Word: waldheim
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...intermediary who is seeking a compromise between London and Buenos Aires over the Falklands crisis. The tall, white-haired Peruvian is himself a compromise choice for a job that many doubted he could fill. When China consistently vetoed an unprecedented third term as Secretary-General for Kurt Waldheim and the U.S. would not accept Tanzanian Foreign Minister Salim Ahmed Salim, Pérez de Cuéllar was approved last December to end the bickering and a six-week stalemate...
...quiet way, Pérez de Cuéllar had shown before that he could be an effective go-between. In 1975, while representing Peru in the U.N., he was tapped by Waldheim to try to start talks between Greece and Turkey in the wake of Turkey's 1974 invasion of Cyprus. Pérez de Cuéllar succeeded. He later took on a similar assignment to sort out difficulties between Afghanistan and Pakistan following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan...
...turning point came on Dec. 3, when Waldheim withdrew his name. He was apparently acknowledging that no number of ballots could overcome China's stubborn opposition to a man not from the Third World. Salim, opposed by the U.S. for his occasionally strident anti-American rhetoric, followed suit five days later. That left the field open for a stable of dark horses. The first straw poll, conducted behind the closed doors of the Security Council's chambers, gave the necessary minimum of nine votes to Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, 48, a Harvard-educated Iranian citizen...
...outgoing Secretary-General was in a position to know. Pérez, a diplomat since 1944, served as Peruvian Ambassador to Switzerland and to the Soviet Union before first heading his country's delegation to the U.N. in 1971. Waldheim has entrusted Pérez with a number of delicate missions. In 1975, he became the Secretary-General's special representative in strife-torn Cyprus. Four years later, Waldheim appointed Pérez Under Secretary-General for Special Political Affairs. Most recently, he represented Waldheim in an effort to solve the ticklish issue raised by the Soviet Union...
...very decent chap," says Under Secretary-General Brian Urquhart, a Briton who has worked closely with him. Pérez is often compared to U Thant, the quiet, self-effacing Burmese who served in the U.N.'s highest office from 1961 to 1971. Unlike Waldheim, the Peruvian does not have a reputation as a workaholic. Still, diplomats welcome his familiarity with the international organization's long and often byzantine corridors. "He is a very good diplomat who knows the U.N. from the inside," says Urquhart. Even though Sadruddin was the first choice of the U.S. delegation, Ambassador Jeane...