By BRADLEY S. KLAPPER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
GENEVA -- The United Nations has expressed regret that undercover Cuban
officials attended a U.N. news conference on human rights, where they
sought information on a French journalist asking critical questions
about Fidel Castro's regime.
Elena Ponomareva, spokeswoman for the global body's European
headquarters, said she was unable to prevent two Cuban diplomats from
entering the Oct. 11 news event with Jean Ziegler, a U.N. rights expert
who was preparing for a mission to the communist-run island.
The U.N. strictly prohibits government officials from attending news
conferences unless they are explicitly invited and included among those
presenting. Previous run-ins have occurred with Sudanese diplomats
seeking to monitor rights officials speaking about Darfur.
The Cuban officials were present for a testy exchange between the French
journalist and Ziegler, who said Havana should be praised for
cooperating with the global body and agreeing to allow him to report on
the country's respect for the "right to food" - Ziegler's area of expertise.
Havana refused for years to allow U.N. envoys to visit and investigate
alleged rights abuses in the country, claiming that such missions would
violate Cuban sovereignty.
The Cuban officials asked journalists in the room to identify the name
and agency of the journalist who debated Ziegler.
When the news conference ended and Ponomareva confronted the officials,
they said they were diplomats at a U.N. mission, but declined to say
which country they represented.
"I can only regret this incident," she wrote in a letter to the U.N.
correspondents' association in Geneva. She said she would share her
thoughts with Ziegler "concerning the presence of members of the mission
of Cuba at the press conference."
Cuba has not received any information or a complaint from the U.N., said
Marcos Gabriel at the Cuban mission.
Ziegler - who hailed Cuba during his 11-day mission as a world model for
how it provides its people with food - could not be reached for comment.
The Swiss sociology professor was appointed as an unpaid, independent
expert by the U.N. Human Rights Council, but his views do not
necessarily represent those of the global body.
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