As
UN
Gives Lebanon
to Plumbly,
Kane to
Disarmament,
Japan
Shoots for
OCHA?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 13 --
At Friday's
noon brefing,
Inner City
Press
asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
deputy
spokesman
Eduardo Del
Buey to
confirm that
Derek Plumbly
would be made
the Lebanon
Coordinator,
and if that
meant that
Angela Kane,
under consideration
for
the position,
would now need
another one
like the
Disarmament
Post.
While
Del Buey
refused to
confirm either
move at noon,
just after 6
pm his office
squawked that
Plumbly had
the Lebanon
job.
So what about
Kane? And does
Plumbly
getting
Lebanon make
it less likely
that the UK
will get, for
example, Ban's
chief of staff
job, with
Vijay Nambiar
remaining a
USG with only
Myanmar in his
portfolio?
An
"outsider"
getting this
post tightens
up the current
game of
musical chairs
at
the UN.
With Under
Secretary
General posts
being vacated
by Ban
Ki-moon's
policy of no
more than five
years in any
one position,
well
placed UN
sources tell
Inner City
Press that
beyond the
contest of
Americans Alejandro
Wolff
and Jane
Holl Lute
to replace
fellow
American Lynn
Pascoe at the
Department of
Political
Affairs,
another
UN and
Security
Council
related name
is said by at
least two well
placed sources
to be in the
mix.
Inner
City Press
on January 10
asked the
named
individual's
mission for a
response to
"not a small
person" in the
UN saying the
individual is
slated to be
Ban Ki-moon's
next chief of
staff or chef
de cabinet,
with Vijay
Nambiar to be
downgraded,
still with USG
status, to
full
time envoy to
Myanmar.
The
mission at
issue, late on
January 10,
said the
individual is
not in
the
running for
any USG post.
But to flesh
out the
working
theories, at
least one
other Security
Council
delegation
later on
January 10
said
it could
confirm Inner
City Press'
story about
Angela Kane
moving
laterally into
the UN
Disarmament
post, and
mused that
maybe the
individual
would take
Management, or
even the
Department of
Public
Information
USG post being
vacated by
Japan's
Kiyotaka
Akasaka.
They
wondered if
Japan, losing
Akasaka, might
then retake
OCHA? Now the
game tightens.
Watch this
site.
(c) UN Photo
Plumbly &
Ban's DSG
Migiro, Susan
Malcorra not
(yet?) shown
From
the
UN's
January 13
noon briefing
transcript:
Inner
City
Press: Derek
Plumbly,
former UK
diplomat is,
will be named
the
1701 Special
Coordinator
for Lebanon.
Is that, can
you confirm
that,
and separately
— and you made
these two
announcements
today —
some have said
that Angela
Kane of
Department of
Management is
also
in
consideration
for the
position. I
wanted to
know, even if
you
won’t confirm
that, does
this five
years, you
know, in one
post
rule apply to
her position
at the
Department of
Management?
Deputy
Spokesperson:
I believe that
the
Secretary-General’s
Chief of
Staff and
Martin at this
table have
both said that
the five-year
plan, the
five-year
stipulation
applies. When
we have
something to
announce we
will announce
it. Right now,
we have these
two
announcements
which I have
made this
morning, and
that’s all we
have to
announce.
Footnote:
The
Plumbly
announcement's
timing may be
explained by
Ban Ki-moon
being in
Lebanon. On
Friday at
noon, Del Buey
told Inner
City Press
he did not
know if Terje
Roed Larsen
was going to
the meeting
with
Ban. Later,
Ban's office
put out a transcript of
Ban's press
conference
there, with
this question
and (non)
answer:
Q:
What
do you think
about nuclear
power in
Israel,
doesn't it
pose a
threat to
international
security? What
do you think
about human
rights in
Bahrain? What
do you think
about
democracy in
Saudi Arabia?
SG:
In
democratic
societies, it
is only
natural that
there is
diverse
opinions,
whether for or
against
anybody,
including the
Secretary-General
of the United
Nations. I
accepted this
sign of
democracy, a
very vibrant
democratic
society in
Lebanon. I'm
very
much
encouraged
that I'm
accorded full
and
whole-hearted,
a very warm
welcome by the
Lebanese
government. As
the
Secretary-General
of the
United
Nations,
whatever I'm
saying and
doing has been
based on
universal
values and my
own personal
convictions,
without
reflecting
any member
state's or any
party's
position. This
is what I can
tell
you very
clearly, that
I work as the
Secretary-General
based on my
belief and
based on
universal
values that
I'm making
this very
clearly, I
hope there
should be no
misunderstanding
whatsoever.
That
is why I have
been
unanimously
re-elected to
continue my
job as the
Secretary-General
in promoting
peace and
stability and
development
and also
promoting
human rights
all throughout
the world. I
will
continue to
discharge my
duty as
Secretary-General.
This
seems to take
evasion to an
entirely new
level. Inner
City Press has
already asked
Ban's
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
if anyone
beyond the UN
will pay for
Ban's travel,
a basic form
of disclosure.
But there has
still been no
answer - watch
this site.
, 
