CAIRO: German ambassador to Egypt Bernd Erbel denied that his country took sides against Egypt's UNESCO candidate for director-general on the sidelines of a special event to follow the vote count in the German elections Sunday, won by the incumbent Angela Merkel. Erbel said that the European Union did not have consensus over any single candidate. "Rumors about Germany's stance vis-à-vis the Egyptian candidate are false, he said. "There was no conspiracy. "He added that Hosni's defeat in the UNESCO elections will not take a toll on Egyptian-German relations. In related news from Paris, the new UNESCO chief Irina Bokova of Bulgaria said Sunday that she would make visiting Arab countries a priority in a bid to ease tensions over her battle with Egypt's Hosni for the job. Bokova insisted she was "a friend of the Muslim world after her defeat of the Egyptian culture minister to become the UN's cultural head triggered a storm of protest in Egypt. "Among my first trips of course, will be Muslim, Arab countries, because I think that if there were some suspicions, some hesitations, I want to get rid of such hesitations, she told TV5Monde television. The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization elected Bokova on Tuesday after five rounds of voting, leading to defeat for favorite Hosni in the wake of controversy over his alleged anti-Semitism. He accused the Paris-based organization of being "politicized, while the Egyptian press reacted with outrage and said Bokova owed her victory to the Israeli lobby and the United States. But the new UNESCO head, the body's first female director general and the first from the former Soviet bloc, said on Sunday "the page had been turned on the bitter battle for the UN post. "I have already received congratulations from the Egyptian foreign minister, she said. "I have also received many congratulations and letters of support for my new role... among them many ministers of different Arab countries.
