The World - News from Jan. 29, 1987

Lawyers for UNESCO Director General Amadou Mahtar M’Bow filed a defamation suit in a Paris court against the French weekly magazine L’Express. The action was believed to be without precedent for the United Nations. The lawyers said that a July, 1985, article in the magazine described M’Bow as a “megalomaniac despot” whose insults to a former U.S. ambassador contributed to a U.S. decision to leave the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. L’Express Publisher James Goldsmith argued that an official in public life must expect criticism. A court ruling is expected March 4.