UNITED NATIONS, April 24 (UPI) -- While the United Nations refused to comment on Osama Bin Laden's recent remarks, the Chinese ambassador said the al-Qaida chief was irrelevant and negative.
Asked if U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan had any comment on bin Laden's reported calls for a jihad against the United Nations in Sudan, Annan's spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said the world organization felt no need to respond directly.
"Our efforts in Darfur are pretty clear. We the United Nations, as representing the international community, are working with the people of Sudan to try to achieve peace and stability in Darfur for those people," the spokesman said.
He added the people of Darfur were clearly in need of protection and humanitarian assistance and the international community's efforts were aimed at meeting these needs.
Asked if the call for jihad affects the U.N.'s deployment plans or activities in Sudan, Dujarric said security arrangements for staff working in dangerous areas was reviewed on a daily basis and adjustments were made accordingly.
But Ambassador Wang Guangya of China, this month's president of the U.N. Security Council, when asked by a reporter about bin Laden's remarks, replied: "I think that the statements, comments made by this guy are always negative. I think that we should not be influenced by whatever comments he makes."
The Beijing envoy was then asked, "Do you discount it as irrelevant?" and replied, "Yes. Definitely yes."
