Annan’s Latest Challenge: America

SAN FRANCISCO —  Hundreds of millions of dollars the United States owes the United Nations is being “held hostage” by Congress, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Sunday, and he is going to ask the American people to set it free.

Annan arrived in San Francisco to begin a five-day visit to California and Texas that will include a stop in Los Angeles on Tuesday and Wednesday. The trip kicks off a personal effort by Annan to upgrade the U.N.’s image in the United States and persuade Americans to pressure Congress into passing legislation that mandates the payment of more than $800 million of the $1.3 billion the U.S. owes the world body in back dues.

“We are being held hostage in the American political process, and we won’t be released until the American public gets the Congress to move on this,” Annan said.

He added that despite his support for American-backed management reforms at the U.N. and his high-profile February visit to Baghdad, where he convinced Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to retreat from a confrontation with the U.S., Republican criticism of the U.N. seems to be on the rise.

“Today I cannot say I understand the process on [Capitol] Hill,” he said, a note of exasperation creeping into his tone. “The goal posts seem to be constantly shifting. It’s generally accepted that the whole world gave a sigh of relief when I was able to get the Iraqis to back down. . . . But now, even that’s being used by some Republicans as an excuse for not paying their U.N. dues.”

In recent weeks, Republicans ranging from Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) to columnist Patrick J. Buchanan have stepped up their criticism of the United Nations. Their targets have included Annan’s deal with Iraq, which Lott and others characterized as too lenient; a U.N. human rights report that criticized the use of the death penalty in the U.S.; and U.N.-sponsored negotiations for an international war crimes tribunal, which Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) called a threat to American sovereignty.

Part of the U.N.’s problem, Annan acknowledged, is that it has not done a very good job responding to such attacks.

“We’ve allowed our enemies, who don’t know what we’re about, to control the agenda,” he said. “We have to do better communicating that what we do is not just for the poor in some distant country but affects everyone’s daily lives.”

On this trip, Annan said he will emphasize the U.N.’s role in regulating international air traffic, coordinating worldwide telecommunications, allocating radio frequencies and setting international copyright rules, as well as its work in peacekeeping, human rights monitoring and fighting cross-border narcotics trafficking.

His schedule includes speeches to university and civic groups, media interviews, a reception with film industry executives and meetings with former President Bush and former secretaries of State George P. Shultz, Warren Christopher and James A. Baker III.