Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., believes U.N. peace envoy and former Finnish President, Martti Ahtisaari, is playing the part of a Robin Hood who "got his wires crossed somewhere."

"He and the World Lottery Association are advocating a gambling plan that would essentially rob the poor to help the poor," said Enzi, who is the ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on International Operations and Terrorism. "The lure of big money is especially appealing to people who are poor and in large proportion a world lottery would be funded by people with lower incomes."

The World Lottery Association and Ahtisarri are seeking to create a world lottery to help fund U.N. activities.

Enzi said that was a bad idea when first proposed by Ghana in 1972 and it's still a bad idea today. In addition to a lottery hurting most the groups it is intended to help, Enzi believes the plan is fraught with diplomatic, jurisdictional and accountability problems.

"The UN is funded by dues paid by its members. This was by design so the organization can be held accountable for its activities," said Enzi. "We have rejected other get rich quick schemes put forward by the U.N. such as excise taxes on cross-border currency transactions, taxes on international airline tickets, e-mail and other proposals. There are many things we need more of in this world, but new taxes aren't on that list. I also don't believe it is the place of the U.N. to come into countries and communities that have rejected gambling and push its own world lottery. The resources being expended to promote this gambling plan would be better used to more directly fulfill the UN mission."

U.N. chiefs met earlier this month to discuss the world lottery idea, but the U.N. has not officially endorsed the proposal