UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Billionaire Ted Turner helped the United States win a near-impossible battle Friday to cut its payments to the United Nations with a $34 million donation that sealed the deal.
Turner's donation was believed to be the first time an individual had essentially offered to pay a government's dues. While the United Nations bars such contributions, U.S. officials said Turner's indirect gift via the State Department was cleared by Clinton administration attorneys.
U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, who has spent the past year lobbying reluctant and often resentful countries to accept the U.S. cuts, said Turner's ``visionary'' donation had given him the flexibility he needed to negotiate the deal.
``People give money all the time, and I commend them for it. But you have to go a long way to find a gift that made as much difference as this one,'' Holbrooke said.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20001222/wl/un_us_arrears_11.html
