By IPS Correspondents
UNITED NATIONS, Jan 20 2000 (IPS)

One of the UN’s fiercest critics, US Senator Jesse Helms began his address to the Security Council today on a conciliatory note, but then launched into a critique of “make-believe” international law and UN encroachment on national sovereignty.

Even close allies of the US on the Council, such as Britain and Canada, took issue with Helms’ interpretation of fact and the role of the UN.

Helms, a right-wing Republican from North Carolina, is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In this role, he has been instrumental in blocking US dues payments to the UN and linking limited payments to certain conditions, including a zero-growth budget, cuts in US assessments, and staff reductions.

In 1999, the Helms-Biden law permitted the release of some of the arrears in three increments if the UN meets the conditions. As a result, the US paid

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