WASHINGTON INSIGHT

MOE KNOWS DIPLOMACY: He’s known as “Moe,” the diplomat with the very American speech and manner who roams the United Nations pleading his cause. Legally, he is American, but he is Bosnian as well. He is 37-year-old Muhamed Sacirbey, the U.N. ambassador of embattled Bosnia-Herzegovina. Bosnia’s fate may be dark but not because of Moe, who is widely viewed as extraordinarily effective. . . . Born in Sarajevo, Sacirbey moved to Ohio with his political-refugee family when he was 11. He won a football scholarship to Tulane University and earned a law degree and an MBA. He was a New York lawyer specializing in real estate and finance when Bosnia appointed him ambassador in 1992. . . . Sacirbey can stir key audiences as he pleads for U.S. aid. Describing his feelings about growing up in America, he recently told several lawmakers in Washington: “I was elected to my student council in high school two years before I ever became a U.S. citizen. How many societies can you say that about--teen-agers electing someone who is outside of that society? It speaks well for America and, of course, that’s why we hold out our hope in America.” The meeting broke into applause.