A video that’s been described as a violation of diplomatic norms showed a member of the official Qatari delegation, participating in elections to select a new director general for UNESCO, accusing Egypt’s foreign minister and Saudi Arabia’s delegate of pressuring some countries not to vote in favor of Qatar.
Qatar could not finalize the first round of elections in favor of its candidate Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari despite making generous financial offers and bribing some delegates to vote for him, as French media outlets reported prior to the elections.
According to these reports, Qatar received at least 10 UNESCO delegates two weeks ago, hosted them and gifted them generous presents.
Other media reports published two days ago said Doha bribed some delegates while meeting with them in a restaurant close to UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris. These delegates include two from an Arab country and others from African and Latin American countries.
