U.N.O. SECRETARY

Grey River Argus, 31 January 1946, Page 5

U.N.O. SECRETARY

NORWEGIAN ELECTED LONDON, Jan. 29 The Security Council unanimously recommended M. Trygve Lie (Norwegian Foreign Minister) as Secretary General. Mr. Makin is urgently communicating with -M. Lie, who at present is in Norway, to discover whether he is prepared to accept nomination.

The United Nations .Assembly Committee on political and security questions, agreed that in all U.N.O.’s organisations, other than the International Court of Justice, French, Chinese, English, Russian, and Spanish shall be official languages, and English and French the working languages. ' LIE’S APPOINTMENT. HOW IT CAME ABOUT. (Rec. 7.30). LONDON, January 30. A diplomatic correspondent of “The Times’’ says: It was understood before M. Lie left London that he would accept the Secretary-Generalship of the United Nations if he were called upon to do so. The Security Council’s decision to appoint him was expected, because it was known that the Big Five representatives had on Monday agreed to his nomination. They previously had' been divided for several days. Britain and lhe United States had supported the Canadian Ambassador at Washington. Mr Lester Pearson. Russia had at first favoured appointing the Yugoslav Ambassador at

Washington, M. Simic. M. Lie won the day because of his own capabilities, and also of the fact that the choice of the Norwegian rules out any suggestion that a single Power or a group of Powers will gain an advantage from the appointment. M. Lie more than once has declared that Norway occupies a strategic position between the West and Russia.

’Flu Knocks Out Staff

(Rec. 7.40). LONDON, January 29.

Influenza and common colds have taken such a heavy toll of the U.N.O. organisation’s secretariat, particularly in the language and document" sections, that U.N.0., except for subcommitees, which are carrying on as usual, will take a holiday to-morrow (Wednesday). The holiday is necessary because so many documents awaiting translation had piled up. No fewer than 52 members of the executive secretariat staff have gone down with influenza in the last four or live days, making it impossible to ignore the sickness, since the U.N.O. could not carry on with about 25 per cent, of the staff.