WHICH RESOLUTION ALLOWED THIS?:

Kofi Annan on Sesame Street (BBC, 7 December, 2001)

United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan has appeared on children's TV show Sesame Street, and said diplomats could learn a thing or two from its characters.

Annan guest-starred on the long-running show to help teach children how to resolve conflict.

He is only the third politician on the show in recent years - first ladies Barbara Bush and Hillary Clinton have also appeared.

Annan stepped in when puppet character Elmo and his friends argued over who would get to sing the alphabet song.

In the end he persuaded them all to join in.

Afterwards he said it was "wonderful to reach out to young people" and hoped that he showed children "the spirit of the UN, a spirit of understanding, sharing and working together".

He said some politicians needed to be more like the characters in the show: "Elmo and his friends will tell us, it's the way they are, they tell it straight.

"Keep it simple and it brings you back to earth. I think that is very important, we all need that."

The Security Council was apparently stunned when the French ambassador demounced Mr. Annan's unilateral intervention in the dispute and demanded that Hans Blix be given more time to search Elmo for weapons. Posted by Orrin Judd at March 24, 2003 9:06 AM