http://advocate.com/news_detail_ektid68878.asp 12/20/08-12/22/08 U.S. Rejects U.N.’s Gay Rights Statement, Cites “Don’t Ask” A joint statement addressing homophobia and LGBT rights for the first time at the United Nations was tabled Thursday, without the backing of the United States. “We urge states to take all the necessary measures, in particular legislative or administrative, to ensure that sexual orientation or gender identity may under no circumstances be the basis for criminal penalties, in particular executions, arrests or detention,” the draft document read. The unprecedented gay rights declaration was proposed by the French and read by Argentinean ambassador Jorge Arguello. The nonbinding statement is…

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http://washingtontimes.com/weblogs/kralev-diplomacy/2008/Dec/19/gays-republicans-and-a-un-resolution/ Gays, Republicans and a UN Resolution December 19 2008 7:15 PM BY NICHOLAS KRALEV Gay Republicans are furious at the Bush administration for opposing a non-binding U.N. resolution calling for the decriminalization of homosexuality around the world, alongside such abusers of human rights as Syria and Saudi Arabia. The document was introduced in the U.N. General Assembly by France and the Netherlands and so far has been backed by 66 of the 192 members of the United Nations. It urges countries “to take all the necessary measures, in particular legislative or administrative, to ensure that sexual orientation or gender…

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http://newsmax.com/insidecover/grenell_resigns_un/2008/09/17/131871.html U.N. Spokesman Richard Grenell Resigns Wednesday, September 17, 2008 6:14 PM By: Stewart Stogel Richard Grenell, the longtime communications director and de facto press secretary for four U.S. ambassadors to the United Nations, tells Newsmax he will conclude his eight-year U.N. term Sept. 29. Grenell plans to return to his California home to become a senior vice president and communications director at DaVita, a healthcare company based in El Segundo. But Newsmax also has learned that Grenell is on a short list for consideration as the next State Department spokesman if Sen. John McCain is elected president in November….

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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/26/washington/26diplo.html?_r=1&scp=10&sq=pakistan&st=cse&oref=slogin August 26, 2008 U.N. Envoy’s Ties to Pakistani Are Questioned By HELENE COOPER and MARK MAZZETTI WASHINGTON — Zalmay Khalilzad, the American ambassador to the United Nations, is facing angry questions from other senior Bush administration officials over what they describe as unauthorized contacts with Asif Ali Zardari, a contender to succeed Pervez Musharraf as president of Pakistan. Mr. Khalilzad had spoken by telephone with Mr. Zardari, the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, several times a week for the past month until he was confronted about the unauthorized contacts, a senior United States official said. Other officials said…

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