U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan says he hopes Muslims and others around the world will not be mislead by Osama bin Laden.
Osama bin Laden attacked the United States and the United Nations in a videotaped speech released recently.
Saying that the world organization is responsible for much of the suffering in the Islamic world. He characterized Secretary-General Annan as a "criminal" and charged that Arab leaders who want to work within the United Nations are "hypocrites" and "infidels."
Mr. Annan's spokesman, Manoel de Almeida e Silva, says the United Nations does not represent any particular culture or the views of any single member nation. "The decisions and actions of the United Nations are those of member states working together to pursue common goals based on the shared values of equality, tolerance, mutual respect, and human dignity," he said.
Mr. Almeida e Silva quoted the Secretary-General as saying it is an "insult to the peoples of the third (developing) world to suggest that democracy and human rights are purely western" concepts.