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US voted off UN drug monitoring board
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THE United States, which had the embarrassment of being voted off the UN Commission Human Rights last week, also lost its seat on the International Narcotics Control Board, the United Nations said on Monday.
The US candidate, former ambassador Herbert Okun, was standing for a third consecutive five-year term but lost on the first round of voting in the UN Economic and Social Council, which oversees the Vienna-based board.
In Washington, US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher described the result as “very regrettable".
Boucher said Okun was well known in UN circles, and said he could not speculate on why his campaign for re-election had failed.
“We intend to continue our engagement on the international narcotics issues," Boucher said.
“We'll continue our co-operation with and strong support for the UN international drug control programme as well as with the International Narcotics Control Board.
The vote took place on Thursday, but “was overshadowed by the US defeat in the election for the human rights commission", said Farhan Haq, a UN spokesman.
The narcotics board, which monitors compliance with UN treaties on drug trafficking, has 13 members, seven of whom were up for renewal.
Five of the seven seats were filled by government nominees and the other two from a list of candidates drawn up by the World Health Organization.
The Austrian and Dutch government candidates were elected on the first round of voting, with 30 and 29 votes respectively out of a possible 54. The French, Indian and Peruvian candidates were elected in two more rounds of balloting. There were 25 government candidates in all.
A Brazilian and an Iranian were successful among the five WHO candidates.(SD-Agencies)
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