Bokova to become first woman UNESCO director-general

Irina Bokova, Bulgarian ambassador to France, posing at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, yesterday. 
PARIS - Bulgarian diplomat Irina Bokova was late yesterday elected the first-ever woman UNESCO director-general, diplomatic sources said yesterday.
The 57-year-old Bokova, who was considered a long shot when the voting began last week, received 31 votes from the 58-member UNESCO Executive Board, and no doubt benefited from a backlash against her opponent, controversial Egyptian Culture Minister Farouq Hosni. The former Bulgarian foreign minister must now be confirmed as the successor to Koichiro Matsuura at a UNESCO General Assembly, scheduled for October 15. However, that step is little more than a formality, as no candidate nominated by the Executive Board has ever been rejected. Originally regarded as the favourite to win the vote, Hosni was criticised as being anti-Semitic, as he had once said that he would personally burn any Israeli book found in the library at Alexandria. The election of Bokova in the last round of the five-round voting process avoided a potentially embarrassing situation for UNESCO. If the two candidates had received 29 votes each, as they did in Monday's fourth round, the winner would have been decided by a drawing of lots. However, that might have moved the General Assembly to reject him or her, UNESCO sources said.