Terje Rød-Larsen, a Norwegian diplomat, has resigned as CEO of the International Peace Institute

By Gary Raynaldo    DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

Terje Rød-Larsen, a Norwegian diplomat,  resigned as CEO of the New York-based International Peace Institute amid reports he took a $130,000 loan form accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.  Rød-Larsen and his wife, Mona Juul, now Norway’s ambassador to the UN, were central negotiators to the 1993 Oslo peace accord between the Palestinians and Israel.  The International  Peace Institute released a statement about Rød-Larsen’s resignation in which it said that he apologized to the board “for his failed judgment in securing donations from foundations related to Jeffrey Epstein and in securing his own personal loan from Epstein in 2013 – neither of which the Board was aware of.”  The Board of Directors of the IPI annouced it has named Dr. Adam Lupel Acting President and CEO.  The United Nations announced Friday it has withdrawn from its role as honorary chair of the IPI, following the resignation of Rød-Larsen.  Epstein was arrested in July 2019 on federal charges for sex trafficking of minors in Florida and New York. He died in a Lower Manhattan prison in August 2019 in what American authorities ruled a suicide. 

“The International Peace Institute has been a first-class institution for the last 50 years, having been created in 1970 in partnership with UN Secretary-General U Thant. Epstein’s crimes were hideous. The notion that IPI would be in any way engaged with such an odious character is repugnant to the institution’s core values. Mr. Rød-Larsen has had a distinguished diplomatic career – not just in the negotiation of the Oslo accords 25 years ago, but in a large number of UN-related missions across the decades.  IPI’s financial officers have confirmed to the Board that no payment has ever been made by IPI to Epstein, despite some press speculation to the contrary.”

-International Peace Institute  statement

The IPI  is an independent organization that promotes UN causes. It was founded 50 years ago with the assistance of former UN Secretary-General U Thant.