You cannot give all the powers to the secretary general. The General Assembly has to keep its main prerogative, and the secretary general and all bodies should be accountable to the General Assembly.

This test of the U.N. mission in Sierra Leone shows very clearly that the mandates and resources are not and never were appropriate to the situation,

The United Nations has no role to play in Algeria, ... What is taking place in Algeria is something which we have to handle ourselves.

The views of the United States are very important ... We will take them into account.

definitely raises difficult problems for Algeria, probably other countries.

In the past five years, Kofi Annan focused on Africa because the Africans had the impression the United Nations was not doing enough for them,

I don't think the time has come to envisage any premature, any action or any kind of measures, what is expected from all concerned at this stage is to fully cooperate with the investigation,