Bulgarian beats Egyptian for top UNESCO job

Bulgarian former foreign minister Irina Bokova won the top job at the UN culture agency after a race against Egiptian Faruq Hosni.

Bulgarian former foreign minister Irina Bokova won the top job at the UN culture agency Tuesday after a race clouded by anti-Semitism accusations against her Egyptian rival, a UNESCO official said. Bokova was elected director general of the Paris-based UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation after five rounds of voting by UNESCO's executive council that finally eliminated her main rival, Faruq Hosni.

Hosni, currently Egypt's culture minister, has been dogged by anti-Semitism accusations after saying last year that he would burn Israeli books.

Bokova is a former communist turned europhile who has represented Bulgaria on UNESCO's board since 2007 and is also ambassador to France and Monaco.