Language barriers hit UN session

Language barriers hit UN session

Unlike most United Nations meetings, Friday's UN plenary
meeting in Nusa Dua, Bali, turned into a language game during the
voting session to decide on the participation of a pro-Tibet
organization at the upcoming World Summit on Sustainable
Development.

The voting process, which started at 10 a.m, was very formal
at the beginning. As time went by, however, participants
apparently started to get bored. Variations of answers then
brought up in the plenary meeting, including using their own
language, although the chairman already ruled that delegates must
say "yes" or "no".

When, the turn went to the Saudi Arabian delegate, the
delegate firmly said "naam" which confused the meeting's
chairman.

The chairman asked the delegate to clarify, who then explained
that naam means "yes, sir" in support of China's motion to
exclude the group.