TOP ANNAN AIDE INSULTS SHARON

Kofi Annan’s top adviser, Lakhdar Brahimi, is getting a little too honest about his hatred for Israel: (littlegreenfootballs)

A Top Kofi Annan Aide Insults Israeli Leader.
UNITED NATIONS - Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Dan Gillerman, yesterday urged that Secretary-General Annan fire his top adviser, Lakhdar Brahimi, for his anti-Israel tirades. Mr. Brahimi recently likened Prime Minister Sharon to an assassin, adding to a series of statements that embarrassed the secretary-general, who is trying to position himself as a player in the peace process between Israelis and Palestinian Arabs.

In a phone call to a top U.N. official this week, Mr. Gillerman said that the latest anti-Israeli screed by Mr. Brahimi in Europe should be grounds for firing him, the ambassador told The New York Sun yesterday. Speaking on Belgian radio and to the Belgian senate last week, Mr. Brahimi compared Mr. Sharon to an assassin, urged Europeans to increase their pressure on Israel, and said that the world is too accepting of “cynical and ridiculous” Israeli positions on peace with the Palestinian Arabs, according to a report by Agence France-Presse that was translated from the French.

Because Mr. Annan and many other top officials were out on vacation this week, Mr. Gillerman said he spoke with the head of the Asia-Pacific division, Geir Pederson, a Norwegian who is increasingly involved in issues related to the Middle East. He has asked Mr. Pederson to relay his message to Mr. Annan. A U.N. official who asked not to be named confirmed that the conversation took place, but refused to comment on it.

For the second time this month, a U.N. spokesman yesterday distanced Mr. Annan from Mr. Brahimi’s words, saying Mr. Brahimi spoke “in his personal capacity.” He added that Mr. Annan’s views on the Middle East “are well known.”

The U.N. issued a similar statement two weeks ago after Mr. Brahimi told an Arab audience that America professes to promote human rights in the Arab world while at the same time ignoring Israeli human rights violations.

Brahimi’s daughter Rym is also rather famous; she’s a CNN reporter married to the brother of Jordan’s King Abdullah: lgf: King Abdullah’s Brother To Wed CNN Reporter.

Here's an earlier story from LGF in which Brahimi called Israel "the big poison" in the Middle East: Brahimi’s Israel Comments Draw Annan, Israeli Ire.
Brahimi told France’s Inter radio on Thursday that Israeli policies toward Palestinians and Washington’s support for them hindered his search for a caretaker Iraqi regime that would take power on June 30 when the U.S.-led occupation ends.

“The problems are linked, there is no doubt about it,” said Brahimi, a former Algerian foreign minister. “The big poison in the region is the Israeli policy of domination and the suffering imposed on the Palestinians.”

Brahimi said his job was complicated by Iraqi perceptions of “Israel’s completely violent and repressive security policy and determination to occupy more and more Palestinian territory.”

Eckhard told reporters at his daily news briefing, “As a preliminary reaction I could say that as you know he is a former foreign minister of Algeria and therefore he brings to the table strongly held and strongly expressed views about the Middle East peace process.”