On
Libya,
As
Malloch Brown Hopes Gadhafi Kin Not UNDP Ambassador, Belated Firing,
Ban Ki-moon Dodges
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
February
23 -- Amid the UN's sudden claims to be getting
tough with Libya, Inner City Press since
February 20 has been
reporting that the UN system named Aicha Gadhafi, the Colonel's
daughter, a Goodwill Ambassador.
Inner
City Press sought comment in
writing from Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Martin
Nesirky, without answer.
On
February 22,
Inner City Press asked at the noon briefing for confirmation:
Inner
City
Press:
can you confirm that Colonel Qadhafi’s daughter,
Ayesha, is a UN system Goodwill Ambassador with a Laissez-Passer that
remains open until 2013? And what does… If so, what does the
Secretary-General think about this goodwill ambassadorship? Will it
be revoked? Is it, what is your position on it?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
As
I understand it, she is a national Goodwill Ambassador
in Libya for UNDP [United Nations Development Programme]. On the
other details you have asked, I will check.
Since
Nesirky
had
checked and gotten the answer from and about UNDP, it is unclear why
he didn't answer the pending written question. Perhaps he hoped that,
with briefings truncated by meetings, the question couldn't be asked
in person.
On
February 23,
in person, Inner City Press asked former UNDP Administration Mark
Malloch Brown about Aicha Gadhafi being a Goodwill Ambassador.
“I hope she's
not a UNDP Ambassador,” he said. “I don't think it's UNDP. I was
surprised when I saw that... she was an Ambassador to any part of the
UN system.”
But
it was UNDP.
And only on February 23, the day after Nesirky's first confirmation,
did the UN announce a belated removal of the Ambassadorship:
“I
was asked yesterday whether one of Colonel [Muammar] Qadhafi’s
daughters is a Goodwill Ambassador. And as I mentioned, Aisha
al-Qadhafi was appointed as National UNDP Goodwill Ambassador for
Libya on 24 July 2009. Her appointment at that time enabled UNDP to
address the issues of HIV/AIDS and violence against women in Libya,
both culturally sensitive topics in the country. Following the
recent events, UNDP has terminated the agreement with Ms. Qadhafi,
based on article 30 of the UN Guidelines for the Designation of
Goodwill Ambassadors and Messengers of Peace. By the way, I can tell
you that UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors do not get paid, they volunteer
their time, and they do not hold UN laissez-passer travel documents.”
Later
on
February
23, Ban Ki-moon appeared at the UN North Lawn second floor stakeout
and took a handful of questions. When asked if he was calling on
Gadhafi to step down, Ban dodged the question then left.
UN's Ban and Gadhafi, Goodwill Ambassador daughter not shown
At
Malloch Brown's
event, the selling of his new book “The Unfinished Global
Revolution” in the UN bookstore, Inner City Press asked him about
the process for selection the UN Secretary General. He replied that
he had wished Ban's 2006 selection had included “hustings and
manifestos.”
He contrasted
this with the “two most successful
Secretaries General, Dag Hammarskjold and Kofi Annan,” while noting
that those who voted for them hadn't read their biographies.
Under
Dag
Hammarskhold,
would the daughter of Libya's dictator, who killed his
opponents as far back as the 1970s, have been made a UN system
Goodwill Ambassador? Watch this site.
Footnote:
Malloch
Brown,
before answering Inner City Press' question, said it
should buy a copy of his book, for the “pain extracted from me for
so many years.” While it may refer back to some profanity he used,
compared to current UN system leadership, at least Malloch Brown
purports to take
and answer questions.
* * *
As
Libya
Kills
Protesters,
Gadhafi Daughter is UN Ambassador, UNDP Silent
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
February
20
-- As in Libya the forces, including
mercenaries, of Colonel Moammar Gadhafi shoot and kill peaceful
protesters, the UN has been nearly entirely silent.
On
the morning of February 20, Inner City Press asked UN Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Martin Nesirky:
In
the
wake
of
the gunning down of 46 democracy protesters in Libya’s
second largest city, Benghazi, by security forces under the command
of Colonel Gadafi, is the UN reassessing its relationship with Col
Gadhafi’s daughter, Aicha, who the UN has designated a “Goodwill
Ambassador?
Has
the
Secretary-General
sought
to use the UN’s special relationship
with its Goodwill Ambassador Dr Aicha Gadhafi to persuade her father
not to use such excessive force against peaceful demonstrators?
Nine
hours
later,
no
response at all from the UN. Inner City Press also asked Ban's
spokesman Nesirky “in this context, the Secretary-General's planned
trip to California to meet and greet 'the entertainment industry,'
how much is this trip costing, and is it funded by the Regular Budget
of the UN -- and if not, what is the funding source?” Again, no
answer.
On February
17,
Inner City Press had asked Nesirky
Inner
City
Press:
Is
there any thought of using the existing UN programs on
the ground, whether it is UNDP or
otherwise? There was some
criticism of this training of police in Egypt
prior to the — there
was criticism by NGOs that it didn’t bring in human rights
activists but rather Government people. Is there some thinking of
how — the UNDP website about Libya hasn’t been updated now in
several months, I guess — it seems to some, due to the turmoil. What
about these UN…?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
Who
might
that be? Who is it, these people who think it
might be?
Inner
City
Press:
People
that look at it and have seen that it was updated
all the way, until suddenly there was turmoil in the country and then
it is not updated any more.
Inner
City
Press:
What’s the role, according to the
Secretary-General, of the existing UN programmes in countries like
Libya and Yemen, where Helen Clark visited and didn’t say anything
about democracy?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
Well,
there
are lots of, as you know, across the region,
there is a UN presence in different constellations; country teams
with different components, whether it is UNDP or other UN agencies,
funds and programmes. Of course, given that they are already on the
ground, given that they have been working there in different
capacities on different projects, they are well placed to be further
involved. But this is part of a bigger picture, and it is being very
carefully coordinated.
Inner
City
Press:
Is
there any change of policy? I guess I am saying,
given that the announcement today that the UN is sort of taking
cognizance of all this, is there, is that…?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
Well,
Matthew,
it’s hardly an announcement today. This
is something that has been said consistently for a number of weeks
now. And indeed, further back, as you know, the Human Development
Reports on the Arab world have been saying this for the best part of
a decade. So, okay, thank you very much.
But
what had the UN
been doing about Libya? Watch this site.
* * *
, 
