Egypt and Bulgaria square off for top UNESCO job

Egypt's controversial candidate Faruq Hosni and Bulgaria's Irina Bokova made it into the final round for UNESCO's top job Monday after a race clouded by an anti-Semitism row, an official said.

The UN culture body's executive council was to hold a fifth round of voting Tuesday to choose between Hosni, accused of making anti-Jewish comments, and Bulgarian ex-foreign minister Bokova, a spokeswoman said.

The fourth round of voting Monday by the 58-nation council ended in a draw, she said, adding that if the fifth round was also inconclusive then lots would be drawn to pick the next head of the UN culture and education organisation.

Earlier Monday, Ecuador's ambassador to the Paris-based organisation, Marcelo Vazquez, said his government withdrew its candidate shortly before the council held its fourth vote for a successor to Japan's Koichiro Matsuura .

Supporters say the Egyptian's election would send a positive signal from the West to the Muslim world, but the race has been clouded by charges that anti-Israel comments made last year make him unfit for the role.

His detractors include Auschwitz survivor and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, who says Hosni's appointment would "shame" the global community, as well as the Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal Centre and US and French intellectuals.

Hosni had long been front-runner in the race for the job but the charges of anti-Semitism of anti-Semitism clouded his candidacy.

The European Commissioner for External Relations, former Austrian foreign minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner, pulled out of the race Sunday "in the interest of the organisation and European unity," said an Austrian embassy statement.

UNESCO's executive council started voting last Thursday for a successor to Matsuura as director general, with Hosni seen as the favourite.

Hosni has been struggling to fend off accusations of anti-Semitism, in particular for declaring in parliament last year that he would "burn Israeli books myself if I found any in libraries in Egypt."

Hitting back at charges of anti-Semitism, Hosni has insisted his comments were part of an angry exchange in parliament with hardliners from the Muslim Brotherhood and were taken out of context.

The Egyptian minister is seeking to become the first representative from the Arab world to head the UN agency which is mandated to promote global understanding through culture, education and science.

The appointment is to be endorsed in October by the 193-member assembly of UNESCO.